I REFER to readers Brian Jones' letter headlined, ''Alleviate border chaos'' (South China Morning Post, July 15) and Patrick Pang's ''HK side at fault'' (Post, July 19).
As a result of China's open-door policy and its booming economic development, passenger traffic through Lowu has been increasing dramatically, up about 40 per cent since 1989. By mid-July this year, the volume of traffic had already exceeded 20 million. The daily average passenger throughout now stands at 105,000 for the normal weekday and reaches 120,000 during weekends or public holidays; making Lowu the busiest immigration checkpoint in Hong Kong. Unfortunately, this growth in traffic is not matched by a corresponding increase in resources. Our staff establishment has remained stagnant as at 1989 level. Limited by this constraint, only up to 73 per cent of counters are manned during peak hours and this is only achievable through the flexible deployment of staff. To cope with the ever-increasing volume of work, the Immigration Department is constantly reviewing its policies and procedures with a view to enhancing productivity.
We introduced the segregation of immigration counters for residents and visitors in April 1992, followed by the extension of opening hours to Lowu from 7 am to 11 pm in July 1992. Since June this year, immigration clearance on Hong Kong residents is further streamlined and children between 11 and 17 years of age are now allowed to travel on their identity cards. These measures are found to be effective in expediting the passenger flow, and substantially shorten the waiting time for Hong Kong residents. Also, with effect from August 1, holders of Chinese passports transiting through Hong Kong are granted visa free entry of seven days.
This change in policy will not only facilitate this category of visitors but also help release more officers to man the counters at Lowu.
We are equally concerned about the safety of passengers as well as their convenience at all our control points. To ensure a smooth flow of the passengers and to prevent any chance of mishap, we work very closely with the Royal Hong Kong Police, the Customs and Excise Service, the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation and the Chinese authorities to regulate the movement of passengers in an orderly manner. Passenger flow, which is always unidirectional, is separated into zones. Each zone area is controlled by operational department staff and passengers are only released at regular intervals by batches. Any special directions given to the passengers or any unexpected incident which may cause inconvenience or anxiety to them will be made known through the public address system. There is of course no room for complacency, but with the joint efforts of all operational departments, a tragedy like Lan Kwai Fong would be unlikely to occur at Lowu.
Besides, the nature of the activities and geographical situation are completely different. While the bunching of passengers at certain hours of the day, especially on weekends and holidays, will result in a congested situation, it is not chaotic and never dangerous.