A further grant of 50 million HKD (6.4 million USD) in donation has been approved via the Disaster Relief Fund to provide relief for the mudslide victims in northwest China's Gansu Province, a spokesman for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government announced on Thursday (Aug 19).
The Finance Committee of the Legislative Council on Thursday approved a supplementary provision of 50 million HKD to replenish the Disaster Relief Fund.
Following the approval, the HKSAR government has accepted the advice of the Disaster Relief Fund Advisory Committee and approved the grant to the provincial government of Gansu to provide emergency relief to the mudslide victims there.
Henry Tang, chief secretary for administration of the government and also the fund advisory committee chairman, said that mudslide victims in Gansu urgently needed assistance both in cash and in kind to tide over their present difficulties and the grant will be delivered as soon as possible, together with warm wishes from Hong Kong citizens to victims in Gansu.
The government spokesman said the committee had also set up a fast-track mechanism to respond quickly to applications for emergency relief in Gansu.
The grant is further to a disbursement of 2.44 million HKD made earlier for the Amity Foundation to undertake a relief project in Gansu. It takes the total value of grants for mudslide victims in the province to 52.44 million HKD.
The death toll from the massive mudslides in Zhouqu County in Gansu province, beginning on Aug 8, had risen to 1,364 as of 2 p. m. Thursday, with 401 still missing, the local disaster relief headquarters said.
