TNAG-1364-FCO40-1810-Hong-Kong-Hansard-reports-and-minutes-of-the-meetings-of-the-1986 — Page 83

Sir,

Reply by the Secretary for Education and Manpower

to Mr. HO Sai-chu's speech

in the Legislative Council on 4th December 1985

I welcome Mr. Ho's comments and would like to

take this opportunity to clarify the

Government's

attitude towards the work of the Pneumoconiosis

Compensation Fund Board.

The Employees' Compensation Ordinance requires

compensation to be paid by an employer to an employee

who is injured, or contracts an occupational disease,

arising out of the course of his employment. The

reasons why compensation for pneumoconiosis is not dealt

with under the Employees' Compensation Ordinance are

firstly, that the disease is specific to the quarry and

construction industries and secondly,

and secondly, that it can take

many years to become apparent and it is therefore

difficult, if not impossible, for liability for the

payment of compensation to be attached to a particular

employer. For these reasons it was decided to establish

a statutory fund, financed by a levy on the quarry and

construction industries, to be responsible for making

payment of compensation

In other

to

pneumoconiotics.

respects the compensation

of

pneumoconiotics should

accord with the

principles

adopted generally for

employees' compensation.