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 three grants totalling $7.032 million to three agencies for providing relief to cyclone victims in Odisha, India.

     Announcing the grants today (July 4), a spokesman for the Government said that the cyclone had affected more than 15 million people in Odisha, India. The three grants – one of HK$1.495 million to Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) China, one of HK$2.518 million to Save the Children Hong Kong and one of HK$3.019 to Plan International Hong Kong, will be used to provide hygiene kits, kitchen kits, water kits and education kits as well as household and shelter kits, to benefit around 45 100 cyclone victims. As the targeted localities of the three relief agencies are different, there will be no overlapping of resources. The Committee said it hoped the grants would facilitate the provision of timely relief to the victims and help them restore their normal living. The grants, together with the one approved earlier for this cyclone in Odisha, India, will take the accumulative value of grants and the number of beneficiaries to $12.506 million and 76 150 respectively.
 
     "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.

The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:

     Following is the remarks by the Chairman of The Legislative Council Commission, Mr Andrew Leung, on deliberations made by the Commission at a media briefing today (July 4):

     Members of the Legislative Council Commission joined me to inspect the damages in the Legislative Council Complex this morning before we held a special meeting to discuss the follow-up actions.

     The fire safety, security and communication systems have been damaged. Most of the meeting facilities cannot function properly.

     The Security Control Room has been damaged seriously. The computer servers and hard-disks have been taken away. The Secretariat has reported to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data due to the loss of personal information.

     The Commission understands that it is difficult to find a suitable alternative meeting venue and we agree that priority should be given to the restoration of the Complex with a view to reconvening the Council meeting in October. 

     The Secretariat has implemented a number of temporary measures and we hope that the Red alert can be lifted as early as next week. However, certain public services in the Complex will be suspended for a longer period (of time).

     The Government announced today (July 4) that Mr Chaucer Leung Chung-yin, Deputy Director-General of Communications (Telecommunications), will assume the post of Director-General of Communications on July 8, 2019.
 
     Commenting on the appointment of Mr Leung, the Secretary for the Civil Service, Mr Joshua Law, said, "Mr Leung has acquired extensive expertise in different functions of the Office of the Communications Authority. He possesses strong leadership and management skills as well as rich experience in public administration. I am confident that he will be able to lead the Office of the Communications Authority to meet the challenges ahead and continue to deliver quality service to the community."
 
     A brief biographical note of Mr Leung is set out below:
 
Mr Chaucer Leung Chung-yin
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     Mr Leung joined the Government as Telecommunications Engineer in April 1997. He was promoted to Chief Telecommunications Engineer in July 2009 and to Assistant Director of Telecommunications in November 2012, and became Deputy Director-General of Communications (Telecommunications) in October 2015.
 

  

     The effective exchange rate index for the Hong Kong dollar on Thursday, July 4, 2019 is 105.3 (up 0.1 against yesterday's index).

     The Land Registry today (July 4) released its statistics for the first half of 2019. 
                                                                                                     
Land registration
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* The number of sale and purchase agreements for all building units received for registration for the first half of 2019 was 43,491 (+34.6 per cent compared with the second half of 2018 but -7.2 per cent compared with the first half of 2018).
 
* The total consideration for these agreements for the first half of 2019 was $397.50 billion (+17.7 per cent compared with the second half of 2018 but -1.5 per cent compared with the first half of 2018).
 
* The number of assignments of building units for the first half of 2019 was 44,625 (-15.0 per cent compared with the second half of 2018 and -15.5 per cent compared with the first half of 2018).
 
* The total consideration for these assignments for the first half of 2019 was $366.65 billion (-11.5 per cent compared with the second half of 2018 and -10.6 per cent compared with the first half of 2018).

Land search
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* The number of searches of land registers made by the public for the first half of 2019 was 2,576,255 (-0.3 per cent compared with the second half of 2018 and -3.9 per cent compared with the first half of 2018).