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Following is a transcript of remarks (English portion) by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Ms Eva Cheng, on the issue of franchises for three bus companies today (April 24):
Secretary for Transport and Housing: We have today renewed franchises for 10-year period for the three bus companies having regard to the provision of proper and efficient service.
I think one most important (consideration) is the environment side. They have undertaken to, from the year 2012 to 2016, replace existing buses with the most environmental-friendly buses, that is the Euro V buses. The total number is nearly 700 buses, that is 70% of the fleet.
Other important provisions are buses interchanges, sectional fares, and also, of course, other enhancements particularly friendly to our elderly, allowing certain bicycles to be taken on board of buses, etc.
So, all in all, based on the views that we have collected during our consultation with the Legislative Council, Transport Advisory Committee, District Councils and the public, we have through the discussions led by the Commissioner for Transport, obtained various conditions and commitments that are of benefit to the general community.
Reporter: I would like to ask you a question on housing, which is the My Home Purchase Plan. People who are young and lack of resources may rely on that… Is there any chance that it will expand in the future and that people can have that to look forward as a means of acquiring?
Secretary for Transport and Housing: At the moment of course we are committed to the 5,000 units and we are making good progress. I think housing is a rather complicated problem and needs to have diverse solutions to address it. Of course the HOS (Home Ownership Scheme) already takes care of families with a total income of around $30,000. But at the moment, although we are already doing multi-pronged policies and programme, increasing supply of land, etc, I think we still need to look at the group that is above $30,000. So that's why the My Home Purchase Plan pitches itself to families of earning $40,000 or less. From our analysis and study, this group they actually can afford to pay the monthly mortgage. The problem is accumulating resources for the down payment. So the beauty of this scheme is to help them, to leverage them, onto the home purchase market as soon as possible, give them the flexibility and all that. So I think in a complicated scene, with the need for fairly diverse solutions, this is an approach that we firmly believe that it's important to experiment on. That's why we are pressing ahead and we are making good progress.
Reporter: The question is that people don't know whether it's going to persist beyond into the next Administration and at what level it may be pitched. So my question is, what expectation can people have?
Secretary for Transport and Housing: I think the Chief Executive has made it very clear yesterday, that we are continuing with this, and we see no reason why not, because as I said, it performs a different role...... another product. And I think I've heard a lot of views and support of young families with the ability to pay up their monthly mortgage but needing help more on the down payment side. And this has the advantages of providing that flexibility. Of course any programme which after experiment has its support and is worthy of expansion, I'm quite sure the next Administration will give due regard to that.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Issued at HKT 20:52
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