Nearly 700 Oasis-related complaints received

The Consumer Council said it had received 673 complaints against Oasis Hong Kong involving a total of HK$9.67 million, as well as 808 inquiries as of noon yesterday.

Meanwhile, accounting firm KPMG, temporary liquidator of Oasis Hong Kong, declined to comment on reports about local business tycoon Li Ka-shing's Cheung Kong Holdings (CKH) being interested in acquiring the defunct budget carrier.

KPMG said a certain individual related to Oasis Hong Kong owes CKH money, but that individual is not the airline's creditor or shareholder.

TID briefs rice wholesalers on new import procedure

The Trade and Industry Department (TID) explained to about 70 rice wholesalers yesterday about the new procedure for importing mainland rice and said three local importers have already registered for shipping the staple food from the mainland to Hong Kong.

The new procedure was announced last week following a spate of territory-wide panic buying of Thai rice.

Registered importers are required to promise in writing that the mainland rice they import will never be sold outside Hong Kong. TID Deputy Director-General Ngai Wing-kit said this does not guarantee a fixed price.

Fatal accidents trigger legislation demand

A 76-year-old man died on impact after he was hit by a medium truck on Yuk Kwan Street in San Po Kong, Kowloon at about 7am yesterday. Another man, aged 82, was hospitalized in stable condition after a van knocked him down in Mong Kok at around 4pm.

Both accidents happened when the vehicles were backing up. Legislative Council members called for legislation to require rear-view monitoring devices to be installed on all trucks upon registration.

The Transport Department said it is already working on it but must proceed with caution.

Construction of North Lantau Hospital scheduled The government said yesterday it plans to reserve a 4.9-hectare plot of land on Lantau Island for the construction of North Lantau Hospital near Yat Tung Estate and the Hong Kong International Airport.

The first phase of the construction is estimated to cost about HK$2.2 billion. The tender process will end in the fourth quarter next year. The government expects the first phase to be completed by the end of 2012.

There will be 80 beds in the first phase emergency wards.

China Daily

(HK Edition 04/15/2008 page1)