Better harbourfront expected

2019-03-01 09:37:45

Delivering his 2019-20 Budget today, Financial Secretary Paul Chan unveiled measures to boost Hong Kong?s liveability and take forward smart city initiatives.

The finance chief earmarked $6 billion for developing new harbourfront promenades and open space as well as improving harbourfront facilities.

He said the Government plans to extend the length of the harbourfront promenades from the current 20km to 34km in about a decade, and provide 35 hectares of open space on both sides of Victoria Harbour.

On top of earmarking resources for the Market Modernisation Programme in last year?s Budget, Mr Chan said he will allocate more resources to the Food & Environmental Hygiene Department for refurbishing its public toilets in phases, improving ventilation and other facilities.

He estimated that more than $600 million may be incurred, involving about 240 public toilets in the coming five years.

Environmental protection

To promote the wider use of electric vehicles, Mr Chan said he will allocate $120 million to extend the public charging networks at government car parks. More than 1,000 additional public chargers are expected to be in place by 2022, bringing the total to 1,700.

An extra $1 billion will be provided to departments to install renewable energy facilities at government buildings and venues, and community facilities.

On tree care, the Budget proposed to set up a $200 million Urban Forestry Support Fund to step up public education and uplift practitioners? professional standards.

Initiatives under the fund include encouraging students to pursue studies in arboriculture, and rolling out arboriculture and horticulture trainee programmes.

Smart city goal

Noting the Government is pressing ahead with the establishment of the Common Spatial Data Infrastructure (CSDI) to tie in with the development of smart city applications by the community, Mr Chan said he will earmark $300 million to expedite the development of digital infrastructure.

With the CSDI coming into full operation by end-2022 and high-quality 3D digital maps of the city being made available in phases, more spatial data will be provided for organisations in the public and private sectors.

Read Full Article