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SCMP Reporter

Q Should red minibuses be abolished?

This is one of the few times that I totally agree with the government.  Having driven a lot in Hong Kong, I can safely say that every time there is a red minibus in sight, it is being driven recklessly, endangering passengers and with a total disregard for other road users.

I drive to work every day and these minibuses are speeding at breathtaking speeds, without any signal indication when changing lanes and crossing double white lines. Basically, they have no respect for the road laws or fellow road users and the safety of passengers.

They also randomly stop to pick up and offload passengers anywhere they wish without forewarning the traffic behind, resulting in a very dangerous situation for traffic following.

I am led to believe they are controlled by organised crime groups, which probably is the reason for their lack of respect for road laws and safety. They should have been abolished a long, long time ago.

John Barnes, Mongkok

I strongly believe red minibuses should be banned. Every morning when driving to Central, I observe dangerous practices from the drivers of these buses.

One day there is going to be a very serious accident. It has always amazed me why the police do not crack down on their activities. Their driving is in marked contrast to the drivers of green-topped minibuses.

John Budge, Central

Q How should we commemorate medical workers who died fighting Sars?

I understand sculptures of our medics who died fighting Sars have been readied, including one of Joanna Tse Yuen-man, whose parents were shown her sculpture and liked it.

But the sculptor has to choose from three sites to install the sculptures: the Hong Kong University's medical museum, Tuen Mun Hospital and the Hospital Authority building.

These sites are  not readily accessible by citizens and tourists wanting to pay respects to them. Furthermore, these medics died not just for the medical cause. They died like martyrs defending the whole of Hong Kong. Their memories deserve to be enshrined in a special enclosure in the City Hall garden in Central.

David Lan, Causeway Bay

On other matters ...

I refer to Alex Lo's column on Saturday in which he complained about newspapers publishing disturbing details and pictures of road accidents.

There is far too much covering up and denial about the serious problem of road deaths in Hong Kong.

Newspaper articles and advertisements glorifying luxury high-powered cars and the cult of speed are infinitely more obscene than a picture or story illustrating the reality of what happens when a pedestrian is hit by a car.

Perhaps when pedestrians are killed or seriously injured and photos appear in the press, you should be using the opportunity to show your children that these are not 'accidents' but the inevitable consequences of the culture of speeding, aggressive driving in overpowered, status-symbol cars, all so highly promoted in Hong Kong, especially by the South China Morning Post.

There are more than 170 or so road deaths a year and about two-thirds of these are innocent pedestrians, hit by drivers who manage to 'lose control' of their vehicles.

Far too little notice is taken of this. Accident scenes are cleared with undue haste, minimising the seriousness of the occurrence, so that drivers can resume, unaware of their aggressive behaviour on the roads.

Road safety research in Hong Kong is extremely limited - is this due to fear that exposure of the truth will offend the powerful vested interests of the motoring lobby and motor vehicle trades?

Drivers are risking other people's lives, not their own. It is the lives of the most vulnerable they are toying with: pedestrians, especially children, the elderly and the disabled, who are less able to dive for cover when the inevitable happens.

I would like to see more stories detailing the consequences of speeding on the roads, not less.

Name and address supplied

Legco is considering a major road construction project on Lantau. Although termed an 'improvement' to an existing road, the project involves construction of an entirely new road in an ecologically sensitive part of Lantau. The cost of the project is  $629.9 million which, although reduced from $930 million, is still excessively high in view of the government's ballooning budget deficit.

The Legco review of funding should be deferred until the autumn, to allow for the summer recess, further consideration of spending priorities and satisfactory public consultation.

The Highways Department has unreasonably refused requests from South Lantau residents to properly advertise details of the new road, giving rise to the view among residents that the public consultation process was deliberately curtailed and obscured.

The evidence is in the large number of objections lodged with the department since the project's ramifications became known.

Cheung Sha residents request the right to review the detailed plans, planning assumptions and proposed noise and visual impact mitigation measures for a project whose construction will be carried out 16 hours a day, seven days a week, until December 2006.

This right of consultation was not accorded  by the secretive and unsatisfactory gazetting process managed by department. I trust Legco will register the very serious public concern over this project and support the calls for a suspension of financial review and approval until the autumn.

R.A. Hughes, Lantau



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