Attention duty announcers, radio and TV stations:

     Please broadcast the following as soon as possible and repeat it at suitable intervals:

     The Marine Department today (March 3) reminded masters, coxswains and persons-in-charge of vessels navigating in Hong Kong waters to proceed at a safe speed and exercise extreme caution because restricted visibility of less than 2 nautical miles has been reported.

     Appropriate sound signals shall be made when underway or at anchor. All vessels must comply with the International Regulations for Preventing Collision at Sea.

     Also, when radar is used without the benefit of adequate plotting facilities, the information obtained from the equipment is rather limited and should be construed accordingly.

     Visibility reports are broadcast by the Vessel Traffic Centre (VTC) on VHF channels 02, 12, 14, 63 and 67.

     In the event of an accident, a report shall be made immediately to the VTC at Tel: 2233 7801.

Police are investigating a fatal traffic accident in Tai Po last night (March 2) in which a 33-year-old man died.

At about 11.42pm yesterday, a motorcycle driven by the 33-year-old man was travelling along the slip road of Tai Po Tai Wo Road towards Yuen Long. It reportedly lost control and rammed into the railings.

Sustaining serious head injuries, the motorcyclist was rushed to Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital in unconscious state and was certified dead at 00.28am today (March 3).

Investigation by the Special Investigation Team of Traffic, New Territories North is underway.

Anyone who witnessed the accident or has any information to offer is urged to contact the investigating officers on 3661 3800.

     The Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, attended the signing ceremony for the donation by the Ng Teng Fong Charitable Foundation to the Palace Museum and visited the Palace Museum and its exhibition in Beijing this afternoon (March 2).

     Mrs Lam, accompanied by the Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr Patrick Nip, and the Director of the Chief Executive's Office, Mr Chan Kwok-ki, attended the signing ceremony at the Palace Museum. In addition to the Director of the Palace Museum, Dr Shan Jixiang and the Chairman of the Ng Teng Fong Charitable Foundation, Mr Robert Ng, guests including the Minister of Culture and Tourism, Mr Luo Shugang, the Director General of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, Mr Liu Yuzhu and the Director of the Forbidden City Cultural Heritage Conservation Foundation, Mr Li Ji were also present. The donation by the Ng Teng Fong Charitable Foundation serves to fund the repair of the Palace of Prolonging Happiness in the Palace Museum, the establishment of a gallery of foreign artefacts and the restoration of more than 200 foreign artefacts.

     Addressing the ceremony, Mrs Lam said that the Ng Teng Fong Charitable Foundation upholds the fine tradition of Hong Kong entrepreneurs fully supporting the Palace Museum's work on heritage conservation. She added that Hong Kong has long been a bridge for cultural exchanges between China and the rest of the world and it is particularly meaningful that this donation will fund the repair of the Palace of Prolonging Happiness, which has a Western architectural style, as well as the establishment of a gallery of foreign artefacts.

     Thanking the Palace Museum for its long-standing support for the set-up of the Hong Kong Palace Museum, Mrs Lam said she was pleased to note that the Palace Museum will provide relevant training to the professionals of the Hong Kong Palace Museum on areas including the repair of ancient architectural structures, artefact restoration and management, design of exhibition halls and display of exhibits when carrying out the Palace of Prolonging Happiness project. In addition, the Palace Museum will also select some young people who participated in the Beijing Palace Museum Conservation Internship Programme for two weeks of advanced training. The Palace Museum has held the Beijing Palace Museum Conservation Internship Programme every summer since 2017 to provide a six-week internship programme for Hong Kong young people to broaden their horizons and enrich their knowledge on heritage conservation and appreciation, and to promote exchanges among the trainees from Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao.

     Before the ceremony, Mrs Lam and the other officials also toured the Palace of Prolonging Happiness and the "Celebrating the Spring Festival in the Forbidden City" exhibition showing the traditional decorations and activities at the Palace during the Lunar New Year in the past.

     In the morning, Mrs Lam had a working meeting with the Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, Mr Zhang Xiaoming, and visited China Media Group and gave an interview to it.

        

     The Labour Department (LD) is highly concerned about the work accident that happened in Kwun Tong this morning (March 2), in which a male worker who was working at 8/F level on a platform erected on a bamboo scaffold at the external wall of a building under construction, was suspected to have been struck by a piece of timber falling from above, and fell from the platform onto the scaffold at 7/F level. He was certified dead in hospital. The LD is saddened by the death of the worker and expresses its deepest sympathy to the victim's family.

     The LD's spokesman said, "We commenced immediate on-site investigation as soon as we were notified of the accident and issued suspension notices to the contractors and employer involved to suspend the external wall work carried out at the building concerned. The contractors and employer cannot resume the work process until the LD is satisfied that measures to abate the relevant risk have been taken."

     The spokesman added, "We will complete investigation as soon as possible to identify the cause of the accident, ascertain the liability of the duty holders and recommend improvement measures. We will take actions pursuant to the law if there is any violation of the work safety legislation."

     The general duty provisions of the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance require employers to provide safe working environments, safe plant and safe systems of work for their employees. Those who contravene the above provisions are liable to a maximum fine of $500,000 and imprisonment for six months.

     In regard to today's accident, the LD will issue a Work Safety Alert through its website and email, giving a brief account of the accident concerned to duty holders, workers' unions, professional bodies of safety practitioners and others, and reminding the industry of the importance of following safety precautionary measures to prevent recurrence of similar accidents.

     The LD will also remind the employer concerned of the liability for employees' compensation under the Employees' Compensation Ordinance, assist family members of the deceased to claim employees' compensation and closely follow up on the case. For those with financial difficulties, the LD will assist them to apply for appropriate emergency funds. Subject to the needs and wishes of family members of the deceased, the LD will also liaise with the Social Welfare Department for financial or other assistance.

     For the sake of securing the safety and health of employees at work, the LD appeals to employers to provide plant and systems of work that are safe and without risks to health. Employees should co-operate with their employers, adopt all safety measures and use personal protective equipment provided properly to avoid endangering their own work safety and that of other workers.

     More than 1 300 students from 38 schools joined the "Jockey Club Mosaiculture Display by Students" at Victoria Park today (March 2). Under the guidance of some 170 green volunteers, the students worked together to help put up the spectacular mosaiculture display "Our City, Our Games!".
 
     The parterre is a wonderful mosaic with more than 30 000 eye-catching flowers and plants including kalanchoes, carnations, myosotis, chrysanthemums and more.
 
     With a sports meet as its theme to bring in vitality, the mosaiculture display in the Hong Kong Flower Show this year aims to publicise the health benefits of sports and encourage the public to incorporate sports into their daily lives. It depicts athletes participating in eight kinds of sports in the 7th Hong Kong Games – athletics, badminton, basketball, futsal, swimming, table tennis, tennis and volleyball – as well as the Games' demonstration event, rugby sevens.
 
     Visitors can get up close and take photos with the torch in the centre of the field or with the adorable cut-out standees of sports ball figures. In the evening, the display is enhanced with light and sound effects so that the beauty can be showcased day and night. The display will be exhibited in the coming Hong Kong Flower Show.
 
     This year's flower show will be held in Victoria Park for 10 days from March 15 to 24 from 9am to 9pm daily, featuring "When Dreams Blossom" as the main theme and the Chinese hibiscus as the theme flower.
 
     For enquiries, please call 2601 8260 or visit the flower show webpage www.hkflowershow.hk/en/hkfs/2019/index.html.
 
     The flower show is organised by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department. The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust is supporting the flower show for the seventh consecutive year and has been the Major Sponsor of the flower show since 2014.