By Morris Chan Ho-chiu, Alfred Lam Ka-sing & Daniel Ma Chun-wai
We might not have even realised it, but the redevelopment plan for the Graham Street Market could lead to the end of an era in Central.
The 160-year-old Graham Street Market is Hong Kong’s oldest wet market, an outdoor market selling produce, meat, seafood and dried goods.
The redevelopment plan, announced in 2007, promised to retain the market or provide another suitable environment for the vendors. The Urban Renewal Authority is carrying out the redevelopment with a $3.8 billion project consisting of hotel, residential and retail spaces.
But in the revamped retail area, only 11 out of approximately 40 existing fresh food vendors in the Graham Street Market will be granted the right to return and run their businesses.
“Each stall is 2.8 meters long. We also have to leave a three feet wide footpath,” said Cheung Wai-choi, a meat stall owner in Graham Market.
Many have complained that the government is not preserving Hong Kong’s history.
“The government’s ultimate goal is to take all these stalls back in the future and turn the whole place into something very Western and unorthodox compared to the traditional wet markets we can find in Hong Kong. So the government officials haven’t been very cooperative or offering fair returns,” Cheung added.
Cheung did not agree with the authority’s goal of saving the “shrinking market” with the redevelopment plan. “The business was not getting worse when the plan was announced. But when the construction started, fewer people came and since then our business went down.”
At more than $1,000 per square feet rental rate, Cheung said they can’t afford to keep their businesses in the newly constructed market. They might have to close their shops or move to a nearby market in Sheung Wan.
Cheung said the district councillors have done nothing to support them.
