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Jimmy Cheung

All government departments preparing for the worst ahead of global meeting

Detailed emergency plans are being compiled by every government department to prepare for potential chaos during the World Trade Organisation meeting in December.

The operation has been described by one senior official as 'even more intensive than for the handover'.

The crises being planned for include terrorist attacks, violent protests and the possible hijacking of RTHK broadcasts by groups such as the Falun Gong. The Highways Department is understood to have made sure that paving stones are securely in place so that they cannot be removed and used as missiles by protesters.

A spokesman for the MC6 Co-ordination Office - named after the Sixth WTO Ministerial Conference - said each department was required to submit plans that would ensure the government was prepared for 'any event'. The aim is to ensure that essential public services are not disrupted.

The government expects about 11,000 participants, including 6,000 dignitaries, 3,000 members of the media, and 2,000 non-government representatives, to descend on Hong Kong for the December 13 to 18 conference. Previous meetings have seen violent protests.

Last week, the South China Morning Post reported that businesses had been advised not to schedule important deals during the conference and to assess the potential risk to their property from anti-globalisation activists. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has also asked banks to make contingency plans in case they have to close because of riots.

RTHK, which will be responsible for broadcasting the meeting worldwide, has revealed details of its crisis management plan.

The broadcaster will team up with police, the Transport Department and the Information Services Department and in an emergency redeploy existing channels to disseminate urgent information to the public around the clock.

RTHK will also guard against possible hijack by groups such as the Falun Gong of its live broadcast of the conference. It has even prepared for a bomb alert at its Kowloon Tong headquarters and is prepared to move elsewhere to continue broadcasting.

A spokesman for the MC6 Co-ordination Office said: 'To ensure that the government is well prepared for the conference and any events arising therefrom, we have asked all departments to draft or update contingency plans.'

But the office would not say how many departments had already tabled their reports, nor would it provide details of the plans submitted by different departments.

RTHK said it had submitted a report in July.

Assistant director of broadcasting (television) Cheung Man-sun  said RTHK's preparations for the conference were more intensive than for the handover  in 1997.

'Our preparations are unprecedented,' he said.  'Experience shows there will be demonstrations.  This is something we don't have experience of.'

Mr Cheung said RTHK's contingency plan was aimed at ensuring that, as host broadcaster, its live broadcast to the world was disturbance-free.

'We are very concerned about security. I am sure you have heard previous cases in which signals were jammed. This is a big problem,' he said, in an apparent reference to interference of mainland broadcasts by the Falun Gong.

'The role of a public broadcaster is very important. If there were incidents like September 11 or if our building is blockaded, we still need to be able to continue our service.'

Benny Cheung Kwok-leung, head of RTHK's public and current affairs section, said a special television programme on how Hong Kong prepared for the ministerial conference was being finalised.

He said previous host countries had not made such a record and he hoped the documentary would help the next host.

'Hosting such a major conference involves a lot of challenges and difficulties. A lot of interesting things also go unnoticed,' he said.

'For instance, the Highways Department is said to have fixed the bricks on the pavement with extra strong glue so demonstrators cannot easily pick them up to attack. Also, there won't be rubbish bins in the area, as people can hurl them.'



WTO crisis plan 'bigger than for handover'