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Transcript of remarks by CE at media session (with video)
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     Following is the transcript of remarks by the Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, at a media session in relation to the traffic accident on Tai Po Road this afternoon (February 11):

Reporter: Mrs Lam, with a number of fatal bus accidents in recent years, you won’t comment on this particular case before the inquiry is done but do you see a need to change the way how bus companies train their staff and train their drivers? How bus companies arrange their drivers’ schedule and things like that, so that we are going to have safer…prevent that such an accident? And also would you be able to tell us like when will we see the inquiry, the independent inquiry committee set up?
 
Chief Executive: Thank you for that question. The concerns that you have expressed are exactly the reasons why I have decided last night to set up an independent committee to look at not only this particular tragic incident, but to look at the various aspects of Hong Kong's franchised bus service. As you all would agree, Hong Kong has a very good public transport service that takes care of 90 per cent of the passenger trips. As far as the franchised buses are concerned, I understand that they are taking care of about 4 million passenger trips every day, so if we want to have a safe city, we need to have a very safe and reliable public transport service including the franchised bus service. So I am sort of initiating this comprehensive review to be undertaken independently to advise the Government on what sort of measures we need to put in place in order to ensure the safety of Hong Kong’s franchised bus service. Because you are right, I don’t know whether you are in possession of the figures, but in the last 12 months, we have indeed seen quite a number of very fatal and tragic bus incidents involving deaths as well as a large number of passengers being injured. So, that is the basis of why I have made this decision. As far as the timing, of course, I would like to see this independent review to be conducted and completed as soon as possible, so that if need be, the improvement measures could be put in place as early as possible. But at this point in time, I am afraid I could not give you a very definite timetable because we need to identify this judge, and perhaps with or without another expert or person to assist the judge in doing this review. But based on other previous examples, it would at least require a few months before we could have a report from the independent review committee.

(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
 
Ends/Sunday, February 11, 2018
Issued at HKT 17:57
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