The West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD) project will get held up if a one-off HK$21.6 billion funding is not approved in this legislative year, said Permanent Secretary for Home Affairs Carrie Yau yesterday.

The WKCD project is an integrated approach to the development of arts and culture, she told a media briefing.

"Breaking down the project and funding into phases is unrealistic," she said. "It will affect the design for the whole project and we have to make new financial assessment."

The HK$21.6 billion, which serves as the capital costs for the WKCD project, is a reasonable amount agreed by experts and stakeholders after 15 months of consultation, Yau said.

However, legislators were concerned about the financial viability of the WKCD project after the Specialist Advisor to the Legislative Council criticized that the HK$21.6 billion may not be enough to cover the project costs in the long run.

Deputy Secretary for Home Affairs (WKCD) Esther Leung said according to the government's latest financial assessment, the government is confident that the funding can stand a 3.4 percent increase in construction costs over seven years (2007-2014).

She believed the chance of a big increase in construction costs for consecutive years is unlikely and said the 6 percent increase assumed by the Specialist Advisor is unrealistically high.

Today the Legislative Council's Subcommittee on West Kowloon Cultural District Development is going to discuss the funding proposal for the project.

(HK Edition 06/05/2008 page1)