The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority: The Hospital Authority today (June 8) announced information regarding patients who tested positive via admission screening or testing with patients or staff member… read more
The Task Force of Supplies from the Mainland led by the Transport and Housing Bureau (THB) has been working closely with the Guangdong Provincial Government and the Shenzhen Municipal People’s Government to explore various means to stabilise the supply of goods from the Mainland to Hong Kong. In addition to road transport arrangements, transportation of goods by water and railway is already in service.
A spokesperson for the THB said that the “Sea Express” water transportation service from the Mainland to Hong Kong has been fully launched and its capacity is rising to increase the supplies of fresh food, other daily necessities and manufacturing materials. The current supply of fresh food from the Mainland is stable.
Currently, there are three water transportation routes between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, namely (1) from Shenzhen Yantian International Container Terminals to Hong Kong Kwai Tsing Container Terminals (KTCT); (2) from Shenzhen DaChan Bay Terminals to KTCT; and (3) from China Merchants Port (South China) Management Center (Shenzhen Mawan, Shekou and Chiwan Container Terminals) to Hong Kong River Trade Terminal and elsewhere. Together with the water transportation routes from other cities in Guangdong Province, including the routes from Guangzhou Lianhuashan Port, Nansha Port, Huadu Port, Zhongshan Huangpu Port and Zhuhai Doumen Port to different terminals in Hong Kong, the water transport capacity amounts to tens of thousands of tonnes daily.
The spokesperson said today (June 8) that Shenzhen operated 45 cargo vessel trips and transported around 3 830 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of cross-boundary supplies by water yesterday (June 7), equivalent to about 22 910 tonnes of goods, of which around 10 TEUs (about 60 tonnes) were fresh food and around 3 820 TEUs (about 22 850 tonnes) were non-fresh food, according to information from the Mainland authorities.
Since the launch of services from the three ports in Shenzhen since February 18 to yesterday, a total of around 500 950 TEUs of cross-boundary supplies have been transported, equivalent to about 2 480 840 tonnes of goods, of which around 1 850 TEUs (about 15 770 tonnes) were fresh food and around 499 100 TEUs (about 2 465 070 tonnes) were non-fresh food.
To further ensure a stable goods supply to Hong Kong through land transport, a trial run of cargo transfer was conducted by the THB at a yard situated on Kam Pok Road, San Tin, Yuen Long, and it was completed smoothly. The THB will continue to work with the Mainland authorities to fully take forward cargo transfer arrangements on the Hong Kong side. It is a contingency measure in response to the latest epidemic situation in the city so as to reduce the risk of epidemic transmission in both the Mainland and Hong Kong, ensuring both smooth cross-boundary land transport and a stable goods supply to Hong Kong.
Meanwhile, to avoid a spillover of the epidemic, the Transport Department (TD) has arranged for dedicated staff to conduct rapid antigen tests for cross-boundary goods vehicle drivers at various land boundary control points (BCPs) from February 28 onwards. Only drivers with a negative result are allowed to enter the Mainland. In order to further improve the accuracy of the tests, the TD has already switched to use rapid nucleic acid tests at the BCPs. Starting from April 21, the sampling method for rapid nucleic acid tests has been further changed to nasopharyngeal swabs. A total of 3 474 rapid nucleic acid tests were conducted yesterday in which eight drivers preliminarily tested positive. The TD has passed the cases to the Department of Health for follow-up.
The THB will closely monitor the situation and co-operate with the Mainland authorities to facilitate and implement various measures to ensure a stable goods supply to Hong Kong, with a view to complementing the supply through road, water and railway transport, enhancing capacity and efficiency as well as optimising the flow of cross-boundary supplies. read more
Attention duty announcers, radio and TV stations:
Please broadcast the following as soon as possible and repeat it at suitable intervals:
As the Red Rainstorm Warning Signal has been cancelled, the Home Affairs Department’s Emergency Co-ordination Centre and the emergency hotline 2835 1473 have ceased to operate. read more
A Government spokesman announced today (June 8) that the supply of fresh food from the Mainland yesterday (June 7) was sufficient and stable.
According to the latest information, the quantity of vegetables supplied from the Mainland to Hong Kong yesterday (as of midnight) by land and water transportation was comparable to the average daily supply from the Mainland on a normal day. The volume of vegetables sold through the wholesale markets of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) and the Vegetable Marketing Organization was about 822 tonnes. The average wholesale prices of choi sum and pak choi stood at $6.50 and $5.30 per catty respectively yesterday, comparable to their average daily wholesale prices last year. The supply of eggs to the wholesale market remained steady, with the average daily supply standing at about 4.0 million for the past week, comparable to the average daily supply on a normal day last year.
The total supply of chilled meat from the Mainland yesterday was over 34 tonnes. The supply of live pigs was plentiful.
The supply of chilled poultry from the Mainland was about 140 000 head yesterday, and about 8 000 live chickens were slaughtered locally. The supply was abundant.
Regarding the rice supply, in compliance with the requirement by the Government, stockholders of rice have to maintain the reserve stock of rice at a level sufficient for consumption by the local population for 15 days. The trade generally stocks double the required amount, which is sufficient for one month’s consumption by Hong Kong citizens. In recent years, the import and consumption of rice in Hong Kong has stood at a steady level of around 320 000 to 330 000 tonnes per year. The import quantity (including reserve stock) as of end-April 2022 was 28 800 tonnes. Suppliers also maintain a reserve for food that can be stored, such as frozen meat, for around three months’ stock generally.
The Government will continue to maintain close liaison with the Mainland authorities and major food suppliers to ensure a stable food supply.
The AFCD updates and publishes the fresh food supply information daily. Members of the public may visit the AFCD website for updates on daily supplies and wholesale prices of fresh food (www.afcd.gov.hk/english/agriculture/agr_fresh/agr_fresh.html). read more
The Chief Executive (CE), Mrs Carrie Lam, chaired the 10th meeting of the Youth Development Commission (YDC) today (June 8) to review the YDC’s achievements since its establishment in 2018 with members, and thanked them for collaborating with the current-term Government to formulate and launch various policy initiatives to facilitate the diversified development of young people.
Mrs Lam said, “In my first Policy Address since assuming office in 2017, I announced the establishment of the YDC to enhance policy co-ordination within the Government so as to enable holistic and more effective examination of, and discussion on, issues of concern to young people. It is my pleasure to personally chair the last YDC meeting within this term of Government today in my capacity as the CE, and I am pleased to note that members have affirmed and commended the YDC’s work over the past few years.”
At the meeting, members reviewed the YDC’s achievements since its establishment. They were also briefed by relevant policy bureaux about the latest progress of the work in promoting youth development under their policy areas. Members were pleased to note that the current-term Government has proactively sought stakeholders’ views and recommendations through the YDC’s platform and endeavoured to foster cross-bureau and interdepartmental collaboration to actively promote youth development, including facilitating young people’s selection of suitable study pathways, assisting in their career development and upward mobility, strengthening communication with young people, as well as nurturing young people’s positive thinking.
Members also noted the progress of the youth development initiatives undertaken by the YDC. Specifically, the YDC has earlier commenced review and enhancement work regarding the Funding Scheme for Youth Exchange in the Mainland and the Funding Scheme for Youth Internship in the Mainland. Subject to the developments of the pandemic, it will arrange for the resumption and enhancement of the exchange and internship activities when it is safe and practicable to do so. In addition, the YDC will introduce more enhancement measures in the new round of the Funding Scheme for Youth Life Planning Activities with a view to strengthening cross-sectoral collaboration. Moreover, the YDC will launch a new funding scheme to subsidise eligible non-government organisations to organise projects that are conducive to nurturing young people’s positive thinking, particularly those projects which involve cross-sectoral efforts or are youth-led and could drive community building, with a view to promoting the physical and mental well-being of young people and nurturing young people’s positive thinking and positive values.
Members also noted the implementation of the Member Self-recommendation Scheme for Youth (MSSY). As one of the measures announced in the 2017 Policy Address, the MSSY aims at providing more opportunities for young people to participate in policy discussions. Since its launch, the MSSY has received over 8 200 applications and offered 131 seats in total covering 65 committees. So far, about 480 posts are held by young people who have been appointed to advisory and statutory bodies directly or indirectly through the MSSY. With the concerted efforts of policy bureaux, the ratio of youth members in these bodies has increased from 7.8 per cent in end-2017 to 15.4 per cent in end-2021, thereby successfully achieving the target of 15 per cent set by the current-term Government. Members fully supported the continued implementation of the MSSY and suggested expanding the scheme to cover more committees with a view to providing more opportunities for young people to participate in public affairs.
Mrs Lam expressed her heartfelt gratitude to the YDC for its valuable advice on different issues of concern to young people and its full collaboration in promoting the youth development work undertaken by the current term Government, namely addressing young people’s concerns about education, career pursuits and home ownership, and encouraging their participation in politics as well as public policy discussion and debate. Looking into the future, she said, “Since the promulgation and implementation of the Hong Kong National Security Law, Hong Kong has restored order from chaos and got back on the right track. It is time to rethink how to unite society, in particular through refocusing on and repositioning youth policies and district affairs.
“In this regard, in the proposal for the reorganisation of the Government structure which I put forward earlier this year, it was mentioned that the Home Affairs Bureau should be reorganised into the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau to review and formulate in a more holistic manner an overall youth policy and a blueprint for youth development. The proposal has received broad support from society. I wish that the proposal for establishing the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau will be implemented smoothly on July 1 this year. I am confident that members of the YDC will continue to collaborate with the HKSAR Government and nurture the new generation of talents for Hong Kong.”
The Chief Secretary for Administration (CS) is the chairperson of the YDC. As the post of the CS has been left vacant, the meeting today was chaired by the CE.
