The money will be used to build the road linking the city of Mianzhu and Mao county in the Aba Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, two of the hardest-hit areas in the province.

In addition, it will also help expand the rehabilitation network of the Chengdu People's Hospital, establishing a series of rehabilitation centres in the areas severely damaged in the quake and enabling disabled quake victims to receive treatment where they live.

This month, several Democratic Party lawmakers said they wanted to tour Sichuan to examine the reconstruction progress and monitor the use of funds.

Mr Tang conveyed their request to senior Sichuan officials yesterday. Mr Wei said they welcomed all Hong Kong people, including lawmakers, visiting Sichuan and would discuss arrangements with Legco later.

The latest proposal is part of the city's commitment to providing up to HK$10 billion to help the post-quake reconstruction in Sichuan, where more than 87,000 people were killed and millions lost their homes.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club has also vowed to raise HK$1 billion.

Mr Tang said agreements had been signed for 18 of the first batch of 20 reconstruction projects while preparatory work was going smoothly on second-stage projects.

'We have reached consensus with the Sichuan government to accelerate progress on the reconstruction,' he said. 'Our target is that, by June this year, construction must be kicked off for all the first batch of 20 projects; the second batch of projects that have completed feasibility studies should have finished the tendering process by then.'

Mr Wei, while expressing gratitude for the help from Hong Kong, said the province had formed a supervising committee for the projects funded by the Hong Kong and Macau governments, to take charge of co- ordinating the use of funds and ensuring the quality of construction.

Big commitment

The government is promising up to HK$10 billion for Sichuan

So far, HK$6 billion has been allocated for the following number of projects: 122