The Development Bureau posted on Facebook yesterday (January 31) that it was "inexplicable" and "too narrow" for the "Lantau Tomorrow" Kau Yi Chau artificial island project that was accused of being "sneaky" in public consultation and did not provide a channel to submit opinions, because The authorities have uploaded the document to the website for public viewing.
However, the argument was clearly not convincing.
Hong Kong's New Direction Legislative Council New Territories North Direct Election Member Zhang Xinyu issued an article "Discussing with the Development Bureau" this morning (February 1), pointing out that the so-called "series of public participation activities" by the Development Bureau are in line with the "reasonable expectations" of the general public's public consultation Participation is still a long way off.
He hoped that the authorities would learn from the "three railways and three roads" public consultation work, "maybe there will be less 'inexplicable' troubles, and the public will not need to bear the accusation of being 'too narrow'."
Jiao Yi Chau.
(profile picture)
The Development Bureau "inexplicably"
criticized the criticism for being too narrow
The Development Bureau stated that it was "bewildered" that the Kau Yi Chau artificial island project was accused of being "sneaky" and launched a public consultation.
The bureau said that after reporting the development plan to the Development Affairs Committee of the Legislative Council at the end of December last year, it has uploaded the relevant documents to the relevant website for the public to read; and then introduced a short video in the "Secretary of the Secretary" of the Development Bureau, and commented on FB matters, and met and exchanged with a number of professional groups.
As for the comment that the special website is the only channel for the public to express, the Development Bureau criticized the statement as "too narrow" because the bureau can collect public opinions through news reports and social media.
The relevant post did not receive much response. Until this afternoon, only more than 50 people liked it, including Legislative Council member Xie Weiquan.
However, another councilor Zhang Xinyu did not accept the goods.
He directly left a message "Discussion with the Development Bureau", saying that the reclamation of water is related to the future of Hong Kong. "Whether it is the necessity of the project, the value created, or the cost involved, it is worth explaining clearly." Therefore, he hopes that the bureau will encourage rational thinking , and make decisions under the maximum social consensus.
Zhang Xinyu believes that if the authorities see the best and emulate them, they may be able to reduce the "inexplicable" troubles, and the public will not need to bear the accusation of "too narrow".
Legislative Council member Zhang Xinyu.
(File photo/photo by Liao Yanxiong)
Zhang Xinyu
is "a bit ashamed"
Regarding the interpretation of "public consultation" by the Development Bureau as "public participation" that has already held a series of activities, Zhang Xinyu believes that no matter what the name is, whenever Hong Kong promotes large-scale infrastructure construction, it will always fully collect public opinions, and the whole process must meet the reasonable expectations of the public and request.
He said that although different decision-making departments under the same government seem to "use their own methods" in collecting opinions and there is no consistent standard, but for the new government with far-reaching influence, he hopes that the government can be honest with the public and communicate positively in order to be helpful. Promote the development of the project, and at the same time help to build a harmonious relationship between the government and the people.
As for the Development Bureau's claim that it has introduced the project to the Legislative Council Panel and consulted professional groups, Cheung Xin-yu criticized that there is still a big gap between the relevant practice and the "reasonable expectations" of the general public in the formal public consultation and participation.
Taking the key project "Three Railways and Three Roads" in Chief Executive Lee Ka-chao's "Policy Address 2022" as an example, he pointed out that on the day the project was announced, the relevant websites were launched simultaneously, clearly providing channels for collecting opinions, and there will be a public event that ordinary citizens can directly participate in. forum; in contrast, the reclaimed water research project was uploaded to the website nearly a month after the plan was announced, and only specific groups of people were consulted.
Zhang Xinyu said that he was "a bit ashamed" because he is an engineer himself and pays close attention to infrastructure development, so he should have a good grasp of the specific progress of the entire reclaimed water research; however, until the end of last month, he thought that the public consultation had not yet started, and When his assistant made inquiries to the Legislative Council Secretariat, the other party was also unaware.
Zhang Xinyu reminded the authorities through introspection: "Maybe I am not careful enough and have misunderstood, but it is also conceivable that ordinary citizens are more prone to similar misunderstandings."
