The public engagement process for the East Lantau Metropolis (aka Kau Yi Chau Artificial Islands project) closed yesterday and initial analysis has led officials to cease all studies and officially withdraw the entire proposal. The announcement made earlier today effectively terminates all plans to connect Kennedy Town with Mui Wo via the MTR.
Many of the comments indicate overwhelming public opposition. A spokesperson reported that the results showed broad disappointment in the wasting of public resources and the destruction of natural resources marketed as progress. Evaluated in this context, the development appears to be at odds with objectives stated in expensive mass media advertising campaigns promoting sustainability.
In a surprising last minute announcement, officials also announced a sudden halt to the construction of the super incinerator on Kau Yi Chau after Miss Congeniality lodged a formal complaint to the ombudsman, citing irreversible damage to family living quarters.
Concerns were also raised by local citizens regarding air quality which has worsened in the area since the Chek Lap Kok reclamation and expansion along with the expanding Tung Chung new town. These developments on North Lantau are a short distance from the world’s factory in Guandong, built by Hong Kong business leaders in search of more profits with cheap overheads when transplanting industries just across the border with China in the years leading up to the 1997 handover.
Seasonal easterlies offer a brief reprieve from the worsening air pollution for a few months each year, but all fresh air would be disappeared once the expired technology delivers its toxic emissions to all of South Lantau in the peak winter hiking weather.
In light of public comments received, all expansion plans for South Lantau Road have been postponed indefinitely and engineers have been instructed to fully explore all available options to preserve native forests along the popular coastline.
In a related development, the world’s longest bridge has gone bankrupt, unable to achieve the minimum 50,000 vehicles per day required to break even after tolls were dropped in an attempt to generate traffic. Plans for a light rail conversion are in the works.
The lungs of Hong Kong are set to remain healthy for the foreseeable.
The announcement coincides with a full wetland ban on concrete farming with effect April 1, 2023.
