XN000022-1996-05-30 — Page 33

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Subsidy for elderly to install emergency alarm

Elderly recipients of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) who are in need of the service of an emergency alarm system can apply a special grant for the installation.

Announcing this today (Thursday), a Social Welfare Department spokesman said the grant is payable on a reimbursement basis up to the prescribed maximum.

To qualify for the grant, he said, the recipient should be:

(a)

(b)

aged 70 or above (or aged 60 - 69 in receipt of a standard rate for being 100 per cent disabled or in need of constant attendance); and

a single person, or living with a family with no-one able to take good care of him (for example, the other family member is infirm or disabled).

"Eligible recipients are free to choose any emergency alarm system which they consider could best suit their needs," he said, adding that the current systems on the market charge either a one-off installation fee or a recurrent service charge.

The grant covers the one-off installation cost, up to a maximum of $2,500 or

the recurrent service charges, up to a maximum of $100 a month.

"Where justified, higher amounts can also be approved," the spokesman said.

End

Revised fees for seafarers services to be gazetted

The revised Merchant Shipping (Seafarers)(Fees) Regulation and Merchant Shipping (Fees) (Amendment)(No 2) Regulation 1996 will be gazetted tomorrow (Friday), a Marine Department spokesman said today.

The two amended regulations will provide the fees and charges system for implementing the various licensing systems and services provided under the Merchant Shipping (Seafarers) Ordinance.