Fire Safety Improvement Works Subsidy Scheme
Eligibility for subsidy and scope of eligible buildings
Mr CHAN Chun-ying expressed concern that although 6 400 target composite buildings (“TCBs”) had been issued Directions, the $2 billion fund for the FSW Scheme would only benefit around 2 000 target buildings. He sought information on the criteria for assessing applications under the FSW Scheme and asked whether such criteria would be made public.
AD(FS)/FSD responded that factors such as the age of a building and the time elapsed after a Direction was issued would be taken into consideration in the assessment of applications. The relevant government departments would draw up the criteria, which would be made public, for assessment of applications under the FSW Scheme.
Inspection of buildings and prosecution against non-compliance
Referring to paragraph 3 of the Administration’s paper, Mr CHAN Chun-ying expressed concern that FSD and BD had only inspected around 8 500 out of 10 500 TCBs. He expressed concern about whether there was sufficient manpower for inspection of TCBs. AD(FS)/FSD responded that the inspection of TCBs were carried out by phases and an average of about 400 TCBs were inspected in a year after taking into consideration a host of factors, such as the availability of technical personnel in the market and the departmental resources.
Exercise on the Daya Bay Contingency Plan
Publicity and education relating to the Daya Bay Contingency Plan
Mr CHAN Chun-ying said that the conducting of exercises and public education would facilitate the effective operation of DBCP. He asked whether the Administration would strengthen public education on DBCP, such as through distributing publicity materials on DBCP for dissemination at primary and secondary schools. He also asked whether the Administration would establish a dedicated website for dissemination of comprehensive information on DBCP.
S for S responded that information on the details of DBCP had been uploaded onto the website of the Security Bureau (“SB”). The Hong Kong Observatory had also established a webpage on its website to educate the public on radiation monitoring, assessment and protection. He pointed out that recent publicity efforts on DBCP had attracted the attention of the general public on DBCP, with over 5 000 views recorded for a video of the Exercise uploaded on the Facebook page of the Information Services Department. The Administration would continue to educate the public through appropriate channels on what to do in the event of a nuclear accident near Hong Kong. To promote public awareness of DBCP, SB had collaborated with the City University of Hong Kong and CLP Power Hong Kong Limited to provide information on DBCP in the university’s CLP Power Low Carbon Energy Education Centre. The Administration would sustain relevant public education effort, such as organizing school talks and mini-drills, to enhance public awareness of the Administration’s nuclear emergency responses.