***************************************************
Following is a question by the Hon Lee Wing-tat and a written reply by the Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Tsang Tak-sing, in the Legislative Council today (November 28):
Question:
Regarding the Government sponsoring activities held by local organisations to celebrate the 10th anniversary of re-unification, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the amount of public money spent so far on sponsoring such activities held by local organisations;
(b) of the criteria adopted for determining if an activity should be sponsored and the amount of sponsorship;
(c) of the name, organiser and amount of sponsorship of each activity it has sponsored;
(d) whether any annual activities (such as dragon boat races, mid-autumn night shows) named with additional wording such as "in celebration of the 10th anniversary of Re-unification" this year received an amount of sponsorship far more than that in previous years; and
(e) whether it has reviewed the cost-effectiveness of the activities sponsored; if it has, of the results of the review; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) The Government spent a total of $11,068,159.25 to subsidise activities held by districts and local organisations for celebrating the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). Besides, the 18 District Councils allocated a total of $13,405,482.25 to subsidise such activities.
(b) The Government has taken into account the nature, demand, scale and other related factors (including district partnership) of the activities to be held by local organisations before deciding whether they should be subsidised and the amount of subsidy. As regards those to be subsidised by District Councils, the 18 District Councils will act in accordance with the vetting criteria set out in the Manual on the Use of District Council Funds;
(c) The activities subsidised and the names of host organisations as well as the amounts of subsidy are listed in the Annex.
(d) The 10th anniversary of the establishment of the HKSAR is a celebration shared by all citizens of Hong Kong. The celebration activities should not be confined to those organised by the Government. As early as in November 2006, the Government invited and encouraged all sectors of the community to organise different types of activities that could create a festive atmosphere, strengthen community cohesion, attract public participation and showcase Hong Kongˇ¦s achievements in various areas. There was no prescription on the nature and programmes of these activities and some of them were subsidised in accordance with the criteria set out in (b) above. In fact, many local organisations which did not seek government subsidy also devoted efforts and resources to organising activities for participants to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the HKSAR.
(e) To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the HKSAR, the Government and local organisations have organised over 800 activities in different forms and of different scales. These activities aimed to allow more people to participate in the celebration and strengthen their sense of belonging to our Motherland and Hong Kong, when sharing the joy of celebrating the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the HKSAR. Most of the activities have been held successfully and achieved the objective of having the whole community joining the celebration.
Ends/Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Issued at HKT 12:35
NNNN
