Miss Alice Mak Continues Beijing Visit to Discuss Youth Development and Governance Initiatives

SHYA continues visit to Beijing

The Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, Miss Alice Mak, continued her visit to Beijing today (July 15). Members of the delegation, including the Permanent Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, Ms Shirley Lam; the Director of Home Affairs, Ms Priscilla To; and the Deputy Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs (Home Affairs), Mr Paul Wong, also accompanied her.

Miss Mak called on the Executive Deputy Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office (HKMAO) of the State Council, Mr Xu Qifang, today and reported on the work of the HYAB. These include the latest developments and future work plans of district governance, youth development and women's affairs. She expressed gratitude to the HKMAO of the State Council for their support and guidance to the HYAB.

Miss Mak also called on the Vice Minister of the Society Work Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, Mr He Zhiliang, to exchange views on grassroots governance work. District governance of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) has entered a new phase, and the Government fully implements executive-led governance. The District Councils, "the three district committees" and Care Teams form a troika after improvements to district governance. Under the leadership of the District Officers, they co-operate to serve citizens in need and create synergy. The Home and Youth Affairs Bureau (HYAB) and the Home Affairs Department also organise training regularly to enhance District Council (DC) members' capabilities in discharging their duties, such as arranging visits to Shanghai and Zhejiang for the DC members last year to learn about grassroots governance experiences in the country. Miss Mak said that the HYAB will continue to unite district forces and enhance service efficiency to increase the sense of happiness and contentment of the public.

Miss Mak then met with the Vice Minister of the State Administration for Religious Affairs, Mr Wang Zhigang, to exchange views on religious affairs. Miss Mak said that the HKSAR Government maintains close communication with religious groups in Hong Kong. She also pointed out the harmonious relationship between different religious groups and that they not only promote their teachings but also provide education, medical and welfare services, making significant contributions to building a harmonious community.

The inauguration ceremony of the Youth Internship Programme at Chinese Academy of Sciences was held in the afternoon. The six-week Programme is an important co-operation project co-organised by the HYAB and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. It provides Hong Kong youth with high-end scientific research internship opportunities during summer vacation every year.

Miss Mak congratulated the 20 Hong Kong young people who stood out in the highly competitive selection process. Speaking at the ceremony, she said that the National 14th Five-Year Plan has established Hong Kong's development into an international innovation and technology centre. Seizing the opportunities, the HKSAR Government is committed to nurturing scientific research talents, and the Programme serves as an important step in grooming future technology leaders. Miss Mak expressed her hope that the Programme would inspire students' passion for scientific research and serve as the starting point for their contributions to the country and Hong Kong's innovation and technology development in the future.

Miss Mak will visit Hong Kong youth participating in the Mainland legal internship programme sponsored by the HYAB Funding Scheme for Youth Internship in the Mainland and organised by the International Youth Legal Exchange Federation tomorrow morning (July 16). She will learn about their experiences interning at Mainland law firms and large enterprises. Miss Mak will conclude her trip to Beijing and depart for Sichuan at noon, while several members of the delegation will return to Hong Kong.

SHYA continues visit to Beijing Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

SHYA continues visit to Beijing Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

SHYA continues visit to Beijing Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

SHYA continues visit to Beijing Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

SHYA continues visit to Beijing Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

SHYA continues visit to Beijing Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

SHYA continues visit to Beijing Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

SHYA continues visit to Beijing Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

SHYA continues visit to Beijing Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Government announces updates on follow-up work on Tai Po fire

The three task forces set up by the Government for the fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po - the Task Force on Investigation and Regulation, the Task Force on Emergency Support and Fund-Raising, and the Task Force on Emergency Accommodation Arrangements - are making full efforts to follow up on the support, relief, and investigation work related to the incident. Details are as follows:

Financial and welfare support

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For the Support Fund for Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, established by the Government, donations received are about $3 billion as of noon today (December 8). In addition to the start-up capital of $300 million from the Government, the fund's total has now reached around $3.3 billion. The fund will be used to assist residents in rebuilding their homes and providing long-term and sustained support.

The Government earlier announced that the Support Fund will provide a living allowance to each affected household. As of today, 1 357 cases have been processed. The living allowance is increased from $50,000 to $100,000 and will be disbursed in phases. In addition, the Support Fund will provide families of each deceased victim with a token of solidarity of $200,000, as well as $50,000 to cover funeral costs. As of today, a total of 95 cases have been processed.

In addition, the Government has so far disbursed an emergency subsidy of $10,000 to 1 932 households, and the relevant disbursement is largely complete.

Social workers from the Social Welfare Department (SWD) have been in contact with more than 1 970 affected households, and more than 4 900 residents have been registered for the "one social worker per household" follow-up service. SWD staff also paid visits to the affected residents staying in transitional housing units in Yuen Long today and distributed Octopus cards with a face value of $2,000 to facilitate their daily travels and address their imminent needs. The SWD will maintain liaison with the affected households to provide all necessary assistance while fully supporting the relief work of the Government. Those not yet in touch with the SWD are advised to leave their contact information by calling 182 183 as soon as possible.

Accommodation support

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As of this morning, a total of 1 422 residents have been accommodated, through the co-ordination of the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau, in youth hostels, camps, or hotel rooms. Another 2 522 residents are currently living in transitional housing units provided by the Housing Bureau or units from the Hong Kong Housing Society. Moreover, the Tai Po District Office continues to operate a temporary shelter at Tai Po Community Centre, which remains open to residents in need. The other temporary shelter at Tung Cheong Street Community Hall will remain in operation until the existing users have relocated to arranged emergency accommodations.

Relief supplies and donations

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The supplies donation online platform, established by the Government and the information technology sector, continues to operate, facilitating the registration of supplies donations from organisations and the public. The Government has so far received over 1 600 registrations, of which approximately 30 per cent were submitted by organisations, whereas the others were contributed by the public. The various registered donation items include food and beverages, clothing, daily necessities, bedding, and electrical appliances. The Government is actively assessing residents' actual needs through the relevant policy bureau, government departments, and service organisations for the matching of donated supplies in order to distribute appropriate items in phases to places in need. So far, over 5 700 pieces of donation items covering various categories have been distributed to different places. The matching and distribution of supplies will continue.

Handling of reported missing persons

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Officers from the Disaster Victim Identification Unit continued to search the area around the buildings and near the collapsed scaffolding today, which had been confirmed as safe. No human remains were found, and the number of deceased remains at 159. The Police have contacted the families of the missing persons and those who have preliminarily identified the deceased through photographs to arrange for them to undergo DNA oral swab sampling in batches starting today for scientific identification of the deceased.

Regulation and inspection work

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The emergency maintenance contractors co-ordinated by the Housing Department have completed the clearance of the miscellaneous items at the surroundings of the buildings at Wang Fuk Court today. The Independent Checking Unit (ICU) of the Housing Bureau also continued to extract concrete core samples from the affected buildings today. So far, five buildings have been covered.

The ICU has conducted inspections on the scaffoldings of the four Home Ownership Scheme courts, namely Yee Kok Court in Sham Shui Po, On Kay Court in Kwun Tong, Sui Wo Court in Sha Tin and Ching Lai Court in Sham Shui Po, as well as Fung Wah Estate in Chai Wan under the Tenants Purchase Scheme. Miscellaneous items were found on some scaffoldings. The contractor is removing the items. The ICU will closely monitor the progress.

Regarding the order to remove scaffold nets issued by the Buildings Department (BD), as of 5pm today, 227 private buildings have had their scaffold nets removed from the external walls (including two cases completed by government contractors). Work on the remaining three cases, in which the BD has accepted an extension of time, is underway and is expected to finish within this week.

The BD is striving to announce a new set of arrangements within this week that will require scaffold nets used at construction sites to be sampled on-site and certified as compliant with the relevant standards prior to installation, so that the relevant external wall work can resume as soon as possible.

The Labour Department (LD) continues to inspect fire protection facilities and the fire emergency preparedness of building maintenance work sites with large-scale scaffolding to ensure the occupational safety of workers. As of 4pm today, the LD has inspected 351 construction sites, issued a total of 180 written warnings and 96 improvement notices, and has taken out 25 prosecutions.

Source: AI-found images