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The Secretary for Education, Mr Michael Suen, visited four border control points early this morning (9 April) to gain on-site information on the traffic situation and newly implemented measures for cross-boundary students (CBS) attending schools in Hong Kong.
To cater for the learning needs of Hong Kong students residing in the Mainland and their safety in crossing the border daily, the Education Bureau, Hong Kong Police Force, Immigration Department, Customs and Excise Department, Transport Department and Home Affairs Bureau have jointly implemented a series of special arrangements at the Man Kam To, Lo Wu, Lok Ma Chau Spur Line and Shenzhen Bay control points for the CBS.
Last month (March), cross-boundary school coach services were started on a trial basis at some of the borders. Starting from this Monday (April 7), Lok Ma Chau Spur Line public transport interchanges (PTIs) have been allowed entrance of school coaches on a limited scale to pick up CBS.
Mr Suen visited four border control points, namely Man Kam To, Lo Wu, Lok Ma Chau Spur Line and Shenzhen Bay Control Points. He said he was glad to see the smooth implementation of traffic arrangements for the CBS.
Man Kam To Port was the first control point visited by Mr Suen. There are now four cross-boundary school-coach routes for CBS to travel to and from their Mainland residences and their primary schools / kindergartens in the North and New Territories West Districts. Among them, three routes provide services for schools in the North District via Man Kam To Port. The remaining route serves schools in Tuen Mun via Shenzhen Bay Port.
In consideration of student safety, related government departments have launched on a trial run of on-board clearance for the CBS. In this exercise, responsible government officers would board the school coaches to process the border clearance procedures so that students do not need to leave their coaches.
Mr Suen then visited the Lok Ma Chau Spur Line PTI. He said he understood the need to limit the traffic flow at the PTI. Located in a conservation area, the PTI has its environmental requirements to comply with and it has limited space. Yet, after careful consideration and assessment of the environmental impact, school coaches have been allowed to enter the PTI on a limited scale.
Since April 7, special permits have been issued to the school coaches to run at designated hours to pick up CBS before and after school. 14 trips picking up over 600 CBS have been allowed for each period. The measure aims to ease the crowded condition of CBS crossing the border at Lo Wu Station Road restricted area.
After inspecting the operations of the above control points, Mr Suen also visited the Lo Wu border. He pointed out that the geographical constraints of Lo Wu Station Road. Being a country road and the only emergency vehicles exit for the Lo Wu Control Point, only CBS attending schools in the North District could be allowed to get access of the Lo Wu Station Road under special arrangement.
He added that the existing traffic flow at Lo Wu Station Road had already exceeded its capacity and would affect its users. All government departments worked under concerted efforts to resolve the situation. The limited opening of the Lok Ma Chau Spur Line PTI restricted area for the use of the CBS was a balance struck between the geographical constraints at the border and the need to ease the crowdedness at the Lo Wu Station Road.
Mr Suen said he hoped that emphasis should be laid on the extension of cross-boundary school coach routes as the long term traffic arrangements for CBS.
After his visits to the border points, Mr Suen said that the Education Bureau would continue to closely monitor the cross-boundary services and liaise with the Transport Department and Police etc. via the inter-departmental alert system to ensure smooth operations.
Mr Suen thanked the departments concerned for their joint efforts in assisting CBS to attend schools in Hong Kong with ease. The Education Bureau will continue to liaise with various departments and monitor the implementation of the related measures during the trial run.
Ends/Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Issued at HKT 20:35
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