The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:

     The Legislative Council (LegCo) Subcommittee on Securities and Futures (Professional Investor) (Amendment) Rules 2018 will hold its first meeting at 10.45am tomorrow (June 1) in Conference Room 2 of the LegCo Complex. During the meeting, members of the Subcommittee will elect a Chairman and meet with the Government.

Attention TV/radio announcers:

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

     Here is an item of interest to swimmers.

     The Leisure and Cultural Services Department announced today (May 31) that Hammer Hill Road Swimming Pool in Wong Tai Sin District, closed earlier on due to power failure, has been reopened.

Police will implement crowd safety management measures and special traffic arrangements in the vicinity of Victoria Park on June 4 (Monday) to facilitate the holding of a public meeting at the park.

Crowd safety management measures
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With the exception of Gate 5, all the gates to the event venue will be opened to arriving participants.

Participants are encouraged to use public transport to Victoria Park and enter the venue through two ingress points: from the west via Gates 6 and 7 (entrances near Sugar Street and Great George Street) and from the east through Gate 14 (Hing Fat Street near Lau Sin Street). Participants arriving by MTR are advised to use exits A1 and A2 of MTR Tin Hau Station to reach Lau Sin Street and Gate 14 for convenient access to Victoria Park. Depending on the crowd situation, a queuing system will be initiated at Tin Hau Station Public Transport Interchange and the car park area along Hing Fat Street to facilitate the crowd (See diagram 1).

When the football pitches 1 to 6 are saturated, the marshals will direct the participants coming from the east side to the Central Lawn along the South Boulevard, or direct the participants coming from the west side to the Central Lawn along the West Boulevard and then via the North Boulevard (See diagram 2).

When the Central Lawn is also saturated, the marshals will direct the participants coming from the east side to the Band Stand along the East Boulevard and then via the North Boulevard, or direct the participants coming from the west side to the Band Stand along the West Boulevard and then via the North Boulevard (See diagram 3).

Depending on the crowd situation, a queuing system will be initiated along a section of Gloucester Road service road to facilitate the arriving crowd. Participants are not allowed to gather at Gloucester Road service road at any time to avoid causing obstruction. Police will also implement crowd safety management measures along Gloucester Road service road to facilitate members of the public to enter the park.

For the safety of participants and other venue users, Police have designated both the South Boulevard and Middle Boulevard as the emergency vehicle access (EVA). In the event of an emergency where urgent assistance is required, vehicles may require speedy access along this route. Notices demarcating the EVA will be posted by the Police.

To facilitate the arrival of participants, particularly to the Central Lawn area, Police will open up a section of the EVA between Gate 14 and the junction of Middle Boulevard and South Boulevard till about 8.30pm (See diagram 4). The maintenance of the EVA is of paramount importance for the safety of the attending participants. For such reason, participants are advised not to gather at the EVA at any time. All persons operating promotional or souvenir stalls should also avoid blockage of gates and ingress routes.

On the event day, there will be public announcements inside Victoria Park to keep participants informed of the latest situation and amendments to arrangements. Participants are requested to adhere to the directions given by the event marshals and Police officers on site.

Special traffic arrangements
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A. Road closure

Depending on the prevailing crowd and traffic situation, the following roads may be closed from about 4pm until the crowd has dispersed and traffic resumes normal:

– Sugar Street;
– Great George Street;
– Kingston Street;
– Paterson Street;
– Cleveland Street;
– Northbound Gloucester Road between Causeway Road and Gloucester Road service road; and
– Gloucester Road U-turn slip road between southbound and northbound Gloucester Road underneath Tai Hang Road flyover.

Depending on the prevailing crowd and traffic situation, the following roads may be closed from about 6pm until the crowd has dispersed and traffic resumes normal:

– Southbound Gloucester Road between westbound Gloucester Road and Causeway Road;
– Tai Hang Road flyover;
– Hing Fat Street between Causeway Road and Lau Li Street, except for franchised buses and green minibuses (GMBs);
– Electric Road between Tsing Fung Street and Hing Fat Street, except for vehicles accessing to Park Towers;
– Lau Li Street between Hing Fat Street and Ngan Mok Street, except for vehicles accessing to Park Towers; and
– Yacht Street.

B. Traffic diversions

The following traffic diversions will be implemented during the road closure period:

– Lau Li Street between Electric Road and Hing Fat Street will be re-routed to one-way westbound. Public light buses are not allowed to enter;
– Traffic along eastbound Yee Wo Street cannot turn left to Sugar Street;
– Traffic along westbound Gloucester Road cannot turn left to Cleveland Street or Paterson Street;
– Traffic along northbound Tai Hang Road flyover cannot turn left to Kingston Street and northbound Gloucester Road;
– Traffic along northbound Tai Hang Road will be diverted via eastbound Tung Lo Wan Road;
– Traffic along Victoria Park Road flyover heading for Tai Hang area will be diverted via eastbound Victoria Park Road, Wing Hing Street, westbound King’s Road and Tung Lo Wan Road;
– Traffic along Victoria Park Road flyover heading for Tai Hang Road flyover must turn right to westbound Gloucester Road;
– Traffic along eastbound Causeway Road cannot turn left to Hing Fat Street, except for franchised buses and GMBs;
– Traffic along westbound King’s Road cannot turn right to Hing Fat Street, except for franchised buses and GMBs;
– Traffic along southbound Electric Road must turn left to eastbound Yacht Street or turn right to westbound Tsing Fung Street, except for vehicles accessing to Park Towers; and
– Traffic along northbound Ngan Mok Street must turn right to eastbound Lau Li Street.

C. Suspension of parking spaces and car parks

Parking spaces at Hing Fat Street public car park (except for disabled parking spaces) and disabled parking spaces at Gloucester Road will be suspended from noon to 11.59pm.

During the road closure period, vehicles may not be allowed to enter or leave car parks and hotels on the closed roads.

Actual implementation of the crowd safety management measures and traffic arrangements will be made depending on traffic and crowd conditions in the area. Motorists are advised to pay attention to special traffic signs and take heed of instructions of Police at scene.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     Regarding the announcement yesterday (May 30) on a cluster of inpatients infected with Rhinovirus in a male infirmary ward of the Rehabilitation Department, the spokesperson for Kowloon Hospital (KH) gave the following update today (May 31):
 
     One more 76-year-old patient of the ward presented with respiratory symptoms. An appropriate viral test was arranged for the patient and his test result was positive for Rhinovirus. He is being treated under isolation with stable condition.
 
     KH will continue the enhanced infection control measures and closely monitor the situation of the ward. The case has been reported to the Hospital Authority Head Office and the Centre for Health Protection for necessary follow-up.

     The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department today (May 31) announced that a choi sum sample was found to have pesticide residue at a level exceeding the legal limit. The CFS is following up on the case.
      
     A CFS spokesman said, "The CFS collected the choi sum sample at import level for testing under its routine Food Surveillance Programme. The test result showed that the sample contained cyhalothrin at a level of 0.4 parts per million (ppm), exceeding the maximum residue limit (MRL) of 0.2 ppm.
      
     "Based on the level of pesticide residue detected in the sample, adverse health effects would not be caused under usual consumption."
      
     Generally speaking, to reduce pesticide residues in vegetables, members of the public can rinse vegetables thoroughly under clean running water, and scrub produces with hard surfaces with a clean brush to remove dirt and substances including pesticides and contaminants from the surface and the crevices, when appropriate.
      
     Any person who imports, manufactures or sells any food not in compliance with the requirements of the Pesticide Residues in Food Regulation (Cap 132CM) concerning pesticide residues commits an offence and is liable to a maximum fine of $50,000 and to imprisonment for six months upon conviction.
      
     Since the regulation came into effect on August 1, 2014, the CFS has taken over 144 500 samples at import, wholesale and retail levels for testing for pesticide residues. Together with the unsatisfactory sample announced today, a total of 218 food samples (including 210 vegetable and fruit samples) have been detected as having excessive pesticide residues. The overall unsatisfactory rate is less than 0.2 per cent.
      
     The spokesman added that excessive pesticide residues in food may arise from the trade not observing Good Agricultural Practice, e.g. using excessive pesticides and/or not allowing sufficient time for pesticides to decompose before harvesting. The MRLs of pesticide residues in food set in the Regulation are not safety indicators. They are the maximum concentrations of pesticide residues to be permitted in a food commodity under Good Agricultural Practice when applying pesticides. In this connection, consumption of food with pesticide residues higher than the MRLs will not necessarily lead to any adverse health effects.
      
     The CFS will follow up on the unsatisfactory result, including tracing the source of the food in question and taking samples for testing. Investigation is ongoing.