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Following is a question by the Hon Li Kwok-ying and a reply by the Secretary for Education, Mr Michael Suen, in the Legislative Council today (December 5):
Question:
It has been learnt that the number of cross-boundary students has been rising in recent years and their safety while shuttling between Hong Kong and the Mainland to attend school has aroused growing concern. Currently, the authorities do not allow school buses to pick up such students at the Lok Ma Chau and Shenzhen Bay Control Points, resulting in thousands of very young cross-boundary students having to change buses several times. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it will:
(a) reconsider allowing school buses which are permitted to operate in Frontier Closed Area to pick up cross-boundary students during the two specified periods before and after class at the Lok Ma Chau and Shenzhen Bay Control Points; if so, of the timetable concerned; if not, the reasons for that;
(b) consider lowering the relevant licence fees of non-franchised buses providing direct coach service for cross-boundary students to reduce the operating costs of such buses, so that the fees charged for carrying cross-boundary students can be lowered, and hence more cross-boundary students can use the most direct and safest mode of transport travelling to and from schools; if so, of the details; and
(c) reconsider issuing Closed Area Permits to all cross-boundary students who attend schools in Hong Kong which are located in districts other than the North District, so that they may take school buses at the Lo Wu, Lok Ma Chau and Shenzhen Bay Control Points, so as to safeguard their safety?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) We understand that some schools and parents would like to see the Government allowing school coaches to enter the public transport interchanges ("PTIs") at the Lok Ma Chau Spur Line and Shenzhen Bay Control Points to pick up students after the commissioning of these two control points.
As the Lok Ma Chau Spur Line PTI has limited space and is located in a conservation area, its surrounding environment has to be carefully protected. Furthermore, as the vehicles using Lok Ma Chau Road may create noise problem to residents in the neighbourhood, we would need to impose restrictions on the traffic flow in order to comply with the conditions laid down in the environmental permit. Hence, we could only allow very limited public transport to access the PTI. Nevertheless, after careful consideration of the assessment on its environmental impact, we consider it feasible in allowing school coaches to enter the PTI on a limited scale to pick up students before and after school. Further discussions on the implementation details will be conducted.
As regards the PTI at the Shenzhen Bay Port Hong Kong Port Area, due to its limited size, we could only allow very limited public transport to access the PTI. We understand that currently there are not too many cross-boundary students travelling via the Shenzhen Bay Port and that some cross-boundary coach operators have indicated interest in operating cross-boundary school coach service via the control port. We will continue to keep a close watch on the traffic flow and the operation of the PTI with a view to examining the feasibility of allowing school coaches to enter the PTI to pick up students on a limited scale.
(b) To address the needs and safety of cross-boundary students, we consider the use of the cross-boundary school coaches a more desirable long-term solution. We have been assisting the schools concerned and the cross-boundary coach operators to examine the feasibility of introducing cross-boundary school coach services, including route coverage in the Mainland and Hong Kong, coach fare and provision of escort on board, etc.
After the on-site visit, the schools concerned and the cross-boundary coach operators are now actively studying the mode of operation for specific routes and will introduce the related services to parents. The Government will follow up the matter closely so as to facilitate the provision of cross-boundary school coach service as soon as possible.
(c) We have all along been encouraging parents to enrol their children, especially those of tender age, in schools near the place of their residence. Parents are also expected to take into consideration the transportation arrangements when they choose schools for their children.
At present, the granting of permission for some cross-boundary students who attend schools in the North District to take school coaches at the Lo Wu Station Road is a special arrangement. The Lo Wu Station Road is a country road and is also the only emergency vehicle access to the Lo Wu Control Point. Owing to its site constraints and the impracticability of road expansion, the Lo Wu Station Road has very limited capacity. Besides, in view of the concern over the safety of road users, we have the need to gradually reduce the number of cross-boundary students using the Lo Wu Station Road. We cannot rely on the issue of Closed Area Permits ("CAPs") as a long-term solution to meet the transportation needs of cross-boundary students.
In order to cope with the physical and safety constraints of the Lo Wu Station Road, there is a need to restrict the number of CAPs issued. Thus, it is impracticable for us to issue CAPs to cross-boundary students attending schools in other districts.
On the issue of CAPs to students not studying in the North District to access the Lok Ma Chau Spur Line PTI or Shenzhen Bay Port PTI to board school coaches, we would, as mentioned above, first study the implementation details of the opening up of the Lok Ma Chau Spur Line PTI on a limited scale and accord priority to students studying in the North District before making other considerations.
Ends/Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Issued at HKT 17:45
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