John Lee Engages Residents in Sha Tin, Discusses Housing and Disability Support Initiatives

2024-09-28 13:53 Last Updated At：17:38

CE visits Sha Tin District to gather public views on Policy Address

The Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, visited Sha Tin District today (September 28) and met with local residents. He visited a community rehabilitation day centre, where he interacted with service users to listen to their views on the upcoming Policy Address. He also inspected a refurbished public rental housing (PRH) flat in the district to understand the Housing Department's efforts in combating tenancy abuse of PRH flats.

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CE visits Sha Tin District to gather public views on Policy Address

CE visits Sha Tin District to gather public views on Policy Address Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

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CE visits Sha Tin District to gather public views on Policy Address

CE visits Sha Tin District to gather public views on Policy Address Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The Secretary for Housing, Ms Winnie Ho; the Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, Miss Alice Mak; the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Chris Sun; and the Director of Home Affairs, Mrs Alice Cheung, also joined relevant parts of the visit.

Accompanied by the District Officer (Sha Tin), Mr Frederick Yu, Mr Lee and the officials visited the family home of a person with disabilities and her carer in Wo Che Estate to learn more about their daily lives and caring issues.

Afterwards, Mr Lee visited the SAHK New Territories East Community Rehabilitation Day Centre to understand its rehabilitation training services provided to individuals with physical and cognitive impairments and support for carers. There, he interacted with service users.

Mr Lee said that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government has implemented a series of measures to strengthen support for persons with disabilities and their carers, including increasing the number of district support centres for persons with disabilities and quotas for various rehabilitation services. A pilot project was launched in the third quarter of last year by establishing two integrated community rehabilitation centres to provide more flexible and appropriate support for persons with severe disabilities. Operated by a charitable organisation commissioned by the Social Welfare Department, the Designated Hotline for Carer Support 182 183 commenced operation in September last year. The HKSAR Government will continue to enhance relevant work to build a caring and inclusive community, he added.

Mr Lee and the officials then inspected a PRH flat in Sha Kok Estate that was recovered and refurbished by the Housing Department as part of its efforts in combating tenancy abuse of PRH flats. At the PRH flat, Mr Lee and the officials learned more about its facilities and the department's relevant work.

Mr Lee noted that the Housing Department has been taking multipronged measures to combat tenancy abuse through preventive detection, investigations, publicity and education, and enhancement of the "Well-off Tenants Policies" and the "Addition Policy", in order to safeguard the proper use of valuable PRH resources. The Housing Department is currently reviewing the workflow and standards of refurbishment works for vacant flats to expedite the work progress, with a view to allocating the flats to PRH applicants as soon as possible.

Mr Lee and the officials then visited a market and a cooked food stall in Sha Kok Estate to interact with vendors and residents to listen to their opinions on the Government's policies.

"I attach importance to policy areas closely related to people's livelihood, such as the support for persons with disabilities and supply of public housing. Through interactions with members of the public, I could feel their love for Hong Kong and their aspirations for life. My team and I will continue to listen to the views of various sectors of society, with a view to building a vibrant economy for a caring community," Mr Lee said.

The public consultation exercise for the 2024 Policy Address was launched in mid-July. Mr Lee appealed to members of the public to actively give their views on issues of their interests to the Government.

Hong Kong Customs Seizes 10 Million Illicit Cigarettes Worth $45 Million Off Po Toi Island

2024-09-28 16:24 Last Updated At：16:38

Hong Kong Customs detects large-scale sea smuggling case involving cigarettes and seizes suspected illicit cigarettes worth about $45 million

Hong Kong Customs yesterday (September 27) detected a large-scale illicit cigarette smuggling case in the waters off Po Toi Island and seized about 10 million suspected illicit cigarettes, with an estimated market value of about $45 million and a duty potential of about $33 million, on board a fishing vessel.

Customs in the early morning of yesterday intercepted a suspicious fishing vessel in the waters off Po Toi Island. Upon inspection, Customs officers seized the batch of suspectedillicit cigarettes inside the compartments of the vessel. Five non-local men, aged between 29 and 43, suspected to be connected with the case were arrested.

Customs will continue to trace the source and the flow of the illicit cigarettes. The likelihood of further arrests is not ruled out.

The five arrested men will be charged with one count of importing unmanifested cargoes. They will appear at the Eastern Magistrates' Courts on September 30.

Customs will continue its risk assessment and intelligence analysis for interception at source as well as through its multipronged enforcement strategy targeting storage, distribution and peddling to spare no effort in combating illicit cigarette activities.

Smuggling is a serious offence. Under the Import and Export Ordinance, any person found guilty of importing or exporting unmanifested cargo is liable to a maximum fine of $2 million and imprisonment for seven years.

Under the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance, anyone involved in dealing with, possession of, selling or buying illicit cigarettes commits an offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $1 million and imprisonment for two years.

Members of the public may report any suspected illicit cigarette activities to Customs' 24-hour hotline 2545 6182 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk) or online form (eform.cefs.gov.hk/form/ced002).

John Lee Engages Residents in Sha Tin, Discusses Housing and Disability Support Initiatives

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