First the British. Then the PRC. Now Disney.
Photo taken from the China Daily. The sandy area is all reclaimed land. They just filled in the sea. For Disneyland.
A protest by part of Hong Kong’s fishing industry went ahead on Monday. Lantau fish farmers moored 10 of their boats off Lantau Island (which already holds the Po Lin Buddhist monastry, and Chep Lap Kok International Airport. The island also contains the “away from the hubbub” homes of many expatriates and richies). The fishermen believe that large drifts of sediments have been poisoning fish stocks in the Cheung Sha Wan Fish Culture Zone, which is on the south side of the island.
These sediments are a by-product of dumping tonnes of boulders and dirt into what was formerly Penny’s Bay, then dredging other parts of the surrounding waters to create 300 ha. of virgin, level, developable land. Upon this land will be built Hong Kong’s very own Disneyland, a project that is being run jointly by Disney and the Hong Kong government
The fish farmers have estimated that around 1.6 million fish, or 60-70% of their overall stock, have died because of the clouds of suspended sediment, but this neglects the effect on the wild marine life in the area (which probably isn’t in great shape anyway, considering Hong Kong’s famously polluted waters).
According to a report (”Sea-borne protest demands compensation for dead fish” 12/04/05, for those with access to a subscription or a newspaper database) by the South China Morning post, Disney has washed its hands of the issue, saying that the HK government was in charge of the reclamation project. For its part, the government has verified the level of pollution in the waters in and around Cheung Sha Wan. However, it argues that there is no proof directly linking the fouled water and the massive terraforming taking place about 20 kilometres away. It is so convinced of this that it has decided to grant the fish farmers compensation of around HK$15 million (approx. A$2.5 million) anyway.
The reclamation phase has finished, building has been well underway, and the theme park is set to open on September 12th.
Recruitment has started for the park’s staff. According to the SCMP again (”Disneyland set to bring in talent from Philippines”, 02/04/05), much of the singing, dancing, playing talent may be sourced from the Phillipines. So Phillipino mathemeticians and cardiologists, once restricted to nannying Hong Kong’s infants, can now sweat in furry suits and be kicked in the arse by Hong Kong’s infants. Apparently wages for these positions are quite attractive, a cleaner will pull around HK$9,000 (around A$1,500) a month, and front desk staff around HK$14,000 (A$2,300) a month.
Reports say that 3,000 such jobs have been created out of the park, so if any of the 200 or so folks who work at the Cheung Sha Wan fish farm have been temporarily done out of a livelihood, they can always go flip burgers on Main St., USA.