Tag Archives: China

     The Transport Department (TD) today (January 17) reminded the public that the following special traffic and transport arrangements will be implemented in the vicinities of Causeway Bay, Jardine’s Lookout and Wan Chai Gap Park this Sunday (January 19) to facilitate the holding of the Walk for Millions event on Hong Kong Island.
 
Traffic arrangements
 
     From about 7am, road closures and traffic diversions will be implemented in phases in the road sections of Stadium Path, Caroline Hill Road northbound, Link Road southbound (uphill), Broadwood Road (downhill), Tai Hang Road and Mount Butler Road until the crowd disperses and the roads reopen; and
 
     From 6am, all on-street parking spaces at Stadium Path, Caroline Hill Road, Hoi Ping Road, Eastern Hospital Road and Coombe Road will be suspended.
 
Public transport service arrangements
 
     To facilitate the above road closure arrangements, the following bus and green minibus (GMB) route diversions and associated temporary relocation of bus stops will be implemented:
 

• Citybus (CTB) route Nos. 5B and 8H will operate in a circular route mode;
• CTB route No. 11 will be diverted via Perkins Road instead of Mount Butler Road;
• CTB route No. 41A will be diverted via Gloucester Road, Canal Road East and Stubbs Road instead of Tai Hang Road;
• The terminal of Causeway Bay-bound service of cross-harbour bus route No. 936 will change from Cotton Path to Tung Lo Wan Road;
• GMB route Nos. 5 and 30 will be diverted via Wong Nai Chung Road and Morrison Hill Road instead of Link Road;
• GMB route No. 14M on its journey to Jardine’s Lookout will be diverted via Wong Nai Chung Road instead of Link Road, and on its journey to Causeway Bay will be diverted via Tung Lo Wan Road and Leighton Road instead of Broadwood Road; and
• GMB route No. 24M will be diverted via Tung Lo Wan Road and Leighton Road instead of Tai Hang Road.

       For details of the special traffic and public transport arrangements, members of the public may visit the TD website (www.td.gov.hk), its mobile application “HKeMobility” or passenger notices issued by the relevant public transport operators.

     Members of the public are advised to make use of public transport services as far as possible to avoid traffic congestion and unnecessary delays. During the event, the TD and the Police will closely monitor the traffic situation. The Police may adjust the traffic arrangements subject to the prevailing crowd and traffic conditions in the areas. Members of the public should pay attention to the latest traffic news through radio, television or the “HKeMobility” mobile application. read more

     The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) announced today (January 17) that the 2025 Lunar New Year (LNY) fairs will be held at 15 locations for seven days from January 23 (Thursday) to 7am on January 29. About 1 500 wet goods, dry goods and fast food stalls will be set up to enable the public to buy festive plants and flowers, LNY food, decorations and spring couplets (fai chun) to welcome the LNY.

     A spokesman for the FEHD said, “The venues of the LNY fairs will be monitored using innovational and technological measures, and crowd control will be implemented as necessary. The footfall of the 15 LNY fairs will be displayed in a ‘green, amber and red lights’ format on the FEHD website to enable the public to know about the crowd conditions at the fairs. A green light means few people are inside the fair, the amber light indicates the fair venue is slightly crowded, while the red light shows that the fair venue is very crowded.”

     The spokesman added, “Admission to the LNY fairs will cease 15 minutes prior to the closing time every day. Persons who are interested in attending are advised to reserve sufficient time to enjoy the fun of visiting the LNY fairs.”

     The FEHD will adopt various waste reduction and recycling measures this year. Apart from collecting general recyclables including waste paper, plastics and metals in the fairs, the department will also arrange for contractors to collect bamboo sticks, wooden pallets, polyfoam and wilted or unsold flowers with reusable value. In addition, the FEHD will gather unsold pots of flowers and plants donated by vendors in the fairs, which will then be delivered to elderly homes, residential care homes for persons with disabilities and public hospitals by volunteer teams made up of FEHD staff on LNY Day (January 29).

     The FEHD reminded licensees that the stalls are solely for the purpose of selling and promoting the sale of the permitted commodities, and no other activities are allowed in the licensed area. If the FEHD considers that any activity conducted by the licensee to publicise, promote, display, show, offer or sell any permitted commodities in the venue is unlawful, contrary to the interest of national security, or being immoral or incompatible with the object of the LNY fair, the FEHD is entitled to direct the licensee to stop conducting such activity and the licensee must immediately comply with such direction, or the FEHD will terminate the licence agreement and reclaim the stall.

     In addition, as stated in the licence agreement, the height of dry goods must not exceed 3 metres, while the height of wet goods stalls and fast food stalls must not exceed 4.5m from ground level. For wet goods stalls and fast food stalls with a height of more than 3m from ground level, the licensee must, at his own expense, provide the FEHD with an original certificate issued by an authorised person, a registered structural engineer, or a competent person under the Construction Sites (Safety) Regulations (Cap. 59I) to certify the structural safety of the stall structure before the LNY fairs are opened to the public. The licensee must also affix a copy of the aforesaid certificate on the structure of the stall. The competent person specified in Chapter 59I refers to scaffolding personnel who have received relevant training and have relevant experience. Their qualification requirements are consistent with requirements in the market that require the erection of bamboo scaffolding for construction projects. In other words, a licensee of wet goods stalls can hire qualified scaffolders to build stall structures and require the scaffolders sign a certificate to certify the safety of stalls.

     Furthermore, the FEHD reminded licensees that no floating LED glowing balloons and aquarium fish should be sold in the LNY fairs. If balloons or gas-filled articles are to be displayed or offered for sale, only air or helium is allowed to be used for inflating the products. There are also stipulations on the storage of helium cylinders at the fair venues. According to the licence agreement, licensees must not keep, store or use more than 150 litres (water capacity) of compressed helium, i.e. the respective general exempt quantity for which a licence is not required, pursuant to the Dangerous Goods (Application and Exemption) Regulation 2012 (Cap. 295E) in the licensed area. For the sake of safety, no floating LED glowing balloons will be allowed to be brought into the LNY fair venues.

     The spokesman also urged members of the public to keep the environment clean and not to litter while enjoying the festive season. Stall operators should also properly dispose of waste and keep their stalls and the surroundings clean and tidy.

     For information on the 2025 LNY fairs including the locations and opening hours, please visit the FEHD website or call the FEHD hotline at 2868 0000. read more

The following is issued on behalf of the Judiciary:

     The Ceremonial Opening of the Legal Year 2025 will be held at Hong Kong City Hall on Monday afternoon (January 20).

     Chief Justice Andrew Cheung, Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal, will inspect a Ceremonial Guard mounted by the Hong Kong Police Force at Edinburgh Place. This will be followed by addresses from Chief Justice Cheung; the Secretary for Justice, Mr Paul Lam, SC; the Chairman of the Hong Kong Bar Association, Mr Victor Dawes, SC; and the President of the Law Society of Hong Kong, Mr Roden Tong, at the Concert Hall, Low Block, Hong Kong City Hall.

     The public can view the live broadcast on the Judiciary’s website (www.judiciary.hk) at 4.30pm on Monday. read more

     The Secretary for Security, Mr Tang Ping-keung, and Vice Mayor of the Shenzhen Municipal Government Mr Luo Huanghao co-chaired a task force meeting on the collaboration for the planning and development of Hong Kong-Shenzhen control points in Hong Kong today (January 17) to continue taking forward relevant work in the planning and development of boundary control points (BCPs).

     Mr Tang welcomed the arrival of the Shenzhen Municipal People’s Government leaders, as well as members of the Office of Port of Entry and Exit of the Shenzhen Municipal People’s Government and other relevant units, and their participation in the task force meeting to jointly provide innovative thinking to give new impetus to the development of the ports in the two places. He thanked all units of BCPs for their unremitting efforts, especially regarding the special boundary-crossing arrangements at Lo Wu Control Point and Shenzhen Bay Control Point on the recent New Year’s Eve, in order to facilitate the passenger flow between Hong Kong and the Mainland for citizens and visitors to enjoy the festive season.

     During the meeting, the two delegations discussed the planning and development of land BCPs, including reporting progress and exchanging views on the redevelopment projects of BCPs in Huanggang and Sha Tau Kok, and the transfer of the food control function of Man Kam To Control Point. Hong Kong and Shenzhen will continue holding close exchanges, strive to improve the facilities at BCPs, and boost clearance efficiency and service quality to create more favourable conditions for people of the two places.

     â€‹Officials of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government attending the meeting included representatives from the Environment and Ecology Bureau, the Northern Metropolis Co-ordination Office, the Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department, the Immigration Department, the Architectural Services Department, the Planning Department, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department and the Transport Department.

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     The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) officially launched the Biodiversity Geographic Information System (BGIS) (bih.gov.hk/en/bgis/index.html) today (January 17). The BGIS aims to provide a one-sto… read more