Transcript of remarks by STH
****************************
Reporter: Are you saying that the profits made by the rail company will be a consideration when looking at the pricing mechanism?
Secretary for Transport and Housing: Even under the existing mechanism, the profits of an operator, in this case the MTR Corporation, has always been one of the factors considered. Of course, we know from the public consultation that the public is generally concerned about how the fare level or any fare adjustment might relate to the profit situation of the provider, so therefore we are focusing on this particular aspect. I mean this is only one of the aspects being looked at in this fare adjustment mechanism review.
Reporter: ... concerning about the co-location for the high-speed railway, can you tell us the progress right now and are you confident that the issue will be solved by next year?
Secretary for Transport and Housing: As the Secretary for Justice (SJ) said yesterday, the discussions with the Mainland authorities on co-location of CIQ (customs, immigration and quarantine) facilities for the future West Kowloon Station are still in progress. We are not talking about a single Mainland authority, there are a number of them. The discussions have been ongoing for a number of years because of the complexity of the various constitutional, legal issues involved. But both the SJ and me, we are striving our best to arrive at some packages within the current term of Government and this is our objective. We hope that we will be able to tell the community what will be adopted and the community will have the opportunity to express the views. At the end of the day, there will be local legislation to give a mandate to the arrangement.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Tuesday, January 24, 2017
Issued at HKT 11:51
Issued at HKT 11:51
NNNN