Ex-leaders’ offices cost HK$21m annually

Operating expenses for the offices of four former chief executives reached nearly HK$21 million in the last financial year, with around 44 per cent attributed to the workplace of Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor who attended more than 700 activities in the past 24 months.

The director of administration said yesterday that the revised estimate of recurrent expenditure for Lam’s office at Pacific Place in Admiralty was around HK$9.17 million, including HK$5.67 million for rent and HK$2.86 million in staff expenses.

Recurrent expenditure for Lam’s office rose 31 per cent year on year. It accounted for around 44 per cent of the total expenditure for running all four former leaders’ offices, which stood at HK$20.99 million in the 2023-24 financial year.

The director also said Lam had attended over 700 promotional or protocol-related functions in her capacity as a former chief executive in the past two years.

Lawmaker Dominic Lee Tszking from the New People’s Party said Lam had mainly attended events out of courtesy and questioned if the grade A office space was necessary. He suggested moving her office to government property or other commercial areas, such as Kai Tak.

“The city’s economy is bad and the government is facing a deficit. The former leader should go through this difficult time together,” he said.

“Even multinational corporations are moving their offices to places with lower rent. Why does a former chief executive need to rent such space?”

After Lam completed her fiveyear term in 2022, the government rented a 2,874 sq ft office for her in the Admiralty shopping centre and office tower complex as the Office of Former Chief Executives on Kennedy Road in Mid-Levels had run out of space after accommodating three others.

Currently, Tung Chee-hwa, Donald Tsang Yam-kuen and Leung Chun-ying use the government-owned office, a Grade I historic building constructed in the early 1900s.

In a reply to lawmakers’ questions on the latest government budget, the director said Lam’s office had spent HK$6.95 million in the 2022-23 financial year, with more than 60 per cent of that for paying rent. It also spent HK$6.55 million on renovations that year, prompting some lawmakers to question the huge sum involved.

Overall expenses for running all four former chief executives’ offices cost HK$17.85 million in the 2022-23 financial year.

The Administration Wing in 2022 said Admiralty was a suitable location as it had to meet the status of the former chief executive and operational requirements.

The director is expected to spend HK$22.07 million on running all the former chief executives’ offices in the current financial year, a 5.1 per cent yearon-year increase.