China opens world's longest sea bridge connecting Hong Kong to Macau, Zhuhai
Beijing, Oct 23 : China on Tuesday officially opened the 55-km-long sea bridge, said to be the world's longest, connecting Hong Kong to Macau and the mainland Chinese city of Zhuhai.
President Xi Jinping inaugurated the USD 20 billion bridge at a special ceremony held in Zhuhai, in southern China's Guangdong Province, attended by about 700 guests, including the leaders of Hong Kong and Macau.
It was opened with a one sentence speech by Xi, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported. The construction of the bridge started in December 2009 and was to be completed in 2016.
Situated in the Lingdingyang waters of the Pearl River estuary, it will be the world's longest sea bridge, the state-run Xinhua news agency said.
China claims credit for building the world's longest bridge, the 164.8-km-long Danyang Kunshan Grand viaduct on the Beijing- Shanghai high speed railway.
The bridge, which will be opened for regular traffic from Wednesday, will slash the travel time between Hong Kong and Zhuhai from three hours to just 30 minutes, it said, adding it will further integrate the cities in the Pearl River Delta.
Chinese Vice-Premier Han Zheng said the bridge would bring Hong Kong and mainland China closer in terms of economic and trade activities.
Describing the bridge as a sign of successful cooperation between the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Macau he said, it is a demonstration of China's engineering capabilities.
Han, Beijing's man in-charge of regional economic integration, said that the 55-km-long bridge could facilitate the development of "one country, two systems", a framework that allows Hong Kong and Macau a certain degree of autonomy.
He said it was the first time the three sides had worked together on a major infrastructure project.
"It opens up all three places for greater exchange in trade and economics. It also enhances the competitiveness of the Pearl River Delta," the Post quoted him as saying.
The bridge would help Hong Kong and Macau be integrated to mainland China, he added.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor highlighted the three cross-border infrastructure projects the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong express rail link, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge and the Liantang/Heung Yuen Wai boundary control point which will open early next year.
But, the critics have called the bridge a "white elephant" and a "blood and sweat project", noting 10 workers have died and more than 600 were injured during its construction, the Post reported.
Additional concerns surfaced earlier this year when officials revealed that estimates for the amount of traffic expected for the bridge had been cut.
A 2008 consultancy study had predicted that 33,100 vehicles and 1,71,800 passengers would cross the bridge daily by 2030.
But the estimate was lowered to 29,100 vehicles and 1,26,000 passenger trips in a 2016 study, down 12 per cent and 26 per cent respectively, the report said.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
