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The Under Secretary for Transport and Housing, Mr Yau Shing-mu, today (October 8) visited Yuen Long again to meet with villagers affected by the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (XRL) project to listen to their views and requests.
With the Government's efforts to push the project ahead, the XRL is entering the final planning stage. Recently, Mr Yau together with relevant department officials have visited Yuen Long villages several times to communicate with those affected by the project, including Pat Heung, Wang Toi Shan, and Choi Yuen Tsuen in the Wang Toi Shan area. They were briefed that the emergency rescue station and stabling siding near Wang Toi Shan and Shek Kong Barracks were essential for the XRL project and that the current proposal was the most feasible with minimal impacts to the local community.
"We understand that it will be very difficult for the old villagers to move away from a place where they have lived for decades. We appreciate their various concerns and requests. Some of them are farmers and would like to resume farming elsewhere in the future. On the resumption of their agricultural land and houses, some villagers asked for adequate compensation, while some who would accept allocation of public rental housing flats expressed concerns that they could not afford housing expenses with their incomes. For those who don't want to move at all, the government also understands how they feel and their attachment to their village," Mr Yau said.
"We will consider their requests carefully and thoroughly. Special and suitable proposals will be designed and formulated with due regard to their views and the uniqueness of Choi Yuen Tsuen."
"Our approach is to provide various forms of resources on the basis of our current policy to eligible villagers affected by the project so that they can make their own choice. These include facilitating those eligible to apply for public rental housing, or helping them to find new places to continue the existing lifestyles or start a new life. We should be mindful that public resources must be utilised in a fair and reasonable manner," he said.
"The Administration has all along maintained close communication with the affected villagers and will continue to do so. The Secretary for Transport and Housing, Ms Eva Cheng, will again meet villagers in Wang Toi Shan, and Choi Yuen Tsuen in the Wang Toi Shan area, in batches starting tomorrow to listen to their views."
The Hong Kong section of the XRL is of strategic importance to Hong Kong as it will connect to the Mainlandˇ¦s high-speed railway network and inter-city rail network in the Pearl River Delta region. The Government is fully committed to proceeding with the project and to speeding up the procedures by all means with a view to starting the construction by end of 2009.
The Hong Kong section of the XRL will be a 26km rail line running from the terminus in West Kowloon to Huanggang, where it will connect with the Mainland section. Upon commissioning of the rail line, communters from West Kowloon will arrive at Shenzhen in 14 minutes, and Guangzhou in 48 minutes. Integrating the territory into the national express rail network, the XRL will enable travellers to reach Wuhan in five hours, Shanghai in eight hours and Beijing in 10 hours.
Ends/Thursday, October 8, 2009
Issued at HKT 21:19
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