Building the City
Harbourfront Enhancement
166. Following the gradual completion of the planning for the harbourfront areas and the commissioning of the related major infrastructure projects on both sides of the Victoria Harbour, the Government will adopt a forward-looking approach in pursuing harbourfront enhancement and vigorously seek to open up continuous and accessible harbourfront promenades. We will embrace versatile designs, management models and uses to make our harbourfront more vibrant. Harbourfront enhancement projects funded by a $500 million allocation in early 2017 have been rolling out one by one. I will earmark another $6 billion for developing new harbourfront promenades and open space as well as improving harbourfront facilities. It is the Government's plan to extend the length of the harbourfront promenades from the current 20-odd kilometres to 34 kilometres in about 10 years, and provide 35 hectares of open space on both sides of the Victoria Harbour.
Urban Forestry Support Fund
167. To strengthen public education and promotion on proper tree care and uplift the professional standards of practitioners, I propose to set up a $200 million Urban Forestry Support Fund for the implementation of various initiatives. These include encouraging students to pursue studies in arboriculture, and rolling out arboriculture and horticulture trainee programmes, as well as providing more training and internship opportunities for new recruits to tie in with the Specification of Competency Standards for the arboriculture and horticulture industry to be published by the end of this year, as a prelude to the introduction of a future registration system for tree management personnel. Moreover, we will organise international urban forestry conferences to facilitate exchanges with neighbouring regions, in a bid to upgrade the expertise and practice standards of the local industry. We will also strengthen co-operation with community organisations to provide the public with more information on tree planting and caring.
Traffic Improvement
168. Apart from constructing trunk roads, the implementation of electronic road pricing is also an effective way to tackle traffic congestion. The TD is conducting a feasibility study on the Electronic Road Pricing Pilot Scheme in Central and its Adjacent Areas. It expects to consult stakeholders in the first half of this year. Electronic road pricing does not aim to increase government revenue. As such, the Government will consider providing additional recurrent resources broadly equivalent to the net revenue to be generated from the pilot scheme for implementing measures to improve public transport services and encourage wider usage.
Municipal Facilities Improvement
169. Further to earmarking resources for the Market Modernisation Programme in last year's Budget, I will allocate more resources to the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department for refurbishing its public toilets by phases, improving ventilation and other facilities, as well as enhancing their cleanliness and hygiene. It is estimated that a total expenditure of over $600 million may be incurred, involving about 240 public toilets in the coming five years.
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