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Following is the transcript of remarks by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mrs Carrie Lam, at a media session at the Legislative Council Complex today (November 9):
Reporter: Chief Secretary, why are you going to say that the new Commission on Poverty can actually alleviate poverty in Hong Kong, and also how is the new one different from the old one?
Chief Secretary for Administration: There are several important aspects of this reinstituted Commission on Poverty. First, it has very high-level support, all the way from the Chief Executive and myself and four Principal Officials, particularly, of course, the Secretary for Labour and Welfare. Respectively, the Chief Executive will chair an annual summit on the Commission on Poverty's work; I will chair the commission myself, including the task force on social security and retirement protection as well. This is point number one.
Point number two is, in the terms of reference we have stated categorically that this time round, which is unprecedented, to set a poverty line for Hong Kong. So this is a very important area of work which is different from previous work of the commission.
The third aspect is in the structure of the commission, with a total of six task forces which will look at different policy aspects relating to poverty alleviation, as well as two task forces which will have a source of funding to enable the commission to do short-term, immediate relief while pending policy review and policy changes, and also to try out innovative approaches to help solve some of Hong Kong's social problems.
So those are the highlights of the new Commission on Poverty which give me the level of confidence that this time round we will have the needed leadership and mandate, the appropriate structure and composition, and also the necessary resources to press ahead with our work.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Friday, November 9, 2012
Issued at HKT 16:23
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