The Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau (CMAB) is inviting a new round of applications under the Basic Law Promotion Activity Sponsorship Scheme and Basic Law Promotion Research Sponsorship Scheme (Sponsorship Scheme).

     The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has been promoting the Basic Law to members of the public through various channels. The Sponsorship Scheme aims to promote the Basic Law among different sectors of the community and to encourage different groups or organisations to conduct research on ways to further enhance the promotion of the Basic Law, with a view to enhancing public understanding of the "one country, two systems" principle and the Basic Law.  

     Year 2020 marks the 30th anniversary of the promulgation of the Basic Law. The maximum amount of sponsorship to be granted to each project of this round of applications will be increased to $800,000, with the aim of encouraging different groups to organise events of larger scale and to conduct research in greater depth.

     Application information can be downloaded from the Basic Law website (www.basiclaw.gov.hk/en/sponsorship/index.html). The deadline for application is September 30, 2019.

     For enquiries, please contact the Secretariat of the Sponsorship Scheme at 2810 2106.

     The Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau (CMAB) is inviting applications under the "2020 Children's Rights Education Funding Scheme" (the Scheme). The deadline for application is October 31, 2019.

    A spokesman for the CMAB said today (August 23), "The Government is committed to working together with community organisations to promote the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and enhance the public's understanding of children's rights." 

     Enthusiastic support from organisations for the Scheme has been received in every round of applications since the establishment of the Scheme in 2006. The community activities previously supported through the Scheme targeted a variety of social groups, and served to enhance public awareness of children's rights. So far, the Scheme has funded over 330 projects carried out by various non-governmental organisations, including community organisations, children's groups, ethnic minority groups, as well as primary and secondary schools.
    
     The Scheme in 2020 will offer sponsorships under the "District-focused Project" and "Territory-wide Project" categories. Applicants may engage children and other stakeholders in learning proactively about the rights of children enshrined in the Convention through organising different types of activities or services. The Government aims to encourage and enable more community organisations to undertake educational projects under the Scheme.

     Application forms are available from the website of the CMAB (www.cmab.gov.hk/en/issues/child_funding.htm). For enquiries, please contact the Children's Rights Unit of the CMAB at 3655 4179.

     The 2019 provisional register and the omissions list for the Rural Representative Election (RRE) are available for public inspection during ordinary business hours from today (August 23) to September 9.  Members of the public may visit the RRE Voter Registration Information Enquiry System through the Rural Representative Election website (www.had.gov.hk/rre) to check their own registration particulars and whether they are listed on the omissions list.

     A full copy of the provisional register and the omissions list can be inspected during ordinary business hours (Monday to Friday from 9am to 1pm and 2pm to 6pm) at the office of the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) at the Home Affairs Department, 30/F, Southorn Centre, 130 Hennessy Road, Wan Chai. A copy of the specific divisions of the provisional register and the omissions list for a rural area that belongs to the rural committees concerned can be inspected at the offices of the Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs) in the respective New Territories District Offices.
      
     The names and relevant particulars of electors recorded in the Existing Villages register, the Indigenous Villages and Composite Indigenous Villages register and the Market Towns register will be available for public inspection. Particulars of persons who are no longer eligible for registration as electors will be shown on the omissions list.
      
     Anyone who considers a registered person not eligible for registration may lodge a notice of objection at the office of the ERO or the relevant AERO during ordinary business hours on or before September 9. Objections must be lodged in person.
      
     Anyone who has made an application for registration but whose name is not recorded in the provisional register, or is included in the omissions list, or who has a claim to make about his or her particulars in the register, may lodge a notice of claim in person during the above-mentioned period.
      
     Those whose principal residential address is not in Hong Kong may submit a notice of claim by post, fax or electronic means (an electronic record authenticated by a digital signature) on or before September 9 (Hong Kong time). He or she may also lodge in person, or authorise a person in writing to lodge on his or her behalf, a notice of claim at the office of the ERO or the relevant AERO during ordinary business hours on or before September 9.
      
     The specified forms for notices of objection and notices of claim can be obtained from the ERO office and the AERO offices at the relevant District Offices. They can also be downloaded from the RRE website.
      
     For further details, please call 2152 1521 or visit the RRE website.

     The Government today (August 23) announced the establishment of a Fishermen Claims Appeal Board (FCAB) to process ex-gratia allowance (EGA) appeal cases by fishermen who claim to have been affected by marine works projects implemented in the waters on the northern side of Lantau Island.

     The FCAB is a non-statutory body set up on an ad hoc basis and comprises one non-official Chairman and four non-official members. Mr Erik Shum has been appointed as Chairman of the FCAB and the members are Mr Andrew Chan, Mr Thomas Cheng, Mr Kevin Law and Mr James Li. These appointments take immediate effect. Their term will last until completion of the work on all appeals.

     Recognising that fishermen affected by marine works projects may suffer a reduction in income and/or may have to incur extra expenses in relocating their fishing activities elsewhere, the Government has put in place a mechanism to grant EGA to the fishermen affected, subject to fulfilment of certain eligibility criteria. An Inter-departmental Working Group (IWG) within the Government has been set up to handle these EGA claims arising from a total of four marine works projects implemented in the said waters. EGA claimants feeling aggrieved by the decisions made by the IWG concerning the EGA amount offered to them or about their eligibility may lodge appeals to the FCAB. A total of 60 related appeals have been received. 

     The terms of reference of the FCAB are: 
 

• to hear and consider the appeals against the decisions of the IWG relating to the claimants' eligibility for EGA and/or the amount of EGA granted under the Government policy on granting EGA to fishermen affected by marine works projects; and

• having examined any new or additional information/evidence provided by the appellants (or their representatives) or the relevant departments, the relevance of and the weight to be given to such information/evidence, to consider whether to uphold the IWG’s decisions on the appellants' cases or to revise the decisions, and to determine the amount of EGA payable to the appellants, as appropriate.

     The secretariat of the FCAB will be housed in the Lands Department.

     The Centre for Health Protection of the Department of Health today (August 23) reported that the suspected case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) pending results yesterday (August 22), upon preliminary testing, tested negative for MERS Coronavirus.