Opinion | Left Field: How Hong Kong pan-democrats' filibuster threatens to ruin our sporting dream
The group has managed to push back the long-delayed Kai Tak Sports Hub yet again as a side-effect of their protest
Summer is coming and the outlook is gloomy for the Kai Tak Sports Complex following last week's setback in Legco with the government dropping a funding request that was to go before the Finance Committee.
This was because of worries over filibustering by our long-winded pan-democrats who were out to derail a border crossing project between Hong Kong and Shenzhen. Fearing that members would not have time to deliberate on this matter, the government didn't table the funding request for pre-construction work on the sports complex.
Top government official close to the Kai Tak project, Jonathan McKinley, now fears that if this isn't taken up before Legco's summer recess - mid-July - then the overall timetable for the construction of the new stadium facilities could be delayed. We say "further" delayed with the estimated date of completion, once bandied around as being 2018, having been quietly pushed back to 2021.
We say 'further' delayed with the estimated date of completion, once bandied around as being 2018, having been quietly pushed back to 2021
About three weeks ago, after another lengthy and needless delay, the Legco public works subcommittee grudgingly approved HK$62.7 million in funding for pre-construction work on the HK$25 billion Kai Tak Sports Complex.
That hurdle crossed was greeted with sighs of relief from the government and the sporting community as this was where the minutiae of the proposal went under examination. The final vote at a meeting of the Finance Committee was supposed to be a mere formality and McKinley, the deputy secretary for Home Affairs, was already looking ahead to work getting under way soon.
First an operations consultant was to be hired before the end of this month, and these people would be the lead consultants for the project from the outset to its completion. These were the guys who were supposed to advise the government on everything from tender documents to planning the construction of the new stadium complete with retractable roof as well as the two other smaller stadiums, one of which is indoors.
