Hong Kong agrees to let Sichuan spend rest of earthquake donations on panda reserve
Carrie Lam attends signing ceremony ahead of eighth anniversary of disaster that left 80,000 dead
Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor concluded the Hong Kong government’s support for Sichuan in the wake of the 2008 earthquake by agreeing to let the provincial government spend the city’s residual donation of 190 million yuan (HK$226 million) to further develop the Wolong Nature Reserve.
After a signing ceremony on Tuesday she stressed that all projects funded by the Hong Kong government had been subjected to proper tendering procedures and auditing, dismissing fears from lawmakers earlier that the HK$9 billion they had approved in total since 2008 could have fallen into the hands of corrupt officials.
“In the last eight years, together with the Sichuan provincial government, we have a very vigilant system in place to check and monitor the progress of the projects and the use of the fund approved by the Hong Kong Legislative Council,” Lam said.
The 190 million yuan will be spent on three projects at the reserve, famous for its pandas and which was badly hit by the magnitude-8 earthquake on May 12, 2008. The disaster killed more than 80,000 people and left a deep scar on the country’s collective consciousness.
The sincerity of the Hong Kong people is something that the people of Sichuan will not forget
Lam led a delegation of about 80 people, including volunteers who helped in reconstruction projects. Thursday will be the eighth anniversary of the earthquake