Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government
approved on Friday a grant of 8 million HK dollars (1.03 million
U.S. dollars) from the Disaster Relief Fund for the Hong Kong Red
Cross to provide emergency relief to snowstorm victims in the
Chinese mainland.
The approval was followed by the advice from the Disaster Relief
Fund Advisory Committee, a HKSAR government spokesman said.
"The committee hoped that the Hong Kong Red Cross would help
provide timely relief to snowstorm victims," he said.
To ensure that the money will be used for the designated
purposes, the Hong Kong Red Cross was required to submit an
evaluation report and audited accounts on the use of the grant
after the relief work had been completed.
"Upon receipt of other applications for the snowstorm victims in
the Chinese mainland, the Committee will process them as
expeditiously as possible," the government spokesman added.
The Disaster Relief Fund Advisory Committee is responsible for
advising the HKSAR government on policy and practices regarding the
disbursement of funding for disaster relief from the Disaster
Relief Fund, which was established in December 1993 for emergency
disaster relief in places outside Hong Kong, as well as advising on
specific amounts to specific recipients, and monitoring the use of
grants.
Some Hong Kong charity groups and organizations on Friday
allocated relief funds to the snow-hit areas in the Chinese
mainland. Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce donated 500,000 HK
dollars (about 64,193 U.S. dollars) to snow-hit areas in the
central and south China. The chamber also urged factory owners on
the Chinese mainland to provide accommodation and food to stranded
workers.
Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions on Friday also donate 100,
000 HK dollars (about 12,839 U.S. dollars) through the Liaison
Office of the Central People's Government in HKSAR, to help those
affected by the snowstorm.
The snow, the heaviest in decades in many places, has been
falling in east, central and south China for more than a fortnight.
It has caused deaths, structural collapses, blackouts, highway
closures and crop destruction.
(Xinhua News Agency February 2, 2008)