CHINA might agree to the building of a new passenger checkpoint at Lok Ma Chau before 1997 to help alleviate congestion at Lowu, a senior mainland official indicated in Beijing.
The disclosure came as legislative councillors were told of the Hong Kong Government plans to add 10 extra channels to the Lok Ma Chau border crossing point by 1998 and provide an extra lane on the Tolo Highway from Sha Tin to Tai Po for completion by 2001.
The Chinese official, Zhang Liangdong, a department head of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, said more detailed studies on issues such as border security and customs were needed.
The new passenger checkpoint would be built if it was found to be urgently needed, he said at the end of a full Infrastructure Co-ordinating Committee meeting in Beijing.
The link would also connect to the territory's planned rail system in the northwestern New Territories.
Mr Zhang, head of the Chinese team of the committee, said all transport links between the northwestern part of Hong Kong and adjacent Shenzhen and Zhuhai needed to be discussed at the Joint Liaison Group.
Hong Kong team leader, Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands, Tony Eason, said the cross-border body would explore ways to improve the use of the existing rail links.
