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Following is a question by the Dr Hon Joseph Lee Kok-long and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Ms Eva Cheng, at the Legislative Council meeting today (February 24):
Question:
On January 8, 15 and 16, 2010, the Finance Committee of this Council held meetings to consider the funding proposals for the project of the Hong Kong Section of Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link ("the XRL project"). In respect of the aforesaid meetings held on the three days, will the Government inform this Council of:
(a) the total amount of resources deployed by the authorities for handling the XRL project, as well as the number of staff involved, their ranks and number of hours worked (listed out in table form); and
(b) the manpower used by the Police to maintain order, including the number of officers involved, their ranks and number of hours worked (listed out in table form)?
Reply:
President,
(a) The Finance Committee of the Legislative Council (LegCo) held meetings on January 8, 15 and 16, 2010 to discuss the funding applications for the Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link. To respond to the enquiries in different areas as raised by Honourable Members, we invited representatives of the relevant departments/organisations to attend the meetings. The number of officers who attended the meetings over the three days, their ranks and number of hours worked are listed in the Annex.
(b) While facilitating the expression of views by participants of public assemblies, the Police also have the responsibility to maintain public order, and at the same time strike a balance by ensuring the rights of other people to use public places or roads as well as their safety. In handling any public event, the Police will deploy manpower flexibly and implement appropriate crowd management measures based on comprehensive risk assessment, with a view to ensuring that the event is conducted in a safe and orderly manner.
For the meetings of the Finance Committee held on January 8, 15 and 16, 2010, the Police deployed officers to the LegCo Building and the vicinity where the public assemblies were held to maintain public order and to ensure that the meetings of the Finance Committee were held smoothly. The purpose was to ensure the safety of Members of the Legislative Council and others attending the Finance Committee meetings, as well as participants of the public assemblies and other members of the public outside the Building. The Police deployed staff flexibly in light of the actual situation on the three days. The number of police officers deployed peaked at about 400, 500 and 1,200 over the three days respectively. The rank of field commander was Police Superintendent. The Police have not maintained breakdowns on the ranks of officers on duty and the hours worked for each session.
Ends/Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Issued at HKT 16:57
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