Following is the transcript of remarks by the Secretary for Food and Health, Professor Sophia Chan, after attending a radio programme today (March 5):
Reporter: Could you explain why you have decided to resign from the Kwai Tsing Safe Community and Healthy City Association?
Secretary for Food and Health: First of all, I think there are some concerns about me, being the honorary patron of the Kwai Tsing Safe Community and Healthy City Association which has won the tender as we announced yesterday. I was not involved in any of the tendering process. The tendering process of the Government is actually open and fair. It involved our colleagues from the Food and Health Bureau as well as the Central Tender Board which is outside the Food and Health Bureau. I was not involved in the entire process and I did not know who had actually put in a tender. I understand that there is a total of seven tenders that had been put in. Based on those concerns, I felt that it is probably appropriate for me to resign from the honorary patronage position to alleviate those concerns. Also, being the honorary patron of the organisation and also other organisations, I am not involved in their operation or even meetings.
Reporter: I am sure you hold similar position in other organisations. What are you going to do about those posts?
Secretary for Food and Health: I will review the list of the organisations that I am involved in as a patron, an honorary patron or an adviser, and then I will make a decision on whether I should resign from those positions in those organisations because there will be more of these district health centre networks coming up in the rest of 17 districts in Hong Kong.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
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