Lantau Tomorrow price tag put at HK$624b

The Lantau Tomorrow Vision project — an ambitious land reclamation plan to the west of Hong Kong Island aimed at easing the city’s chronic housing woes — is estimated to cost HK$624 billion, making it the most expensive infrastructure project in the special administrative region’s history.

The estimate, equivalent to about half of Hong Kong’s fiscal reserves, was revealed on Tuesday by Secretary for Development Michael Wong Wai-lun, who called the project “worthwhile”, that would greatly improve people’s lives.

The total cost covers reclaiming 1,000 hectares of land to build artificial islands around Kau Yi Chau, off eastern Lantau, reclamation work at Sunny Bay and Lung Kwu Tan, the coastal areas of Tuen Mun, as well as building transport infrastructure networks.

Although the latest estimate far exceeds a government source’s earlier evaluation of between HK$400 billion and HK$500 billion, Wong said the project will not “empty the coffers”.

“Usually, the government does not reveal cost estimates before it carries out studies on a project. But, the public is worried that this project might empty coffers. Our conclusion is that it will not,” he assured.

In his budget speech last month, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said the SAR’s financial reserves would reach HK$1.16 trillion by the end of March this year.

Wong stressed the SAR government could recover the cost for Lantau Tomorrow Vision through land revenue, citing estimates by the Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors that the potential land revenue from private residential and commercial projects on the artificial islands could be between HK$974 billion and HK$1.14 trillion.

He said the artificial islands around Kau Yi Chau would provide up to 260,000 residential units, 70 percent of which would be set aside for public housing, easing the growing population pressure in the New Territories.

At least three new railways will be built, with the total construction cost of transport infrastructure networks reaching HK$273 billion.

According to the government’s timeline, the first phase of the reclamation work will start in 2025, with the first batch of residents moving in from 2032. The railways are due to enter service two or three years later.

Lantau Tomorrow Vision will create the city’s third business district and housing hub, contributing to economic growth annually, Wong said, predicting that the area would bring in economic benefits of HK$141 billion a year, or some 5 percent of the city’s gross domestic product.

He stressed that the HK$624 billion estimate is only preliminary. A more accurate figure would be obtained after planning and engineering research work are completed.

Legislator Edward Lau Kwokfan of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong said he believed the government could have a balanced budget, adding that even if the project costs were to overrun by 20 percent to HK$700 billion, the government could still pay for itself.

Besides, the plan deserves support as it will offer more than 100,000 public housing units.

According to Wong, the government will ask the Legislative Council on March 26 for HK$500 million to conduct research on the artificial islands to be reclaimed. They will also discuss setting up a HK$1 billion Lantau Conservation Fund.