Grants approved for typhoon victims in the Philippines

     The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has accepted the advice of the Disaster Relief Fund Advisory Committee and approved from the Disaster Relief Fund two grants totalling $4.851 million to two agencies for providing relief to typhoon victims in the Philippines.

     Announcing the grants today (October 29), a spokesman for the Government said that the two grants – one of HK$3.602 million to World Vision Hong Kong and one of HK$1.249 million to Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) China, will be used to provide food, kitchen utensils, hygiene and household items to benefit around 45 000 typhoon victims in the Philippines. As the types of relief items to be distributed by the two relief agencies are different, there will be no overlapping of resources. The Committee hopes the grants will facilitate the provision of timely relief to the victims and help them restore their normal living. The grants, together with the one approved earlier for victims of this typhoon in the Philippines, will take the accumulative value of grants and number of beneficiaries to $5.399 million and 55 000 respectively.

     "To ensure that the money is used for the designated purposes, the relief agencies will be asked to submit evaluation reports and audited accounts on the use of the grants after the relief projects have been completed," the spokesman said.