Tagged: Holden Chow

Fix North Lantau traffic chaos before bridge opens, says Holden Chow

After another morning of chaos on North Lantau Highway, Legco member Holden Chow has called on the government to tackle congestion before the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge opens.

He says the bridge will bring heavy traffic to the 12km highway, the sole road link between the city and Chek Lap Kok Airport.

“If no appropriate measures we are afraid that that would cause a big problem on the North Lantau Highway,” said Chow, who also represents Tung Chung South in the Islands District Council.

Four separate accidents occurred on the road between 8am and 10am today, causing traffic to back up across the Tsing Ma and Kap Shui Mun bridges in the airport direction.

On Tuesday even Chief Executive Carrie Lam was caught in congestion after four accidents occurred in a short period on the freeway.

Chow told RTHK:

“We suggest that the government ought to launch different sorts of mechanisms, including installing different facilities to show electronic signals on different highways, including the Western Harbour Tunnel, for example, just to alert or remind the travellers in advance.”

The 55-km HZBM Bridge is still officially due to open in May, but almost certainly will be delayed to the second half of the year.

Another lawmaker has called for a review of all major roads on North Lantau and west Hong Kong after the partial closure of Lantau Link because of high winds last Friday.

Photo: Headline News

Tung Chung’s new public market won’t open until at least 2023

The government has rebuffed requests from district councillors to build a public market in central Tung Chung.

Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) official have also declined to build a temporary market to serve residents before the new market is ready in five years.

Responding to Islands District Councillor members Eric Kwok and Holden Chow, the department says there is no room in the town centre for a market and it will go ahead with a site it has identified in Tung Chung east.

But that won’t be ready until residents move into Tung Chung east, one of the city’s major housing expansion projects, which won’t be finished until at least 2023.

Kwok says residents’ groups have been pressing the FEHD for three years on three possible sites: the temporary bus terminus on Tat Tung Rd, the vacant lot space behind the North Lantau and next to the bus depot at Chung Wai Street.

Until now, the department has not given a formal response.

In a written reply to Kwok, it said it had no plans to set up a temporary market, citing hygiene, safety, water supply and other issues.

“At this stage we are focusing our efforts on the construction of new public markets,” it said.

It said the new market was “conveniently” located next to the planned Tung Chung East MTR station, currently scheduled to open in 2026.

Kwok said new markets are also planned for the Ying Tung estate in Tung Chung east and Mun Tung, now nearing completion in Tung Chung west.

But both will be put to commercial tender, raising fears of a repeat of the Link REIT experience, he says.

Link REIT, a real estate trust which owns markets across Hong Kong, including Tung Chung’s Fu Tung, has been accused of pricing rents too high for small businesses and consumers.

Many Yat Tung residents travel out of Tung Chung to do their shopping because of the high local prices.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam committed to building a new public market in Tung Chung in her September policy address.

Government planners say Tung Chung’s population, currently below 90,00, will increase to nearly 250,000 over the next eight years as a result of new projects in Man Tung, Tung Chung west and Tung Chung east.

Lantau’s rising political star

Lantau has never bred a major political leader, but Holden Chow, a rising star in the pro-Beijing camp, could be the first. Holden

The 37-year-old DAB vice-chairman, who was elected to Tung Chung South in November District Council poll, is making a tilt at the Legco seat vacated by former Civic Party member Ronnie Tong. As SCMP puts it, the by-election “is widely seen as a showdown between the pan-democracy and pro-Beijing camps.”

Chow is also tipped to contest the LegCo ‘super seat’, likely in September, with backing from Regina Ip’s New People’s Party.

Chow, a solicitor, is often sought out by English-speaking and foreign media for his views. In an interview with the New York Times on the Hong Kong democratic reform bill last year he said China was “going her own way.”

Like it or not, this is the reality and China has to go on her own way. Also, I believe that if all of a sudden China carried out democratic elections tomorrow, that may create a lot of consequences, too. It is something that is very realistic, and I am a very pragmatic person. You have these ideals, good, but you also have to strike a balance with reality.