Forty-three male persons in custody of Pik Uk Prison refused to consume meal this morning (May 31) due to dissatisfaction towards their request relating to work arrangement being rejected by the institution management. According to intelligence, some persons in custody incited fellow persons in custody to engage in collective behaviour with a view to acting against the institution management. The Correctional Services Department maintains order of institution (CSD) deployed other reinforcements to Pik Uk Prison the same day to search targets and various locations. During the incident, three persons in custody suspected of inciting others to engage in collective behaviour are being removed from association and put under investigation.

     After advice and warning given by the institution management, the persons in custody concerned have resumed consuming meal. The present atmosphere at Pik Uk Prison is stable. The CSD will continue to closely monitor the development and the persons in custody concerned.

     Pik Uk Prison is a minimum security prison for the detention of male adult persons in custody.

     Regarding the media reports in the past two days about the works at the expanded Hung Hom Station under the Shatin to Central Link (SCL) project that have aroused public concern over the quality of works at the Hung Hom Station under the contract no. 1112, the Transport and Housing Bureau and the Highways Department (HyD) are very concerned about the incident and the HyD has taken immediate follow-up actions.

     After learning of the incident, the staff of the HyD and its Monitoring and Verification (M&V) Consultant carried out an on-site inspection at the Hung Hom Station on May 30, including inspecting the condition of the construction works and checking the inspection records of the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL). No serious crack or water leakage in the concrete structures was observed during the site inspection on that day.

     The Director of Highways (DHy), Mr Daniel Chung, met the senior officers of the MTRCL today (May 31) reiterating HyD's grave concern over the incident and pointing out that MTRCL, being the project manager under the Entrustment Agreement of the SCL project, has the responsibility to ensure the quality of works meets the relevant requirements. The DHy required the MTRCL to submit an incident report within a week. In addition, in order to ease the public concern, the DHy also required the MTRCL to arrange an independent third-party expert to carry out load test as soon as possible and to provide HyD with a test report in order to ensure that the structures can sustain the design loads.

     The works under the SCL project are still on-going. Upon the completion of works, the MTRCL shall submit the certification of completion of works and relevant documents to the Government. In addition, the HyD, its M&V Consultant and the relevant government departments will take part in the inspection for completion of works conducted by the MTRCL before the relevant works are handed over to the Government.

     The Chief Executive's Office today (May 31) issued the following statement in respect of recent media reports on a fugitive surrender request made by the US Government:

     While it is inappropriate to discuss individual surrender cases in public, all requests for the surrender of fugitive offenders are processed strictly in accordance with the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance (Cap. 503) and in the context of relevant agreements concluded with the respective jurisdictions for the surrender of fugitive offenders. For requests received from the US Government for the surrender of fugitive offenders, the Agreement between the Government of Hong Kong and the Government of the United States of America for the Surrender of Fugitive Offenders is applicable.

     On receipt of each and every surrender request from another jurisdiction, the Chief Executive must first issue authority to proceed before the request can be processed further. A decision on whether to issue authority to proceed on the advice of the Department of Justice rests solely and entirely with the Chief Executive under section 6(2) of the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance (Cap. 503). Such a decision is only to be made after taking into full account the relevant facts and circumstances of each case for the purpose of complying with the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance (Cap. 503) and the applicable bilateral agreement. Under the above-mentioned Agreement, situations under which a surrender request may be refused are clearly set out. These relevant provisions are reproduced in the Annex.

     In a recent Hong Kong Policy Act Report submitted by the US State Department to the US Congress, it was mentioned that in respect of a fugitive surrender request made by the US Government, the Chief Executive refused the request in October 2017 "at the behest of the Central Government". The statement suggests that the Chief Executive's decision in the case concerned was made in a manner other than in accordance with the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance (Cap. 503) or the Agreement. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government deeply regrets to see the inclusion of this inaccurate statement in the above-mentioned Report to the US Congress.

     Currently, there is no surrender of fugitive offenders arrangement between the HKSAR and the Mainland. Therefore, no surrender of a fugitive has ever been made to the Mainland. The HKSAR Government deals with any movement of persons in and out of Hong Kong in accordance with the laws of Hong Kong.

The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:

     The Legislative Council (LegCo) Subcommittee on Securities and Futures (Professional Investor) (Amendment) Rules 2018 will hold its first meeting at 10.45am tomorrow (June 1) in Conference Room 2 of the LegCo Complex. During the meeting, members of the Subcommittee will elect a Chairman and meet with the Government.

Attention TV/radio announcers:

Please broadcast the following as soon as possible and repeat it at regular intervals:

     Here is an item of interest to swimmers.

     The Leisure and Cultural Services Department announced today (May 31) that Hammer Hill Road Swimming Pool in Wong Tai Sin District, closed earlier on due to power failure, has been reopened.