Today's SCMP features an interesting analysis piece by Anthony Cheung summarising the Battle of Tamar.

For those outside of Hong Kong, the Tamar site is a piece of property currently paved as a parking lot in the heart of Central Hong Kong, that was formerly the site of the British Naval HQ. It's the only large parcel of property in the area that doesn't have a large property development scheme sitting on top of it. Needless to say there are competing property development hopes for the site, ranging from the government's desire to build a new White Elephant HQ there to private developers wanting to develop highly profitable White Elephant office/retail space there, to folks who would like to see an open green space next to the huge tourist draw, Victoria River nee Harbour.

Unfortunately Mr. Cheung drops the ball on the most critical issue driving the Battle of Tamar. A number of government spokespersons have come forward and stated that since the plan to build the White Elephant Government HQ is in place, it cannot be revisited. Why the need for government stubborness on this issue? Darth Bowtie has only 2 years to show he's a decisive leader, who can get things done, to Beijing. It doesn't seem to matter if the right things get done properly or that Darth Bowtie look sagely and wise, just that Darth Bowtie appears to be a decisive business-like leader, who gets something, anything done. This political need of Darth Bowtie will even override anything said or done by his collusion pals, the property tycoons.

Before I move on to three Op-Eds from the South China Morning Post that represent the three sides of Anthony Cheung's analysis, let me state my possible conflict of interest. Maria Tam Wai-chu, Vice Chairman of the DAB, is a relative of mine. To the best of my knowledge, she and I have never met, but Maria Tam Wai-chu is a cousin of my mother-in-law. I have met her mother and some of her siblings on a couple of occasions and would say that they are gracious hosts, kind and provide interesting commentary on Hong Kong. Now back to the sides of the Battle of Tamar.

As for the property developers, they are split in to two groups based apparently on political affiliation. The ones wanting to see the government build on Tamar are represented on the Op-Ed pages by Albert Cheng on Planning The Big Move.

Central is the heart of Hong Kong's financial hub. All major foreign missions, banks and other financial institutions are based there, because it is the power centre, where business executives rub shoulders with politicians and policymakers. It is as convenient as it is prestigious.

If the government offices were to be relocated, property values there would plunge overnight. Experiences from around the world have shown as much. Central is no longer buzzing after nightfall, and without the government headquarters the situation would only be worse. The blow to the shops, hotels and restaurants there could be fatal. Any economic benefits for southeastern Kowloon are bound to be offset by the losses to Central.

Tai Pan, you show no research on this. Is there any, and if not, then to quote your own article... 'To quote Mao Zedong : "Those who have not done their research are not entitled to speak."' Or perhaps I will allow you to speak, because I'm not a big lover of Mao and prefer a thousand flowers to bloom, even if some of them smell like uncleaned toilets. My guess is that none of these will be hurt as the much beloved slogan of "Hong Kong's principle of small government" should mean business leaders don't need to rub shoulders with government lackeys to make a lot of money.

Favouring private development at Tamar and the relocation of government HQ to Kai Tak in East Kowloon is the pro-Beijing pro-CCP Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong. Writing for the DAB, apparently in response to Albert Cheng's op-ed is Maria Tam Wai-chu, the Vice Chairman of the DAB on Choosing Kai Tak.

But involvement, however, has allowed me to see clearly that while Hong Kong people may be divided on political matters, on the vital issue of their health and that of their city there is total agreement. They want pollution drastically reduced. They want traffic congestion cut down. They want their whole city completely rejuvenated. They want a city and a home they can justly be proud of.

I am driven by the same dreams.

...

What is the most striking point about the Tamar site? It is the only large empty space in heavily built-up Central, Admiralty and Wan Chai. The only "breathing space" in a concrete jungle.

Should we rush in and fill up this space? Build a new government complex, complete with a new legislature building? In doing so, we increase congestion, heighten pollution, and raise the density of the working population. Add in the traffic bypass and the congestion will only get worse.

These are beautiful sentiments that probably reflect the opinions of most Hong Kongers. They also tend to reflect the "societal concern" side of the DAB, as represented by environmental supporter Choy So-yuk and the labour rights' Federation of Trade Unions. Unfortunately that isn't the only side of the DAB and usually not the guiding light for the DAB.

Think of a much larger financial district stretching all the way from Central to Wan Chai.

This article from last Friday's The Standard on this grand vision of property development provides the details on the DAB wanting to rush in and fill up the space of Tamar with developments by pro-Beijing property developers. So much for the environmental and social benefits to the Hong Kong people.

For the numbers that just don't get seen by the public due to a disconnect in the communication between the government and the public {sometimes intentional disconnects to cover up blatant collusion}, one should turn to former legislator Christine Loh of Civic Exchange on The truth is in the numbers, which I'm reprinting here in full. I was going to link to the Civic Exchange web site or to a post at Hong Kong Outdoors reprinting a Christine Loh email bulletin stating these numbers, but that seems to have gone MIA.

Along the Central harbourfront, the government is planning to increase the total gross floor area (GFA) by 9.24 million sq ft in proposed developments. This means the harbourfront will become much denser.

To put that figure in perspective, a web search shows the total GFA of the entire International Finance Centre including shopping mall, hotel, and serviced apartments is 4.47 million sq ft.

The giant government headquarters at the Tamar site would cover 3.69 million sq ft, with 322,000 sq ft of parking, or more than 800 parking spaces.

By comparison, the IFC complex only has 2.73 million sq ft in office space, with about 15,000 people working there at full occupation. Tamar, it seems, will house many more warm bodies.

A new legislature building with 1.57 million sq ft of floor area and 118,000 sq ft of parking is planned for another site near Tamar, but closer to the waterfront.

IFC One, mind you, has 783,000 sq ft of floor space. Legislators and their secretariat would no doubt be pleased to know that government planners mean to give them a whole lot more space.

What is interesting to note is that IFC One has an estimated 5,000 people working in the building. Even taking into account that Legco will require a sizeable council chamber, it is hard to see how many people government is planning for. One thing is sure though - they are extremely generous in providing about 300 parking spaces.

The other big chunk of waterfront land is a 2 million sq ft "comprehensive development area" (CDA) in front of Jardine House and adjacent to IFC Two. It would feature retail and office space and parking for 850 cars.

Offices in this CDA take up 589,100 sq ft, which is just a little less space than the new Pacific Place Three in Admiralty. The largest portion, 1.14 million sq ft, is reserved for shops. The mall here will be very much larger than Pacific Place's, which has a paltry 709,900 sq ft by comparison.

Just in case that is still not enough new shopping space in Central, there is another nearby site of 440,000 sq ft slated for retail usage at the waterfront end of City Hall - on reclaimed land being filled in as you read this column.

There is one more site on previously reclaimed land just at the back of the outlying ferry piers and in front of the IFC complex. It will house another 819,600 sq ft of offices, which means it will be larger than IFC One, and can therefore accommodate more than 5,000 people. With this will come another 175,600 sq ft of retail space.

The above list is not all there will be. There will, in fact, be other smaller waterfront sites for retail development with a total floor area of 286,900 sq ft. Plus, the Red Cross's site appears set for redevelopment.

The government admitted at a public forum on September 3 that these developments would generate a total of 7,593 vehicle trips per hour.

This admission ran counter to the government's continuing insistence that its proposed Central-Wan Chai bypass and P2 highway network along the harbourfront are to reduce traffic. The truth is, they are needed because of the tremendous new developments that are planned.

The government has revealed that it also intends to reclaim large tracts of the Wan Chai-Causeway Bay waterfront. A Transport Department plan shown at the forum indicates the comprehensiveness of the reclamation to come.

No doubt the government will say yet again that the roads it is planning will relieve traffic, when in truth, they are to accommodate ever more expansion along the harbourfront.

By the way, if government headquarters are moved to Tamar, and the Central Government Offices are sold for redevelopment, how much more GFA will there be in Central?

Even beyond the obvious political showboating and the Central/Mid-levels/Peak myopia and the government-property developer collusion, the most infuriating aspect of this whole thing is the obvious lies the government repeats to the Hong Kong public to justify the collusion and myopia in development projects in Central, West Kowloon, Lantau and elsewhere. If the government has any interest in promoting social harmony in Hong Kong, it's going to have to realise the shit will hit the fan when it becomes apparent a few people have profited hugely from government lies and the Hong Kong people see none of the promised social benefits.

My proposal? Move the Government to the "Dead Corner" and turn Tamar in to a beautiful Green Space that includes any reclamation to the waterfront and provides a beautiful view for tourists of the Flying White Elephant Tarpaulin in The Sky. It will require infrastructure and transportation improvements in East Kowloon, which will be needed anyway, if either the government White Elephant 70,000 seat Stadium hosting 310 attendee football matches or the White Elephant Mega-Cruise Ship Dock get built at Kai Tak. It may also require the Central/Mid-levels/Peak myopia to come up with an actual solution to cross-harbour traffic. But in the end the costs and social suffering of individual government employees would be balanced by the economic gains and social harmony for the people of Hong Kong as a whole.