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The Government today (November 30) announced the setting up of a Fishermen Claims Appeal Board (FCAB) for processing appeal cases regarding ex-gratia allowance (EGA) by fishermen who claim to have been affected by marine works projects around Lamma Island waters.
The FCAB comprises one non-official Chairman and four non-official members. Mr Duffy Wong Chun-nam has been appointed the Chairman of the FCAB. The non-official members are Miss Nancy Chan, Mrs Tennessy Lee Hui Mei-sheung, Mr Andrew Chan Weng-yew, and Dr Anthony Tyen Kan-hee. These appointments have taken effect and will last until work on the batch of the aforementioned appeal cases has been completed.
A Government spokesman thanked the Chairman and members for accepting the appointments, adding that their experience in serving previous FCABs or fisheries-related advisory boards would facilitate the smooth operation of the board.
It has been the Government's practice to grant EGA to eligible fishermen as a result of the loss of their habitual fishing grounds arising from marine works projects. An Inter-departmental Working Group (IWG) within the Government will be set up to consider and decide on the amount of EGA to be granted to affected fishermen. Fishermen who are not satisfied with the decisions of the IWG may lodge appeals to an FCAB, which is a non-statutory body formed on an ad hoc basis for the relevant batch of appeal cases. Some fishermen who claim to have been affected by marine works projects around Lamma Island waters have indicated their intention to appeal.
The terms of reference of the FCAB are -
* to see that the criteria established by the IWG for processing and/or vetting fishermen's claims for EGA comply with government policy, and is fair to the eligible fishermen in general;
* to see that the IWG's decisions on the eligibility for, and the amount of EGA granted, comply with government policy;
* to examine any new or additional information/evidence provided by the appellants (or their representatives) or the relevant departments, and to consider the relevance of such information/evidence; and
* to consider whether to uphold the IWG's decisions on the appellants' cases or to revise the decisions, and to determine the amount of EGA payable to the appellants, as appropriate.
The secretariat of the FCAB is located at the office of the Lands Department (Acquisition Section), 19/F, North Point Government Offices, 333 Java Road, North Point, Hong Kong.
Ends/Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Issued at HKT 11:31
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