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The Secretary for Development, Mr Paul Chan, will lead a delegation comprising government officials and members of the Disaster Relief Fund Advisory Committee (DRFAC) to visit Sichuan on March 4. Mr Chan will inspect the reconstruction projects funded by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) in the Sichuan earthquake-stricken areas, and meet with senior officials of the Sichuan Provincial People's Government for an update on the emergency relief work in Ya'an subsequent to the Lushan earthquake of April 20, 2013.
The HKSAR established the Trust Fund in Support of Reconstruction in the Sichuan Earthquake Stricken Areas in the aftermath of the Wenchuan earthquake of May 12, 2008, and injected $9 billion to take forward 151 HKSAR Government-led reconstruction projects and 32 non-governmental organisation reconstruction projects in Sichuan. Mr Chan will inspect the construction sites on the section of Provincial Road 303 from Yingxiu to Wolong, and the China Conservation and Research Centre for Giant Pandas in the Wolong Nature Reserve. He will also visit Gengda School in Gengda Village and the Giant Panda Conservation and Disease Control Centre in Dujiangyan.
In response to the Lushan earthquake that hit Ya'an, the HKSAR Government has, on the advice of the DRFAC, donated a grant of $100 million to the Sichuan Provincial People's Government to provide emergency relief for earthquake victims. In Ya'an, the delegation will meet with the local disaster and emergency management authorities and inspect the emergency relief equipment and related items which have been procured with the grant. The delegation will also visit the Chinese Medicine Hospital of Ya'an, a reconstruction project funded by the HKSAR.
Accompanying Mr Chan on the visit to Sichuan will be the Director of Administration, Ms Kitty Choi, and DRFAC members Ms Starry Lee, Mr Cheung Kwok-che, Ms Alice Yuk and Mr Leo Kung.
Mr Chan will return to Hong Kong in the evening on March 5.
Ends/Friday, February 28, 2014
Issued at HKT 14:25
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