Grand opening:
Under Secretary for SecurityLai Tung-kwok officiated at an early morning ceremony at the Shek Chung Au Check Point to mark the start of the reduction of the Frontier Closed Area.
Reduced restriction:
Deputy Secretary for Security Carol Yip briefs the media on the changes being made to the Frontier Closed Area.
Open space:
The area in pink opened to the general public on February 15.
Boundary security zone shrinks
February 15, 2012
The restricted zone separating Hong Kong from the Mainland is reduced from today, allowing the public to enter certain boundary locations without a Closed Area Permit.
The move, which opened 740 hectares of land to the public, is the first of three stages of reducing the Frontier Closed Area.
The area was established in 1951 to secure the then Sino-British border to combat illegal immigration and other cross-boundary crime. Police control access to the zone by issuing permits.
The Security Bureau announced in 2008 the 2,800-hectare zone will be cut to 400 hectares. Now that the first phase of the reduction has begun, permits will not be required for the newly-opened area.
Under Secretary for Security Lai Tung-kwok officiated at a ceremony early this morning to mark the implementation of the first stage of reducing the size of the Frontier Closed Area.
Deputy Secretary for Security Carol Yip said the Government will construct a new patrol road and fence at certain sections of the boundary to secure the newly-opened areas.
“We also need a secondary boundary fence along the entire boundary patrol road, from Mai Po in the west to Sha Tau Kok in the east.”
Construction is being divided into four parts - the Mai Po to Lok Ma Chau Control Point Section, the Lok Ma Chau Control Point to Ng Tung River Section, the Ng Tung River to Lin Ma Hang Section, and the Lin Ma Hang to Sha Tau Kok Section.
Works for the Mai Po to Lok Ma Chau Control Point and the Lin Ma Hang to Sha Tau Kok Sections have been completed. These sections opened today.
Works for the Lok Ma Chau Control Point to Ng Tung River Section will finish in the fourth quarter this year, while works for the final section will start in early 2015.
