Lam backs reclamation as ‘obvious’ land-supply option

Land reclamation is an obvious option to address Hong Kong’s land-supply problem, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said on Tuesday as debate swirls around the issue in the run-up to her annual Policy Address.

“Reclamation outside Victoria Harbour is very obviously one of the important land-supply options,” Lam said before the weekly Executive Council meeting.

“And Hong Kong’s development has been relying on reclamation over many decades.”

Lam said she expected to make a clear response on land supply in her Policy Address in three months’ time after hearing community views

collected by the city’s highest-level land-supply policy consulting body — the Task Force on Land Supply.

“I may not be able to provide all the solutions to Hong Kong’s long-outstanding land shortage problem, but to make no response at all on land supply in October when I announce my second Policy Address will not meet the people’s aspirations,” Lam said.

The chief executive said options may not exceed those proposed previously by the government in 2011 — which at the time examined feasibility, shipping routes and environmental issues.

According to the government consultation in 2011 — when Lam served as secretary for development — Lung Kwu Tan in Tuen Mun, Ma Liu Shui in Sha Tin, Siu Ho Wan and Sunny Bay in North Lantau, and Tsing Yi Southwest were listed as five sites for future reclamation.

The task force is now collecting public views on 18 solutions to tackle the land shortage in the city. The consultation period will end in September.

Lam has ordered the task force to report outcomes at different stages to the government during the fivemonth consultation. She also promised to ask Secretary for Development Michael Wong Wai-lun to discuss the issue with Stanley Wong Yuen-fai, task force chairman.

Lam also addressed skepticism over her timing in announcing views on reclamation compared with other solutions. She said the government must not shy away from dealing with the land-supply shortage.

“As a responsible senior official in Hong Kong administration, we have to be able to respond to that question,” Lam noted. The CE said the announcement would not affect the objectivity of the scheduled consultation process.

Lam told reporters at a media gathering two days ago that she supported marine reclamation as the best option to increase land supply. This sparked some concern that she might be influencing the results of the public consultation.