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TUESDAY, JULY 20, 1993
THE COMING DISPLAY WILL BE THE 13TH LUNAR NEW YEAR FIREWORKS DISPLAY SPONSORED BY THE PRIVATE SECTOR SINCE 1982. AS ON SIMILAR PREVIOUS OCCASIONS, THE URBAN COUNCIL WILL BE INVITED TO CO-ORGANISE THE EVENT.
"WE ARE DELIGHTED THAT THE BANK OF CHINA GROUP WILL BE MAKING THIS GENEROUS CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS THE ANNUAL EVENT ΤΟ ENTERTAIN MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC DURING THE LUNAR NEW YEAR FESTIVITIES," THE SPOKESMAN ADDED.
IMPROVED EX-GRATIA PAYMENTS FOR PRE-1981 PNEUMOCONIOTICS
*
ON
THE GOVERNMENT IS TO SEEK FUNDS FROM THE FINANCE COMMITTEE FRIDAY (JULY 23) TO IMPROVE THE EX-GRATIA SCHEME FOR PNEUMOCONIOTICS WHO WERE DIAGNOSED TO BE SUFFERING FROM THE DISEASE BEFORE JANUARY 1, 1981.
THIS IS IN PARALLEL WITH THE IMPROVEMENT ΤΟ THE COMPENSATION PACKAGE PROVIDED UNDER THE PNEUMOCONIOSIS (COMPENSATION) (AMENDMENT} ORDINANCE 1993 WHICH CAME INTO FORCE ON JULY 9 THIS YEAR.
IT IS ESTIMATED THAT ABOUT 600 PRE-1981
BE ELIGIBLE FOR EX-GRATIA PAYMENTS.
PNEUMOCONIOTICS WOULD
AN AMOUNT OF $175 MILLION WILL BE REQUIRED ΤΟ MEET SUCH PAYMENTS WHICH WILL BE MET PARTLY BY AN
UNSPENT BALANCE OF $30 MILLION UNDER THE SCHEME AND $145 MILLION ΤΟ BE SOUGHT FROM THE FINANCE COMMITTEE.
A GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN SAID TODAY (TUESDAY) THAT THE EX-GRATIA PAYMENT, INITIALLY SET AT $3,000 PER MONTH, WOULD BE PAID QUARTERLY TO THE PNEUMOCONIOTICS UNTIL DEATH.
"THE QUARTERLY PAYMENT OF $9,000, WHICH WILL BE ADJUSTED IN ACCORDANCE WITH INFLATION, WILL ВЕ PAID ΤΟ A PNEUMOCONIOTIC IN ADDITION TO THE DISABILITY ALLOWANCE TO WHICH HE MAY BE ENTITLED UNDER THE SOCIAL SECURITY ALLOWANCE SCHEME ADMINISTERED BY THE SOCIAL WELFARE DEPARTMENT," HE SAID.
"MOREOVER, FOR THOSE PRE-1981 PNEUMOCONIOTICS WHO ARE BENEFICIARIES OF THE COMPREHENSIVE SOCIAL SECURITY ASSISTANCE SCHEME, THEIR ELIGIBILITY FOR SUCH BENEFIT WILL ALSO NOT BE AFFECTED BY THE EX-GRATIA PAYMENTS IF THEIR SAVINGS DO NOT EXCEED A PERMISSIBLE LEVEL."
AN AMOUNT NOT EXCEEDING $10,000 WOULD BE GIVEN TO MEET FUNERAL EXPENSES IF A PNEUMOCONIOTIC DIES AS A RESULT OF THE DISEASE.
/THE SPOKESMAN