雙語社評齊齊聽

英語 (足本收聽)

普通話 (足本收聽)

【明報專訊】THE government has set up a Task Force on Land Supply to review Hong Kong's future land supply. All sides of society are deeply concerned about the composition of the Task Force, how it will advance social debate and how it will achieve consensus.

ENG audio 1

The Task Force will convene its first meeting next week. It will first review Hong Kong's land supply at the moment and define its terms of reference, after which it will gradually discuss each specific proposal in detail. It remains to be seen how the Task Force will advance a great social debate on the issue. But the members of the Task Force themselves have become a topic of public discussion before anything else. Some people have listed the backgrounds of the Task Force and said that five of them previously expressed support for the development of land on the periphery of country parks. Arguing that there are too few environmentalists on the Task Force, these people are worried that it will not be able to find a balance between development and conservation. Some people have even gone so far as to say that the Task Force is "a club of an elite group of pro-establishment people", that it is "not representative enough" and that it will not be able to address opposition in society.

ENG audio 2

There is no need to politicise the issue when the work of the Task Force has not even started. And it seems to be unfair to accuse the Task Force definitely of solely made up of "an elite group of pro-establishment people" whose aim is to "defend the government" and "further the hegemony of property developers". If the Task Force had to be "representative", it should, theoretically speaking, be represented by political parties. The fact that it is mainly made up of people from professional sectors and scholars shows exactly that its role should be to initiate discussion and help achieve consensus rather than make a decision on behalf of society. Some members of the Task Force might have their own opinions about land development or even have put forward some controversial proposals before. But this is acceptable as long as their own opinions do not override public opinion in a way that hampers social discussion. Instead of being negative in the very beginning about whether the Task Force can initiate in-depth and comprehensive discussion in society, it is better to listen and watch what the Task Force say and do and engage in discussion actively.

ENG audio 3

No doubt debates are only the means. The end is to achieve consensus. The Task Force needs to come up with a blueprint and let people know how it is going to help society reach a consensus. As the Task Force is tasked with encouraging society to think about how to develop land, it is not incomprehensible that the environmentalists are worried that the Task Force will tend to emphasise development at the expense of conservation. What the Task Force needs to do first is to lay down the major principles so as to set a tone for sustainable development and stress the need to find a balance between social, economical and conservational needs. That should be the basis for future discussion.

ENG audio 4

Disagreements over the issue of land have been going on for years. The issue involves not only the interests of some people but also many ideological elements. Some people have such strong views that it is impossible for them to compromise. It is an impossible mission to come up with a set of principles for land development that is embraced by all members of society and that no one is opposed to. What the Task Force can do at best is to achieve a consensus of the majority of society. The Task Force must study seriously how to achieve the biggest possible outcome and illustrate its specific proposal to the public in order to prevent citizens from feeling that the public consultation is merely a cosmetic exercise and that the final land development principle does not represent the will of the majority of society.

ENG audio 5

追求社會最大公約數 土地小組需提「方程式」

政府成立「土地供應專責小組」，檢視本港未來土地供應，各界對小組構成、如何推動社會辯論、怎樣凝聚共識，莫不高度關注。

PTH audio 1

土地小組下周舉行首次會議，先檢視現有土地供應來源，以及訂下職權範圍，日後才會逐步深入討論各種具體方案。小組如何推動社會大辯論，還需拭目以待，不過小組成員卻率先成為了輿論檢視討論的對象。有批評者「盤點」小組成員背景，指出其中5人曾表態支持發展郊野公園邊陲土地，認為環保人士太少，擔心不能好好平衡發展及保育需要；有人甚至質疑小組是「建制精英俱樂部」、成員「不夠代表性」，不能解決社會反對聲音，云云。

PTH audio 2

土地小組工作尚未展開，沒必要將事情政治化，一口咬定小組成員全是「建制精英」，目的是「幫政府護航」，「擴大地產霸權」，似乎亦有欠公道。如果土地小組需要的是「代表性」，理論上就應該多找政黨代表，現在成員以專業人士和學者為主，正好反映土地小組的角色定位，應當是引領討論，協助營造共識，而不是代社會下決定。個別委員對土地開發可以有個人意見，甚或提出備受爭議主張，然而只要不將個人觀點凌駕公眾意見，妨礙社會討論，其實亦無不可。土地小組能否引領社會展開一場深入和全面的大辯論，與其一開始便抱着否定態度，不如聽其言觀其行，積極參與討論。

PTH audio 3

當然，辯論只是手段，凝聚共識才是目標。土地小組需要勾勒藍圖，讓市民了解他們打算怎樣協助社會營造共識。由於土地小組的職責是推動社會思考如何開發土地，因此環保人士擔心小組存在「重發展輕保育」的傾向，並非無法理解。土地小組首先要做的，應當是定出大原則，為可持續發展定調，強調必須兼顧社會、經濟和環境保育需要，設法求取平衡，作為往後討論的基礎。

PTH audio 4

土地問題爭拗多年，既牽涉利益問題，亦滲入了不少意識形態元素，部分人立場鮮明，看不到有妥協的可能，要得出一套全民擁護、沒有反對聲音的土地開發原則，是不可能的任務，土地小組充其量能做的，是爭取大多數人的共識。土地小組必須認真思考如何找出這個「社會最大公約數」，並將具體方法向公眾說明，以免令市民覺得所謂「公眾諮詢」不過是走過場，最終提出來的土地開發原則並非大多數市民的意見。

PTH audio 5

明報社評2017.08.31

Presented by lecturers of Hong Kong Community College, PolyU and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Mr CHAN, Jason Siu-chuen

Lecturer

www.hkcc-polyu.edu.hk/staff_directory/language_communication/CHAN,_Jason_Siu-chuen-168.html

邱蔚

助理講師

www.hkcc-polyu.edu.hk/staff_directory/language_communication/QIU,_Tina_Wei-367.html

【Bilingual Editorial】