Stable environment need of the hour in HK, says Lam
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HONG Kong leader Carrie Lam warned yesterday that the Chinese special administrative region cannot afford further “chaos” that has disturbed the city over the past 12 months.
“All of us can see the difficulty we have been through in the past year, and due to such serious situations, we have more problems to deal with,” Lam told a weekly news conference. “We need to learn from mistakes. I wish all lawmakers can learn from mistakes — Hong Kong cannot bear such chaos.
“The residents of Hong Kong want a peaceful and stable environment. In light of the global economic recession due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, more than ever we need a stable environment to restore people’s normal lives.”
Hong Kong yesterday marked a year since violent protests erupted and protesters assembled in shopping malls to mark the anniversary. Almost 9,000 people, aged between 11 and 84, were arrested in the protests since then, police said late on Monday. More than 600 were charged with rioting.
A 21-year-old lifeguard, the first protester to plead guilty to rioting, was sentenced to four years’ jail last month. Police said in a Facebook post they would have enough presence on the streets, warned drivers some roads may be blocked if protests materialize and urged people not to participate in unauthorized assemblies, saying they face the risk of arrest as well as that of catching the coronavirus.
Although the city has been hit hard by the pandemic, Lam said yesterday the Hong Kong government will roll out more measures, include freezing pay rise for major government officials and providing employment opportunities for new graduates, to tackle the current economic difficulties together with companies and residents.
The remuneration for the chief executive and politically appointed officials of the Hong Kong government, which is adjusted annually in accordance with the change in consumer price index, will remain unchanged in the coming year and the pay rise for members of the Executive Council will also be frozen, Lam said.
To help with the employment of students scheduled to graduate from universities, colleges and high schools this and next year, the government will offer 5,000 more internships for them, and has cooperated with private companies to create 30,000 time-limited jobs, according to Lam.
The government has rolled out several rounds of economic relief measures to safeguard employment and support companies and residents struggling amid the pandemic.
The Employment Support Scheme under the government’s Anti-epidemic Fund has received more than 140,000 applications from eligible employers and more than 190,000 from self-employed persons for wage subsidies.
About 25,500 of the applications have been processed and the first tranche of wage subsidies, which is estimated to cost about HK$4.8 billion (US$620 million), will be disbursed starting from Friday, Lam said. She also called on eligible employers and self-employed persons to submit applications before the deadline on June 14.
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