The Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, met the media with the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Dr Law Chi-kwong, and the Secretary for Food and Health, Professor Sophia Chan, at the ground floor lobby of the Office of the Chief Executive today (February 12). Following is the transcript of remarks:    
 
Reporter: Mrs Lam, could you explain your considerations behind your decision, in reaching the decision, in calling off the fireworks, Chinese New Year Fireworks, a long-time annual tradition? And also you mentioned that the Government started forming the special committee, the independent committee, and you've already started to draft the responsibilities and powers. So what sort of powers and responsibilities are you planning to give this committee?
 
Chief Executive: This bus incident is an extremely tragic one, and in the last two days we have heard from various quarters, including Legislative Council members across the political spectrum, suggesting that in order to pay respect to the deceased and the victims, and also for the community to express their grief, it was not very appropriate to continue with the Chinese New Year fireworks on the second day of the Lunar New Year. I have taken into account their suggestion, their views and the general sentiments in the community and come to the decision that we would cancel this year's Chinese New Year fireworks. We have already notified the sponsoring organisation and they have graciously agreed and also will support this decision to the extent that they said that if they have any money left as a result of this cancellation, they are willing to donate the funds for supporting the families. So, I'm extremely grateful to that corporation.
 
     The second point about this independent review committee, I have already explained why I want to set up this independent review committee. It is not just to investigate into the causes or the circumstances of this particular incident, because in any case the police will be investigating the incident. More importantly is to take an independent and comprehensive view on Hong Kong's franchised bus services to ensure safety and reliability of this very important form of public transport service, which provides over 4 million passenger trips every day. But at the moment, we are still drafting the terms of reference of this review committee, but I am more than willing to take into account the views and suggestions made by various organisations as well as political parties in finalising the terms of reference of this independent review committee.
 
Reporter: Mrs Lam, would you consider expanding the committee's scope of reference so that it includes other types of our public transport sector, such as minibuses?
 
Chief Executive: No. At the moment the focus of this independent review committee is on Hong Kong's franchised bus services.
 
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)

Ends/Monday, February 12, 2018
Issued at HKT 20:40

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