Hong Kong Prepares for Increased Visitor Management During National Day Golden Week

CSTB co-ordinates measures in relation to arrival of visitors to Hong Kong during Mainland's National Day Golden Week

Following the first interdepartmental meeting held on August 23 to co-ordinate the preparation work for the arrival of visitors to Hong Kong during the Mainland's National Day Golden Week, the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau convened another meeting today (September 20) to follow up on the preparation work carried out by various departments, including crowd-control management of visitors, etc, said a Government spokesman. The meeting was chaired by the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Mr Kevin Yeung, with representatives from government departments including the Hong Kong Customs (Customs), the Hong Kong Police Force (Police), the Immigration Department (ImmD), the Transport Department, various District Offices, etc. Representatives from various tourism-related organisations including the Travel Industry Authority (TIA), the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB), the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong, the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority, major tourist attractions, the hotel industry, etc, also attended. Relevant parties will continue to maintain close communication on the crowd control of visitors during the Mainland's National Day Golden Week with a view to preparing in advance and co-ordinating different aspects for receiving visitor arrivals to Hong Kong.

Mr Yeung said, "The HKSARG has been closely monitoring visitor arrivals during the Mainland's National Day Golden Week and will continue to maintain close liaison with various government departments, relevant organisations and the trade to properly manage visitor flows, so as to offer visitors with a good travel experience and a taste of Hong Kong's city charm of 'Tourism is everywhere in Hong Kong'."

During the Mainland's National Day Golden Week, relevant government departments will strengthen manpower as well as co-ordination of transport and cross-boundary services at various control points, including strengthening crowd management, increasing transport frequency, etc. If necessary, the Police will make appropriate traffic arrangements according to the actual circumstances, including arranging public transport to use the designated dedicated lane at San Sham Road to travel to Lok Ma Chau/Huanggang Port. In addition, the Inter-departmental Joint Command Centre set up by Customs, the Police, the ImmD and other departments will be activated during the Mainland's National Day Golden Week to monitor the situation at each land control point, as well as to maintain close liaison with Mainland counterparts and take contingency actions where necessary. The Emergency Transport Co-ordination Centre of the Transport Department will operate 24 hours to monitor the traffic conditions of different districts, including various boundary control points and major stations, disseminate the latest traffic information through various channels and implement response measures where appropriate.

Various District Offices will closely monitor the flow of visitors within their corresponding districts during the Mainland's National Day Golden Week and strengthen management of the relevant spots having regard to the actual circumstances. Major tourist attractions will also put in place crowd control measures.

The TIA has been reminding travel agents receiving relevant Mainland inbound tour groups to stagger arrival times as far as possible and urge travel agents, shops, restaurants, etc, receiving Mainland inbound tour groups to implement appropriate measures for managing the order of visitors and coaches. The TIA will also deploy additional manpower during the Mainland's National Day Golden Week to conduct inspections in districts where relatively more registered shops for inbound tour groups are located, and offer assistance to visitors and tourist guides to protect the rights of inbound tour group visitors. In addition, Customs will step up inspections of shops serving visitors to combat unfair trade practices.

The Tourism Commission, together with representatives from various government departments and the TIA, visited Tsim Sha Tsui Star Ferry Pier and the nearby piers offering Victoria Harbour tours earlier (September 9) to inspect enhancement arrangements of crowd control deployed by relevant parties, as well as visiting the Kowloon City District to inspect registered shops and catering premises for Mainland inbound tour groups to remind the relevant parties to better prepare for the co-ordination work for crowd management. In addition, the Tourism Commission has been maintaining liaison with Mainland tourism authorities and communicating with them on the arrival of Mainland visitors. It has provided the hotlines of the relevant local organisations to Mainland inbound group visitors via the Mainland tourism authorities.

At present, the ImmD will upload the daily arrival figures of each control point to its website (www.immd.gov.hk). In addition, visitors may check the estimated waiting time at each land boundary control point via the Immigration mobile application.

​During the Mainland's National Day Golden Week, in case of emergency, Mainland inbound tour group visitors, tour escorts accompanying the tour groups and local tourist guides may seek assistance from the TIA by calling its service hotline 3698 5900 (operating from 9am to 6pm from October 1 to 7). For enquiries or complaints, visitors may call the HKTB's hotline 2508 1234 (operating from 9am to 8pm from October 1 to 7) or the Consumer Council's hotline 2929 2222 (operating from 9am to 5.30pm from October 2 to 4 and on October 7).

CSTB co-ordinates measures in relation to arrival of visitors to Hong Kong during Mainland's National Day Golden Week Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

CSTB co-ordinates measures in relation to arrival of visitors to Hong Kong during Mainland's National Day Golden Week Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Buildings Department responds to media enquiries on development project at Anderson Road

In response to media enquiries about the steel reinforcement installation works in the superstructure of a development project at Anderson Road, a spokesman for the Buildings Department (BD) today (October 4) gave the following response:

The BD received a report in late August alleging that the steel reinforcements of some structural elements in the superstructure works being carried out at the Anderson Road site had not been installed in accordance with the requirements of the Buildings Ordinance (Chapter 123) (BO). The BD attaches great importance to the incident and has deployed its staff to the site four times since early September to inspect site operations, quality of work, site safety and the like. During the inspection on September 26, the BD staff found that the number of steel reinforcements installed at six beams on 29/F of Tower 3 of the site was less than that required in the approved plans. Nevertheless, there was no obvious danger to the overall structure.

As neither the representative of the registered structural engineer (RSE) nor the representative of the registered contractor (RC) could provide a reasonable explanation immediately on that day, the BD staff met with the RSE on the following day (September 27) and requested him to submit a detailed investigation and remedial works report, including the need for additional sampling tests to determine whether similar situations existed on other floors of Tower 3 and in other towers.

To facilitate the investigation requested by the BD, works of the Anderson Road development project have been suspended since September 28. In addition to the investigation and remedial works report, the BD also requested for a proposal to strengthen site supervision, and the site works cannot be resumed until the BD is satisfied with the report and proposal.

The BD is continuing its investigation into the incident and will consider appropriate enforcement action upon receipt of the RSE's report on the incident.

The BD is also reviewing the superstructure works in seven other private developments being carried out by the same contractor, and will step up site inspections to check their site safety and quality of works.

Of the eight private development projects mentioned above, four were taken over from Aggressive Construction Engineering Limited (ACEL), which was removed from the register of general building contractors in November last year. The RC involved in the incident was another independent RC. Under the BD's registration system, an RC must have a suitable authorized signatory (AS) to supervise the works. The AS of the RC involved in this incident was not the AS of ACEL, whose name was removed during the processing of its application for registration renewal last year. The delisted AS could not act on behalf of an RC for the purposes of the BO unless he attended the interview again and passed the assessment of the Contractors Registration Committee.

The spokesman reiterated that the BD attaches great importance to the safety and quality of building works. Whichever contractor is involved, the construction works are subject to stringent control under the existing system. The BO stipulates that registered building professionals and RC must properly supervise the works, including ensuring the carrying out of building works in accordance with the approved plans. If registered building professionals, RC and their technically competent persons identify any non-conformities, they must follow the requirements set out in the Code of Practice for Site Supervision 2009 (2024 Edition) and initiate the relevant procedures and rectify. The BD will conduct audit inspections at the critical stages of the building works, witness on-site tests, and review relevant certification documents for quality control.

The Anderson Road development project comprises six multi-storey residential towers, three of which (Towers 1, 2 and 3) are 32 storeys in height, while the remaining three (Towers 5, 6 and 7) are 24 storeys in height. Superstructure works for all six towers were underway, with the concreting works completed at various levels ranging from 22 to 29 storeys. Nine single-storey houses will also be built in the development.