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Following is the transcript (English portion) of a standup briefing by the Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works, Dr Sarah Liao, on the mounting problem of the equipment underneath the East Rail trains today (January 12):
Reporter: What do you think .... to justify the safety of the passengers?
Dr Liao: We are, of course, very concerned with the safety of our passengers. That is our primary concern. Apart from that, of course, we would like to provide service and not to cause public disruption unnecessarily. So having considered the reports from the experts and also the supplier, we believed that there is no immediate danger at this point of time. And we have allowed the trains to proceed operation as usual. However, we have asked KCRC to step up its monitoring and testing. And if there is any doubt that something should be unsafe, I will not preclude the possibility of stopping all trains. The Government has already made provision for emergency response. Our ETCC (Emergency Transport Co-ordination Centre) has been activated. And if it is necessary, we would provide alternative transport. But if that should happen, I will ask citizens to pay attention to news and I apologise for any inconvenience caused if that should happen.
Reporter: About some newspapers report that the government is going to allow MTRC to lease KCRC for preparation of the merger....?
Dr Liao: I am afraid I cannot reveal anything on the merger until we have reached an agreement. It is not appropriate for me to say anything at the moment.
Reporter: Regarding the KCRC incident, who is going to take the accountability?
Dr Liao: I have asked the chairman to first of all carry out all the necessary repair and maintenance works, or change for new equipment, and make sure the system is safe. That is the first priority. The second thing I have asked them to do is to review the operation of the company including the management and the overall system, and to identify whether there are things that we need to do something about them.
Reporter: Does anybody need to resign?
Dr Liao: I will have to wait and see the report to make a decision.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion)
Ends/Thursday, January 12, 2006
Issued at HKT 15:18
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