Is Victoria Harbour reclamation good or evil?Why?( Eng Ans)

[ Pros and Cons of reclamation of Victoria Harbour ]

There is a heated debate on the recent issue of the harbour reclamation works. Diverse views have been expressed in the community on the legality and scope of the Central reclamation. Phase three of the Central reclamation is one of the two remaining portions of the Central and Wan Chai reclamation, which started in the 1990s. Traffic congestion has all along been a serious problem in the business hub of Central. At present, east-west traffic on the north side of Hong Kong Island relies mainly on the Connaught Road Central/Harcourt Road/Gloucester Road corridor. The government claims that this has reached its capacity, resulting in frequent, serious congestion. The comprehensive traffic study conducted by the government shows that there is an urgent need for a new trunk road, that is, the Central-Wan Chai bypass, and other related road systems to solve the serious congestion problem. As early as May 1998, the Town Planning Board gazetted the Draft Central District (Extension) Outline Zoning Plan, in accordance with the statutory procedure under the Town Planning Ordinance, to allow the public to lodge objections. After consideration of different views and in compliance with the Protection of the Harbour Ordinance, the board decided to reduce substantially the scale of the reclamation, from the original 38 hectares to 23 hectares, opting for the plan with the least reclamation.
However, many of the general public do not agree with the government and think that the harbour is the public¡¦s property and should not be destroyed. Some groups were formed in recent years. For example, "Friends of the Harbour" (FOTH), which was established in September 2003. is a non-profit making group subsidiary to the "Society for the Protection of the Harbour" , which is a registered charity. Some other organizations, such as ¡§Save Our Shorelines¡¨ are also formed. These organizations have some common beliefs, such as that the Victoria Harbour is both locationally and morphologically the centre of Hong Kong, it should be reserved for civic and leisure use by all Hong Kong people and under no circumstances should it be bitten away for commercial developments.
In 1997, the Protection of Harbour Ordinance was passed endorsing principles of protecting the harbour. In 2003, the court ruled against the Town Planning Board on the Wanchai Reclamation Phase two project. However, the Central Reclamation Phase three project was allowed to carry on and the government planned to continue to work on it. This triggered the protest in recent days.
There is mainly three groups of people who are opposed the issue of reclamation, namely environmental activists, the democrats and the general public.
Environmentalists mainly concern about the environmental impacts of the reclamation project. According to Lisa Hopkinson of the ¡§Friends of the harbour¡¨, the relentless increase in population living near the harbour causes serious pollution of the harbour, the dumping of wastes near the harbour increases. In the past, when the harbour is wider, flushing effect of sea water can help to reduce the amount of the waste. However, gradual narrowing of the harbour from reclamation has reduced the flushing action of tides, whilst the number of toilets flushing into the harbour has increased. The result was poor water quality and limited marine life.

如果答evil的話:
I don't think the reclamation is good.
Firstly, our Victoria Harbour is beautiful, reclamation will
reduce a choice for tourists. Some tourists come to HK
because of our beautiful harbour, reclamation may decrease the number
of tourists.
Secondly, reclamation will strangle the lives of creatures in the water.
Thirdly, reclamation used to use rubbish to make some land out,
it will damage our enviroment seriously. The world is becoming hotter and hotter
because of the damage of enviroment, so we should protect them and not to
damage them.

答good的話:
I think reclamation is good.
Firstly, We had not had enough land in Hong Kong which lead to the phenomenon of
"lots of citizens and lack of land".
Secondly, through reclamation we can have more land and build more commercial
buildings or shopping centers for citizens and tourists. It may bring up the economic
of Hong Kong.