should
between
govern-
ii.
When planning such an overall policy, government review its housing strategy and reconsider the balance private housing and public housing. It is our view that ment should place much more emphasis on public housing crease the supply of public housing in order that the demand
supply for residence can be regularized.
iii.
and in-
and
Government should also review its financial arrangement
with the Housing Authority. We believe that government should shoulder the responsibility of providing housing and incidental community facilities to the general public. Thus, the Housing Authority should not be required to reimburse the government with any profits which it may make.
iv.
The organization of the Housing Authority should be re-
viewed. We consider that government should encourage more public
participation in the Housing Authority so to increase its ac-
countability to the public. This will also benefit the govern- ment by making its image more representative and democratic. The
introduction of public opinion in to the Housing Authority would
also benefit the Authority in the making of its policy with
regard to public housing which is essentially a matter
livelihood of members of the public.
for
the
[Section three]: Social welfare
Public Assistance Scheme
Each aided person now only receives HK$825 per month.
According
to our calculation, such a person can only spend an average of
not more than HK$20 on food each day, and less than HK$1 transportation. These figures are far below the mere
on
survival
level.
2. Some data will show that Public Assistance in the last one
and a half decade is very unsatisfactory in that it is constantly
on the decrease. Back in 1976, the ratio of Public Assistance to
the median income was 24.3%, representing a drop of 50% over only
one and a half decade. In the decade from 1983 to 1991, due to
inflation, the amount of Public Assistance showed a negative
growth of -26.6%.
3
the amount of Public Assistance should
We believe a reasonable increase is in the
We recommend that
urgently be reviewed.
region of HK$1,500 to 2,000.