Concerning about the problem of slow progress in vetting and approving funding applications for infrastructure projects  (2015/01/28)

President, infrastructure is an impetus for the economic development of Hong Kong. It can promote employment and enhance the long-term competitiveness of Hong Kong, and it is a sustained investment. In recent years, the Government has encountered opposition and obstruction of various degrees in the implementation of a number of major infrastructure projects and the progress of such projects has been affected. Take the last Legislative Session as an example. The Government had submitted 39 new project items to the Finance Committee, but only 13 items amounting to a total of $3.6 billion had been vetted and approved, which was less than 10% of the funds applied. In the current Session, the Financial Committee has to clear the backlog of last year in addition to a number of funding applications, and it is estimated that a total of $71 billion is involved. If the vetting and approving progress of this Session is similar to that of the last, the expenditure on infrastructure of Hong Kong this year will be $60 billion less than planned. It is evident that projects affected by the delayed approval of funds are not small in amount. So Members must know, if the approval of funding applications of the Government is delayed, it will result in the suspension of works, and the projects may even need to be tendered afresh, thus boosting the costs. The suspension of works may affect the job security and livelihood of the workers engaging in the industry, and the delay in projects will bring inestimable economic loss. 


President, when the Legislative Council resumed this Session, Members in the opposition camp launched the non-cooperation movement in the legislature in a high profile to support the Occupy action, to express their discontent with the constitutional reform and to vent their spleen on the Government. The non-cooperation movement seeks to paralyse the operation of the SAR Government and impede its administration. First, they joined the Public Works Subcommittee and the Establishment Subcommittee at the last minute to take up the seats, so that they can form the majority in the subcommittees to impede the progress of meetings. Immediately, the Public Works Subcommittee was turned into a new battlefield for impeding the passage of funding applications for projects. Funding applications are blocked at the Public Works Subcommittee before they can be submitted to the Finance Committee, which is de facto causing delay. The Establishment Subcommittee encounters a similar situation. At the meeting of the Finance Committee, Members from the opposition camp make use of all the rules in the Rules of Procedures to carry out filibusters, such as raising irrelevant questions, proposing motions for adjournment and a large number of amendments, and so on, to delay the passage of various funding applications. 


The playing up of filibusters in the legislature used to be the style of certain Members in the opposition camp, but in the non-cooperation movement this time around, Members of the Legislative Council in the opposition camp have declared their stance unequivocally in open. At present, infrastructure projects of the Government are subject to serious delay. These Members should be bold enough to bear the responsibilities and consequences. Regrettably, the convener of the pan-democrats' "lunch-box meeting", Mr Alan LEONG, has shifted all the blame for the slow progress in vetting and approving funding applications to the SAR Government. He said that "the Government has repeatedly pushed through the more controversial infrastructure projects regardless of public opinions and has also hijacked the Legislative Council by the livelihood-related projects", but I cannot agree with this remark. Honestly, when the Government submits the items to the Legislative Council, it is impossible that the proposal will be perfect, and there will inevitably be inadequacies. Members from different sectors are obliged to express their views from different perspective at different committees and to discuss and communicate with the relevant government departments. This is one of the obligations of Members of the Legislative Council and the purpose is to perfect the proposals. Members of the opposition camp on the one hand think of every way to exploit their rights and the Rules of Procedure to delay the vetting and approval of funding applications. On the other hand, they invent all kinds of excuses to shift the blame to the SAR Government. If they are not pretending to be suffering from amnesia, they are afraid of losing the votes of electors. 


President, the practice of impeding infrastructure projects by means of the non-cooperation movement will not only affect the operation of the Government and increase costs, but more seriously, it will slow down the economic development of Hong Kong and affect people's livelihood. Take the item on strategic studies for artificial islands in the central waters as an example. Since the filibuster started in the previous Session, six meetings had been held by the Public Works Subcommittee, yet the item was not passed. Eventually, the Government could only withdraw the item then. Last week, the Public Works Subcommittee rejected the items on Kowloon East Regional Headquarters, Liantang/Heung Yuen Wai Boundary Control Point and the Planning and Engineering Study on Sunny Bay Reclamation. As for the item on the extension of three landfills and the construction of one incinerator, after prolonged filibustering, the item was passed only recently, and the funding application for the planning of topside development at Hong Kong boundary crossing facilities island of Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge is also subject to delay. 


The series of actions under the non-cooperation movement launched by Members of the opposition camp are pulling the leg of the Government. Their actions of using funding applications to threaten the Government have not only adversely affected infrastructure projects but also affected items involving people's livelihood on the agenda, seriously undermining the means of living of the labour sector and the well-being of the people. They are abusing their powers. 


Lastly, I urge Members of the opposition camp to cease the non-cooperation movement expeditiously, for if the non-cooperation actions persist, both sides will suffer, and no one will benefit. Reasonable infrastructure projects have to be carried out in Hong Kong to form an economic foundation to bring forth improvement in people's livelihood. A wide range of industries are connected to infrastructure. The construction industry is not the only industry affected, for other relevant trades, such as the logistics, procurement and raw material supplies industries, will also incur enormous losses as a result of the delay in works. If Members of the opposition camp insist on imposing their views and continue with the non-cooperation movement in the Legislative Council, they will lose more support from the public. I hope they will rein in before it is too late. 


With these remarks, I support Mr Abraham SHEK's motion and Mr NG Leung-sing's amendment. Thank You, President.