Author Archives: hksar gov

     An employee was fined $20,000 at the Fanling Magistrates’ Courts today (January 21) for violation of the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance. The prosecution was launched by the Labour Department.
           
     The case involved a fatal accident that occurred on December 28, 2023, in a factory in Yuen Long. A crane in operation collided with another crane that was being used to suspend a metal block. The metal block moved and struck a worker who was carrying out welding work. The worker sustained serious injuries and passed away 22 days later. read more

     Kinform Timber Company Limited was fined $120,000 at the Fanling Magistrates’ Courts today (January 21) for violation of the Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance. The prosecution was launched by the Labour Department.

     The case involved a fatal accident that occurred on March 14, 2024, at a warehouse in Sandy Ridge, New Territories. During the unloading of wooden battens from the trailer of a truck, a bundle of wooden battens fell from the trailer and struck a worker. The worker sustained an injury and passed away on the same day. read more

     The Water Supplies Department (WSD) today (January 21) held a certificate presentation ceremony for the Self-Certification Scheme for Application for Water Supply for Catering Business Trades to commend about 30 licensed plumbers (LPs) for their track record of performance and to recognise them as the first batch of LPs eligible to participate in the Scheme. The Director of Water Supplies, Mr Roger Wong, presented certificates to the LPs attending the ceremony.

     Mr Wong stated that the WSD continuously optimises the procedures for water supply applications and streamlines workflow to facilitate high-water-consumption industries (including the catering business), thereby creating a more business-friendly environment. The WSD launched the Scheme at the end of last year, allowing LPs with a track record of performance to self-certify the plumbing works for the catering businesses they are responsible for, further streamlining the water supply application process for those businesses. The Scheme has shifted from a one-size-fits-all regulatory approach targeting a minority of underperformers to one that encourages continuous excellence among participants, which helps improve the overall standard of the plumbing industry. Details and a list of LPs eligible to participate in the Scheme have been published on the WSD website.

     Moreover, the WSD established the Digital Water Office in June last year, enhancing water supply operations and customer services through the development of digital infrastructure and smart technologies, providing better and more environmentally friendly water supply services. One of the initiatives includes the launch of an intelligent electronic service platform that assists plumbers in automatically generating plumbing diagrams for the catering business that meet the WSD’s requirements, thereby expediting the related water supply application process. The electronic service platform is scheduled to be launched in the early second quarter.

     In response to the Development Bureau’s encouragement of a mindset that facilitates development and collaborative co-operation while streamlining workflows for related public services, the WSD will review the implementation and operation of the Scheme before considering expanding it to other categories of water supply applications.

  

     Following are the remarks by the Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, at a media session before the Executive Council meeting today (January 21):
 
Reporter: Just touching on Trump’s inauguration, many people, including your own Financial Secretary, have warned of the risks of the second Trump presidency on the economy. So I’m just wondering if you can elaborate on what you expect the impacts to be on Hong Kong and what steps you’re taking to insulate the city’s economy from any possible actions taken against it. And with regards to the scam compounds in Southeast Asia, do you have a timeline, or when do you expect the remaining victims to be returned to the city? Thank you.

Chief Executive: With the new president in office, this is a good start for China-US relations to be pushed to make greater success and greater progress from this new starting point. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government always strengthens ties and exchanges with different countries, including the US, so we will continue to promote ties and exchanges between the two peoples. Of course, mutual respect, mutual understanding and common will are important. There are a lot of benefits for good relations between China and the US, and also between Hong Kong and the US. We believe in free and open trade, and the US has been enjoying a lot of benefits in the trade relations between Hong Kong and the US. There is a trade surplus amounting to US$270 billion over the past 10 years. There are some 1 400 US companies in Hong Kong, and that is an increase of 9 per cent from the previous year. There are a lot of benefits in promoting good relations between Hong Kong and the US, and Hong Kong has always tried to promote economic co-operation and collaboration. That is why I have been expanding regional co-operation with the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), the Middle East and also new partners, particularly Belt and Road countries.
 
     I think there are a lot of commonalities and common interests between Hong Kong and the US, and with the new president in office, I hope to see that there will be good efforts to promote positive relations, because co-operation and collaboration will only create overall good for the people of Hong Kong and the people of the US. Hong Kong people and US citizens have always been friends in a lot of areas, and we will continue to work hard in that regard, but of course, we will always prepare for the worst, and we will ensure that the rights of our people and companies will be protected.
 
     As regards the detention of Hong Kong people in some Southeast Asian countries after they have been deceived to go to the region, we have been strengthening efforts on all fronts. Our aim, of course, is to rescue them as soon as possible, so that they can all come back to Hong Kong safely. Thanks to the efforts of the Security Bureau, in the period, 18 Hong Kong citizens have been rescued, and there are still now 10 Hong Kong citizens being detained in Southeast Asian countries. Our efforts focus on four areas. First is full and thorough investigation, together with enforcement. Second, enhanced co-operation with our partners. There are a lot of players in the whole fight against these crimes, including the law enforcement agencies in the relevant countries. There are good networks already; the respective countries have already heightened their attention and escalated the government participation in our whole fight. We will continue to strengthen co-operation in this area, passing intelligence across the players. The third thing we will do is to ensure that we will have the right Outbound Travel Alerts for Hong Kong citizens. We have recently raised the travel alert for (the southeastern regions of) Myanmar to red, and also we have regularly added new information on the Security Bureau’s webpage regarding those areas where these crimes are serious and the new modus operandi, in order to heighten citizens’ awareness of where the potential risks are. The fourth area is to continue to strengthen publicity and education to alert innocent Hong Kong people to the seriousness of these crimes, and also to ensure that they get updated information. I thank the media and everybody who are involved for this education and publicity campaign to continue. I thank for their efforts and hope they will continue to strengthen efforts in this regard.
 
Reporter: Are you worried about more Trump sanctions on Hong Kong officials?
 
Chief Executive: We have finished the session, but I still want to continue with this, because I hope that there will be a good starting point for good relations between Hong Kong and the US to progress. Hong Kong people believe in a lot of principles, and all these principles are on righteousness, justice and doing the best for the overall good of Hong Kong. Any political interference, any inappropriate action against Hong Kong will not work, particularly as we believe what we do is for the overall good of Hong Kong. If there is any attempt to interfere with trials in Hong Kong, or officials or people who are involved in administering justice, it won’t work, and we are doing it exactly in the same way in protecting our national security, as other citizens in their own countries. We are right in our action and decisions, and we uphold justice in the whole process. Thank you.
 
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the remarks.) read more

     â€‹Correctional officers stopped an 18-year-old male person in custody from committing suicide by hanging in Pik Uk Correctional Institution today (January 21).           &nbs… read more