************************************************
Following is the transcript of remarks by the Secretary for Transport and Housing (STH), Ms Eva Cheng, on Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (XRL) at a stand-up session this morning (January 18) (English portion):
Reporter: What is the plan in the future to better communicate with the protesters? What exactly happened that night? Do you actually regret for the decision that you have made?
STH: The primary consideration, of course, is safety - not my own personal safety, but more importantly, the safety of the protesters outside as well as the police force. The decision that night was made after consultation with the Police Commander on site, because it's their professional judgement that my appearance outside might lead to further problems - over law and order. So I think that is very important, it is not whether I gained any credit for going outside - that is entirely irrelevant to the whole consideration. As far as communication goes, we welcome all kinds of rational dialogue. For the project now, we have obtained all the necessary approvals, whether the scheme, the design, and right now, the funding, we have got all the approvals, under the current system and procedures. So it is important that we now move on to the next stage of implementation. We welcome views on how we can improve on the way we implement the whole project and we have undertaken already that we will contact Choi Yuen Tsuen villagers as soon as possible. We will also provide all the necessary support for Tai Kok Tsui residents who have questions over stratum resumption. We will certainly cooperate fully with them as well as the district councils.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Monday, January 18, 2010
Issued at HKT 13:26
NNNN
