Government headquarters closed as protesters block bridge in Admiralty
Senior officials work from home, while contract staff lose a day's pay
About 3,000 staff were affected when the government temporarily closed its headquarters in Admiralty yesterday. Senior government officials worked at other offices or from home, while lower-ranking staff did not have to report for work.
The government said the closure was necessary because Occupy protesters were blocking access roads, but some civil servants who made it into the headquarters without trouble saw it as a tactic to create the impression that the protest had paralysed the government's operation.
The closure was announced at 8.30am. Bureaus exercised their contingency plans, including having ministers work at other government offices and senior officials work from home.
Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying's daily meeting with principal officials was relocated to his official residence at Government House. Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah's office was moved to the west wing of the old government complex on Lower Albert Road.
A group of protesters - who had split from the main group and claimed to answer to no one - blocked the bridge connecting Admiralty with the government offices at about 7.30am.
They ignored advice by Occupy co-founders Benny Tai Yiu-ting and Chan Kin-man to allow access.
