Grants approved for flood victims in Mainland

     The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has accepted the advice of the Disaster Relief Fund Advisory Committee and approved from the Disaster Relief Fund two grants totalling $9.956 million to two agencies for providing relief to flood victims in Anhui, Guizhou, Hunan, Jiangxi and Yunnan Provinces in the Mainland.
 
     Announcing the grants today (August 11), a Government spokesman said that flooding had affected more than 37 million people in the Mainland. The two grants – one of $5.798 million to Amity Foundation, Hong Kong and one of $4.158 million to World Vision Hong Kong – will be used to provide rice, cooking oil, quilts and household items to benefit around 62 200 victims. The Committee hoped the grants would facilitate the provision of timely relief to the victims and help them restore their normal living. The grants, together with those approved earlier for this flooding in the Mainland, will take the accumulative value of grants and number of beneficiaries to $11.056 million and 74 200 respectively. As the targeted localities of relief agencies are different, there will be no overlapping of resources.
 
     "To ensure that the money is used for the designated purposes, the relief agencies will be asked to submit evaluation reports and audited accounts on the use of the grants after the relief projects have been completed," the spokesman said.