Tagged: Tung Chung
Thieves nab $1.5m haul from Visionary as city-wide spree continues
A Visionary resident has lost jewellery and watches worth an estimated HK$1.47 million in the latest in a spate of burglaries across the city.
A 57-year-old man told police he had found his window forced open and the apartment ransacked when he returned to his home in the upscale apartment complex at about 10am yesterday, Headline News reported. The thieves had taken the valuables from a safe.
It was the tenth burglary in Hong Kong in three days. A home in Causeway Bay was also burgled on Tuesday night, and other break-ins have taken place in Happy Valley, Kowloon Tong and Kowloon City, scmp.com reports.
The spree targeting luxury homes is almost certainly the work of a well-organised gang.
Police so far have been cautious in public comments, saying only that they are investigating to see if a syndicate is involved.
Budget promises local health care centre and hospital expansion
District health centres are to be established across Hong Kong and planning will shortly begin for the expansion of North Lantau Hospital, the government’s 2018-19 budget reveals.
Handing down the budget today, Financial Secretary Paul Chan says the first centre would be built in Kwai Chung in the third quarter of 2019, “after which we will progressively set up such centres in all 18 districts.”
He said he would set aside required resources to support the initiative, although he did not say where in Islands district the community centre would be located.
Chan said community-based healthcare could raise awareness of personal healthcare management and improve medical and rehabilitation services, thus reducing the load on hospitals.
North Lantau Hospital, which hit the headlines last year after an Audit Commission report assailed it for waste and mismanagement, is also set to expand. The commission found a fifth of the hospital was empty and some expensive medical equipment had been barely used.
Planning for the expansion will get underway in the 2020s to cope with the influx of more than 100,000 new residents within the next decade, Chan said.
Following release of the budget, Hospital Authority chairman Prof John Leung said the authority would commission more services for North Lantau hospital later this year.
Tung Chung ozone worse, but PM2.5 has improved
The ozone level in Tung Chung has worsened in the last five years, but the presence of all other major pollutants has declined, according to government figures.
Air quality data released to Legco today show ozone levels increased 9% between 2013 and 2017, but level PM2.5 particulates fell 19% and sulphur dioxide is down 36% (see below).
Responding to a question from People Power member Raymond Chan, Environment Secretary Wong Kam-sing said the high ozone level was a result of “the influence of regional pollution.”
Chan said a number of Tung Chung residents had told him they felt local air quality had deteriorated in recent months and feared the opening of the Macau bridge would make the air even worse.
But Wong said apart from ozone, the level of air pollutants in Tung Chung was within government air quality targets.
Source: EPD
But he admitted that no assessment of the air quality impact of the HK-Macau bridge had been made since 2009. The 30-kilometre main bridge is due to open in May.
Wong said a Highways Department study prior to construction had concluded that “air quality at sensitive receivers in the vicinity” of the bridge would comply with government targets.
He said there was no plan to further review Tung Chung air or the effects of traffic crossing the new bridge.
But he said the EPD would continue to monitor the air quality across Hong Kong, including Tung Chung, and was also reviewing the current air quality objectives (AQOs).
Councillor condemns govt over slow progress on Tung Chung West station
District Councillor Bill Tang has condemned the government over the lack of progress in building out the MTR line to Tung Chung West.
He said the government’s 2014 railway strategy had “made a clear commitment” to extend the Tung Chung Line out to western Tung Chung by 2024.
Construction of the new station, which would service Yat Tung, the new Area 39 and forthcoming Tung Chung West projects, was due to start in 2020, Tang pointed out at last week’s Islands District Council meeting.
But so far the MTR Corp and the Transport & Housing Bureau had given no indication of the progress and had not begun any public consultation.
“As I understand it, initial design, research and exploration take 18 to 24 months, followed by public consultation and detailed design,” he said, suggesting the government was at risk of falling behind its target of a 2020 start.
Tang, who represents Yat Tung North on the Islands District Council, said the lack of progress showed the government was “neglecting the livelihood of the people in the district and deserves to be condemned.”
In a written response, the Transport Bureau said it had received a proposal just last month from MTR Corp on possible development the Tung Chung East and West stations. But it could give no further details.
“The actual implementation of the project will depend on the subsequent detailed engineering, environmental and financial research findings, and the latest assessment of passenger demand and the adequacy of resources,” it said.
The government has not set a precise timetable for the Tung Chung West residential development, but has said the first people are likely to move in in the early 2020s.
Preliminary work on the project, which will provide 14,000 apartments near Shek Mun Kap and Lung Tseng Tau, is now underway, the CEDD said in a submission to the District Council in December.
But work on Housing Authority apartments in Tung Chung area 39 , adjacent to the YMCA College, is nearly complete. It will provide 3,800 rental apartments that will hold an estimated population of more than 11,000.
Photo (top): Nearly-completed Housing Authority project at Tung Chung Area 39
1200 subsidised Tung Chung flats to go on sale next month
The Housing Authority will begin selling 1226 new Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) apartments in Tung Chung from the end of March.
The Yu Tai Court apartments, still under construction, will cost on average below HK$7000 per square foot – a 30% discount to the market price, according to HK01.
By comparison, the average sale price of the last ten transactions at Coastal Skyline, Caribbean Coast and Seaview Crescent was HK$8323, figures from squarefoot.com.hk show.
Most of the Yu Tai Court flats are small, with saleable area ranging from 277 square feet to 571 square feet. About 1,000 are below 430 square feet.
The apartments, at the corner of Yu Tung and Chung Yan roads, opposite the North Lantau Hospital, won’t be ready until at least 2020.
They are part of a batch of 4,400 HOS apartments being offered for sale at the end of March.
(Photos) Best of the ‘Capture & Experience Tung Chung’ photo contest
The CEDD has announced the winners of its ‘Capture and Experience Tung Chung’, a photo competition, which attracted more than 500 entries.
Lantau News here showcases the major winners and some of the other outstanding entries.
The Grand Prize in the Landscape and Architecture section went to Winter Dusk in a Fishing Village (冬日漁村黃昏) by Law Yun Lung:
The Grand Prize in the Culture and Living category was taken out by Small Fountain, Big Adventure (小水池、大冒險) by Choi Chi Ming:
Here is a selection of the finalists and other highlights. For the full gallery, click here.
Finalist: 火燒天海之鏡 (Fiery Reflection of Heaven and Earth) – Tang Ka Wai
Finalist: 歸航 (Homing) – Fung Siu
Winner, My Favourite Photo Award: 光 (Light) – Lau Jinling
潮水 (Tide)
美景垂釣 (Scenic Fishing)
Bridge in the distances
鳥看 (Bird’s View)
東涌新市鎮與傳統百年漁村共舞 (Tung Chung New Town and a traditional fishing village dance together)
The other Tung Chung property bubble: parking spaces
More than 30 parking spaces changed hands in Tung Chung this month, driven by the non-residential property boom and the expected impact of the HK-Macau bridge.
New price records were repeatedly set, according to Apple Daily. Caribbean Coast valuations reached a new high four times, rising from HK$1.65 million to HK$1.74 million.
Coastal Skyline and Tung Chung Crescent also changed hands at new highs of HK$1.9 million and HK$1.85 million respectively.
One investor sold a Coastal Skyline apartment for around HK$10 million and has since sunk HK$14 million into eight parking spots, mostlyi in Caribbean Coast, Coastal Skyline, Seaview Crescent and Tung Chung Crescent.
The investor is optimistic that the opening of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge will bring demand for parking spots. Additionally, funds are expected to continue flowing to the non-residential property sector because of the stamp duty that now hits owners of existing residential properties.
Based on the current market rate of Tung Chung parking spaces of about $2,300 to $ 3,500, the rate of return on rental for a group of parking spaces ranges from about 1.6% to 2.4%.
At least four more dead in latest Tung Chung dog poisonings
Four dogs have died and another is missing in another case of poisoning in Tung Chung.
More than 20 sparrows died from ingesting poison in Ma Wan Chung village.
A 69-year-old indigenous villager, Wong, found one of his dogs choking when he went to feed them early Friday evening, Apple Daily reports.
When he went to search for his other dogs he found a number of dead sparrows and suspected they poisoned bait had been laid.
He found three of his dogs had died while the other is still missing.
SPCA officials and more than 20 police officers went to the scene Saturday morning and found three dead dogs in separate locations and around 15 dead sparrows.
Five sparrows were sent to the Kadoorie Farm for treatment but later died.
Police appealed to the villagers for information about the poison or anyone who may have left out poisoned bait.
FEHD workers cleaned the road and footpath with high-pressure water cannons.
In November 11 dogs died of poisoning in separate incidents in Tung Chung and San Tau village. No arrests have been made over those deaths.
Police urge those with any information about the case to call on 3661 1931.
Photos: Apple Daily
Tung Chung east reclamation begins following issue of $12b contract
Work on Tung Chung east, the biggest expansion of the district since it was built 20 years ago, is now underway following the issue of a HK$12.1 billion contract for reclamation work.
The project will involve a massive reclamation of 130 ha of Tung Chung Bay between Tai Ho and Tung Chung, including construction of 4.9km in seawalls.
The work will be carried out by Build King-SCT, a joint venture led by listed civil engineering firm Build King, the government announced yesterday.
Tung Chung East reclamation (CEDD)
Work began on December 29 and under the current timetable the first parcel of land will be handed over to the Housing Department in 2020.
The first residents are expected to move in in 2023. When completed, Tung Chung east will provide 40,000 new flats.
Tung Chung west (CEDD)
Another 9,000 apartments will be built at Tung Chung West around the villages of Shek Lau Po, Ngau Au, Lam Che, Mok Ka and Shek Mun Kap.
Site investigation work began in July and detailed infrastructure design is underway, CEDD told the Islands District Council last month.
Tung Chung East, artist’s impression (CEDD)
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 Confidential 