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MR. CHEONG-LEEN:--Could that be looked into and could I be advised?
MRS. ELLIOTT:--Mr. Chairman, is Pak Tin going to be left vacant for possibly years?
CHAIRMAN:--Mrs. ELLIOTT, I think you are straying a little bit from the original question.
MRS. ELLIOTT:--Well, not really, because I said "when" in the first place.
MR. PETER C. K. CHAN:--Well, perhaps you know, that plan has been approved by the Policy Select Committee. Has the Department forwarded it to the Secretariat?
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:--My understanding of the position is that the scheme either is about, or has just been, put to the Finance Committee for approval of the necessary funds but I haven't had any confirmation of that.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:--In other words then, if it has just been presented to Finance Committee, does that mean that it has already gone through Executive Council?
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:--As far as I know, Sir, it has nothing to do with Executive Council.
(4) MRS. E. ELLIOTT asked the following question:--
Is it correct that there has been a further hold up on processing of compassionate resettlement in the new quota? If so, why? When will new recommendations begin to be processed again?
Can the Department give us the real reason for delay on this particular priority?
THE COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT replied as follows:--
At the August meeting of this Council, I said that I thought it would be possible to resume the processing of normal referrals of compassionate cases from the Social Welfare and Medical Departments in August. But I also said that, before this was done, I would personally wish to study the operation of the referral system.
Unfortunately Typhoon Rose greatly impeded normal work and it has not yet been possible for me to complete the study of the referral system.
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But I can assure Members that this will be done very soon indeed. In the meantime, very urgent cases will continue to be processed as indeed they have been throughout the year.
MRS. ELLIOTT:--Mr. Chairman, this may be straying so please rule me out of order if it is. Could the Commissioner tell us how many of the cases for this year 1971-72 have been processed, if any?
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:--Could I answer it in perhaps a different way. There are for the year 1971-72, 5,000 places reserved for compassionate cases and carried forward from the previous year there are 2,500 giving us a total of 7,500 spaces in resettlement estates which we need to use up to take us to the end of March 1972. We have in fact used up 2,314 of those spaces which leaves another 5,186 to be used during the next seven months.
MRS. ELLIOTT:--Mr. Chairman, I am afraid Typhoon Rose is going to get blamed for a lot more things than she actually did. Could the Commissioner tell me whether it is correct the information I got from someone in Social Welfare, no names mentioned, that in fact before Typhoon Rose came they were instructed not to send any further cases, compassionate cases, is that correct?
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:--Yes, it is correct, unless they were very urgent. I explained that at the last meeting.
MRS. ELLIOTT:--Mr. Chairman, I thought that at the last meeting we were told that after August all the cases would be finished and we could go on to the normal quota. Is that not correct?
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:--Yes, it is correct but in fact Mrs. ELLIOTT didn't give me very much time before the end of the time that I promised that we start to get things going and as a matter of fact Typhoon Rose did come along and in addition there were 161 letters from the Urban Council about resettlement matters during the month of August so that pressure on us is really very great. I think I'll hazard my reputation and say that I think we can start consideration of normal referral cases again this month.
MR. LO TAK-SHING:--Mr. Chairman, may I have clarification of the answer please. "Very urgent cases", who decides on that? How many are being processed?
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:--124 cases since March and these are cases which I think the Director of Social Welfare's staff consider to be cases that cannot be allowed to wait.
MR. LO:--I am sorry, who did you say decides which cases are very urgent?
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