hkskyline
June 2nd, 2005, 05:44 PM
Thursday June 2, 8:24 PM
Leading businesses set up coalition to protect Hong Kong's harbor from reclamation
AP - In a rare display of business concern for the environment, about 100 of Hong Kong's top companies on Thursday formed a coalition to protect the city's famed Victoria Harbor from further reclamation.
"Our harbor is a core part of Hong Kong's heritage, an international symbol of our city and a source of inspiration to those who live and work in Hong Kong," said the coalition's spokesman Vincent Cheng, chairman of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp., the local unit of HSBC Holdings PLC.
"Reclamation should be avoided as much as possible," he said.
The government welcomed the group's launch in a statement released Thursday.
"It is the common goal and in the interests of the government, the business sector and non-governmental organizations to work hand-in-hand to promote the enhancement and sustainable development of the harbour and harbour-front areas," the statement said.
Concerns about the harbor have been raised since thousands of people protested last year against land reclamation that they say will turn Victoria Harbor into a river. It has already shrunk by almost half, or 3,200 hectares (7,907 acres), after decades of reclamation.
Last year, anti-reclamation activists won a court battle to stop a planned 26-hectare (74-acre) strip for a road, park and commercial development in Hong Kong's financial district.
Cheng said the business coalition, called the Harbor Business Forum, has set up a committee to study what other cities have done in the transformation of their waterfronts so as to plot a development strategy for Hong Kong's harbor.
The coalition's patrons, which will fund its research projects, include HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd., other conglomerates such as The Swire Group, CITIC Pacific Ltd. and Jardine Matheson Holdings.
It also includes 27 chambers of commerce and business associations.
Cheng said it will try to influence government policy in the harbor's preservation.
He rejected suggestions that the coalition's establishment reflected a sudden change of heart by businesses and property developers, who have been the biggest beneficiaries of development made possible by reclamation.
"We all come together with a very sincere wish, which is to look at the future use of the harbor so that everybody in Hong Kong _ the business, the people, every stakeholder in Hong Kong _ can be proud," Cheng said.
"It's not about property development. It's not just about transport. It's not just about economics. It's the whole value of the harbor for us," he said.
Leading businesses set up coalition to protect Hong Kong's harbor from reclamation
AP - In a rare display of business concern for the environment, about 100 of Hong Kong's top companies on Thursday formed a coalition to protect the city's famed Victoria Harbor from further reclamation.
"Our harbor is a core part of Hong Kong's heritage, an international symbol of our city and a source of inspiration to those who live and work in Hong Kong," said the coalition's spokesman Vincent Cheng, chairman of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp., the local unit of HSBC Holdings PLC.
"Reclamation should be avoided as much as possible," he said.
The government welcomed the group's launch in a statement released Thursday.
"It is the common goal and in the interests of the government, the business sector and non-governmental organizations to work hand-in-hand to promote the enhancement and sustainable development of the harbour and harbour-front areas," the statement said.
Concerns about the harbor have been raised since thousands of people protested last year against land reclamation that they say will turn Victoria Harbor into a river. It has already shrunk by almost half, or 3,200 hectares (7,907 acres), after decades of reclamation.
Last year, anti-reclamation activists won a court battle to stop a planned 26-hectare (74-acre) strip for a road, park and commercial development in Hong Kong's financial district.
Cheng said the business coalition, called the Harbor Business Forum, has set up a committee to study what other cities have done in the transformation of their waterfronts so as to plot a development strategy for Hong Kong's harbor.
The coalition's patrons, which will fund its research projects, include HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd., other conglomerates such as The Swire Group, CITIC Pacific Ltd. and Jardine Matheson Holdings.
It also includes 27 chambers of commerce and business associations.
Cheng said it will try to influence government policy in the harbor's preservation.
He rejected suggestions that the coalition's establishment reflected a sudden change of heart by businesses and property developers, who have been the biggest beneficiaries of development made possible by reclamation.
"We all come together with a very sincere wish, which is to look at the future use of the harbor so that everybody in Hong Kong _ the business, the people, every stakeholder in Hong Kong _ can be proud," Cheng said.
"It's not about property development. It's not just about transport. It's not just about economics. It's the whole value of the harbor for us," he said.