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Author Archives: hksar gov

Response to media enquiries on average waiting time for public housing

     In response to media enquiries on the average waiting time announced today (May 11) for general applicants for public housing as at end-March 2018, a spokesman for the Transport and Housing Bureau issued the following statement:

     As indicated by the Government time and again, since the public rental housing (PRH) supply has been falling short of the demand for PRH over the years, there has been an ongoing upward pressure on the waiting time for PRH.

     In the past few years, we have been making our best efforts in increasing PRH supply. Despite the continued increase in new PRH units, the pace of increase is not fast enough to absorb the cumulative PRH demand over the years, hence prolonging the waiting time of PRH applicants. When those applicants with longer waiting time are eventually allocated with PRH units, their longer waiting time will be reflected in the average waiting time.

      In future, we will continue our efforts in increasing PRH supply. For the next five years (from 2017-18 to 2021-22), it is estimated that about 74 700 new PRH units will be completed, representing a steady increase over the previous four five-year periods.

      We hope that different sectors of the community will support the PRH development projects. We also appeal to the general public for support of the Government’s work in identifying land for housing construction.

      Besides new PRH units, the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) also relies on recovered flats to meet the demand for PRH.  On average, there is a net recovery of over 7 000 PRH units annually. The HA will endeavour to better utilise PRH resources to ensure allocation of resources to those with more pressing housing needs. To this end, the HA has been reviewing the relevant policies from time to time, such as revising the “Well-off Tenants Policies”, and combatting tenancy abuse to safeguard the rational use of PRH resources. read more

SFH visits Sichuan-Hong Kong Rehabilitation Centre and traditional Chinese medicine hospital in Sichuan (with photos)

     The Secretary for Food and Health, Professor Sophia Chan, who is accompanying the Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, on a trip to Sichuan, today (May 11) led a delegation to visit the Sichuan-Hong Kong Rehabilitation Centre (the Centre) and the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital of Sichuan Province.
 
     The construction of the Centre was funded by the Trust Fund in Support of Reconstruction in the Sichuan Earthquake Stricken Areas of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government (the Government) with a view to establishing a rehabilitation network, as well as training professionals and developing rehabilitation work in Sichuan.
 
     “The Centre is the flagship project of the Government’s post-earthquake medical and health reconstruction work in Sichuan. With the support of the Sichuan Provincial Government and assistance of medical rehabilitation professionals of Hong Kong, the Centre has been developed into the largest rehabilitation hub in the western region. It is also an important platform to support the development of regional hospitals by providing training and guidance to rehabilitation centres in 39 counties which were severely damaged by the massive earthquake,” Professor Chan said.
 
     Officially opened in 2013, the Sichuan-Hong Kong Rehabilitation Technology Complex of the Centre provides a wide range of facilities including out-patient clinics, inpatient wards, treatment rooms, a prosthetic and orthotic centre and a recompression treatment centre.
 
     Professor Chan also visited the Teaching Hospital of the Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital of Sichuan Province), including its Preventive Treatment Centre and Electronic Service System, to gain a better understanding of the development of Chinese medicine hospital in the Mainland.
 
     “We are now actively developing the first Chinese medicine hospital in Hong Kong. The valuable experience of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital of Sichuan Province, for example its scope of service, mode of management, human resource training and scientific research, is of high reference value to us,” she added.
 
     Professor Chan also agreed that Sichuan and Hong Kong should further strengthen academic exchanges in Chinese medicine, development of Chinese medicine hospital and clinical experience, and jointly promote further exchanges and co-operation on research in Chinese medicine testing and standards between the two places.
 
     Members of delegation joining Professor Chan’s visit included representatives from the Hospital Authority and non-governmental organisations of the medical service sector, as well as a number of academics.

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