Tagged: coronavirus
Mui Wo school re-opened for storage, not quarantine: Health Dept
The vacant Heung Yee Kuk school in Mui Wo has been reopened to store material for the planned Penny’s Bay quarantine centre.
Health Department officials have denied it will be used as a quarantine facility itself, Apple Daily reported.
The sudden flurry of activity earlier this week, bedding, tables and chairs piled up in the school ground, prompted concerns from local residents that the long disused site may be deployed as a quarantine centre.
Security guards at the school gate said some local residents alarmed they had called police.
The Health Department said it was using the school to store furniture and other items ahead of the anticipated opening of the Penny’s Bay facility next month.
The Apple Daily noted that some of the items, including mattresses, were stored uncovered in the schoolgrounds and had no protection from the sun or the rain.
The Penny’s Bay centre, now under construction near Disneyland at a cost of HK$194 million, will host 800 units, according to Health Secretary Sophia Chan.
The school, officially known as the New Territories Heung Yee Kuk Southern District Secondary School, has been closed since 2007. It is one of more than 100 vacant school sites across the city.
Reopenings: Lantau fitness centres, beaches, Tung Chung pool
The Tung Chung pool and library and local fitness centres have reopened as the city begins its return to normal.
The Leisure and Cultural Services Department last week announced the reopening of Tung Chung and 32 other local swimming pools across Hong Kong, starting Thursday.
It also has opened the Tung Chung library and sent lifeguards back to Pui O and Silvermine Bay beaches, allowing them to open for the first time since March.
However, the Mui Wo library and swimming pool remain shut, as are – officially – the popular Cheung Sha and Tong Fuk beaches, although both beaches have attracted weekend crowds the past month.
But most sports centres have reopened, including the Mui Wo and Tung Chung centres.
The Mui Wo gym is available daily at slightly shortened hours. From Tues-Fri it is opening from 9am to 10pm, with one-hour closure for cleaning at 1pm and 5pm. On Sunday it is open from 1-5pm and 6-10pm.
Pui O campsite has reopened at half capacity, but other Lantau campsites are still closed.
Picnickers can use Lantau barbecue sites but in groups of no more than eight, LCSD says.
NLB apologises over timetable fiasco but vows to pursue cuts
New Lantao Bus (NLB) has apologised over the chaos created by its misjudged attempt to cut services, but says it will continue to seek timetable changes.
The company angered local residents during several days of disarray this week when buses ran at irregular intervals after the new timetable was blocked.
The new schedule, due to take effect last Friday, was blocked by the Transport Department because it had not been approved.
NLB formally withdrew the changes but for the next four days buses ran at unpredictable times. Passengers were unable to get clear answers from NLB and the company’s website and mobile app contained little or no information.
In a statement on its website posted Wednesday the company said:
We apologize for any inconvenience caused by any discrepancies between the timetable and the actual departure times over recent days and would like to assure our passengers that such anomalies have now been rectified.
But it added that “it is essential that we effect reasonable bus service adjustments so as to allow the company to improve its current financial performance.”
It said the coronavirus outbreak had caused a 50% drop in passenger numbers and “a prolonged period of financial loss.”
The NLB’s proposed timetable eliminated the no.4 service between Tong Fuk and Mui Wo and slashed the no. 1 service between Tai O and Mui Wo and the no. 2 bus serving Ngong Ping. It made smaller changes to the 3M, 11 and 23 services.
NLB said it had applied to the Transport Department, but did not explain why it would not wait for approval before implementing the new schedule.
The bus company operates service under a licence from the Transport Department, which requires it to hold regular public consultations with passengers and to seek approval for any changes in schedules.
The company has not responded to Lantau News queries.
Local activists including Legco member Eddie Chu staged a protest at the Central government offices in Admiralty on Tuesday. They handed a petition to a Transport Department official.
They have called a public meeting for Friday evening at Mui Wo Ferry Pier to discuss the planned service cuts.
Eddie Tse, head of the Tai O Sustainable Development Education Workshop, said residents had been badly confused by the attempted timetable change.
“Even the station masters and drivers were not clear about the schedule,” he told Apple Daily.
Reprieve: Govt halts ‘unapproved’ Lantau bus timetable cuts
New Lantao Bus Co. (NLB) has backed down – for now at least – on planned cuts to Lantau bus services.
Last week it announced the elimination of nearly a third of no. 1 bus services, most of the no. 2 buses and the entire no. 4 service.
The company said the cuts were necessary because of the fall in passengers as a result of the coronavirus .
But in a confusing chain of events, the reduced timetable, due to start Friday, was halted by the Transport Department.
NLB had announced the new timetable on its website last week and also advised South Lantau district councillor Randy Yu, who reported it on his Facebook page.
The company updated its timetables and mobile app on Friday to reflect the changes.
Yet the buses continued to follow the old timetable after the Transport Department warned NLB that it could not make changes without approval, according to Apple Daily
The department sent inspectors to Tung Chung, Mui Wo and Tong Fuk on Friday morning to ensure services were keeping to the established timetable.
(At time of writing, both the NLB online timetable and the mobile app show the no. 4 Mui Wo-Tong Fuk service as restored, but all other buses running under the unapproved timetable.)
Eddie Tse, head of the Tai O Sustainable Development Education Workshop, said NLB could be in breach of its licence by changing schedules without Transport Department permission.
He said on Facebook the coronavirus outbreak was actually bringing more tourists to South Lantau on weekdays, “so why not increase rather than reduce [service]?”
While Lantau commuters might breathe a sight of relief, the Transport Department said it is still reviewing NLB’s proposal to cut services.
Randy Yu, who initially expressed no opinion on the cuts, said on his Facebook page today he was “extremely dissatisfied” over NLB’s “chaotic” handling of timetable changes.
“We have expressed our strong opposition to the Transport Department and to NLB,” he said.
Lantau bus services slashed as virus takes toll
Lantau bus services have been cut as a result of the coronavirus – and the changes may be permanent.
New Lantao Bus Co. has curtailed services across all routes, effective Friday March 13, the company has announced.
The biggest reductions are on South Lantau routes. The weekday no. 1 Tai O to Mui Wo bus has been slashed from 30 to 22 daily services, the no. 2 from Mui Wo to Ngong Ping has gone from 11 to four trips and the no. 4 bus from Tong Fuk has been shut down altogether.
In other changes, the Mon-Sat 3M service from Mui Wo to Tung Chung has been reduced from 50 daily trips to 45, while the 11 Tai O to Tung Chung bus has been trimmed from 58 to 56 services.
NLB said the changes were due to the “drop in patronage” during the virus outbreak.
While it said it would “closely monitor” passenger numbers it made no commitment to restoring the cut services after the contagion is contained.
The company, owned by Kwoon Chung Bus, has said it makes a small profit or a loss on most of its South Lantau routes.
The new timetables:
Lantau Confidential 