Hong Kong’s environmental authorities have conditionally approved an ecological report into a planned technology hub near the city’s border with mainland China, giving the project the go ahead despite green groups’ concerns.
Director of Environmental Protection Samuel Chui on Friday defended the environmental impact assessment report for the San Tin Technopole project as “scientific, professional and comprehensive,” adding that the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) had proposed additional ecological mitigation measures on top of the eight suggested in the report.
One of the main measures laid out was that the reclamation of 90 hectares of local fish ponds must not begin ahead of the construction of Sam Po Shue Wetland Conservation Park, a 338-hectare area that aims to compensate for the ecological losses resulting from the tech hub’s development.
Preserving space for a bird-flight corridor near the Lok Ma Chau Boundary Control Point and wildlife pathways for Eurasian otters in the area were also among the EPD’s conditions for approval.
Green groups earlier called on the EPD to reject the environmental impact assessment report, saying it had violated statutory requirements and contained technical errors and could therefore be subject to legal challenges.
“[We] are concerned that once the assessment is passed, unprecedented damage may be brought to the only remaining internationally recognised wetland in the Greater Bay Area,” 10 green groups said in a joint-statement.
But Chui on Friday said the assessment report was the outcome of a months-long public consultation period, including four meetings with green groups when “candid exchanges” were made.
“The ultimate purpose of our environmental impact assessment system is to improve the environment, strengthen ecological functions, and to create a community where human and nature co-exist,” Chui told reporters in Cantonese.
Green groups criticism
The assessment report was also conditionally approved by the government-appointed Advisory Council on the Environment (ACE) last month, and the report was submitted to EPD for a final examination.
The Civil Engineering and Development Department (CEDD), which is responsible for implementing the ecological mitigation measures, must now submit the designs for each measure, including wildlife corridors and habitat creation in the area.
Chui said authorities would closely monitor the effectiveness of the ecological mitigation measures and make adjustments when needed.
A cross-departmental environmental committee, with representatives from green groups and academics, would also be formed to aid the monitoring of, and approve proposals for, mitigation measures, he added.
When asked whether the government would face legal challenges, Chui said he would not “speculate if there would be judicial reviews [against the government].”
“But… every judicial review will bring harm to the whole of society. No matter who wins or loses, it will take a long time, often years, to complete,” he said.
The San Tin Technopole will cover 627 hectares, including some 300 hectares for IT development and will provide up to 54,000 homes.
See also: What is Hong Kong’s San Tin Technopole and why is the planned tech hub controversial?
A spokesperson for the Development Bureau on Friday welcomed the conditional approval of the assessment report, saying it provided “a solid foundation” for the commencement of town planning.
“The [CEDD] will make every effort to follow up on the conditions attached to the relevant approval, and to fully implement the environmental mitigation measures,” the spokesperson added.
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