 放大圖片
■南丫撞船意外造成39人死亡令港人傷痛不已。資料圖片
南丫海難事故造成39人死亡令港人傷痛不已，港府針對海事處內部調查的報告4月24日公布，指海事處就「南丫四號」執行職務時，涉及多項行政失當及失職。運輸及房屋局局長張炳良指出，有17名海事處人員涉行為不當，調查小組建議對有關人士採紀律行動。調查報告揭露海事處在監管上有法不依、敷衍塞責的積弊，嚴重威脅香港航運安全。當局必須追究海事處及相關人士的失職責任，不論是在職或退休人員都要嚴肅追究，還受害人一個公道。更重要的是，有關部門須汲取血的教訓，大力整頓海事處的官僚作風，堵塞監管漏洞，維護香港的航運安全。
香港海道繁忙，每日均有不少客船和貨船來港進行各種交通運輸和貿易活動，海事處負責管理船隻安全，維持海上秩序，責任重於泰山。然而，海難報告提出的各項監管問題，包括沒有足夠兒童救生衣、水密門設計不符規定等，這些問題很大程度是源於海事處人事作風官僚草率，內部積弊成習。如果任由海事處繼續存在這些問題，將影響香港航運安全。因此，當局必須大力消除海事處的陋習，加強部門管理，並且汲取外國先進技術和經驗，盡快提升香港的海事管理水平，防止慘劇重演。
Prosecute those responsible for the ferry tragedy and plug the loopholes
The Lamma ferry tragedy that claimed 39 lives had left people of Hong Kong in overwhelming grief. On 24 April, the HKSAR government publicized an internal report on the investigation of the Marine Department. The report accused the Marine Department of a series of maladministration and negligence in discharging duty on the Lamma IV vessel. The Secretary for Transport and Housing Cheung Bing-leung pointed out that as many as 17 officers of the department were involved in acts of misconduct, and the investigation team has suggested taking disciplinary actions against the officers involved. The report has revealed the long-standing malpractice of the Marine Department, and unveiled the fact that the department has been non-law-abiding and cursory in its discharge of regulatory duties. This poses a serious threat to the maritime safety in Hong Kong. To do justice to the victims, the authorities must hold the department and the relevant officers, be they serving or retired, responsible for dereliction of duty and punish them seriously. More importantly, the relevant authorities must learn from this bloody lesson, vigorously rectify the bureaucratic behavior inside the Marine Department, and plug the regulation loopholes so as to ensure maritime safety in Hong Kong.
Seaways of Hong Kong are very busy. A lot of passenger and cargo vessels enter the harbour each day to carry out all sorts of transportation and trade activities. The Marine Department is responsible for monitoring the safety of vessels and maintaining order at sea. Their responsibility is of upmost importance. However, as exposed in the Lamma tragedy report, there are various regulatory problems such as insufficient life vests for children, non-compliant water-tight door design, etc., which are to a large extent a result of the bureaucratic and perfunctory attitude of the staff in the department. The long-standing malpractice inside the department has become normal practice. If these problems are allowed to persist in the department, maritime safety in Hong Kong will be undermined. Therefore, the authorities must forcefully eliminate the malpractice and strengthen the management of the department. They should also introduce advanced technology and experience from abroad and promptly enhance the standard of maritime management in Hong Kong so that similar incidents can be prevented from happening again.■English Translation by Tung-ming [ tungming23@gmail.com ]
（節自香港《文匯報》2014年4月25日）
隔星期三見報
|
放大圖片
