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LCQ8: Souvenirs and tickets of 10th anniversary celebration activities
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    Following is a question by the Hon Leung Kwok-hung and a written reply by the Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Tsang Tak-sing, in the Legislative Council today (December 12):

Question:

     A member of the public has reflected to me that prior to the 2007 District Council election, some candidates and the political bodies to which they belong had given out souvenirs and tickets of government-funded celebration activities of the 10th anniversary of Re-unification to the public free of charge.  The member of the public has commented that such a practice may arouse suspicion that public money was used to assist in the electioneering activities of those candidates.  In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) whether it knows the names of the political bodies involved in the above practice;

(b) of the details of the expenditures on the above celebration activities funded by various government departments; and

(c) of a breakdown, by political parties and bodies, of the quantities of souvenirs and tickets of the above celebration activities distributed by various government departments to such organisations, as well as the types of the activities involved?

Reply:

Madam President,

     My replies to the three parts of Hon LEUNG Kwok-hung¡¦s question are as follows -

(a) The Government does not have information showing that candidates of the 2007 DC Election and the political bodies to which they belong had given out souvenirs and tickets of activities held to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) to the public free of charge for electioneering purpose.

(b) The Government spent about $69,245,000 (not including expenditure on personal emoluments) on organisation of activities to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the HKSAR in the 2007/08 financial year.  Details of the additional provision used by various departments to fund celebration activities are as follows:-

Former Celebrations Coordination Office of
the Home Affairs Bureau
(about $4,800,000)
Home Affairs Department
(about $16,986,000)
Leisure and Cultural Services Department
(about $38,994,000)
Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau
(about $8,465,000)
Total: $69,245,000

     The above figures exclude the expenditures on activities held in relation to the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the HKSAR funded by various departments through redeployment of their existing resources.  Furthermore, the 18 District Councils also allocated $13,405,482.25 to subsidise celebration activities for the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the HKSAR.
 
(c) The Government set up the Celebration Coordination Office early this year to coordinate activities organised by various departments to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the HKSAR, as well as to coordinate the production of souvenirs for distribution at the celebration activities.  Such souvenirs were also provided to local organisations for distribution at the relevant 10th anniversary celebration activities organised by them.  Details of the local organisations concerned and the quantities of souvenirs distributed to them are at Annex.

Ends/Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Issued at HKT 12:05

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