Transport chiefs broke a promise that Sunday and public holiday fares on ferries between Central and Cheung Chau would be not be more than 20 per cent above those for the rest of the week, an islander claims in an application for judicial review.
Kenny Kwok Cheuk-kin, chairman of the Cheung Chau neighbourhood association, wants a court to consider whether it was legal for the head of the Transport Department on a pledge made in a letter to him dated December 21 last year.
In the letter, seen by the Post yesterday, senior transport officer Anna Yeung Min-jing, on behalf of the director of transport, wrote that the department would implement measures to reduce the fare difference from about 40 per cent to 'not exceeding 20 per cent' in the next tendering exercise for the route.
The department subsequently announced that a difference of 46 per cent was allowed. It stated that for ordinary services, the ferry operator could charge a maximum fare of HK$12.60 on Mondays to Saturdays and HK$18.40 on Sundays and holidays.
Copies of the letter were sent to the Chief Executive's Office, Kwok says in his application to the High Court.
Kwok claims his reasonable expectation was 'destroyed' by the director's failure to keep his promise. He applied to the court on Friday for a judicial review of the legality of the director's acts and decision. Kwok wants the department's decision on fares, gazetted on March 25, quashed and the new maximum fares thrown out.
'It's not only a matter of money. More importantly, it's about the credibility of the government,' Kwok said. 'How can a government fail to keep a promise?
