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Following is the transcript (English portion) of remarks made by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Donald Tsang and the Secretary for Security, Mr Ambrose S K Lee at a media session today (December 28) on the assistance provided to Hong Kong people affected by the tsunamis :

Reporter: What progress has been made in finding these missing Hong Kong tourists in Thailand and other affected areas? And what difficulties are there?

Chief Secretary: The difficulty is that these places are chaotic and we have got maximum co-operation from the local authorities concerned. Transport arrangements are difficult to obtain. Our immigration colleagues in Phuket for instance have visited all the local hospitals and tried to identify all Hong Kong residents. They will continue their work to help Hong Kong residents come back to Hong Kong as soon as possible. They are working in close co-operation with our embassy and consulate there and with local authorities. They are working exceedingly hard and our colleagues in Sri Lanka and Colombo are doing likewise - try to identify the areas where they might be able to visit, particularly the hospitals concerned. But as you know, the roads are in very poor condition. Some bridges have collapsed and there have been difficulties in accessing the areas. But we are trying our best.

Reporter: What kind of assistance are you going to offer to Hong Kong tourists?

Chief Secretary: They mostly want to come back and we are helping them to come back as quickly as possible.

Secretary for Security: As far as the figure is concerned, of the 277 missing cases, 64 have been located and they have returned to Hong Kong.

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

Ends/Tuesday, December 28, 2004

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