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Following is the transcript of remarks by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Henry Tang, at a media session after the first meeting of the Steering Committee on the Community Care Fund today (December 1):
Reporter: (donation from the public)
Chief Secretary for Administration: Time and again we have said that the setting up of the Community Care Fund is not to replace any government policy, nor do we want to compete with the existing contribution of the non-governmental organisations that are very vibrant today. Therefore, although we have already amassed a certain amount of donations -- we will write a round of letters to companies inviting them to contribute to the Community Care Fund -- we will emphasise that the amount that they are going to contribute to us should be in addition to the amount that they normally contribute to all the other NGOs currently receiving their funding. Furthermore, we will also introduce a system where the amount of contribution can be done in several stages so that it will mitigate some of the pressure on the annual budget of companies.
Reporter: (transparency)
Chief Secretary for Administration: As far as transparency is concerned, we will take a very transparent model of operation. We will of course publish extracts of the minutes on the operation of the fund, and also we will organise a number of public forums so that the public can monitor the work of the fund.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Issued at HKT 16:41
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