Reclamation
Extra land provided,
but with adverse effects
by Angela Yau
H
arbour reclamation provides extra land for the growth of urban areas and further extension of social facilities in Hong Kong.However, the harbour will be turned into a man-made, concrete-lined trough and will lose its scenic value.
According to Mr. Winston Chu Ka Sun, a member of the Town Planning Board and a leading figure in the “Save the Harbour”
Above: Reclamation in Tseung Kwan O.
campaign, the government has reclaimed 3,600 hectares from the harbour over the past 50 years. This is four times the size of the Kowloon Peninsula all the way up to Boundary Street.
Said he: “The government is proposing to reclaim a further 1,300 hectares, which is equal to one and a half times the size of the Kowloon Peninsula.”
Green Peace Project Officer Yau Gong Yuen said, “Reclamation is environmentally destructive.”
“Contaminated mud is released into the water while dredging the sea bed.
“Sea mud may contain heavy metals, toxins and other unknown materials which are harmful to marine organisms.”
Mr. Yau said that lives of some rare species, like Romer’s frogs and pink dolphins, are threatened as the living space shrinks.
Mr. Chu spoke in a recent seminar on “Harbour reclamation and Sustainable Development in Hong Kong” organized by the Conservancy Association.
He said that extensive reclamation projects have numerous adverse effects.
“First of all,” said he, “the danger of collision has increased due to the narrowing of the harbour.
“And, second, reclamation causes tremendous environmental and ecological problems on visual impact, air quality, water quality, tidal currents, and disturbance of the sea bed.
“Finally, adverse economic impacts will be imposed on tourism, shipping, ferry operation and the fishing industry,” said he.
In fact, according to Mr. Chu, there are other ways to obtain more land.
He said, “Though 40,000 hectares have been zoned Country Parks and Mai Po Nature Reserve, a large area of land is still available for development.”
Hong Kong has 77,000 hectares of land in the New Territories, which is more than a thousand times the area of the harbour.
“Moreover, active and effective policies of urban renewal can be implemented in order to increase land supply,” said Mr. Chu.
Mr. Augustine Ng, the chief town planner of the Planning Department, disagreed with Mr. Chu.
He spoke on behalf of the government in another forum, “Reclamation in Victoria Harbour”, organised by the Geography Society of The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Mr. Ng said, “Much of the land in the New Territories is fragmented and covered by country parks. Large scale resumption of private land is very time-consuming and thus too slow to meet the immediate needs.”
He said more reclamation is required for several reasons.
“In 2011,” said he, “the population is expected to increase to about 7.5 to 8.1 million. Demands for additional land are expected to increase by 25 percent.
“Hong Kong has to expand its hub in response to the very rapid economic growth in the Pearl River Delta region.
“Besides, reclamations can eliminate highly polluted ‘black spots’ in areas where the tidal flows are weak.”
However, the narrowing of the harbour is inevitable. Victoria Harbour now has an average width of about 1,000 metres.
The narrowest section, between the Central District Reclamation and Kowloon Point, is only about 800 metres wide.
Admitted Mr. Ng: “Despite the negative effects, the government is ready to implement mitigation measures to address them.
“Our harbour area will be expanded with the westward shift of our port to the northern part of Lantau Island and the inner harbour becomes a central, marine amenity area.
“Control on building heights on the new reclamations will also help to preserve the scene.”
Reclamation projects now under construction or nearly completed include projects in Hung Hom Bay, Central, Wan Chai, Aldrich Bay, Belchers Bay, West Kowloon and Stonecutters Island Naval Base.
All told, these cover a total area of about 447 hectares.
Proposed reclamation schemes for Central, Wanchai, Green Island, Kowloon Point, Kowloon Bay and Tsuen Wan Bay cover 632 hectares. The estimated expense for the reclamation projects is about $60 billion.
