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To: TobagoJack who wrote (54289)	10/15/2004 9:44:13 PM
From: TobagoJack	Respond to of 74559

Tycoon slams 'policy' of high land prices hongkong.scmp.com Saturday, October 16, 2004 ERNEST KONG Property tycoon Henry Cheng Kar-shun yesterday accused the government of essentially returning to a high-land-price policy. The managing director of New World Development - the first local developer to criticise the government on the sensitive issue - said the government was treating developers who were applying for a change in land use unfairly, by raising prices for land premiums after each land auction. After record-breaking land auctions this week, housing minister Michael Suen Ming-yeung said the better-than-expected results would be used as a benchmark in negotiating premiums paid by developers when they changed the dedicated use of privately held land. "The government said it will not reintroduce a high-land-price policy, but it's not acting according to what it said," the property tycoon said. New World Development general manager Stewart Leung Chi-kin said the government had raised land premiums to a ridiculous level and had an inconsistent policy when it came to negotiating them with developers. "The government has raised the land premiums for some sites up to 100 per cent," said Mr Leung. On Tuesday, Cheung Kong (Holdings) bought a 191,126 sq ft parcel of government land in Ho Man Tin for $9.42 billion, while Sun Hung Kai Properties purchased a 136,714 sq ft site in San Po Kong for $4.7 billion. "The property market now is like a roller-coaster ride ... very unpredictable," said Mr Cheng, adding that individual flat owners are most likely to suffer from a high-land-price policy. However, the property tycoon denied that he was urging the government to sell sites to developers cheaply. "I just want government to adjust the land premium according to the market price, but not according to the high auction bids," said Mr Cheng.