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A Government spokesman announced today (November 11) that the Administration planned to seek the urgent approval of the Finance Committee (FC) of the Legislative Council on this Friday (November 15) for a supplementary provision as an injection to the Disaster Relief Fund. The proposed injection is to ensure that sufficient funding is available for the payment of grants in respect of the recent typhoon in the Philippines and to meet other calls on the Fund for disaster relief in the remaining of the financial year.
Super Typhoon Haiyan has caused serious injuries and loss of lives in the Philippines. The Secretariat of the Disaster Relief Fund Advisory Committee today has contacted a number of local relief organisations, including World Vision Hong Kong, Save the Children Hong Kong, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency, China and Oxfam Hong Kong, etc. to ascertain their intention regarding the provision of emergency humanitarian relief to typhoon victims in the Philippines.
A number of relief organisations plan to provide emergency humanitarian relief to typhoon victims in the Philippines. As the existing balance of the Disaster Relief Fund is only around $9 million which is unlikely to be sufficient to meet the funding requirements of the relief organisations for the recent typhoon in the Philippines and other disasters in the remaining of the current financial year, the Government plans to seek the urgent approval of the FC for a supplementary provision of $40 million on November 15 as an injection to the Disaster Relief Fund, the spokesman said.
The Finance Committee of the then Legislative Council approved an appropriation of $50 million for the establishment of the Disaster Relief Fund in 1993. The Fund is topped up at the beginning of every financial year. The existing fund balance is around $9 million. If the proposal for supplementary provision is approved, the fund balance will be around $50 million.
Ends/Monday, November 11, 2013
Issued at HKT 19:48
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