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Transcript of Governor's media session
Following is the transcript of the media session by the Governor, the Rt Hon Christopher Patten, after the summit meeting on open employment of people with disability this (Friday) afternoon:
Governor: Hello, as I think you know we've been attempting at a series of summits over the last two or three years to improve and enhance the opportunities available for people with a disability in Hong Kong. We started off with a summit on the transport needs of those with disabilities. We've had three of those summits and the fourth one will be held in November this year. And we've just had our third summit on the employment needs of people with disabilities. We've brought together Government departments, representatives of disability groups and rehabilitation organisations and representatives of employers' organisations, with some individual employers to discuss the progress that we've made over the last year and to discuss the way ahead. I think we can chart some significant achievements in the last year.
We've passed into law the Disability Discrimination Ordinance and we were able to hear about the plans of the Chairperson of the EOC as that organisation prepares for take-off. The Labour Department has produced a number of videos, films, television programmes and guidebooks promoting the employment of those with a disability. Our Selective Placement Division has made 300 visits to employers with the result that it's secured 1,420 placements for job seekers. We had a civil service target of employing 4,000 people with a disability and we've over-shot that target; we are now employing 4,231. And we've set with employers of voluntary target for new job opportunities for those with a disability, a target of 500 which was exceeded as we provided opportunities for 555 people with a disability. But there is still a great deal more to do. So we've set ourselves some new goals for the coming year. We've set a new civil service target of 4,400. We'll be holding a large scale seminar later in the year to point out to people the great contribution that people with a disability can make in the workplace. We had a particularly telling contribution this afternoon by the Human Resources Director of the MTR, Mr Patrick Maule who set out for us clearly the very considerable contribution which people with a disability have made to the MTR. We'll be increasing the number of supported employment places from 360 to 950 which is an increase of well over 150 percent. We'll be making 30 visits with a special team to government departments to promote the recruitment of people with a disability by the civil service. And we'll be setting a new goal for employers as a whole of 700 new job opportunities for those with a disability by the end of 1997. So it's another useful occasion, a very constructive and energetic spirit of partnership. And I very much hope that it will ensure that over the coming year we'll enable many more people with a disability to make the full contribution which they can make to this society and to its well-being. Okay?