10/2-
China is threatening to punish the makers of a powerful
rat poison which has been blamed for more than
90 percent of the major food poisoning cases
this year. Xinhua news agency says the government
is aiming to eliminate the supply of the arsenic-based
poison by punishing anyone who makes, buys,
sells, transports or stores it. Depending on
the consequences of their actions, those found
guilty could face up to ten years in jail. The
type of poison the government is targetting
is called Dushuqiang, which is said to be especially
popular in rural areas.
10/3-
Police are
appealing for witnesses of a traffic accident
in Tai Po which led to the death of a 49-year-old
taxi driver last night. A car being driven by
a woman along Tai Po Road, heading for Tai Po,
reportedly crossed over into the opposite carriageway
near Deerhill Bay. It was involved in a collision
with a taxi and the driver was trapped inside
his vehicle. He was freed, but died later in
hospital.
10/4-
A court's been hearing arguments that the
government should stop the harbour reclamation
in Central. The Society for the Protection of
the Harbour is seeking an injunction, after
the government proceeded with dredging work.
That's despite a court judgement in July that
its interpretation of the law on the reclamation
was fundamentally flawed. The Society's lawyer
decribed the harbour as Hongkong's crown jewel,
saying that such work would cause irreversible
damage. But, the government's lawyer said this
was not supported by firm evidence. The judge
will make a ruling on Monday.
10/6- A man has been shot dead in Sheung Shui in the New
Territories. Police say he was found lying in
a pool of blood in a public toilet next to a
convenience store. Reports say two shots were
fired and a bullet case was recovered at the
scene. No arrests have been made, but media
reports say the police are looking for two men
who were seen fleeing from the scene on a motorbike.
10/7- The
Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa has been handed
a petition from people opposed to harbour reclamation.
This came ahead of an Executive Council meeting,
during which members were to be briefed on yesterday's
court ruling allowing work to continue. More
than 5,000 people signed the petition, collected
by the Action Group on the Protection of the
Harbour. They urged the administration to stop
all unnecessary work and to listen to public
opinion.
10/8-
Legislators have unanimously endorsed a
government motion to increase the air passenger
departure tax from eighty dollars to a hundred
and twenty from the coming January. The Secretary
for Financial Services and the Treasury, Federick
Ma, says the increase won't discourage travel,
as the tax will still be a small amount in relation
to the total cost of air travel. Legco's tourism
representative, Howard Young, also backed the
increase, but he warned that the move might
affect Hong Kong's competitiveness, since it
would mean the territory having the second highest
airport departure tax in the region.
10/9- Problem
gamblers will soon be able to seek psychological
and financial assistance from a specialist centre
aimed at helping them quit the habit. Experts
will target high-risk groups, including the
disciplined services. The Even Centre organised
by the Tung Wah Group of hospitals has received
more than 10 million dollars for the next three
years. It will be staffed by a dozen people
including experienced social workers and overseas
experts. They'll be on the frontline taking
calls from potential problem gamblers from next
month.
10/10-
Two men trapped at the base of a cliff on
Basalt island near Saikung have been rescued.
But another man is reported to be missing. The
men were forced ashore when their sampan ran
into difficulties in rough seas early this morning.
High waves prevented marine police from reaching
them, and a helicopter also failed. Captain
Trevor Marshall of the Government Flying Services
said the location of the men and strong winds
had made it difficult to reach them.
10/11-
The chairman of the society for the
protection of the harbour, Winston Chu, is stepping
down after receiving threatening letters. He
said he and his lawyers received the mail threats
yesterday. Mr Chu said he'd decided to resign
as chairman because the letters had deeply upset
his elderly mother. The police say they're investigating
the case.
10/13-
Labour unions
have welcomed a promise by the government to
drop the so-called three-for-one labour importataion
scheme. The Secretary for Labour, Stephen Ip,
announced the news at a meeting with union representataives.
The proposal would have guaranteed one local
job for every three that went to mainland workers.
10/14-
The organisers
of the Harbourfest have confirmed that the Rolling
Stones will perform two shows here on November
the seventh and the ninth. And tickets will
go on sale at ten tomorrow morning. This follows
confirmation from the Stones that the shows
will go ahead - despite an announcement by the
American Chamber of Commerce last week that
the veteran rock band would not be coming.
10/15-
The government has called on the mainland
authorities to carry out a thorough investigation
of an incident in which one of its customs vessels
intercepted a Hong Kong cargo ship well within
local waters. It said it was very concerned
about the incident.
10/16-
Cantopop star Nicholas Tse has been
sentenced to 240 hours of community service
for conspiring with a police constable to pervert
the course of justice. The policeman, Lau Chi
Wai, was sentenced to six months in jail. The
case went to court after it was discovered Tse
allowed his former driver to claim he was behind
the wheel, after the singer crashed his Ferrari
on Cotton Tree Drive in March. The constable
was found by the court to have agreed to the
arrangement.
10/17-
Customs officers
have broken up a 30-million dollar smuggling
operation in waters off Tuen Mun. This follows
the seizure of a large quantity of unmanifested
goods including sharks fins and plasma TVs on
board a mainland river trade vessel. The ship
was intercepted off Lung Kwu Tan as it headed
for Shekou on the mainland. A man's been detained
for questioning. A customs senior inspector,
Simon Lee, said officers intercepted the vessel
after receiving a tip-off.
10/20-
The Democratic Party has voiced its
support for government moves to reconsider electronic
road pricing to resolve traffic congestion,
if it can't build a new highway on a reclamation
area in Central. The party was speaking after
the Environment and Transport Secretary, Sarah
Liao, said last week that her bureau was examining
the scheme, which was scrapped in the 1980s
amid a storm of controversy. Democrat, Law Chi-kwong,
said a major hurdle for the scheme had been
removed.
10/21-
The Chief Executive, Tung Chee-hwa,
says the government is to unveil details of
economic cooperation with Shanghai. He was speaking
in Bangkok on the eve of the Financial Secretary's
statement to Legco on the economy and the budget
deficit.
10/22-
The government
has raised its economic growth forecast for
the year from two per cent to about three per
cent. And it believes the budget deficit this
year will be around $78 billion, a rise of $10
billion over the previous forecast. It hopes
to balance the Budget by 2008-2009, two years
later than the previous target.The Financial
secretary, Henry Tang, said he was cautiously
optimistic that the economy had now bottomed
out. The government originally forecast a three
per cent rise in GDP this year but in May it
cut this back to 1.5 per cent and then revised
the figure to two per cent in August.
10/23-
The Financial
Secretary, Henry Tang, has deferred the government's
deadline for balancing its books by two years,
to 2009. And to acheive the goal, he's pledged
to reduce government spending to twenty percent
of the gross domestic product by 2009. Mr Tang
also revised this year's economic growth forecast
to three percent, saying that the economy had
shown signs of recovery. But he said the budget
deficit could grow to 78 billion dollars this
financial year. Mr Tang also said he was considering
the issuance of bonds. Mr Tang also said he
was considering a sales tax, but he stressed
that it wouldn't be introduced in times of deflation.
Mr Tang also said he'd decided to drop a proposal
to introduce a tax for those crossing the border.
10/24-
The Chief Executive, Tung
Chee-hwa, says China's first man in space, Yang
Liwei, will visit Hong Kong next week. Mr Yang
completed a successful mission aboard the Shenzhou
V last week. Mr Tung said Mr Yang will arrive
here next Friday. He added that a series of
activities had been arranged including the exhibition
of the spacecraft in the Space Museum.
10/27-
China has hailed
North Korea's willingness to consider a US offer
of security guarantees as a "positive gesture"
and urged the two sides to narrow their differences
to allow talks on ending a year-old nuclear
crisis. "China appreciates the positive
gesture of North Korea," Foreign Ministry
spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said in a statement
on the ministry Web site www.fmprc.gov.cn. "China
hopes that all parties concerned will further
show their sincerity, narrow their differences
and create the necessary conditions to continue
the dialogue progress and seek a political solution,"
it quoted Zhang as saying.
10/28-
The American Commerce
Secretary has warned China over its growing
trade imbalance. Speaking in Beijing after meeting
Premier Wen Jiabao, Don Evans said Washington
would not tolerate what he called "a stacked
deck". Mr Evans said that job security
and economic growth in America were dependent
on free and fair trade. He also said China needed
to do more to comply with its commitments to
the World Trade Organisation.
End
of October news continue to next month
| click here |
Thursday, April 1, 2004 16:26
©All
Right Reserve of Chany's Time
and part of RTHK On Internet
