Hong Kong activates emergency centre for busy weekend at Lok Ma Chau checkpoint
Hong Kong will activate its emergency monitoring centre from midday on Friday to manage heavy traffic and crowds expected at the Lok Ma Chau checkpoint over the weekend. The government has arrested three people for operating illegal cross-border passenger services without licences.
Hong Kong’s Security Bureau will activate an emergency monitoring centre from midday on Friday to manage expected heavy traffic and passenger flows at the Lok Ma Chau checkpoint over the weekend, the bureau’s secretary said on Wednesday.
The centre will coordinate government departments, and a frontline command post will be set up at the checkpoint, Security Secretary Chris Tang Ping-keung told a media briefing. All relevant agencies, including disciplinary forces, the Transport Department and the Government Property Agency, will respond immediately to conditions inside or near the joint inspection building. The arrangement will continue until early Monday, when accumulated queues of people and vehicles have cleared, he said.
Customs, the Immigration Department and the police have reserved sufficient staff to ensure all passenger and vehicle lanes at all checkpoints are fully opened before crowds build up, Tang said. A public-transport priority policy will be implemented, with traffic management measures such as giving priority to franchised buses when vehicle queues form. Vehicle buffer zones will also be used to manage congestion, he added.
Tang noted that the checkpoint has limits on vehicle throughput, and if nearly 1,000 cars approach within an hour, waiting will be unavoidable. He urged travellers to be patient and follow police instructions.
Regarding illegal cross-border passenger services, known as “white-plate cars,” Tang said authorities had taken a series of actions over the past two days and arrested three people — one Hong Kong resident and two mainland Chinese holders of two-way permits — for carrying passengers without a business licence. He warned that drivers face prosecution, passengers bear significant risk due to a lack of insurance coverage, and vehicle owners may also violate the law. He urged the public not to use or operate such unlicensed services.
To disseminate information, the Security Bureau will continue to use its real-time “Borderport” mobile app to publish overall waiting times, including at arrival halls, the time from alighting to entering departure halls, and overall vehicle waiting times. The Immigration Department and police will also provide timely updates on social media about passenger flows, queue conditions, alternative checkpoints and the tail end of vehicle queues, Tang said.
