A at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) will add new facilities for?innotech research, residences and?sport ¨C but a?proposed lab complex is?generating concern locally about supposed potential ¡°biosafety hazards¡±.

The institution¡¯s medical school is set to grow, partly in response to?greater demand for young doctors and nurses in the city.

However, a proposal to build more medical laboratories has come under scrutiny from a local elected official who has highlighted potential environmental and health concerns.

Paul Zimmerman, a district councillor in Pok Fu Lam, the neighbourhood where HKU is located, told Times Higher Education that ¡°generally, we have a good working relationship with HKU Estates Office and [with them] adjusting their plans to community input. This project is an outlier.¡± About 800 residents have urging the university to consider alternative sites.

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Mr Zimmerman, an environmentalist and head of an urban planning NGO, sent an appeal to the Hong Kong Town Planning Board this month about what as ¡°a?laboratory complex on giant legs floating on a green belt site near Queen Mary¡±, which is HKU¡¯s main teaching hospital.

¡°Residents are deeply concerned over biosafety hazards,¡± he says in his submission, which requests ¡°an?assessment of the risks of leakage via aerosols, drainage, sewerage, transport, and people movement, into the environment; and the risks of exposure for staff, students, patients, commuters and local residents¡±.

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¡°While proud of HKU¡¯s contribution to the fights against SARS and Covid, a rethink of the location is required,¡± he said.

Ying-Shing Chan, associate dean (development and infrastructure) at HKU¡¯s Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, told THE that the site had been chosen ¡°after due consideration, taking a balance between meeting the needs for additional teaching and research facilities, and minimising impacts to the environment¡±.

¡°HKU Med takes laboratory and biosafety as its first and foremost priority,¡± Professor Chan said. ¡°We maintain the highest international standards of safety and environmental protection, with an established track record of successfully operating high-level microbiological containment laboratories without significant incident since the time of SARS-1 (2003).

¡°HKU Med will continue to adopt the most stringent measures to ensure the safety of our staff, students and neighbours,¡± he said, adding that the institution¡¯s facilities were internationally accredited and audited by overseas authorities.

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The city¡¯s two medical schools have been instrumental in the fight against Covid, including in running vaccination clinics and in public outreach. HKU Med was one of the first to hold a press conference warning of the novel coronavirus in January?2020.

The effort has kept Hong Kong at nearly ¡°zero Covid¡±, with just over 200 related deaths.

Professor Chan said expanded facilities were needed if Hong Kong was to continue its good track record.

¡°Without such state-of-the-art research facilities, Hong Kong could not have dealt with SARS, avian flu and swine flu successfully in the past two decades,¡± he said. ¡°Expanding and upgrading our facilities will not only provide sturdy support to our ongoing fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, but also enable us to be better prepared for any public health crisis in the future.¡±

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HKU is the only major university located on Hong Kong Island, the urban centre of one of the world¡¯s most densely populated cities. The other Hong Kong institutions with significant laboratory needs are in the relatively less crowded New Territories.

Mr Zimmerman¡¯s submission suggests building the laboratories in the Lok Ma Chau Loop, an area near mainland China and part of the government¡¯s Greater Bay Area plan for a cross-border higher education and research hub.

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joyce.lau@timeshighereducation.com