3 days ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong needs ‘burning' government urgency on ticket scalping too
There seems to be a growing affinity for
fast-tracking processes these days in the name of expediency. Even Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu appears to have caught the bug.
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In a question and answer session last week, he told lawmakers he felt the
'burning urgency' of expediting the development of the Northern Metropolis, which accounted for one-third of Hong Kong's land. Lee said his government had picked up the pace on the project, but while he 'can absolutely do something' about the administrative procedures, when it came to legal amendments, 'we can only do it with the consensus of the lawmakers'.
These are issues we face, live with or struggle with regularly, that ought to give our government officials heartburn. And while progress has been made in some areas, the government is clearly dragging its feet on others.
On ride-hailing, for instance, the government has fallen short on its responsibilities.
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Uber, the ride-hailing giant, has been operating in Hong Kong
since 2014 . InvestHK, the government agency, once patted itself on the back for bringing Uber to the city – by providing '
significant support , including information on public transport and advice on market entry strategy prior to its launch' – but it quickly wiped the glowing account off its website after a police crackdown on the ride-hailing platform.
