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The Government has approved a cash grant to the Maldives Government to provide disaster relief to its tsunami victims.

A spokesman for the Government said today (January 20) that this had been made possible under a special mechanism set up on the advice of the Disaster Relief Fund Advisory Committee (DRFAC) for the Government to respond to direct appeals from Governments of the affected countries. A total amount of $8 million has been earmarked for this purpose.

"The DRF will allocate more funds to address direct requests from these Governments if necessary," the spokesman added.

So far, the Government has arranged for the delivery of relief supplies to Indonesia and Thailand at the request of the respective Governments under the new mechanism. The cash grant to the Maldives totals $1 million.

In line with the established arrangements for grants made under the Fund, the recipient country will provide us with an evaluation report on the disbursement of the grant in six months, the spokesman said.

On behalf of the Maldives Government, the Honorary Consul of Maldives in Hong Kong, Mr Bob N Harilela, thanked the Hong Kong Government for taking the initiative to help with emergency aid and relief work in the island country.

In view of the enormous freight costs of sending relief supplies from Hong Kong to the Maldives, Mr Harilela believed the cash grant would be more effective and would greatly assist with the immediate relief work.

Earlier, the DRFAC endorsed six applications from three international relief organisations to carry out relief work in tsunami-struck countries including Indonesia, India and Sri Lanka. The total amount of grants is $21 million.

The Disaster Relief Fund was set up in December 1993 for emergency disaster relief in places outside Hong Kong. The DRFAC is responsible for advising the Government on the policy and practices regarding the disbursement of funds for disaster relief, advising on specific amounts to specific recipients, and monitoring the use of grants.

Ends/Thursday, January 20, 2005

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