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Years late and billions of dollars too expensive, here are Hong Kong’s budget black holes
Raymond Yeung,South China Morning Post 51 minutes ago
With its latest HK$16.5 billion cost overrun, the MTR’s Sha Tin-Central Link is set to become Hong Kong’s most expensive rail project in history. The mega project, to be completed in two phases between 2019 and 2021, is only one of a number of infrastructure developments in the city that have faced delays and budget overruns over the past few years.
These projects belong to an ambitious plan by then-chief executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen in 2007 to undertake 10 major public infrastructure developments.
“A rough estimate of the added value to our economy brought about by these projects, from commissioning to a mature stage, would be more than HK$100 billion annually, amounting to some 7 per cent of our GDP in 2006. In addition, some 250,000 additional jobs would be created,” Tsang said in his policy address that year.
Below are the problems some of these projects have since run into.
Sha Tin-Central Link
The biggest expansion of the MTR network since its inception in 1979, the 17km line consists of 10 stops, travelling from the New Territories to Kowloon and across the harbour to Hong Kong Island.
The project has had to overcome a series of obstacles since construction began in 2012, including the discovery of archaeological relics dating back to the Song or Yuan dynasties, which delayed work by nearly a year.
A military shipwreck found near the site where the submarine tunnel would pass through further hampered progress.
The mishaps have pushed the completion dates – from 2018 for the first section and 2020 for the cross-harbour segment – to 2019 and 2021 respectively.
The link was originally meant to cost HK$79.8 billion, but the MTR Corporation announced on Tuesday that an extra HK$16.5 billion was needed to cover surging labour costs and remedial measures, meaning the final bill – to be footed by taxpayers – could reach HK$97 billion.
Raymond Yeung,South China Morning Post 51 minutes ago
With its latest HK$16.5 billion cost overrun, the MTR’s Sha Tin-Central Link is set to become Hong Kong’s most expensive rail project in history. The mega project, to be completed in two phases between 2019 and 2021, is only one of a number of infrastructure developments in the city that have faced delays and budget overruns over the past few years.
These projects belong to an ambitious plan by then-chief executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen in 2007 to undertake 10 major public infrastructure developments.
“A rough estimate of the added value to our economy brought about by these projects, from commissioning to a mature stage, would be more than HK$100 billion annually, amounting to some 7 per cent of our GDP in 2006. In addition, some 250,000 additional jobs would be created,” Tsang said in his policy address that year.
Below are the problems some of these projects have since run into.
Sha Tin-Central Link
The biggest expansion of the MTR network since its inception in 1979, the 17km line consists of 10 stops, travelling from the New Territories to Kowloon and across the harbour to Hong Kong Island.
The project has had to overcome a series of obstacles since construction began in 2012, including the discovery of archaeological relics dating back to the Song or Yuan dynasties, which delayed work by nearly a year.
A military shipwreck found near the site where the submarine tunnel would pass through further hampered progress.
The mishaps have pushed the completion dates – from 2018 for the first section and 2020 for the cross-harbour segment – to 2019 and 2021 respectively.
The link was originally meant to cost HK$79.8 billion, but the MTR Corporation announced on Tuesday that an extra HK$16.5 billion was needed to cover surging labour costs and remedial measures, meaning the final bill – to be footed by taxpayers – could reach HK$97 billion.
