The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Housing Authority:
 
     The Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) strives to provide affordable public rental housing (PRH) to low-income families with housing needs. The newly completed Lin Tsui Estate at Lin Shing Road in Chai Wan has just begun the intake process, offering new homes to more than 700 people.
 
     Built on the former site of the Housing Department's Chai Wan Staff Quarters, Lin Tsui Estate has a gross area of about 2 000 square metres.
 
     "Lin Tsui Estate is a single-block estate, with the block named Lin Tsui House. With 36 domestic storeys, the block provides a total of 288 PRH units including Type A flats (one/two-person), Type B flats (two/three-person), Type C flats (three/four-person) and Type D flats (four/five-person) with internal floor areas ranging from about 14 sq m to 35 sq m and monthly rents from $1,090 to $2,730," a spokesman for the HA said today (July 12).
 
     Despite the limited site area, there is a landscaped garden and a children's play area as well as fitness facilities for the elderly and adults on the podium. As for shopping facilities, there are shopping centres in the vicinity of the estate.
 
     The estate also provides eight parking spaces, comprising six for private cars and two for motorcycles. Situated in the urban area, the estate is only a few minutes' walk to Chai Wan MTR Station and there are numerous bus and minibus routes to various districts.

        

     The Asian Aviation Meteorological Centre (AAMC), jointly established by the Hong Kong Observatory (HKO), the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) and the China Meteorological Administration (CMA), commenced operation today (July 11). The AAMC aims at providing meteorological organisations in the region and the aviation sector with quality en-route weather information, so as to meet industry needs and improve aviation safety and efficiency.
 
     The Director of the HKO, Mr Shun Chi-ming, the Deputy Administrator of the CAAC, Mr Wang Zhiqing, and the Deputy Administrator of the CMA, Mr Yu Rucong, officiated at the launch ceremony of the AAMC in Beijing this morning.
 
     Mr Shun said the HKO is pleased to join the CAAC and the CMA in establishing and operating the AAMC, which will provide a co-ordination platform as well as information on hazardous weather and other relevant areas. The AAMC will support meteorological organisations in the region in better serving the aviation sector and coping with increasing flight traffic. In 2004, the three agencies established the Asian Aviation Meteorological Service Website, which is the predecessor of the AAMC. Since then, the website has been fully upgraded. The three agencies have also been working closely with meteorological organisations in the region to co-ordinate Significant Weather Information (SIGMET) with a view to improving the level of aviation meteorological services in the region.
 
     At the launch ceremony, Mr Wang Zhiqing said the AAMC would provide international and Chinese meteorological organisations with fine resolution alerts for significant convection, turbulence, icing etc. It would also improve the service level of aviation meteorological forecast. Moreover, he thanked the CMA and the HKO for their support.  
 
     The AAMC seeks to provide a weather monitoring platform for issuing forecasts and alerts on hazardous weather affecting aviation operation such as thunderstorms, turbulence, icing and more for reference by meteorological organisations of neighbouring countries and regions and the aviation sector. The AAMC also provides a platform for forecasters from different areas to coordinate SIGMET contents, with a view to improving the overall forecast quality.
 
     The AAMC comprises a main centre operated by the CAAC, a technical support centre operated by CMA, both in Beijing, and a backup centre operated by the HKO in Hong Kong. The HKO's backup centre will specialise in nowcasts and high-resolution numerical weather forecasts, and related verification, as well as objective assessment and verification of forecasts by the main and technical support centres. The backup centre will also support the daily operation of the main centre.

  

     In response to media enquiries on the settlement of the platform of the Light Rail Tin Wing Stop, a Government spokesman today (July 11) responded as follows:

     The Government has always accorded top priority to railway safety and has put in place a stringent regulatory system. The Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) regulates and monitors the safe operation of the railway system according to the Mass Transit Railway Ordinance and its subsidiary regulations. The Buildings Department (BD) regulates the planning, design and construction of buildings and associated works on private land to prescribe building safety standards according to the Buildings Ordinance (BO).

     To this end, the relevant government departments and the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL) have stringent mechanisms to require those who intend to carry out works in the railway protection area to regularly monitor the effect of the construction works to railway structures nearby, to submit reports in a timely manner to facilitate monitoring by the relevant departments and MTRCL, and to require registered building professionals responsible for the development projects to follow up when necessary. This includes more frequent monitoring or even suspension of works. At present, there are two cases of suspension of works, one concerns the viaduct piers of Yuen Long Station on the West Rail Line and the other concerns the platform of the Light Rail Tin Wing Stop. In these two cases, MTRCL and the relevant government departments have taken corresponding actions once being informed of the monitoring results. This proves that the relevant monitoring mechanisms have been effective.

     Regarding the case of the Light Rail Tin Wing Stop, to follow up on comments made by members of the Yuen Long District Council Traffic and Transport Committee in the meeting on June 25, 2018, MTRCL will issue a letter to Yuen Long District Council and a press statement later on to explain the situation. In fact, MTRCL has notified BD of the case under the mechanism. BD has also confirmed that the structural safety of the platform has not been affected. EMSD has also reviewed MTRCL's rail monitoring data and confirmed that the railway condition has not been affected by the related works. The concerned tracks comply with safety standards and operate normally. BD and EMSD will continue to closely monitor the situation to ensure the structural safety of the railway facilities and the safe operation of the railway.

     The Government emphasises that the structure of the railway facilities and railway operation of the Light Rail Tin Wing Stop are safe. In response to public concern, various departments of the Government (including BD and EMSD) are reviewing the communication and information dissemination arrangements of similar incidents with MTRCL to enhance transparency.

     Hong Kong Customs today (July 11) seized about 26 000 kilograms of suspected Guatemalan rosewood from a container at the Kwai Chung Customhouse Cargo Examination Compound. The estimated market value of the seizure was about $1 million.

     Through risk assessment, Customs officers inspected a container arriving in Hong Kong from Guatemala. Upon inspection, Customs officers found the suspected Guatemalan rosewood in the container.

     The case was handed over to the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department for follow-up investigation.

     Under the Protection of Endangered Species of Animals and Plants Ordinance, any person found guilty of importing or exporting an endangered species without a licence is liable to a maximum fine of $10 million and imprisonment for ten years.

     Members of the public may report any suspected smuggling activities to the Customs 24-hour hotline 2545 6182 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk).

  

Police today (July 11) appealed to the public for information on a man who went missing in Western Division.

Chen Shu-yun, aged 82, went missing after he was last seen on Woo Hop Street last night (July 10). His family made a report to Police on the same day.

He is about 1.77 metres tall, 63 kilograms in weight and of medium build. He has a long face with yellow complexion, short straight grey and white hair. He was last seen wearing a grey long-sleeved checkered shirt, dark colour trousers, black shoes and carrying a crutch.

Anyone who knows the whereabouts of the missing man or may have seen him is urged to contact the Regional Missing Person Unit of Hong Kong Island on 2860 1040 or 9886 0034 or email to rmpu-hki@police.gov.hk, or contact any police station.