Hong Kong’s Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said his administration will “go ahead as planned” to redevelop three towers in Wan Chai into a new wing of the Convention and Exhibition Centre despite moving a former leader’s office into one of the buildings to “save government money”.
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The city leader on Tuesday also reaffirmed a pledge to spend an average of HK$90 billion (US$11.6 billion) per year on public works in the coming years after finance chief Paul Chan Mo-po suggested setting out a priority on infrastructure projects to contain government spending.
The office of former chief executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor earlier confirmed an exclusive Post report on Sunday that it would be relocating to the Immigration Tower for at least three years.
The tower, one of three buildings of the Wan Chai government offices compound, was supposed to be vacated by the end of 2027. It will be rebuilt into a new complex that would add 30,000 square metres (322, 917 sq ft) of floor space for conventions and trade fairs as well as around 500 hotel rooms by 2034.
Lee stressed that “the Wan Chai redevelopment plan will go ahead as planned” at a press conference on Tuesday ahead of a weekly meeting of the Executive Council, the city’s decision-making body.
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“But it is important for the government to make good use of resources, so while the redevelopment plan will go ahead, the buildings that have been vacated, we should make good use of them,” he said.