Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Chief Executive Donald Tsang on Friday continued to take to the radio to explain the 2006-07 Policy Address and the HKSAR government's policies in the coming year.

In response to a caller's concern that Hong Kong's tourism industry was faltering, especially after some tour operators had cheated visitors, the Chief Executive stressed the number of tourists had continued to rise throughout the years.

In the last eight months, he noted, the total tourist arrivals in Hong Kong had reached nearly 17 million, a 10 percent rise over last year. There was also a rise of over 12 percent in visitors from China's mainland.

"We can never be complacent," Tsang added. "We have problems with the sharp operators in the tourism industry. We should clobber them. We should try to stop that as much as possible."

After a caller pressed the Chief Executive as to why Hong Kong did not have modern electric trolley buses as many other world cities did, Tsang replied the overhanging wires were unwieldy and that Hong Kong tried to bury all wires, especially due to the threat of typhoons.

However, he did promise to speak with experts on the controversial minimum wage issue, Tsang said he did not want to see the minimum wage issue dealt with in court.

Some legislative councilors have said they would put plans to seek a judicial review into action after the Government decided not to legislate for a minimum wage.

"This is a matter for policy, a matter for legislation. So I think we should try to solve this matter amicably, in the community. Fundamentally it is not even the legislature and the government. It is a matter for the people," Tsang said.

(Xinhua News Agency October 14, 2006)