TNAG-1604-FCO40-2211-Future-of-Hong-Kong-annual-reports-to-Parliament-on-Hong-Kon-1988 — Page 36

RESTRICTED

48.

There is also an Old Age Allowance, to which all persons over the age of 70 are entitled and which is additional to normal public

assistance payments to those old people who are eligible to receive

them. This allowance will be increased as from April 1988 for all

those over 70, and the present rate of allowance will be gradually

extended to those aged 65-69. It is also proposed to double the

rate of disability allowance for severely disabled persons who

require constant attendance.

49. In addition, the Hong Kong Government plan, over the next

five years, to increase and improve facilities for the rehabilitation of the disabled and the mentally handicapped. This

includes facilities for child assessment and for the education and

training of disabled and mentally handicapped children. More

residential places and vocational rehabilitation programmes for

the mentally handicapped and the disabled generally will also be

provided. With the approval of Her Majesty The Queen, a Queen

Elizabeth Foundation for the Mentally Handicapped is being set up in

Hong Kong. It will be funded from the proceeds of the sale of the

1986 Royal Visit Gold Coins, from the Hong Kong Government's general

revenue and from contributions by other donors. The Foundation will

complement the Hong Kong Government's own programme in this area and

will provide additional resources to improve the care, education and

training of the mentally handicapped.

(c)

Labour Legislation

50.

Another area where considerable improvements have been made

in Hong Kong over the years is in legislation to provide better

standards of safety, health and welfare for its workforce. In this

regard, the policy of the Hong Kong Government has been to achieve

conditions broadly equivalent to the best prevailing in neighbouring

countries whose stage of economic development and cultural

background are similar to Hong Kong's. In pursuit of this

objective, the Hong Kong Government have enacted some 142 items of labour legislation over the last ten years. Major items of

legislation which were under preparation at the end of 1987 included

a bill to establish an Occupational Safety and Health Council; new

regulations to require the labelling and control of dangerous

RESTRICTED