UNDER SECRETARY FOR TRANSPORT AND HOUSING (in Cantonese): President, I have listened carefully and I thank Members for their views. In terms of supporting the cross-boundary passenger transport trade, allow me give the following reply.

 

Owing to the measures introduced by the governments of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao under the cooperation mechanism on joint prevention and control of the epidemic, only limited land-based cross-boundary services have been provided since February 2020, while cross-boundary passenger ferry services have come to a complete halt. The Government fully understands the predicament faced by the cross-boundary passenger transport trade, and has provided subsidies through the Anti-epidemic Fund at different times since 2020 and rolled out as far as practicable a number of measures to ease the pressure on the trade and its employees, some of which have been extended. The various measures include:

 

(1) each cross-boundary coach and each cross-boundary hire car having been provided with non-accountable subsidies totalling $65,000 and $55,000 respectively;

 

(2) each local cross-boundary coach driver having been provided with subsidies totalling $23,400;

 

(3) land-based cross-boundary passenger transport operators being provided with rental waiver for facilities such as ticket offices, regulator kiosks and passenger waiting halls in government premises until 30 September 2021;

 

(4) parking spaces within the Shenzhen Bay Port having been arranged for the trade to park their cross-boundary coaches for free;

 

(5) waivers of Closed Road Permit fees for cross-boundary coaches and cross-boundary hire cars, vehicle licence and examination fees for commercial vehicles, as well as the fees payable for issue or renewal of Passenger Service Licence and Passenger Service Licence Certificate for cross-boundary coaches being provided until 29 December 2021;

 

(6) each eligible cross-boundary ferry vessel having been provided with non-accountable subsidies totalling $1,500,000; and

 

(7) the Employment Support Scheme, which provides subsidies to eligible employers for paying wages of their employees for six months, having helped alleviate the financial burden of eligible employers in the cross-boundary passenger transport trade and retain their employees.

 

The Government has been maintaining close communication with the cross-boundary passenger transport trade. We have learnt that while enduring the challenging times at present, the cross-boundary passenger transport operators have been making full preparations including encouraging and arranging their frontline staff to receive vaccination early, with a view to ensuring that they can promptly resume operation to provide needed services to the public when passenger clearance services return to normal. The governments of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao have been maintaining close liaison so that once the epidemic situation is under control, the cross-boundary people flow amongst the three places can be enabled the soonest possible and the cross-boundary passenger transport service trade can also resume its smooth operation in an orderly manner. The governments will also proactively formulate measures pertinent to the trade and render necessary assistance.

 

President, I so submit.