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To better meet society's development and needs, the Government proposes to release parts of public cargo working areas (PCWAs) for other uses and designate certain berths for use by paper recyclers.
Currently, there are about 130 berths covering about 4 940 metres of sea frontage in six PCWAs (Western District, Stonecutters Island, Chai Wan, Rambler Channel, Tuen Mun and New Yau Ma Tei PCWAs) for loading, unloading and transportation of cargoes. The current five-year Berth Licence Agreements (BLAs) with PCWA operators will expire by the end of this July.
A Government spokesperson said today (February 15), "It is necessary to maintain the PCWA's operation, which has all along been playing an important role in Hong Kong's economic and social development, to provide essential support to port operations and help maintain Hong Kong's competitiveness."
To strike a balance between the operational needs of PCWA operators and wider social interests, the Government, after thorough consideration, plans to adjust the use of land in five PCWAs, including the release of three berths with a total of 172m of sea frontage in Western District PCWA for other appropriate uses.
The Government also plans to release 120m of sea frontage at the north-western end of Stonecutters Island PCWA to support the operation of Kwai Tsing Container Terminals, with a view to enhancing its container handling capacity to cope with the growth of container throughput, and providing barge berths for transshipment operations.
In addition, 16 berths (a total of 638m of sea frontage) in the three PCWAs in Chai Wan, Rambler Channel and Tuen Mun will be designated for open bidding by eligible paper recyclers in the next tendering exercise.
The spokesperson said that the Government has recently finalised the proposals of the review and will brief the relevant district councils and the Panel on Economic Development of the Legislative Council on the review. As the current BLAs will expire shortly, the fresh round of tendering will be launched in April.
Ends/Monday, February 15, 2016
Issued at HKT 15:01
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