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Following is a written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Ambrose S K Lee, to a question by the Hon Paul Tse Wai-chun in the Legislative Council today (November 9):
Question:
Regarding the utilisation of the Shenzhen Bay Control Point in Shenzhen Bay Port, other boundary control points and the SkyPier at the Hong Kong International Airport, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of cross-boundary passengers under the arrangement of co-location of immigration and customs facilities at the Shenzhen Bay Control Point in the past three years and the year-on-year increase; the effectiveness of the system of "co-location" of boundary control facilities since its implementation at that control point;
(b) whether it has compiled statistics on the respective percentages of visitors who are non-Hong Kong permanent residents joining group tours and visitors under the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) passing through the Shenzhen Bay Control Point in the overall number of visitors using the Shenzhen Bay Control Point in the past three years; of the average waiting time for visitors who are non-Hong Kong permanent residents to go through immigration clearance; whether it has conducted any study on the arrangement of letting different immigration counters handling visitors joining group tours and IVS visitors so as to shorten their waiting time for immigration clearance; if it has, of the plans; if not, whether such a study can be conducted expeditiously;
(c) whether it has recently compiled statistics on the respective average waiting time for Hong Kong permanent residents and visitors who are non-Hong Kong permanent residents to go through immigration clearance at the Shenzhen Bay Control Point;
(d) whether it has reviewed if the ancillary facilities (such as washrooms and air-conditioning) for visitors waiting for immigration clearance at the Shenzhen Bay Control Point are sufficient; if they are not sufficient, whether it has considered implementing improvement measures;
(e) whether it knows the daily number of ferry passengers using the SkyPier at present who are non-Hong Kong permanent residents from the Mainland and the year-on-year increase in the past two years;
(f) whether it has assessed the percentage of visitors whose destinations are the tourist attractions on Lantau Island (Hong Kong Disneyland, Ngong Ping 360 and the AsiaWorld-Expo, etc.) in the number of visitors using the various control points to enter Hong Kong at present; whether it has conducted any study on developing the SkyPier into an immigration control point to provide visitors going to tourist attractions on Lantau Island with a more convenient arrival and departure channel and, at the same time, facilitate ferry passengers from the western region of the Pearl River Delta (Jiangmen and Shekou, etc.) to enter and leave Hong Kong; whether it has assessed if such a development can alleviate the crowded conditions at the Shenzhen Bay Control Point and other boundary control points; if it has assessed, of the results; if not, whether such an assessment can be conducted expeditiously; and
(g) of the respective utilisation of other boundary control points in Hong Kong since January this year (including the number of cross-boundary passengers and the average waiting time for visitors who are non-Hong Kong permanent residents and IVS visitors to go through immigration clearance)?
Reply:
President,
Regarding the utilisation of the Shenzhen Bay Control Point, the SkyPier and other control points, my replies to the sub-questions are as follows:
(a) The number of passengers (including Hong Kong residents) using the Shenzhen Bay Control Point between 2008 and September 2011 and its increments are set out in the table below:
No of trips Increment
made by passengers (compared with
(daily average) the preceding
year)
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2008 12.5 million -
(34 200)
2009 16.8 million +35%
(46 200)
2010 21.4 million +27%
(58 600)
2011 18.3 million +17%
(January (67 100) (compared with
to the same period
September) of the preceding
year)
Under the arrangement of co-location of boundary crossing facilities at the Shenzhen Bay Control Point implemented since July 2007, passengers may go through immigration clearance by both Hong Kong and Mainland authorities within the same passenger terminal building. The number of passengers using the control point has been increasing since its commissioning. Daily passenger throughputs have reached 67 100 this year, showing that the service is well received by our residents as well as visitors. To cater for the needs of passengers, the upper and ground floors of the passenger terminal building have been fully open to the public to handle south-bound and north-bound passengers respectively since this April, thus providing smooth immigration service to passengers.
(b) With regard to Mainland visitors using the Shenzhen Bay Control Point, the Immigration Department (ImmD) does not maintain a breakdown of the visitors under the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) and those joining group tours over the past three years. Nonetheless, on the basis of the figures available in the first nine months of this year, it is estimated that the number of visitors under the IVS and those joining group tours should constitute around 60% and 5% respectively of all visitors to Hong Kong. The time taken by visitors to go through immigration clearance at the Shenzhen Bay Control Point generally meets ImmD's performance pledge, i.e. 95% of visitors can have their clearance completed within 30-minute.
To provide an efficient immigration clearance service, the ImmD arranges for serpentine queueing of visitors such that those arrive first will be cleared first. As such, visitors (including those in tour groups) could be handled by any visitor immigration counters. Such an arrangement has been operated smoothly and efficient deployment of resources is achieved.
(c) Since its commissioning in July 2007 and up to September 2011, as well as during the recent National Day Golden Week, ImmD's performance pledge (i.e. 98% of Hong Kong residents to have their immigration clearance completed within 15 minutes and 95% of visitors within 30 minutes) has been met at the Shenzhen Bay Control Point.
(d) We have put in place sufficient supporting facilities at the Shenzhen Bay Control Point, including special channels to facilitate the elderly and the disabled, information display panels for passengers, as well as washrooms and beverage vending machines. To ensure that the standard room temperature and good ventilation is maintained, thus providing a suitable environment for passengers undergoing clearance, the ImmD continues to monitor the performance of the air-conditioning system and arrange for regular maintenance service. If other needs of passengers arise, such as first aid service, either the staff on duty or officers of the Department of Health will render necessary assistance.
(e) According to the Airport Authority Hong Kong (AA), the average daily passenger throughput of the SkyPier is around 6 300, about 35% of which are Mainland visitors. Since its commissioning in January 2010, the new SkyPier has registered a year-on-year increase rate in passenger throughput of about 38% and 35% in 2010 and 2011 (January to September) respectively.
(f) According to the Transport and Housing Bureau, AA had looked into the feasibility of providing customs, immigration and quarantine (CIQ) facilities at the SkyPier in 2008 and 2009. Upon consideration of relevant factors (including the economic situation, cross-strait direct flights and the impact of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge on the estimated service demand), it was concluded that the provision of the CIQ facilities would not significantly enhance the utilisation of the SkyPier services by transit passengers and hence the proposal was not further pursued. The Government has not maintained any statistics on the breakdowns of visitors travelling to various tourist attractions on Lantau Island against the overall number of visitors to Hong Kong.
The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge will commence operation in 2016. CIQ facilities and public transport interchange facilities will be set up at the Hong Kong Boundary Control Point therein. There will also be various roads connecting traffic to and from the North West New Territories and North Lantau. Hence the facilities will become a strategic multi-modal transportation hub on the west of Hong Kong, facilitating travels between Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta. Against this background, the Government and AA presently have no plans to change the existing arrangements at the SkyPier.
(g) Please refer to the Annex on the number of passengers (including Hong Kong residents) using various boundary control points from January to September 2011.
In 2011, the passenger flow has generally been smooth at various boundary control points. 98.6% of the visitors using the land boundary control points could have their clearance completed within 30 minutes (thus meeting the ImmD's performance pledge, i.e. 95% of the visitors can have their clearance completed within 30 minutes), while the figure for sea boundary control points stands at 98.8%. As for the air control point, 98.2% of the visitors could have their clearance completed within 15 minutes (ImmD pledges to have 95% of the visitors completing their clearance within 15 minutes). The ImmD does not have a breakdown in respect of IVS visitors.
Ends/Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Issued at HKT 15:06
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