Bridge over troubled waters

Like the Light Rail Transit (LRT) the main infrastructure project here in the next ten years and a central axis in turning Macau into a worldwide tourist destination is the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge. However, it will cost much more than originally envisaged and will likely be ready four years after the already revised schedule. Li Chunhong, director of the Guangdong Development and Reform Commission, has admitted that the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge will cost more than the current HK$132.9 billion estimation. The significant delays to the project and additional outlay will put more pressure on the government finances of the three cities. On the sidelines of the National People’s Congress in Beijing, Mr. Chunhong said that “the delay will have an impact on the cost, and we’re still making an assessment,” the South China Morning Post reported. “The extra cost will be settled based on agreement between the three places.” Last month, Hong Kong authorities confirmed that the project will be completed by next year. Now, however, Li admits that the new completion date is 2020 or even after. The Guangdong official underlined that even 2020 was a “difficult target” due to technical difficulties in laying sections of tubes on the seabed and joining them to make a tunnel. In October, a new schedule for the bridge will be revealed following an assessment. The 30-kilometre bridge linking the three cities will have dual 3-lanes, a 6.7-kilometre tunnel and two artificial islands. It will connect the two shores of the Pearl River Delta, linking Hong Kong to Gongbei in Zhuhai and A Perola in Macau. The total cost of the project is now fixed at HK$132.9 billion, according to official data, with Hong Kong paying the largest portion of HK$83 billion, including a new island off the airport. Last month, the Hong Kong Government asked the Legislative Council to inject another HK$5.46 billion into the project to cover cost overruns. A new headwind For Macau, the delay is set to be a new headache for the government and another headwind for the gaming industry. If the estimation of the Guangdong official is right, the new bridge will be completed three years after all the new casinos in Cotai are open. The LRT project is also facing ballooning costs with the completion date now slated for 2018, and only for the Taipa line. The LRT project on the Peninsula still has to go to public tender. The first signs of new delays in the bridge project surfaced last month, when Hong Kong’s Secretary for Transport and Housing, Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, said it is challenging for all of the three parties – Macau, Hong Kong and Mainland China – to complete the construction of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge by 2016. He even stressed that “Hong Kong is not the only one encountering problems in the progress of the construction. Macau and Guangdong are facing the same challenges,” according to Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK). The Secretary said he believed that the construction of the Hong Kong Border, as well as the link to the Main Bridge, may not be finished by the end of 2016, claiming that the Highways Department of Hong Kong was still evaluating the date of traffic using the Bridge.