TYB
Just think – we have 50K truckers parked for 3 weeks now, just north of us….our truckers are going to join in…this will be interesting. How long for the ripple effect 2 more weeks? 6?
Coronavirus Hong Kong: 6 more cross-border truckers test positive, forcing temporary shutdown of gateway for fresh food
*Operation of interchange venue for cross-border drivers at Man Kam To control point suspended for disinfection
*Only 30 to 40 trucks of vegetables able to cross on Saturday, compared with 100-200 a day the city usually relies on, industry group says
Published: 6:23pm, 13 Feb, 2022
At least six more cross-border drivers have tested positive for Covid-19, according to Shenzhen authorities, while vegetable supplies in Hong Kong have taken a further hit after the gateway for fresh food heading into the city was temporarily closed for disinfection.
Unionists said the supply of fresh goods would be reduced in the coming days as fewer drivers were willing to take the job during the pandemic.
Hong Kong authorities said on Sunday that the operation of the interchange venue for cross-border drivers at Man Kam To control point was suspended for disinfection after drivers tested preliminary-positive for Covid-19 on Friday. Drivers who stayed there that day were also required to undergo quarantine.
Man Kam To control point is a major gateway for fresh foods – including vegetables, meat and fish – going from mainland China to Hong Kong.
Temporary interchange venues have been set up by the Shenzhen government to facilitate the transport of fresh goods to Hong Kong, but local authorities said the supply of vegetables and chilled poultry would be affected to a certain extent due to the redeployment of cross-border drivers.
According to data from the Food and Health Bureau, Hong Kong receives 92 per cent of its vegetables from the mainland.
Vegetable prices have remained high for days given the tighter supply. According to the Vegetable Marketing Organisation, Chinese green cabbage sold for HK$6.60 per kilogram at the beginning of the month, but was going for HK$21.70 as of Saturday.
At a wet market in Hang Hau, one 30-year-old shopper said she had no choice but to buy the vegetables even though the prices were “unreasonably high”.
“It seems that cross-border drivers have often been found to be infected these days, and I don’t think prices will drop in the short term. What’s more, I don’t want to visit the market often during the pandemic so I have stocked up on some vegetables,” she said, adding tomatoes and potatoes available at the wet market had doubled in price to about HK$20 per catty (US$2.56 for 600 grams).
The president of the Hong Kong Imported Vegetable Wholesale Merchants, Yuen Cheong, said only 30 to 40 trucks of vegetables were able to cross the border on Saturday, whereas the city usually relied on about 100 to 200 trucks per day.
“It has been difficult to find part-time truck drivers during the pandemic,” he said. “Some asked for a salary of around HK$15,000 per day because they feared that they would not have any income during the quarantine period if they became infected.”
The pay was usually less than HK$2,000 per day for part-time drivers, he said.
Chan Dik-sau, chairman of the Container Transportation Employees General Union, said about 300 mainland drivers, who used to assist their Hong Kong cross-border counterparts, had been listed as close contacts of patients and were forced to quarantine.
When the pandemic began, Hong Kong drivers were barred from going directly to the vegetable wholesale market on the other side to load goods and were instead forced to rely on mainland ones at the interchange venues.
But the arrangement changed starting on Saturday after more mainland drivers were infected, Chan revealed.
“The mainland authorities told us they have relaxed the arrangement and will allow Hong Kong drivers to go freely to the whole markets,” he said. “But it was chaotic as some wholesale markets seemed to not know the latest change and still barred Hong Kong drivers from going inside.”
Currently, drivers are barred for 21 days from crossing the border without undergoing quarantine once a case has been identified in their building or at their estate. Chan urged the government to relax the restrictions or shorten the period to 14 days in a bid to ease the manpower shortage.
NOTABLE