Barriers expected to go up soon on road where truck killed boy, 12
A barrier is expected to be installed soon to block trucks from a private road in Fairview Park after no one claimed right of way over the road before a deadline more than a week ago.
Lee Fat Shing Development said it had received no documents from any person or party about the right to use Fairview Park Boulevard, the focus of a dispute between residents and truck operators after a 12-year-old boy was killed in January last year.
The company published advertisements in a number of newspapers a month ago inviting anyone claiming right of way over the road, which it owns, to contact it by October 11.
'Since no one contacted us, barriers will be erected to prevent container trucks from using it,' general manager Albert Lam Kok-fai said.
Mr Lam said the company had applied to the Transport Department and the Buildings Department for permission to erect the barrier at the upmarket Yuen Long residential estate, and the two departments had replied that they were considering it.
'We really expect the long-standing battle between us and heavy trucks to end soon. It is such a relief,' he said.
In a statement, Lee Fat Shing said it had no problem with the transport industry.
'We simply hope that container truck drivers will use the new public road instead of our private road,' the company wrote.
Kam Pok Road, a bypass, was completed in 2005, but opened only last year, after the death of the schoolboy, Kam Ho-wah. Residents have wanted for years to bar heavy trucks from using their private road as a short cut between the border and New Territories container depots, but the dispute intensified after the boy was killed.
Residents also claim the road has been severely damaged by heavy traffic and needs repairs. They want to ensure it is not used by trucks after it is repaired.
Stanley Chiang Chi-wai, spokesman for the Joint Committee of China-Hong Kong Transport Trade, was angered by the move.
'We have not seen any barrier yet. But I think many truck drivers will show their discontent when they see its installation,' Mr Chiang said, refusing to comment on the fact no driver had contacted the company before the October 11 deadline.
