************************************************************
Following is a question by the Hon Tam Yiu-chung and a reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Ambrose S K Lee, in the Legislative Council today (May 10):
Question:
Some members of the public have reflected to me that as the number of people crossing the boundary via the Lok Ma Chau (LMC) Control Point has been increasing, the Control Point and Huanggang Port have become very crowded. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the respective daily average numbers of Hong Kong residents and overseas travellers crossing the boundary via Lo Wu Terminal and the LMC Control Point in the past year, and the respective increases in numbers over the preceding year;
(b) of the projected percentage increase in the daily average number of passengers crossing the boundary via the LMC Control Point after the commissioning of the Long Valley spur line of the Kowloon-Canton Railway; and
(c) whether it plans to ease the congestion at the LMC Control Point, including reducing the fare for travelling to and from Lo Wu Terminal along the East Rail, so as to encourage passengers who originally intend to cross the boundary via the LMC Control Point to switch to Lo Wu Terminal; if so, of the details of the plan; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
Madam President,
Our detailed reply to the Hon Tam Yiu-chung's question is as follows:
(a) According to passenger statistics kept by the Immigration Department, the Lo Wu (LW) Control Point and the Lok Ma Chau (LMC) Control Point both recorded increases in daily passenger throughput last year, with more significant growth recorded for the latter.
At the LW Control Point, the daily average passenger throughput was about 249,000 in 2005. Among these, about 209,000 were Hong Kong residents and 40,000 were visitors. Compared with 2004, the overall passenger throughput increased by about 1.6 per cent.
At the LMC Control Point, the daily average passenger throughput was about 122,000 in 2005. Among these, about 101,000 were Hong Kong residents and 21,000 were visitors. Compared with 2004, the overall passenger throughput increased by about 17.3 per cent.
Passenger statistics of the two control points are set out at Annex.
(b) Upon commissioning of the Sheung Shui to LMC Spur Line of the Kowloon-Canton Railway East Rail, the crossing there will be able to handle up to 150,000 passengers per day. We expect that at least 20 per cent of the passengers who cross the boundary via the LMC Control Point will switch to use the LMC Spur Line. This will help alleviate congestions at the LMC Control Point.
(c) We have been very concerned about the problem of increasing congestion at the LMC Control Point. Apart from strengthening communication and co-operation with the relevant Shenzhen authorities, improving the hardware facilities of the control point, streamlining clearance procedures and exercising flexibility in the deployment of manpower, we have been making good use of technology to ensure smoother immigration clearance.
In order to further enhance the handling capacity of the LMC Control Point, the Immigration Department has recently installed 20 e-channels there to facilitate immigration clearance for Hong Kong residents on a round-the-clock basis. Moreover, during peak periods, the Department will consider adopting a "dual-facing counters unidirectional application" mode. In other words, manpower will be strengthened to enable counter staff to work back to back at the same set of dual-facing counters simultaneously to speed up the clearance of passengers in the dominant direction.
The Government has been encouraging public transport operators, including the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC), to actively consider offering fare concessions to passengers. In determining fares, the KCRC has taken into consideration relevant factors, including market competition, financial position of the corporation, economic conditions and public acceptability. The KCRC has indicated that so far it has no plan to adjust the East Rail's Lo Wu fare, but the Corporation has launched a series of promotions, such as the KCRC Tourist Pass Combo, and concessionary schemes for passengers going to Ocean Park, Hong Kong Disneyland or Macau, so as to attract more cross-boundary passengers to travel via Lo Wu by the East Rail.
Ends/Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Issued at HKT 14:18
NNNN