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     The Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, attended a TV programme this morning (October 14) to elaborate on the initiatives in the 2018 Policy Address and visited an old building in Sai Ying Pun in the afternoon to know more about support measures the residents need in carrying out building repair and maintenance works and introduce to them relevant measures in the Policy Address.

     Accompanied by the Director of Buildings, Mr Cheung Tin-cheung; the Director of Electrical and Mechanical Services, Mr Alfred Sit; the Director (Building Rehabilitation) of the Urban Renewal Authority (URA), Mr Daniel Ho and the District Officer (Central & Western) Mrs Susanne Wong, Mrs Lam visited a 52-year-old building on Wilmer Street, Sai Ying Pun and met with residents who are also members of the owners’ corporation. They briefed her on the 13-storeyed building’s repair and maintenance works in the past and works needed in the future. She also inspected areas of the building where repair works will be carried out and the lift. She then paid a home visit to an elderly resident to understand her daily life and introduce to her measures rolled out by the Government to support building repair and maintenance works. Mrs Lam noted that the building has applied for the subsidy schemes by the URA and plans to strengthen its fire safety standards and carry out the necessary repair works. The residents welcomed the initiative in the Policy Address to help home owners in need expedite lift modernisation.

     “Hong Kong is facing the challenge posed by ageing buildings. Strengthening building rehabilitation will not only help protect the lives of residents and passers-by and improve the living environment of residents, it will also enhance the adaptability of buildings to extreme weather conditions brought by climate change. In the Policy Address last year, I proposed to allocate $3 billion to launch “Operation Building Bright 2.0″ and devote $2 billion to subsidise eligible owners to undertake fire safety enhancement measures. The relevant schemes have already been rolled out. In the Policy Address this year, I further proposed to launch in partnership with the URA the Lift Modernisation Subsidy Scheme with a provision of around $2.5 billion to subsidise lift modernisation for aged buildings to safeguard public safety, with additional subsidy for eligible elderly owner-occupiers. I look forward to launching the scheme in the first quarter of next year,” Mrs Lam said.

     In addition to rolling out various subsidy schemes to help owners in need enhance building safety, relevant government departments will collaborate with the URA to assist building owners who have participated in the above-mentioned schemes to build in corruption prevention safeguards in their building repair and maintenance projects and to provide more information on building rehabilitation and market information so that the processes of tendering for contractors will be conducted in a fair, just and competitive manner.

      

     The Civil Aid Service (CAS) held the Mountaineering Safety Promotion Day 2018 with various government departments and mountaineering organisations today (October 14) at Tuen Mun Cultural Square to enhance the public’s knowledge of hiking safety with a view to reducing the accident rate of mountaineering activities.
 
     The opening ceremony was attended by officiating guests including the Controller of the Government Flying Service, Captain Michael Chan, and representatives of the CAS; the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department; the Auxiliary Medical Service; the Office of the Communications Authority; the Fire Services Department (FSD); the Hong Kong Observatory; the Hong Kong Police Force; the Lands Department; and various mountaineering organisations.
 
     The Chief Staff Officer of the CAS, Mr Cheung Tat-yin, also presented certificates to participants of the Mountain Casualty Handling Course and Safety Workshop for Hiking Leaders at the ceremony. 
 
     Mountaineering equipment, such as digital maps and global positioning system devices, were showcased. Skills on mountain search and rescue as well as handling of injured persons were demonstrated by CAS members. The use of night vision goggles and a weather forecasting mobile application were also introduced to enhance the public’s understanding of mountain rescue work.
 
     Other attractions included mountaineering safety promotion talks, performances by police dogs and introduction of FSD rescue dogs. A recruitment exercise for CAS adult members was also conducted at the event.
 

                

     The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government hosted a Welcome Home Ceremony at Hong Kong International Airport today (October 14) to greet the Hong Kong, China Delegation to the Indonesia 2018 Asian Para Games (APG) on their victorious return from the games.
 
​     Speaking at the ceremony, the Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Lau Kong-wah, commended the athletes for their outstanding performance following prolonged arduous training. With their determination, never-give-up spirit and strong will that were fully demonstrated during the competitions, they made remarkable achievements to win a total of 48 medals at the games, comprising 11 gold, 16 silver and 21 bronze.
 
​     Mr Lau also said, “The Government has implemented the recommendation of the consultancy study on ‘Sport for People with Disabilities in Hong Kong’ to provide full-time training opportunities to athletes with disabilities. With the subsequent implementation of the Pilot Scheme for Elite Vote Support System for Disability Sports, athletes with disabilities will be able to receive more systematic support to enhance the quality of their training so as to achieve breakthrough results.”
 
​     The 2018 APG was held from October 6 to 13 in Jakarta, Indonesia. A total of 101 Hong Kong athletes took part in 10 events at the games, comprising archery, athletics, badminton, boccia, lawn bowls, shooting, swimming, table tennis, tenpin bowling and wheelchair fencing.

​     Other guests attending the ceremony included the Permanent Secretary for Home Affairs, Mrs Cherry Tse; the Director of Leisure and Cultural Services, Ms Michelle Li; the Honorary President of the Hong Kong Paralympic Committee & Sports Association for the Physically Disabled (HKPC & SAPD), Dr York Chow; and the President of the HKPC & SAPD, Mrs Jenny Fung.

        

     The award presentation ceremony for the Outstanding Youth Commendation Scheme and the Outstanding Youth Activity Commendation Scheme organised by the Home Affairs Bureau (HAB) and the Youth Development Commission (YDC) was… read more

     Following is the transcript of remarks at a media session by the Secretary for Development, Mr Michael Wong, after attending a radio programme this morning (October 14):

Reporter: Mr Wong, can you explain how the reclamation will improve the traffic of north-western New Territories? And you mentioned during the programme that Hong Kong’s land reserve will be used up by 2032 if the reclamation doesn’t take place?

Secretary for Development: The second question first. That is not what I said. What I was saying is that if you look at our demand for housing, if you look at the figures under the ten-year Long Term Housing Strategy, nowadays every year we are talking about 46 000 units. A few years ago we were taking about 48 000 units. So let’s say it’s about 40 000 units every year. Year by year, in 15 years’ time, we will be talking about 600 000 units. This is basically what we have to prepare under the current situation, about intensifying the development density of existing areas and also about the upcoming new development areas (NDAs), Kwu Tung North, Fanling North and Hung Shui Kiu. We will use that up.

     What I didn’t say is if we don’t do reclamation, we will be at a total loss. What I said was that we need a sizeable source of land supply. Somehow we will need it. The Government, under Mrs Lam’s vision, has come up with the 1 000-hactre phase one reclamation at Kau Yi Chau which will help us solve this problem.

     You may say that the community doesn’t like reclamation at Kau Yi Chau. Then you have to look at other sources of sizeable supply. What I said was, if you talk about, not reclamation but resumption of land, cost-wise, the difference is not that substantial. In terms of infrastructure, we still need to put on a layer of infrastructure. In terms of difficulty and costs, it is not necessarily easier. Actually, if you have gone through the process of trying to put on sizeable infrastructure in built-up areas, the challenges are greater. The costs are likely to be higher. So that was what I said.

     Your first question is about traffic. Just look at the location. The location of Kau Yi Chau allows us to have a good linkage point further up north to Sunny Bay and then Tuen Mun South. And you know that for Tuen Mun South, there are other plans ongoing and being under study as in the Railway Development Strategy 2014. The expansion of Tuen Mun South is being looked at. From Kau Yi Chau to the east, basically the link goes back to the northern side of Hong Kong Island. And we are talking about a distance around 4 kilometres. It’s a short distance and very convenient driving. So that is an advantage of Kau Yi Chau which is unparalleled by choices such as Tseung Kwan O.

(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.) read more