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Author Archives: hksar gov

CE visits Kwun Tong to understand latest developments of Energizing Kowloon East (with photos/video)

     The Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, today (April 29) visited the Energizing Kowloon East Office (EKEO) to celebrate its 10th anniversary this year with the colleagues thereof, and toured the area to survey the latest developments of the Energizing Kowloon East (EKE) initiative.

     Accompanied by the Secretary for Development, Mr Michael Wong, and the Permanent Secretary for Development (Works), Mr Ricky Lau, Mrs Lam visited the EKEO beneath Kwun Tong Bypass near the promenade to receive a briefing from the Head of the EKEO, Ms Amy Cheung, on the latest progress and achievements of the EKE initiative. With the vision to build the second core business district in Hong Kong, the initiative has borne fruit over the past 10 years. As a case in point, the commercial land supply in terms of gross floor area in Kowloon East has seen a rise by 70 per cent to the current 2.9 million square metres from 1.7 million sq m in 2012, and upon completion of the major planned developments, including the action areas in Kowloon Bay and Kwun Tong, would further increase to a total of over 4 million sq m. By then, its scale would be on par with that of the core business district in Central. Kowloon East has been a major source of office supply in Hong Kong over the past 10 years and would continue to be so in the short to medium term. 

     Mrs Lam proceeded to the venues of the Fly the Flyover Operation adjacent to the EKEO. She was pleased to learn that, upon the continuous stabilisation of the local epidemic, the restaurants and urban farms there have improved their business and many citizens along the way were carrying out different leisure activities. She then received at the promenade a briefing on the progress of the proposed walkways across Kwun Tong Typhoon Shelter and along Wai Yip Street to understand the development concept of Walkable Kowloon East, and visited the refurbished Hoi Bun Road Park. 

     Mrs Lam said, “Time flies. The EKE initiative is celebrating its 10th anniversary. I still remember 10 years ago when I attended the EKEO’s inauguration, I remarked that under the EKE initiative, ‘not only do we have to facilitate the transformation of Kowloon East into another core business district of Hong Kong, we also hope that this core business district would be a go-to destination for the public to work happily, stroll leisurely and enjoy casually’. I am pleased to note that over the years, the EKEO has been steadfastly upholding a visionary, innovative, co-ordinated and integrated operation mode. It has been proactively co-ordinating public and private development projects in the area to realise the development potential of the land there. It has also been pursuing a visionary ‘place-making’ approach to enhancing the pedestrian environment, improving public space and holding various activities. These efforts have gradually transformed Kowloon East from a traditional industrial area into a uniquely attractive core business district.

     “I thank the previous and current Heads of the EKEO, namely Mr Ling Kar-kan, Mr Raymond Lee, Ms Brenda Au and Ms Amy Cheung, who are all town planners, for upholding the Government’s vision for a quality city and leading their teams in taking forward the development of Kowloon East. I have every confidence that the EKEO will continue to co-ordinate the efforts of the Government, business sector and community to help Hong Kong bring in talents and investments, reinforcing the important status of Kowloon East as Hong Kong’s second core business district, and exploiting Hong Kong’s unique advantage as an innovative city and international metropolis.”

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East Asia

Setting up polling station at Penny’s Bay Community Isolation Facility for 2022 Chief Executive Election

     The 2022 Chief Executive Election will be held on May 8. The Registration and Electoral Office (REO) will set up a main polling station at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC), Wan Chai, for the Election Committee (EC) members to cast their votes. Taking into account the current epidemic situation, the REO will also set up a Penny’s Bay Polling Station (PBPS) at the Penny’s Bay Community Isolation Facility for EC members who are unable to cast their votes at the main polling station on the polling day due to local isolation or quarantine measures.
 
     The REO explained that the arrangements are applicable to EC members who are unable to cast their votes at the main polling station on the polling day due to the following situations (collectively referred to as “affected EC members”):
(a) under isolation in community isolation facilities;
(b) under quarantine in quarantine facilities;
(c) undergoing home quarantine;
(d) inbound travellers undergoing quarantine at designated places (for example, quarantine hotels); and
(e) the Government has issued a “restriction-testing declaration” requiring them to stay in their premises and undergo compulsory testing, and the EC members and/or their household member(s) are later confirmed to carry a positive result.
 
     After the close of the poll at the PBPS, sufficient time would need to be reserved for disinfection and delivery of ballot papers to the central counting station located at the HKCEC. As such, the polling hours of the PBPS are specified to be 9am to 10.30am. To ensure that EC members can cast their votes in a timely manner within the specified polling hours, affected EC members will have to be admitted into the Penny’s Bay Community Isolation Facility one day before the polling day (May 7) and stay for one night before they cast their votes in the polling station inside the facility in the morning of the following day. After voting, EC members can return to their original place to undergo the relevant isolation or quarantine (if required). EC members who only confirm on May 8 (before the close of the poll at the PBPS) their need to undergo isolation or quarantine should immediately contact the REO for providing practicable assistance in arranging for them to cast their vote as far as possible.
 
     From May 3 to the close of the poll at the PBPS on May 8, affected EC members can call the dedicated service hotline during business hours (9am to 6pm) from May 3 to 6 and from 9am on May 7 till 10.30am on May 8 (REO will later provide the number of the hotline via SMS and/or email to all EC members). The REO will co-ordinate with other related departments to provide one-stop services, including arranging designated taxis to transport affected EC members, as well as their admission into the Penny’s Bay Community Isolation Facility. In addition, affected EC members who find themselves subjected to the “restriction-testing declaration” on the evening of May 7 should contact the REO via the dedicated service hotline as early as possible so that appropriate assistance can be provided to facilitate them to vote.
 
     The REO also remarks that pursuant to Section 32 of the Prevention and Control of Disease Regulation (Cap. 599A), a person shall not, knowing that he/she is a contact or is infected with a specified infectious disease, by the conducts specified in subsection (1) of that section, expose other persons to the risk of infection. The REO urges affected EC members not to cast their votes in the main polling station at the HKCEC, but to contact the REO as soon as possible to exercise their voting rights in accordance with the arrangements above. If EC members have any questions regarding the above arrangement, they may call the REO hotline on 2891 1001. read more

East Asia • Uncategorized

Update on supplies from Mainland

     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 (April 29) that Shenzhen operated 64 cargo vessel trips and transported around 6 560 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of cross-boundary supplies by water yesterday (April 28), equivalent to about 27 640 tonnes of goods, of which around 20 TEUs (about 130 tonnes) were fresh food and around 6 540 TEUs (about 27 510 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 268 770 TEUs of cross-boundary supplies have been transported, equivalent to about 1 445 140 tonnes of goods, of which around 1 530 TEUs (about 13 170 tonnes) were fresh food and around 267 240 TEUs (about 1 431 970 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 2 519 rapid nucleic acid tests were conducted yesterday in which 16 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

East Asia