The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, accompanied by the Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Caspar Tsui, visited the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups (HKFYG) youth hostel, PH2, in Tai Po today (June 8) to learn about its operation and latest developments.
Mr Cheung and Mr Tsui first received a briefing on PH2 by the Executive Director of the HKFYG, Mr Andy Ho, and then toured the hostel's units and various facilities. They also exchanged views with frontline youth workers and a youth tenant to learn about their respective experiences and stories of operating and living in PH2 in the past year. Mr Cheung expressed his gratitude to the HKFYG for their care in running PH2. In addition to providing a comfortable living space for youth tenants, the HKFYG also assists them in learning diverse life skills and financial planning through a wide variety of activities to help enable their upward mobility and realisation of aspirations.
Mr Cheung said, "The current-term Government vigorously pushes forward youth hostel projects. Apart from the Tai Po youth hostel, which was the first to be completed, the one in Ma Tin Pok, Yuen Long, by Po Leung Kuk is the largest project in scale so far and will be opened next year to provide 1 680 hostel places. Five other projects being implemented will also provide more than 1 600 hostel places altogether. Among them, the Sheung Wan project by Tung Wah Group of Hospitals and the Jordan project by the Hong Kong Girl Guides Association have been granted funding approval by the Legislative Council Finance Committee in April this year for commencement of main construction works. The Government will continue to play an active role in assisting non-governmental organisations (NGOs) with a view to providing more youth hostel units as soon as possible."
The Government implements the Youth Hostel Scheme with the aim of encouraging NGOs to unleash the potential of development sites so as to achieve optimal land use and to meet the aspirations of working youths in having their own living spaces. The Government will fund the full capital costs of youth hostel projects carried out by participating NGOs. Upon completion, NGOs will run the youth hostels on a self-financing basis.
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