Politics
Written by: Peng Yiwei
2020-03-14 22:09
Last updated: 2020-03-14 22:09Under the haze of the new crown pneumonia (commonly known as Wuhan pneumonia) epidemic, the supply of surgical masks in Hong Kong is tight, and the market has been rushing to buy for months. Just as some experts in foreign media and infectious diseases recently praised the epidemic control in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore for their good control, in contrast, the Hong Kong government has been criticized for providing masks.
Instead of relying on the government, it is better to produce it yourself. In the past few days, many private companies and public agencies have rebuilt factories and produced masks to help fight the epidemic. However, the Hong Kong Government has always relied on only one production line of the Correctional Services Department, and the quantity is not enough for civil servants. In addition, under the global epidemic, countries are rushing to buy surgical masks. Should the Hong Kong Government take public responsibility to manufacture masks to ensure that the civilian population has an adequate supply of masks?
MTR KMB makes its own masks for frontline employees
Many public transportation agencies have recently announced that they have purchased relevant production equipment to produce masks themselves. Among them, MTR (0066) said recently that it is preparing to set up a dust-free production room. It is expected to be put into operation in the second half of this year. It can produce tens of thousands of masks per day. The actual number It needs to be tested and officially put into operation, and familiar with the technology before it can be confirmed. It is believed that it is sufficient for MTR staff. If there is a large amount of output, it will help other people in the community.
In addition, Long Win's parent company, Zai Tong International (0062), will also produce masks at Tuen Mun KMB Depot. It is expected to start production in April. It is expected to produce at least 10,000 masks per day and give priority to frontline employees, becoming the first self-owned company in Hong Kong. Bus operator with a mask production line. KMB also said that when the production of masks is stable, it will further provide masks to employees' families, retired employees, peers and people in need in the society.
Party company joins firefighting Zhong Guobin pushes reusable masks
In addition to the public agencies mentioned above, some private companies and political parties have joined the "fire fighting" and produced their own masks. Among them, HKTVmall had previously decided to set up a local mask production line in Hong Kong, and the owner Wang Weiwei flew to Taiwan to find mask machines and raw materials. HKTVmall also revealed that following the successful purchase of machines for manufacturing masks, the most important material filter in mask manufacturing has also arrived, which is enough to manufacture more than 1 million masks.
The Federation of Trade Unions has been preparing its own mask workshop since January. The workshop is located in the Dapu Industrial Village. It took only 3 weeks from conception, clapboarding to landing. The first stage will be manufactured with semi-automatic machines. The masks with the same CSI specifications of the ED will be given free of charge to the elderly, front-line workers and grassroots in need. After the fully-automatic machine is put into production in late March, the workshop is expected to produce 100,000 masks per day, which is enough to meet the supply equivalent to half a year.
Liberal Party leader Zhong Guobin, a member of the Legislative Council ’s textile and garment industry, has made reusable masks with new anti-bacterial materials. Each mask can be used about 60 times. It has been certified by international testing. The masks were officially released last week. The cloth mask has been handed over to the University of Hong Kong for testing. If passed, it will become the world's first anti-virus cloth mask.
Correctional Services Department to produce 2.5 million masks per month
In contrast, the Hong Kong Government currently only relies on the Correctional Services Department to produce masks. Chief Executive Lin Zheng Yue'e said last month that the production line currently operates 24 hours a day, and 1.8 million masks were originally produced per month. It is estimated that the current productivity has increased to Production of 2.5 million masks.
A team of up to 180,000 civil servants alone needs more than 4.3 million masks if they work 24 days a month, not to mention a large number of government outsourced jobs. However, as the largest employer in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Government does not even supply masks to all civil servants and outsourced workers, let alone to the people of Hong Kong. This is dwarfed by the Macau government's guarantee that the permanent residents have one mask per day.
Hong Kong government relies on Correctional Services Department to set up new production line
Lam Cheng pointed out earlier that the government hopes to set up a new mask production line, and also said that the Correctional Services Department is renovating new workspaces. As long as you buy machinery, you can increase output, but until now, you only "smell the stairs." Compared with the public transportation agencies that have successively bought machinery for production, the government's pace has fallen behind again.
Hong Kong citizens who have experienced the cold wind and exhausted masks all expect the government to be more responsible, shoulder its due social responsibility, and produce or purchase more masks. The government should be more proactive in providing stable supply, otherwise the social grievances will only deepen, which will have a great impact on the government's governance and credibility in the future.
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