Slow going on safety improvements a year after Lamma ferry disaster
Industry resistance, bureaucracy and inertia are delaying steps to make ferry travel safer, a year after worst maritime tragedy in decades
The tragedy off Lamma Island a year ago today put the spotlight on a host of safety problems, poor practices at the Marine Department and an industry that failed to comply with the law.
Twelve months on, a steering committee under transport minister Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung is overseeing reform of the department, criticised by the commission of inquiry into the disaster for "serious systemic failings", while an internal inquiry is also under way. The government has also proposed improving safety measures for vessels.
What is lacking - despite the loss of 39 lives after the Sea Smooth ferry and Lamma IV launch collided on National Day last year - is concrete action to make our waterways safer.
For Ryan Tsui Chi-shing, who lost his elder brother and niece in Hong Kong's worst maritime disaster since 1971, the silence has been deafening.
"The government tried to cool down the matter by keeping its mouth shut," Tsui said. Government officials had helped victims' families, but turned cold after a commission of inquiry condemned the Marine Department in its report.
The Transport and Housing Bureau said the internal investigation would take time and the steering committee would continue to explore ways to address the department's shortage of staff.