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Hong Kong mega bridge launch announcement sparks backlash
HONG KONG, Oct 18, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – China has finally announced the
opening ceremony for the world’s longest sea bridge, which will connect Hong
Kong, Macau and the mainland, but critics hit back Thursday over the secrecy
surrounding the project.
Construction started in 2009 on the 55-kilometre (34-mile) crossing, which
includes a snaking road bridge and underwater tunnel, linking Hong Kong’s
Lantau island to the southern mainland Chinese city of Zhuhai and the
gambling enclave of Macau, across the waters of the Pearl River Estuary.
It has been dogged by delays, budget overruns, corruption prosecutions and
the deaths of construction workers.
While supporters promote it as an engineering marvel, others see the
multi-billion dollar project as a costly white elephant designed to further
integrate Hong Kong into the mainland at a time when Beijing is tightening
its grip on the semi-autonomous city.
Local media received invites from Beijing’s liaison office in Hong Kong
Wednesday to an “opening ceremony” in Zhuhai on Tuesday, with no further
details given.
China’s President Xi Jinping is reported to be attending the event, but
there has been no official confirmation whether the bridge will go into
operation that day.
Hong Kong’s transport department had no immediate answer Thursday when AFP
asked whether it would be fully commissioned Tuesday.
Bus companies supposed to be operating on the bridge complained they were
in the dark.
“At such short notice and without any details, how can we make the
necessary logistic arrangements?” Eddie Choi, a spokesman for coach operator
One Bus Hong Kong Macau, told the South China Morning Post.
The operator’s website lists the schedule and prices for the bus rides,
but a staff member said the transport bureau had not confirmed the opening
date with the firm and information about ticketing was not yet available.
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– ‘No control’ –
An official from the mainland-based bridge authority told AFP the bridge
would be “considered open” from Tuesday and confirmed there would be access
that day to registered cars and buses, but did not elaborate.
The China Daily newspaper cited a source familiar with the matter saying
the bridge would be open to traffic later in the day, after the opening
ceremony.
Pro-democracy lawmaker Kwok Ka-ki who sits on the Hong Kong government’s
transport panel said he only learned of the launch ceremony from media
reports Wednesday and had not received an invite to the opening.
Members of the transport panel have been invited to a bridge inspection
Saturday, according to Tanya Chan, another panel member.
Kwok accused officials of secrecy and said there were still many
unanswered questions.
“The bridge needs to be open and used by the public as soon as possible
but whether it is safe and arrangements are properly in place and conducted
and tested we do not know,” he told AFP.
He likened the lack of transparency to the launch last month of Hong
Kong’s new high-speed rail terminus, which saw Chinese security operating on
the city’s soil for the first time.
Mainland staff were brought into the station at a hush-hush midnight
ceremony.
“Although Hong Kong people have paid a lot for the construction and have a
substantial share in this bridge, we have no control,” said pro-democracy
legislator Chan, who added that she had no idea what the opening ceremony
Tuesday entailed.
“The Hong Kong government is always out of the picture and is under the
control of the Chinese government,” she said.
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