Miss Carol Or will assume the post of District Officer (Sha Tin) tomorrow (May 14), succeeding Dr Janet Wong.

     Miss Or joined the Administrative Service in 2002. She has served in various bureaux and departments, including the former Education and Manpower Bureau; the Home Affairs Department; the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau; the Transport and Housing Bureau; the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, Geneva; and the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau.

     She was the Assistant Commissioner for Tourism before taking up the new post.

  

The following is issued on behalf of the Office of The Ombudsman:
 
     The Ombudsman, Ms Winnie Chiu, held a press conference this morning (May 13) to announce the results of two direct investigation reports. The titles of the reports are “Regulatory Regime for Lifts and Escalators” and “Management and Repair of Public Toilets by Food and Environmental Hygiene Department and Architectural Services Department”. Details of the reports can be found on the website of the Office of The Ombudsman: ofomb.ombudsman.hk/abc/en-us/news.

      

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:

     The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) today (May 13) announced the implementation plan for Phases III (Account information) and IV (Transaction) of the Open Application Programming Interface (Open API) framework.

     Following the implementation of Phases I and II of the Open API framework in January and October 2019 respectively, the HKMA commissioned an external consultant to analyse and recommend the ways forward for the implementation of Phases III and IV, taking into consideration international practices and local market situation.  

     Based on the recommendations in the study report entitled "The Next Phase of the Banking Open API Journey", the HKMA has decided to adopt a progressive approach to implementing Phases III and IV API functions that enable viable use cases, involving lower implementation cost and risk. The initial batch of API functions, covering deposit account information and online merchant payments, are expected to be implemented progressively by the 28 participating banks starting from December 2021 according to the timetable specified in the Annex. To promote secure and efficient implementation, the HKMA will facilitate the Hong Kong Association of Banks (HKAB) to develop a set of standards covering key areas of customer experience and authentication, technical and data standards, information security, and operation standards. The HKAB will also refine the current Common Baseline document to include the scope of Open API Phases III and IV implementation. Both the standards set and the refined Common Baseline document are expected to be published by the end of 2021.

     The HKMA will continue to monitor the implementation progress, assess the market developments, and further consider the need for other measures to maximise the benefits of Open APIs.

     "As we prepare to enter the next phase of the banking Open API journey, we would endeavour to develop an implementation plan to encourage Open API adoption within the banking industry by striking a good balance between ensuring proper risk management and satisfying unmet customer needs. The HKMA will continue to facilitate the strengthening of trust across all banking Open API participants and promote a healthy ecosystem conducive to financial innovation," the Deputy Chief Executive of the HKMA, Mr Howard Lee, said.

     The Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) hotline service under the Special Preventive Programme of the Centre for Health Protection of the Department of Health will be suspended from 6pm to 9pm tomorrow (May 14) for a maintenance check.

     The service will resume after maintenance.

     The free and anonymous AIDS hotline (2780 2211) provides information on AIDS and sexually transmitted infections and a Human Immunodeficiency Virus antibody testing booking service to the public.

     The Transport Department (TD) today (May 13) reminded members of the public that the following temporary traffic and transport arrangements will be implemented from about 0.00am to 5.30am this Sunday (May 16) to facilitate footbridge demolition works at Yen Chow Street West:

(A) Road Closure 

     The section of Yen Chow Street West between Tung Chau Street and Cheong San Lane (both northeast and southwest bound) will be temporarily closed to all vehicular traffic.

(B) Traffic Diversion
 

• Vehicles on Lin Cheung Road southeast bound heading to Yen Chow Street West northeast bound will be diverted via Sham Mong Road, Tonkin Street West and Tung Chau Street;

• Vehicles on Yen Chow Street West northeast bound and Sham Mong Road northwest bound heading to Yen Chow Street West northeast bound will be diverted via Sham Mong Road, Tonkin Street West and Tung Chau Street;

• Vehicles on Yen Chow Street southwest bound and Tung Chau Street southeast bound heading to Yen Chow Street West southwest bound will be diverted via Tung Chau Street, Chui Yu Road and Sham Mong Road; and

• Vehicles on Sham Mong Road southeast bound heading to Yen Chow Street West northeast bound will be diverted via Sham Mong Road, Chui Yu Road, Nam Cheong Street and Hoi Tan Street.
   

(C) Bus Diversions

     During the road closure period, eight franchised bus routes, namely cross-harbour bus route Nos. 118 (Cheung Sha Wan – Siu Sai Wan) and N118 (Cheung Sha Wan – Siu Sai Wan); Kowloon Motor Bus routes Nos. 6F (Cheung Sha Wan – Kowloon City Ferry), 12A (Cheung Sha Wan – Whampoa Garden), 18 (Cheung Sha Wan – Oi Man), 36A (Cheung Sha Wan – Lei Muk Shue) and 286X (Sham Shui Po – Hin Keng); and New World First Bus route No. 702 (Hoi Lai Estate – Kowloon Tong), will be diverted. Some of the bus stops will also be suspended or relocated. Please refer to the TD's website (www.td.gov.hk/en/traffic_notices/index_id_62137.html) for details.

     The bus companies will display notices to advise passengers on the arrangements. Passengers are advised to pay attention to the arrangements of route diversions and suspension or relocation of bus stops.　

     Appropriate traffic diversion signs will be erected on-site to guide motorists. The TD anticipates that owing to the diversion arrangements, the travelling time at the road sections concerned will be slightly lengthened. Motorists should exercise tolerance and patience.

     Members of the public are advised to plan their journeys in advance and allow sufficient traveling time to cater for unexpected delays, and to stay alert to the latest traffic news through the media or the TD's mobile application "HKeMobility" or website (www.td.gov.hk).