Hopes of a 30-minute link from Tuen Mun are dashed New Territories residents' hopes of a direct ferry service to Macau have been dashed after the Macau government turned down a ferry company's docking application. Hong Kong North West Express had planned to start a twice-an-hour service from Tuen Mun to Macau in September but the project was put on hold pending approval. The company, which has a licence to run cross-border ferries, will instead launch a service to Zhuhai on Friday. The trip to Macau, if approved, would have taken just 30 minutes, half the time of the fastest trip from Central. The rejection means New Territories residents will have to continue making a journey of up to an hour to Central or Tsim Sha Tsui to catch a boat to the gambling haven. Neither the Macau government nor the ferry company will talk publicly about the reason for the rejection. But a source familiar with the situation said lack of docking space at the Macau terminal, used by two other companies, had been cited. Tuen Mun district councillor Yim Tin-sang said the residents were disappointed, especially as they had been asking the government to approve a route from the New Territories to Macau for more than a decade. 'People are angry,' he said, adding that a travel agent named Big Line Holiday had to cancel a tour to Macau that it had arranged to leave from Tuen Mun. 'The ferry service is a public transport and the government should have maintained a close watch on the project.' Tuen Mun Ferry Services concern group convenor Yeung Chi-hang said residents were very dissatisfied. 'They had said there would be ferry services from Tuen Mun to Macau every half hour by September,' he said. Two companies operate on the Macau route. Casino magnate Stanley Ho Hung-sun's Shun Tak-China Travel Ship Management runs TurboJet ferries - a 55-minute trip - every 15 minutes. New World First Ferry runs trips every 30 minutes, which take 60 to 75 minutes. The Macau Port Authority said it could confirm only that it had not issued a licence to North West Express. North West Express refused to comment. But the source said the firm was now seeking 'corporations' to invest in it so that maybe then there would be 'a solution'. He would not elaborate. Shun Tak-China Travel Ship Management refused to comment. A New World First Ferry spokeswoman said it did not have any plans to invest in other ferry firms. A Hong Kong Marine Department spokeswoman said the department would not interfere with business operations. An Environment, Transport and Works Bureau spokeswoman said relevant departments had been 'maintaining close liaison' with North West Express. Legislative Council transport panel chairman Andrew Cheng Kar-foo said the government owed an explanation to the public on the future of the route.
