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Following is a written reply by the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Frederick Ma, to a question by the Hon Choy So-yuk in the Legislative Council today (June 18):
Question:
Regarding postal services provided by the Hongkong Post, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) how many post offices were opened, closed and relocated respectively last year, the expected corresponding numbers for next year, and the relevant details;
(b) whether it has consulted the District Councils concerned before closing and relocating the above post offices; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(c) of the respective numbers of street posting boxes newly provided, cancelled and relocated last year; and
(d) of the number of applicants who have completed the application procedure for renting private post office boxes and are currently waiting for such post office boxes, broken down by name of post office, and the current average waiting time?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) In the past year, Hongkong Post has closed five post offices, relocated two and temporarily closed one post office. For those post offices that have been closed, new posting boxes have been installed in the vicinity. At present, Hongkong Post has no plan to close existing post offices or open new post offices in the coming year, but individual post offices might need to be relocated to premises within the district due to special circumstances (such as renovation of shopping centres).
(b) Hongkong Post would explain the situation to the relevant District Council in advance of the closure of a post office. In cases of relocation, Hongkong Post would display notices at the concerned post offices, issue press releases to inform the public, and notify the District Council.
The details of closure, relocation and temporary closure of post offices in the past year are at Appendix 1.
(c) In the past year, Hongkong Post has installed 11, withdrawn seven and relocated nine street posting boxes.
(d) Among the 45 post offices that provide Private Post Office Box rental service, 27 have vacant boxes. Hence, members of the public who apply for such service will not need to wait. For the other 18 post offices, applicants will have to wait as there are no vacant boxes. As at June 5, 2008, there are 1,102 applications on the waiting list for Private Post Office Boxes (details at Appendix 2). The waiting time depends on the number of applications on the waiting list at the relevant post office and the number of existing users ceasing to rent their boxes. Apart from a few post offices, the waiting time is in general less than six months.
Ends/Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Issued at HKT 12:01
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