HK comeback party turns into farce

A GOVERNMENT-sponsored entertainment extravaganza intended to put Hong Kong's economy back on the map after the Sars crisis has descended into a messy public farce.

Local legislators have demanded that anti-corruption detectives probe the multi-million dollar arrangements for Harbour Fest, and that the accounts be made public.

During the three-week event, which runs until 9 November, bands such as Westlife and Santana will play on the site of a former British naval base. But the morale-booster, billed as Asia's largest music festival, has been hit by a rising tide of controversy.

The line-up of bands is said not to appeal locally, and ticket sales have been lacklustre. There are also gripes about the HK$100m (£7.6m) government sponsorship as the event is expected to make a substantial loss.

Disclosures that the deal covered five years, not one, provoked howls of protest before the government said it now intended to support the shows only for this year.

The most serious complaints have been levelled at Hong Kong's American Chamber of Commerce, which signed a contract with the authorities to run the shows. There have been questions about the involvement of its head Jim Thompson and his wife Sally, sole directors of a company that will run the shows.

Thompson has said the arrangements are all above board and it is up to the government, not the chamber, to open the books.