XN000022-1995-03-01 — Page 31

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Sir Hamish also suggested to provide financial assistance to the small number of patients every year who suffered from rare diseases which required medical treatment which was so specialised that it was not available in Hong Kong.

As for the purchase of welfare premises, Sir Hamish acknowledged that the Government was falling behind in its efforts to meet some key targets for social welfare and rehabilitation, mainly because of difficulties in finding sufficient premises.

"We have taken a fresh look at this problem and concluded that a workable solution is to buy premises in private developments. We will be seeking the approval of Finance Committee to spend about $2.5 billion on the purchase of premises over the next two years," he said.

These premises will be used to accommodate, amongst other things, 20 day nurseries, 10 day creches, six multi-service centres for the elderly, 28 social centres for the elderly and 13 home help centres.

"As a result, and subject, of course, to Members' approval, we can now be more confident that we will be able to meet the key targets in these areas by 1997," he said.

For improving safety, Sir Hamish pointed out that the Secretary for Works had initiated a comprehensive review of the programme for improving the safety of slopes and retaining walls after the Kwun Lung Lau tragedy last July.

To speed up this programme, which involves over 10,000 sites, the Government will provide 130 additional staff for the Geotechnical Engineering Office and 30 additional staff for the Buildings Department.

Sir Hamish said: "This should allow us to complete the programme over the next five years, a full 10 years earlier than originally planned.

"We will also be appointing 34 extra staff in the Buildings Department to set up a permanent team dedicated to monitoring safety on construction and demolition sites.

"This will help us to minimise the risk of a repetition of the appalling accident that occurred last September at a Nathan Road construction site."