• 分类：新闻动态
• 作者：web
• 来源：web
• 发布时间：2023-07-12 10:47
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【概要描述】In Hong Kong, Land subsidence at Man Kam To border crossing may take months to repair

Rare land subsidence that led to the partial closure of the Man Kam To border crossing may take months to repair, Hong Kong’s leader has said, vowing to maintain close contact with mainland Chinese authorities.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu on Tuesday said the government was “very concerned” about the situation. Photos from Sunday, when the damage occurred, showed the roads of the crossing between the city and the mainland had cracked.
“Food shipped from the mainland to Hong Kong has not been affected. Traffic at the northbound passage, which has been affected, has been diverted to other crossings, including the Heung Yuen Wai control point,” he told the press before a meeting with the Executive Council, the city’s key decision-making body.
“The relevant mainland authorities have been handling the situation … I hope that the repairs can be done as soon as possible, but the preliminary information shows that they require one to a few months.”
He said the government would maintain close communication with the mainland, and inform the public of any updates.
The Office of Port of Entry and Exit of the Shenzhen municipal government on Sunday night said the subsidence occurred at around 6pm, forcing authorities to suspend cross-border services for tourists and trucks.
It added that the service resumption date would be announced once repairs were completed.
Stanley Tandon Lal Chaing, chairman of the Lok Ma Chau-Hong Kong Freight Association, said the northbound passage of the crossing was closed, but the southbound one remained open.
He said he believed the incident would not have much impact on the city’s fresh food supply.
“Man Kam To border crossing is not our major control point,” he told a radio show on Tuesday. “It only accounts for 20 per cent of all the cross-border logistics in Hong Kong.”
He added that he expected repairs to take at least six weeks.
Chaing said northbound trucks now had to travel through Heung Yuen Wai control point instead, which could lead to more traffic than usual.
“Heung Yuen Wai control point has always been the smallest crossing so queues will form even when there is not a lot of traffic,” he said.
“On Monday, I did not see a lot of trucks. I will continue to observe the traffic in the coming few days as there will be more trucks on Thursday and Friday.”
He suggested that authorities deploy more labour and set up additional checkpoints to clear the queues more efficiently.
Raymond Chan Kin-sek, former head of the Geotechnical Engineering Office under the government’s Civil Engineering and Development Department, said more information was needed to determine what caused the subsidence. He suspected that it was triggered by burst pipes.
“I saw that some of the lanes had been uplifted. This only happens with high-pressure water which is strong enough to lift the ground,” he told the same radio programme.
“High-pressure water can be found in water pipes. This phenomenon is similar to what can be seen in water pipe bursts in Hong Kong in the past.”
He said if the damage was related to burst pipes, the fix would be simple and quick, but if it was caused by natural water, the work could be more complex.
He added that the time required for repairs would depend on the cause of the incident, the size of the affected area and the availability of labour and resources.