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Emergency funds not enough, says hawker hurt in street cave-in

Hawkers who lost their stalls when a street caved in on Tuesday have been promised up to HK$8,000 in emergency assistance by Central and Western District Office.

But one of the hawkers injured when a section of Li Yuen Street East in Central collapsed during a heavy downpour said it would not be enough to cover his needs in the coming weeks.

District officer Yau Kwai-chong said: 'We will offer urgent assistance and authorise up to HK$8,000 to justified cases through very simple applications.'

But a Mr Lee, who fell into the four-metre-deep hole, said: 'The HK$8,000 is certainly not enough. There are a lot of expenses and I may need to rest up for one or two months to fully recover.'

He said he still had chest pains and had to walk with a cane.

Central and Western District Office has offered only urgent assistance to hawkers and has not made any promises on compensation.

Ms Yau said the issue of compensation had to be considered, but it 'would take some time, because we have to do it in a scientific manner and based on evidence'. She promised to co-ordinate departments to work together and help hawkers get back to work as soon as possible.

District councillors and representatives from the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, Buildings Department, Highways Department, Home Affairs Department and Water Supplies Department met the hawkers yesterday to discuss the effects of the cave-in on their businesses.

Central and Western District councillor Kam Nai-wai said: 'We found cracks on the road and lots of pavement repairs, but the Buildings Department said it had no records about such work.'

Councillors and representatives from various departments went to Li Yuen Street East for a site visit after the meeting at the district office.

Mr Lee pointed out the cracks and pavement repairs to government representatives. He said he noticed cracks after construction work started recently on what was the site of Dragon Seed Building. A 29-storey commercial building is being built.

'We complained to the construction workers, and the cracks were paved the next day,' Mr Lee said.

The Buildings Department said it was not aware of such repairs and promised to investigate.

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