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Following is a question by the Hon Albert Chan and a written reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works, Dr Sarah Liao, at the Legislative Council meeting today (December 20) :
Question:
Since the commissioning of the cross-boundary Tuen Mun Ferry Terminal (TMFT) early last month, the ferry services to and from Macau have not been launched as planned, and only four ferry trips are provided each day to and from Zhuhai's Jiuzhou Port. Many commercial tenants in the vicinity of the TMFT have complained that, while the pedestrian flow in the area has not greatly increased following the commissioning of the TMFT, the landlords have substantially increased the rents of their shops on grounds that TMFT has been commissioned with the ferry services in operation, making it difficult for them to operate. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the reasons why the ferry services between Tuen Mun and Macau have not yet been launched, and when the Government expects such services to be launched;
(b) whether it has measures to assist the operator of the TMFT in launching the ferry services to and from Macau as early as possible; if so, of the details of such measures; if not, the reasons for that; and
(c) whether it has measures to alleviate the hardship faced by the commercial tenants concerned; if so, of the details of such measures; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
Madam President,
The Tuen Mun Ferry Terminal is a commercial investment in which the investor rents the terminal to operate cross-boundary ferry services. As the existing two cross-boundary ferry terminals have spare capacity to handle passenger demand for cross-boundary ferry services, we consider that it is not an essential infrastructure project. According to the tenancy agreement between the Government and the tenant (Hong Kong North West Express Limited), the tenant may operate cross-boundary ferry services between Hong Kong and Macau or the Mainland. The terminal was commissioned on November 3, 2006. As the tenant has yet to secure the permission of the Government of the Macao Special Administrative Region to operate ferry services to Macau, it is only able to provide ferry services between Tuen Mun and Zhuhai (Jiuzhou Port) at the moment.
The Government has all along been facilitating the work of the tenant to enable the early commissioning of the terminal. However, as with other cross-boundary ferry service operators, the tenant has to secure the permission of the relevant authorities of the destination ports on its own to operate ferry services. Given that the project is a commercial investment, it would not be appropriate for the Government to participate in any matters for which the operator is responsible. The tenant has also indicated that it is making its best endeavour to operate the Tuen Mun - Macau route.
We consider that the Government should not interfere with the tenancy matters of the shops near the terminal, as these are commercial arrangements between the tenant and the landlord.
Ends/Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Issued at HKT 12:50
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