Regina Ip Sets May 7 Deadline For Bills Committee

Lawmaker Regina Ip said on Friday that she hopes the bills committee she chairs can complete its work on the controversial plans for the West Kowloon rail terminal by May 7.

The bill proposes a joint border clearance facility at the station for the express rail link to the mainland. But critics say allowing mainland officials to operate at the station would be against the Basic Law and the "One Country, Two Systems" principle.

Ip, who is also chairwoman of the pro-government New People's Party, said she was reminded by the administration late on Thursday that it had wanted the legislative process completed within three months of the bill's introduction. The bill was submitted to lawmakers in February.

She said even if the committee's vetting can be completed on May 7, it still has to go through the house committee and the full council.

Ip said as there's only 12 hours across six meetings left for the committee, if lawmakers have issues to raise, they can take them up with her or the committee vice chairman, Horace Cheung.

Transport Secretary Frank Chan, meanwhile, denied that the government is trying to put pressure on Ip to speed things up.

He said officials are simply foreseeing a time management crisis, and he hopes councillors can bear in mind public expectations about the opening of the rail project when vetting the bill.

The HK$84 billion project is expected to open in September this year.