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The River Trade Terminal (RTT) in Tuen Mun will help to strengthen Hong Kong's position as a hub port for southern China and create job opportunities for Hong Kong people, the Chairman of the Hong Kong Port and Maritime Board (PMB), Mr Peter Thompson, said.
He made the remarks after a visit to the Tuen Mun River Trade Terminal this (Friday) morning.
Mr Thompson said, "PMB, which advises the Government on the strategic development of the port of Hong Kong, is pleased with the progress of the construction of the RTT. The first operating area of the RTT will come into operation next month and the whole terminal will be completed in late 1999."
He noted that the terminal itself will employ 1,500 staff when it comes into full operation in late 1999. The RTT is expected to create many more jobs in those trades which operate around the terminal such as container truck drivers and barge operators.
The Tuen Mun RTT is the first purpose-built river trade terminal in Hong Kong. The terminal is designed to operate as a consolidation point for containers and bulk cargoes shipped between Hong Kong and Pearl River Delta ports.
The main role of the RTT is to support the operation of the Kwai Chung container terminals and mid-stream operations.
The sophisticated computer system of the RTT is linked with those of the Kwai Chung terminals and mid-stream operators. River trade containers are first sorted and consolidated at the RTT before feeding to the individual Kwai Chung container terminals or mid-stream operators via scheduled shuttle lighters and vice versa, thus helping to increase the efficiency of the Kwai Chung terminals and mid-stream operators and reducing the demand for backup land.
"The RTT is a new concept and it forms an important part of Government's policy to increase the competitiveness of the Hong Kong container port. It will serve a number of objectives," Mr Thompson said.
"First, the terminal will help to improve the efficiency of river trade operation and reduce the number of river vessels going into the congested Victoria Harbour area.
"Second, it will encourage more use of the waterways to transport containers between Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta areas, which is not only much cheaper than carrying the containers by road, but it will also help to reduce congestion in the Hong Kong/Shenzhen road systems and at the cross boundary control points.
"Third and more importantly, the RTT will help to develop new cargo sources and extend the catchment area of the Hong Kong container port into the northern and western side of the Pearl River Delta through the numerous waterway systems and strengthen Hong Kong's position as the hub port for southern China."
"The RTT has a designed capacity to handle 1.3 million TEUs (Twenty-foot equivalent units) of river trade cargoes a year, which is comparable to the whole of the annual container throughput of the port of Manila. It will occupy 65 hectares and with a quay length of 3,000 metres when fully completed," Mr Thompson added.
Mr Thompson and other PMB members, including Mr Chan Wing-kee, Dr Frank Tsao, the Hon Miriam Lau, Mr Neil Russel and Mr James Hughes-Hallett, were joined by the Secretary of PMB, Mr Richard Yuen, and the Executive Director of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, Mr Michael Sze, during the visit this morning.
They were briefed by the Director and General Manager of the River Trade Terminal Co Ltd, Mr John Wan, on the development of the terminal.
End/Friday, September 18, 1998
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