John Lee urges Kai Tak Sports Park to boost crisis response ahead of Hong Kong Sevens
Chief Executive John Lee says some arrangements at the newly opened venue have caused ‘issues’
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu made the call on Tuesday, ahead of the annual Hong Kong Sevens, one of the city’s largest sporting events that will take place from Friday next week to Sunday at the main 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. It had been held at Hong Kong Stadium for the past three decades.
“I attach great importance to Kai Tak Sports Park operating smoothly and in line with the expectation of residents,” he said ahead of his weekly meeting with the government’s key decision-making Executive Council.
“The park has already been open for a month, there are some arrangements that caused issues, we need to deal with them well.”
Since its official opening on March 1, the venue has suffered a series of blunders, including ticket touts allegedly helping visitors enter the stadium for a fee of about HK$1,000 (US$128) per person and snooker fans being asked to leave midway through a tournament.
Lee said that the park’s management should enhance its mechanisms in fields including crisis management and dissemination of information to the public.
“I have already demanded that Kai Tak Sports Park do some work on building its mechanisms and enhancing them,” he said.