The Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, this morning (September 9) inspected damage to Central MTR Station, which was extensively vandalised by radical protesters yesterday (September 8). In the afternoon, she held a meeting with a number of Secretaries of Departments and Directors of Bureaux, the Commissioner of Police and the management of the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL) and the Airport Authority Hong Kong (AA) to hear about various parties' experiences in dealing with protests and vandalism as well as discuss future tactics.
Accompanied by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Mr Frank Chan Fan; the Chairman of the board of directors of the MTRCL, Mr Rex Auyeung; the Chief Executive Officer of the MTRCL, Dr Jacob Kam; and the Operations Director of the MTRCL, Mr Adi Lau, Mrs Lam went to Central MTR Station to inspect the damaged facilities and the repair progress this morning. The station was one of the MTR stations severely vandalised by radical protesters yesterday and some violent protesters even started a fire outside the station, seriously jeopardising public safety. Mrs Lam inspected the seriously damaged entrances/exits and facilities in the concourse such as ticket issuing machines, entry/exit gates and CCTV cameras. She expressed her gratitude to MTR staff for their efforts in repairing the damaged facilities as soon as possible so that the station could be reopened this morning to serve tens of thousands of members of the public who needed to go to work or go to school. She chatted with a member of the public in the station during the visit and noted that she was disheartened by the wanton destruction of MTR facilities by the violent protesters.
In the afternoon, Mrs Lam held a meeting with the Secretaries of Departments and Directors of Bureaux, the Commissioner of Police and the management of the MTRCL and the AA to listen to their briefings on the effectiveness of the actions in response to the recent protests and vandalistic acts as well as to discuss future tactics. Outraged by the continued blockage and disruptions targeting the airport and the MTR, the participants pointed out that such illegal activities seriously affect travellers' commutes and the daily life of members of the public as well as undermine the image of Hong Kong and should not be condoned. The participants said that they will not be threatened by the violence and vandalism and that, to protect Hong Kong, they will remain cool-headed to work together to minimise the impact of protests and vandalistic acts on the public. Mrs Lam expressed her gratitude to various parties for their dedication to duty and concerted efforts in the past weeks, in particular over the past weekend, with the joint efforts of the Police, the AA, the MTRCL, the aviation sector and relevant government departments ensuring that the railway and the airport, two major infrastructure facilities, operated smoothly in general. Mrs Lam also expressed her concern for the MTR staff who were injured during earlier protests and vandalism and wished them a speedy recovery.
Participants of the meeting included the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung; the Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan; the Secretary for Justice, Ms Teresa Cheng, SC; the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr James Lau; Mr Frank Chan Fan; the Secretary for Security, Mr John Lee; the Commissioner of Police, Mr Lo Wai-chung; the Chairman of the AA, Mr Jack So; the Chief Executive Officer of the AA, Mr Fred Lam; Mr Auyeung; and Dr Kam.
Follow this news feed: East Asia