[EN-SEA] HK Terminal Operators, Government At Odds Over Land Use

THE Hong Kong Government and local terminal operators are at odds over what to do with 29.5 hectares the authorities want developed as a logistics park and the stevedoring companies want earmarked for container storage.

"Where would there be goods for the logistics sector to add value to if the pier hasn't enough space to keep the containers in the first place," said Container Terminal Operators Association chairman Alan Lee Yiu-kwong.

The Transport and Housing Bureau said the decision was made after balancing the different interests of the industry, reported the South China Morning Post, adding that logistics companies would provide higher value than container storage.

Said Hutchison Ports South China financial chief Ivor Chow: "We will have to return boxes to the shippers if we cannot find a new place for them. When word spreads that Hong Kong ports are full, clients move elsewhere and will not come back."

Arguing that storage space was badly needed, the operators, including Hutchison Ports, Modern Terminals and DP World, opposed the plan that would tender the sites in the Kwai Chung district to the logistics industry.

Hutchison group's Hong Kong International Terminals will have to find alternative storage for up to 10,000 containers it stores on one site leased under short-term tenancies.

The smallest, 2.4 hectares, will be opened for bidding in June. The bureau said previous work sites of the recently opened Route 8 would soon be released to satisfy the intense demand for land.

Source : HKSG, 10.04.10.