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    The Government has accepted the advice of the Disaster Relief Fund Advisory Committee and approved a grant of $500,000 to Cedar Fund to provide relief aid to tsunami victims in India and another two grants each of $500,000 to the Association of Chinese Evangelical Ministry Ltd for its tsunami relief work in Sri Lanka and Indonesia.

    The committee hopes the grants will help provide relief to tsunami victims in these countries. To ensure that the money will be used for the designated purposes, the Committee will ask Cedar Fund and the Association of Chinese Evangelical Ministry Ltd to submit evaluation reports and audited accounts on the use of the grant after completion of the relief projects.

    So far, the Disaster Relief Fund Advisory Committee has approved nine applications from five relief agencies to carry out relief work in tsunami-struck countries. The total amount of grants made amounts to $22.5 million.

    The Disaster Relief Fund was established in December 1993 for emergency disaster relief in places outside Hong Kong. The Disaster Relief Fund Advisory Committee 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.

    The committee is chaired by the Chief Secretary for Administration. Members include the Hon Jasper Tsang Yok-sing, the Hon Andrew Liao Cheung-sing, the Hon Mrs Sophie Leung Lau Yau-fun, Dr the Hon Kwok Ka-ki, Mr Michael Lai Kam-cheung, Mr Irving Koo Yee-yin, the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury and the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food.

Ends/Monday, February 28, 2005

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