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Following is a transcript of remarks by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Stephen Lam, at a media session after visiting fire victims at the Henry G Leong Yaumatei Community Centre today (December 1):
The Hong Kong community is very concerned about what happened in Fa Yuen Streetˇ¦s fire yesterday. On behalf of the HKSAR Government, I wish to extend our condolences and sympathy to the victims of the fire and also wish that those who are still hospitalised will soon recover. We are doing everything possible to help the victims and their families.
The Chief Executive has directed that I should convene and chair an interdepartmental working group to ensure that we co-ordinate services and assistance available to the victims of the fire and their families, and also to consider how we can enhance the public safety in the Fa Yuen Street area. We have already met twice as a working group in the last two days. For the time being, our focus is to improve public safety in Fa Yuen Street, but if the measures our departments propose and adopt in future are of general application to the management of the street stalls in other locations, we will of course consider the possibility of extending such application.
At the moment, there are four areas of work which we are focusing on.
First and foremost, our departments ensure that every possible assistance is rendered to the victims of the fire and their families. The Social Welfare Department and the Home Affairs Department are providing financial assistance, counselling and other services.
Secondly, the Housing Department will provide temporary shelter - relocation for victims of the fire who do not have a home to go back. We have several dozen units already available in the Shek Lei Estate, and we believe this should be adequate to meet the needs of singleton victims and those who have a family of several members.
Thirdly, we need to decide how we can upgrade the fire prevention measures and to enhance public safety in the Fa Yuen Street area, and the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department have already started a dialogue with the street stall owners.
And, fourthly, departments concerned will attend a special meeting of the District Council tomorrow. We will listen very closely to the views and proposals of individual District Councillors. We will consider what recommendations they have for enhancing public safety and for dealing with sub-partitioned units in apartment buildings.
We will take every possible step to enhance public safety for the management of these street stalls and to ensure that the livelihood and well-being of residents are protected.
Reporter: The problem with these stalls has persisted for a long time. Has the Government really been quite lax in enforcing the rules ˇK and is there anything you can do in the interim to improve the situation?
Chief Secretary for Administration: Well, first and foremost, public safety is the top priority of everybodyˇ¦s concern. Secondly, the departments concerned, including the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, since the fire last year, they have tried, they have attempted, to improve arrangements to separate these stalls with a wider area and to ensure that they would not carry too much goods in these stalls. And these measures should have had some effect, but we recognise that the measures adopted in the course of the last year have not been adequate. We are now reviewing very seriously, how additional measures could be adopted to enhance the management and public safety of these street stalls and to protect the rights of residents nearby.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Thursday, December 1, 2011
Issued at HKT 22:13
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