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The Government has approved a $1 million cash grant from the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) for disaster aid and relief to tsunami victims in Sri Lanka.

A government spokesman said today (January 25) that it was the second cash grant made possible under a special mechanism set up for the Government to respond to direct appeals from governments of the affected countries.

The first cash grant of $1 million was made to the Maldives Government.

The special mechanism has been set up on the advice of the Disaster Relief Fund Advisory Committee (DRFAC) in the wake of the tsunami. A total 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 said.

Under the special mechanism, the Government has also arranged for the delivery of relief supplies to Indonesia and Thailand at the request of the respective governments.

In line with the established arrangements for grants made under the DRF, 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 Sri Lankan Government, the Honorary Consul for the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka in Hong Kong & Macao SAR, Dr Thomas H C Cheung, thanked the Hong Kong Government for taking the initiative to help with emergency aid and relief work in the island country.

Because airport facilities in the country were in tight demand, Dr Cheung believed the cash grant would be more effective in assisting 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/Tuesday, January 25, 2005

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