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The last ramp of the corridor was opened by the Director of Highways, Mr Leung Kwok-sun, at a ceremony today.
Other officiating guests included the Chairman of the Yau Tsim Mong District Board, Mr Chow Chun-fai; the Chairman of the board's Traffic and Transport Committee, Mr Ip Kwok-chung; the District Officer of Yau Tsim Mong, Mr Bart Ireland; the Regional Highway Engineer (Kowloon) of the Highways Department, Mr Chiu Wing-hung; and General Manager of Shui On Civil Contractors Limited, Mr Fung Ching-nam.
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Staffordshire Regiment arrives to replace Gurkhas
The main body of the 1st Battalion, the Staffordshire Regiment, arrived in Hong Kong today (Friday). It will take over operational responsibility for providing the infantry element of the Hong Kong Garrison from the 1st Battalion, Royal Gurkha Rifles, which is to be redeployed to the United Kingdom.
The Staffords are the first of two UK-based battalions which will share the operational task during the remaining nine months of British sovereignty. They will remain in Hong Kong until February, when they in turn will be replaced by the 1st Battalion, the Black Watch.
Both battalions are unaccompanied by their families. The battalion's headquarters will be on Stonecutters Island.
The Staffordshire Regiment is one of the oldest in the British Army, tracing its history back to 1705 when one of its predecessor regiments was formed at the King's Head Pub in the town of Lichfield, Staffordshire, England. The pub still exists and past and present members of the Regiment still use it.
Of far greater significance to Hong Kong was another predecessor regiment, the 98th Regiment of Foot, first formed in 1825. It was to become only the second British Army regiment ever to be stationed here.
Having first been deployed at Chusan, near Shanghai, the regiment arrived in Hong Kong harbour on September 29, 1842, aboard the vessel Belleisle. Conditions ashore were still primitive and no barracks were available, so the regiment had to remain aboard their ship, at anchor in the harbour, for four months before being disembarked.