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    The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government today (March 4) invited Hong Kong residents whose family members were lost (dead or missing) in the tsunami disaster that occurred on December 26 last year in South Asia to apply for one-off compassionate financial assistance.

    "The Government has established a fund - "SHA Incorporated Tsunamis Relief Fund 2004' to help local residents affected by the tsunami disaster and a committee, chaired by the Permanent Secretary for Home Affairs and comprising non-official members and Government representatives, to manage the fund," a Home Affairs Department (HAD) spokesman said.

    He said the fund was set up with donations raised in response to a government-coordinated fundraising event for tsunami victims. The majority of the donations were for distribution to five charity organisations for emergency relief operations while the rest had been set aside to help those tsunami-affected Hong Kong residents.

    The spokesman said the committee would consider each case and decide on the amount of grants taking into account the merits and circumstances of individual applications and the financial position of the fund.

    To be eligible to apply, an applicant must be a Hong Kong permanent resident or a Hong Kong non-permanent resident with an unexpired limit of stay in Hong Kong, and his/her lost family member had to meet similar residency requirements at the time of the disaster.

    Information briefs detailing the application procedures and application forms are available at any District Office Public Enquiry Service Centre and can be downloaded from HAD's website: http://www.had.gov.hk.

    Enquiries can be made to the HAD on 2835 2500 between 9am and 5pm from Mondays to Fridays and between 9am and noon on Saturdays. Deadline for application is April 15, 2005.

Ends/Friday, March 4, 2005

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