An order to remove and dispose of human remains buried in 2013 in six public cemeteries was gazetted today (August 14).
      
     The order was made under section 119A of the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Chapter 132), which empowers the Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene (DFEH) to direct the removal and disposal of human remains buried in public cemeteries for a period of not less than six years.
      
     The six cemeteries are the coffin sections of Wo Hop Shek Cemetery, Cheung Chau Cemetery, Tai O Cemetery and Lai Chi Yuen Cemetery on Lantau; the "T" Section of Sandy Ridge Cemetery, and the Government Urn Section of Sandy Ridge Urn Cemetery in Lo Wu.
      
     People who wish to arrange for private exhumation and disposal of the human remains should apply to the department's Cemeteries and Crematoria Office on the Upper Ground Floor, 6 Cheong Hang Road, Hung Hom, Kowloon, on or before August 28 this year. Enquiries can be made on 2675 6944.
      
     Any remains buried in the six cemeteries not exhumed as required will be cremated at a government crematorium. The ashes will be buried at Sandy Ridge Urn Cemetery in Lo Wu or other cemeteries as may be decided by the DFEH.

     The Government announced today (August 14) the re-appointment of Mr Clement Cheung Wan-ching as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Insurance Authority (IA). The re-appointment is for a term of three years, from August 15, 2020 to August 14, 2023.
 
     The appointment was approved by the Chief Executive under the Insurance Ordinance (Cap. 41).
 
     Announcing the appointment, the Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, said, "Mr Cheung possesses very strong leadership and has helped lay down a solid foundation for the IA in its inception years. We are confident that Mr Cheung will continue to contribute to the work of the IA in the new term, to lead the Hong Kong insurance sector to grasp the opportunities brought about by the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area development and the Belt and Road Initiative, and to enhance Hong Kong's status as an international risk management centre."  
 
     Mr Cheung was appointed as the CEO of the IA in August 2018. Under his leadership, the IA has taken up the full-range of statutory functions as the insurance regulator while embarking on a number of initiatives to promote sustainable market development. He is currently a member of the Executive Committee of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors and the Chairman of the Asian Forum of Insurance Regulators.
 
     The IA is an independent insurance regulator established under the Ordinance in December 2015. It took over the responsibility of supervising insurance companies from the former Office of the Commissioner of Insurance in June 2017 and assumed direct regulation of insurance intermediaries in September 2019. 

     In light of the extension of the special work arrangements for government employees for one week until August 23, the Labour Department (LD) today (August 14) announced that the LD will continue to provide emergency services and essential public services during this period.
 
     All counter services of the department will be suspended. Two Occupational Health Clinics and Occupational Medicine Units will be closed. Those who have made service appointments will be individually informed of the alternative arrangements.
 
     The LD encourages members of the public to make use of the department's online services and information (www.labour.gov.hk) and to file enquiries and requests for service by email at enquiry@labour.gov.hk.
 
     Job seekers can use the Interactive Employment Service Website (www.jobs.gov.hk) for job search purposes. The LD's Telephone Employment Service Centre, all Job Centres and industry-based Recruitment Centres also provide enquiry and employment services by telephone (telephone numbers are shown at www.jobs.gov.hk/1/0/WebForm/information/en/our_service/info_jobcentres.aspx) during office hours from Monday to Friday (9am to 1pm and 2pm to 5.30pm).
 
     Applicants for issue of licence or renewal of licence of employment agency may submit their applications to the office of the Employment Agencies Administration by post (Unit 906, 9/F, One Mong Kok Road Commercial Centre, 1 Mong Kok Road, Kowloon) or email (ea-ee@labour.gov.hk).
 
     For information about employment rights and benefits, members of the public may browse the LD's website at www.labour.gov.hk/eng/faq/content.htm.
 
     Due to the special work arrangements, the processing time for various enquiries and applications may take longer than usual.
 
     The LD will review the situation in due course and make further announcements as appropriate.

     WKS Civil Contractor Company Limited was fined $210,000 at Eastern Magistrates' Courts today (August 14) for violation of the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance and the Construction Sites (Safety) Regulations. The prosecutions were launched by the Labour Department.

     The case involved a fatal accident that occurred on August 10, 2019, at a building alteration site in Causeway Bay. A worker, while carrying out wooden formwork work on the rooftop, fell from an unfenced edge of a formwork for a distance of about five metres to the floor below. The worker sustained serious injuries and passed away two days later.
 

     The Development Bureau today (August 14) announced the re-appointment/appointment of 14 directors to the Board of the Urban Renewal Fund (URF). The URF is an independent company limited by guarantee incorporated on August 15, 2011, to manage the Urban Renewal Trust Fund.
 
     In accordance with the Articles of Association of the URF, the Secretary for Development has nominated Professor Steven Ngai Sek-yum for re-appointment as Chairman of the Board of the URF, and nominated Professor Ching May-bo, Professor Rebecca Chiu Lai-har, Mr Dennis Ho Chiu-ping, Mr Ivan Fu Chin-shing, Mr Yeung Ming-tai and Mr Ricky Yu Wai-yip for re-appointment as directors. The Secretary for Development has also nominated Ms Ang Bing-hun, Ms Mary Grace Chiu Hang-mei, Mr Sunny Ho Lap-kee, Ms Janice Lai Wai-man, Mr Dominic Lam Kwong-ki, Mr David Lui Yin-tat and Mr Timothy Ma Kam-wah for appointment as directors. The term of the above appointments is three years from August 15, 2020.
 
      "I am grateful to Professor Ngai for agreeing to chair the Board of the URF for another term. In the past three years, the URF has implemented the Urban Renewal Heritage Preservation and District Revitalisation Funding Scheme. It has also provided funding support to the work of the Kowloon City District Urban Renewal Forum to implement related projects. I am confident that under the leadership of Professor Ngai, the new URF Board will continue to make the best use of the Trust Fund in furthering its objectives," the Secretary for Development, Mr Michael Wong, said.
 
     Mr Wong also thanked the seven outgoing directors who have served on the Board of the URF for six years, namely Dr Au King-lun, Mr Wilson Fung Ying-wai, Ms Serena Lau Sze-wan, Ms Lilian Law Suk-kwan, Professor Albert Lee, Dr Lawrence Poon Wing-cheung and Mr Adrian Wong Koon-man, for their contributions to the work of the URF.
 
     The membership of the URF Board with effect from August 15, 2020, is as follows:
  
Chairman
———–
Professor Steven Ngai Sek-yum
 
Directors
———-
Ms Ang Bing-hun
Professor Ching May-bo
Professor Rebecca Chiu Lai-har
Ms Mary Grace Chiu Hang-mei
Mr Ivan Fu Chin-shing
Mr Dennis Ho Chiu-ping
Mr Sunny Ho Lap-kee
Ms Janice Lai Wai-man
Mr Dominic Lam Kwong-ki
Mr David Lui Yin-tat
Mr Timothy Ma Kam-wah
Mr Wai Chi-sing
Mr Yeung Ming-tai
Mr Ricky Yu Wai-yip
 
Secretary
———–
Mr Joseph Wong Kam-man
 
     The URF, incorporated as a company limited by guarantee on August 15, 2011, was set up pursuant to section 6(2)(s) of the URA Ordinance to act as the trustee and settlor of the Trust Fund. The Trust Fund, with an endowment of $500 million from the URA, provides an independent funding source to support the operation of the social service teams that render assistance to the affected owners and tenants of the urban redevelopment projects implemented by the URA. The Trust Fund also supports planning and related studies by the District Urban Renewal Forum as well as initiatives related to heritage preservation and district revitalisation proposed by non-governmental organisations and other stakeholders in the overall context of urban renewal. Pursuant to the Articles of Association of the URF, the directors of the Board of the URF shall be nominated by the Secretary for Development and appointed by the URF. The establishment of the Trust Fund was one of the major initiatives under the Urban Renewal Strategy promulgated by the Government in February 2011.