XN000022-1996-04-24 — Page 74

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Criteria of land grant for charity and welfare purposes

Following is a question by Dr the Hon John Tse Wing-ling and a written reply by the Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands, Mr Bowen Leung, in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):

Question:

Regarding the grant of land by the Government to non-governmental organisations for charity and welfare purposes, will the Government inform this Council:

Reply:

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)

Mr President,

(a)

whether it has set any criteria for the granting of land for such purposes;

how many organisations have been granted land through such means and what is the total area of land granted to these organisations;

how does the Government monitor the actual use of the land granted to ensure that the land use specified in the application is observed;

whether the sale of such land requires the approval of the Government; if so, what criteria are adopted by the Government for approving such land sale applications; and

of the number of such land sale cases and the value involved in the past three years, and whether the Government has monitored the use of the proceeds from such land sales to ensure that they are used for charity and welfare purposes?

In brief, an application for the granting of land for charity and welfare purposes will require the applicant to -

(i)

have the support of the Director of Social Welfare;

(ii)

provide proof of the prospective grantee's financial capability to develop the site and operate and manage the proposed service; and