| News
Stories: |  |
Click-on
these handy "jump links" to quickly access the news item
you're
looking for. 1.
Crisis forces exodus from construc 2.
S*A*R with Tom Hilditch 3.
WHO tells travellers to avoid Hong Kong 4.
Cartoon 5.
Results speak louder than reassuring words 6.
Some people still spit
1. Crisis forces exodus from construc
Keith
Wallis, The Standard 3 April 2003 Hong
Kong's construction industry was facing severe problems because of a decline in
business that was causing skilled people to leave the sector, it was claimed last
night. Speaking
at the Hong Kong Construction Association annual dinner, president Billy Wong
said: ``Our industry is in serious difficulty. ``We
have developed our skills on internationally famous projects and while these successes
have not been without their challenges, we met and overcame them and thereby further
developed our confidence and skills. ``It
is a worrying fact that this pool of skill and experience is being eroded through
lack of work.'' Figures
show although the government plans to maintain its capital works programme at
HK$29 billion a year, overall construction output has been declining since at
least 1996, falling to HK$105.5 billion last year. According
to the latest budget estimates, the government will seek first-time funding this
year for capital projects worth about HK$60 billion, 30 per cent less than in
the last financial year. Wong
told The Standard earlier that the industry was facing a grave future, with an
increasing number of contractors going bankrupt. He
said the industry employed more than 300,000, including engineers and architects,
representing ``more than 10 per cent of the workforce''. Many
more in the transportation and construction materials sectors depended on the
construction industry for their livelihoods. With
a declining workload, they all faced an uncertain future, he said. At
the dinner, Wong said while he welcomed the government's plan to launch a trial
private sector participation scheme, he believed limiting the pilot initiative
to 10 projects worth HK$2.5 billion ``is far too little''. ``I
highly recommend the government to expand the scheme to include infrastructure
projects of a more substantial scale,'' Wong said. He
said the government ought to also improve the bidding process for private sector
schemes so firms were not deterred from tendering.
2. S*A*R with Tom Hilditch
SCMP,
3 April 2003 I
love HK, but I wish. . . Tung
Chee-hwa accepted Antony Leung Kam-chung's resignation and appointed South China
Morning Post columnist Jake van der Kamp as the new financial secretary. (Peter
Ko)
3. WHO tells travellers to avoid Hong Kong
MARY
ANN BENITEZ, RAVINA SHAMSADANI and CHEUNG CHI-FAI, SCMP 3 April 2003 The
World Health Organisation yesterday warned travellers not to visit Hong Kong or
Guangdong, in an unprecedented move aimed at preventing the spread of atypical
pneumonia. Governments
around the world reacted by advising their citizens not to travel to Hong Kong
and other high risk areas, as the global number of cases grew to more than 2,300
and the death toll exceeded 75. Fresh
concerns were raised for the local economy in light of the WHO warning, with Dragonair
and Singapore Airlines announcing plans to cut flights to Hong Kong. But
Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa pledged that Hong Kong would win the fight against
the disease, as he revealed new measures to combat future health scares. He
was boosted by the news that the number of fresh severe acute respiratory syndrome
(Sars) cases in Hong Kong yesterday was only 23, the lowest daily increase for
more than a week. The total number of cases rose to 708. Mr Tung said 89 people
had fully recovered and been discharged. The
chief executive played down the WHO travel advisory, saying it came as no surprise.
He praised the
community for its handling of the outbreak and said he was optimistic the disease
would be brought under control. "We will win this battle," he said.
Concern about
the rapid rate of infection on the Amoy Gardens estate in Ngau Tau Kok was one
of the factors which prompted the WHO to issue the travel warning. "In
Hong Kong, they have found that transmission does not seem to be only by close
contact from person to person. It appears that there is something in the environment
that is transferring the virus, which is serving as a vehicle to transfer the
virus," said David Heymann, executive director of communicable diseases at
the WHO in Geneva, in a reference to Amoy Gardens. It
is understood Hong Kong officials had tried to dissuade the organisation from
taking such a step, arguing that Amoy Gardens was isolated and exceptional. Dr
Heymann said another reason for the decision was that since March 15, nine visitors
to Hong Kong had contracted the disease in the city. A
third reason for the advisory was the continued outbreak in Guangdong, the WHO
said. Mr Tung
unveiled a four point plan for ensuring the government was better able to deal
with any future health scare. It
would establish a formal mechanism to exchange health information with the Guangdong
authorities, and give more resources to the two local medical schools to research
infectious diseases. The
government would also try to develop a better mechanism to communicate with the
public on the prevention of such diseases and step up efforts to improve public
hygiene. Meanwhile,
the US State Department announced it was authorising non-emergency staff and their
families to leave Hong Kong and Guangzhou on a voluntary basis, while the list
of countries advising their citizens not to visit Hong Kong grew. Canada,
Switzerland, Belgium, France, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore,
South Korea and Thailand have warned citizens not to travel to Hong Kong and other
affected areas. In
Switzerland, the government banned exhibitors at a prestigious watch and jewellery
fair from employing staff who had travelled from Hong Kong and the mainland, Singapore
and Vietnam. About
320 Hong Kong exhibitors were expected at the World Watch and Jewellery Show,
held in Basel and Zurich from April 3 to 10.
4. Cartoon
SCMP,
3 April 2003 
5. Results speak louder than reassuring words
ANALYSIS
by CHRIS YEUNG, SCMP 3 April 2003 Chief
Executive Tung Chee-hwa yesterday appeared resigned to the grim possibility of
a further drop in visitors to Hong Kong in the wake of the World Health Organisation's
travel warning. With
the continued spread of the mysterious atypical pneumonia disease, the fact is
that foreign visitors have begun to shun Hong Kong. The tourism industry reported
a drop of 30 per cent in arrivals last week. Airlines have cancelled flights.
Expatriate families have fled. With
or without the latest WHO travel advice, life in Hong Kong has been, and will
continue to be, disrupted. Worse
still, yesterday's global health warning will deepen the mood of gloom, and dent
public confidence in efforts to fight the disease. The decision by the Swiss government
to bar Hong Kong attendants at a trade fair raises fresh fears about freedom of
travel of residents overseas. The
latest blow to confidence comes as the community reacts calmly - and with a degree
of maturity and understanding - to the crisis. Over the past week, there has been
a remarkable change of sentiment towards restraint and pragmatism within various
quarters of the society. Politicians
and the media have conceded the futility of pointing the finger of blame - at
least temporarily. This is because the community desperately wants results, not
words. They still
look to the government for leadership in overcoming difficulties because they
simply have no alternative. That
said, the bogus "infected port" announcement did spark panic. And despite
claims by Mr Tung that the government has a good grasp of the outbreak, there
is still much uncertainties surrounding the disease. Not
until such time that the number of new cases falls - and the cause of the Amoy
Gardens outbreak is ascertained - will people feel more confident about winning
the battle. People
see little point in debating such issues as whether to close schools, or where
quarantined residents of Amoy Gardens should be housed. At
the end of the day it is results that count. 5
Virus puzzle: it appears not to affect commuters
Editorial, SCMP 3 April 2003 It
is of absolute importance to Hong Kong now to understand how Sars spreads. Some
questions about cases in which the virus did not appear to spread for our government
Sars team to consider:
With millions of people travelling on the crowded MTR and KCR and buses, why have
there been no cases or very few cases of infection as far as we know through public
transport?
Also, we have identified several cases of confirmed Sars patients
travelling by air, but to my knowledge there is no case of passengers on the same
flight being infected. Why?
JIMMY
LAM, Sheung Shui
6. Some people still spit
Editorial, SCMP 3 April 2003 Incredibly,
even with the number of people affected by atypical pneumonia rising every day,
and despite coverage of the causes in the media, there are still people spitting
in our streets. Another
favourite place for spitting is public washbasins, including those of upmarket
establishments. While
one could turn a blind eye when the offender is an old man, many spitters are
young and well-dressed. ANDY
YAU, Wan Chai
| 
