The following is issued on behalf of the Independent Review Committee on Hong Kong's Franchised Bus Service:
 
     The Government today (January 8) announced the release of the Report of the Independent Review Committee on Hong Kong's Franchised Bus Service (the Report), which the Independent Review Committee on Hong Kong's Franchised Bus Service (the Committee) submitted to the Chief Executive on December 31, 2018, with part of a sentence in the "Acknowledgements" chapter of the Report redacted "to ensure a fair trial of the ongoing criminal proceedings".
 
     Having received oral evidence over a total of 21 days from the representatives of 19 specifically identified interested parties, and that of two expert witnesses, together with a total of over 22 000 pages of written submissions/reports, the Committee has made 45 recommendations on safety-related measures which it has referred to the Chief Executive.
 
     The recommendations were made with a view to developing and sustaining a proactive approach to franchised bus safety as well as addressing specific safety-related issues identified during the course of the Committee's work. The Committee's recommendations are set out in Chapter 23 of the Report, and a six-page "Summary of Recommendations" is set out in Chapter 24.
 
     At the invitation of the Government, the redacted Report has been uploaded to the website of the Committee (www.irc-bus.gov.hk/eng/report.html). The Committee notes that the Government will release the full Report after all relevant criminal legal proceedings have been concluded.

Ends/Tuesday, January 8, 2019
Issued at HKT 16:22

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