Assistance Provided for Victims of Disasters (2012/11/14) 

MR YIU SI-WING : President, as shown by the figures, the ERF established by the Administration had received a total of 4 647 applications these two years, thereby proving its value of existence. Yet the amount involved was only $12.95 million. That means on average only $2,786 was granted for each application. May I ask the Secretary, why was the amount of assistance so low? Was there any problem with the approval procedure?

SECRETARY FOR LABOUR AND WELFARE : President, I thank the Member for his question. The amount granted will depend on the nature of the incident. In fact, under the ERF there are several distinct categories with different amounts. There are grants in respect of death or personal injury, grants for domestic re-accommodation, re-equipment and site formation, and grants to repair fishing boats. There are also primary producer grants. For example, in the event where crops are damaged by flood during a typhoon, assistance will be provided. Thus we cannot merely do a calculation by dividing the total amount of grants by the number of cases because in some cases, the amount of assistance was indeed very small. In brief, if the degree of injury is not serious, the amount ranges from $580 to $48,300. However, if the accident unfortunately results in disability, the amount ranges from $147 ― for minor injury of fingers ― to $146,700 for very serious injury. If someone unfortunately dies in the accident, the dependant will be granted $173,000 at the maximum. Hence, we have to look at the nature of the cases in these three years and cannot merely do a calculation by dividing the total amount of grants by the number of cases. In some cases the amount of assistance might really be very small, whereas in some others it might be a lot. It would depend on the individual cases.