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16.
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I, too, hope that when I return frequently in the future that I will be able to see a clean harbour but it won't be a clean harbour at no cost, somebody will have paid for
it.
The President: Is it not true that there is a rule that if you wish to come back to Hong Kong post-1997 you need to seek the permission of the future Chief Executive? And you might be feted by him- and by all kinds of restaurant owners.
Governor: As I have said earlier, that would be a great pity but conceivably better for my figure.
Mr James To (in Chinese): Last Thursday there was the second drug summit. I was out of town so I was not boycotting your summit but eight religious drug addiction treatment agencies boycotted your summit, so I felt regretful when I returned. Recently I can see that for these religious drug addiction treatment centres, in the past they hoped to get a subsidy but for these few years, at the Security Panel or at ACAN I could see that the Administration is dragging its feet, its very bureaucratic and is this regarding their quest for an upgrading of services. You can't blame individuals of course, it's because of the whole system. The Finance Branch, the SWD and the Narcotics Division are all involved but I hope that in your recent reply you will not simply say that they have had a good discussion with the Security Branch, there was just an illusion.
So my question is this: Can the Governor explore this matter further? Now these religious centres boycotted the summit so they do not take it lightly. There were deliberations and discussions. Is it true that there is just a posturing? But they are not politicians, they are not playing games, they are really front line workers, they are publicly recognised as doing the job very well. I hope that the Governor can look at this thing clearly. Please do not wait until October next year when you have the results of assessment. Before you get subsidies, please give prompt assistance?
Governor: Well, I think it was a pity that these organisations didn't take part in what was another extremely successful summit. I've seen some of their work for myself. I've taken an interest in their work myself and I think it was a pity that they thought this was the best way of drawing attention to their arguments. We hadn't had a particularly good meeting with them beforehand. We had a very long meeting. I think my officials spent over three hours at a meeting with them trying to match their demands, but at last were unable to do so.