Mable Chan Outlines Vision for Transport and Logistics in Hong Kong's Future Development

Remarks by newly appointed STL at media session

Following are the remarks by the newly appointed Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Ms Mable Chan, at a media session today (December 5):

Reporter: What are your expectations and priorities of your new role? What do you want to achieve in the coming two and a half years? Also, the CE mentioned that he is confident in your leadership and articulation skills and also proactiveness. How do you plan to use such qualities to serve the general public? Thank you.

Secretary for Transport and Logistics: Thank you for your questions. I have been the Permanent Secretary in the Transport and Logistics Bureau. I have good knowledge of the policy areas under my portfolio. I know my colleagues well. I am action-oriented and have a proactive working style. I am confident that I will bring impetus to the Bureau in taking forward the various policy initiatives as set out in "The Chief Executive's 2024 Policy Address". In particular, our focus will be to further develop Hong Kong as an international shipping centre and an international aviation hub. Apart from that, the transport and railway development is very pivotal to the economic development of Hong Kong. As I've just mentioned, we have promulgated a transport blueprint (Hong Kong Major Transport Infrastructure Development Blueprint), which lists out a number of railways and road projects. In the coming years, I will be leading my Bureau in taking forward steadfastly in order to make sure that these projects are implemented and constructed on time within budget in order to better serve the population intake in various areas. As regards aviation and the shipping centres, Hong Kong has been a very international city. We have extensive connections with the various parts of the world. It is important that we leverage on our unique advantage of being part of the Mainland and our advantage under the "one country, two systems" principle in order to connect ourselves with the Mainland markets and the global markets. We should better serve our motherland as a "super-connector" in order to enable the various industries and enterprises to use Hong Kong as a platform in order to better connect with the world. With the development and implementation of the Three-Runway System, my Bureau will take a more proactive and more strategic framework and approach in extending and negotiating discussions with our aviation partners in order to unleash our potential in the Hong Kong International Airport in order to build our connections to better connect to the Mainland cities as well as the global markets. Lastly, as regards the shipping centre, no doubt that we are facing a lot of serious challenges but this is a good opportunity for us to work in partnership with our stakeholders to build Hong Kong's brand and to rebuildour competitiveness. The recent promulgation of our Action Plan on Green Maritime Fuel Bunkering lists out a number of measures which I am confident that with the industries' support and participation, we will increase and enhance our competitiveness and be more proactive in attracting more ocean-going vessels to come to Hong Kong to add their green fuel as well as to enable them to come to Hong Kong to do business. Thank you.

(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the remarks.)

Water Supplies Department's clarification on water loss issue in Fairview Park

The Fairview Park Small Owners' Rights Association ("the Association") today (February 8) issued a press release concerning water loss issue in Fairview Park. As the press release contains inaccuracies, the Water Supplies Department (WSD) provides the following clarification to avoid public misunderstanding:

The WSD has consistently discharged its regulatory and enforcement duties in accordance with the law in relation to the water loss issue in Fairview Park. As leakage was detected in the inside service of the Fairview Park, the WSD, pursuant to the powers conferred under section 7 of the Waterworks Ordinance, required the registered agent to follow up and rectify the problem. However, the Association has repeatedly and incorrectly attributed the responsibility for the inside service to the WSD, who is in fact the regulator, and has persistently requested the WSD to undertake the maintenance responsibility of the inside service of the housing estate, including detailed inspection and replacement of watermains. This misrepresentation is completely out of order.

Furthermore, clause 42 of the special conditions of Fairview Park's land lease only stipulates that the Government is responsible for maintenance of the water mains only if they were laid by the Government and are located beneath the roads which have been surrendered to the Government. In fact, the majority of the water mains within Fairview Park were laid by the grantee of the land and therefore the above-mentioned clause 42 is not applicable to these water mains. During the construction of Fairview Park, for the purposes of supplying water to the premises, the WSD only laid a small portion of water mains beneath the roads at the entrance and the areas within the housing estate near the entrance. These roads are still private land and have not been surrendered to the Government. Accordingly, under Section 7 of the Waterworks Ordinance and the land lease, the consumers or the registered agent shall be responsible for custody and maintenance of the water mains within Fairview Park. Despite WSD's repeated explanations, the Association continues to misinterpret the land lease provisions. The WSD urges the Association to cease disseminating inaccurate information.

To address residents' concerns and facilitate proper resolution of the water loss problem, the WSD has engaged an independent expert panel. Leveraging on the advanced technology and expertise, the expert panel will provide thirdparty professional advice on the water loss issue, thereby assisting the responsible party of Fairview Park in effective planning of water mains repair works. The expert panel has commenced the work and aims to deliver preliminary findings by April. The expert panel is accountable to the WSD. Upon receipt its advice, the WSD will thoroughly consider the advice in order to plan for the follow-up actions, including providing appropriate technical support for the owners and the management office.

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