MACAU DAILY TIMES
Vítor Quintã
Local authorities in Macau are worried about a Hong Kong court decision that could delay the development of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge by six months.
“We are very concerned about this case,” an Infrastructure Development Office (GDI) spokesperson told Macau Daily Times this week.
On Monday, the HKSAR Court of the First Instance overturned a decision by the city’s environmental chief to green-light key parts of the Hong Kong section of the Pearl River Delta bridge.
The court ruled that the HKSAR director of environmental protection, Anissa Wong Sean Yee, should not have granted permits for the construction and operation of the bridge’s boundary crossing facilities, and a 12 kilometre link road.
Judge Joseph Fok said the impact assessment reports did not meet the required standard because the Government had only provided the environmental conditions with the project in place and had failed to present separate data on the conditions without the project.
It could take the Hong Kong authorities about six months to comply with the court ruling, Ng Cho Nam told South China Morning Post (SCMP). The environmental permits for the bridge issued two years ago would have to be withdrawn and additional information added.
The former environment adviser said the Government should provide the additional information. “An appeal will be uncertain both in the time needed and the eventual outcome,” Ng said.
The HKSAR authorities gave no indication as to which path they would take.
Macau’s GDI declined to comment on whether this court decision could delay the opening of the bridge or increase the cost of the project.
“It would not be appropriate, considering that this is an issue to be handled by the Hong Kong Government,” a spokesperson said.
2016 viable
The Hong Kong Environmental Protection Department said it was seeking legal advice, according to the SCMP.
The Hong Kong Transport and Housing Bureau said it would make a decision ‘as soon as possible’.
“We will study the judgement and its implications before deciding how to handle the aforesaid procedural issue,” the bureau said in a statement.
Construction work on the bridge has begun but not as yet in the Hong Kong section. The HKSAR Transport and Housing Bureau said the target of completing and commissioning the bridge by 2016 was still viable.
“We will continue to press ahead with the advance work of local projects, and will look into ways to carry work forward, and consider proceeding or completing in phases,” the statement adds.
The court decision came after a retired Hong Kong resident, Chu Yee Wah, requested a judicial review. The 65 year old argued that the construction of the project would affect her health, especially as she suffers from diabetes and a heart condition.
Chu’s lawyer claimed the environmental impact reports were incomplete on seven points but the court accepted only one of the claims.
Judge Fok also stressed that the decision had nothing to do with the merits of the project.
“Once the adverse environmental impacts of the project are properly assessed and presented in compliant environmental impact assessment reports, then that will be the decision for the [HKSAR environmental protection] director and not for the court.”
