Plan to tell residents of welfare facilities
THE Government may inform prospective home buyers about nearby social welfare facilities to prevent a recurrence of the strong opposition from Laguna City residents to facilities for the mentally handicapped, the Commissioner for Rehabilitation said yesterday.
Mr Allan Chow Shou-shun told the Legislative Council's welfare panel that the Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands would discuss details of the arrangement with large property agencies.
Legislators at the two-hour meeting were concerned about the Government's strategy to deal with similar situations in future when an additional 30 social welfare centres will come into service by 1996.
United Democrats legislator Mr Yeung Sum said the Government should respect the residents' rights to know the kinds of social facilities in their neighbourhood.
Independent legislator Mr Eric Li Ka-cheung agreed that home buyers should be informed. He suggested the Social Welfare Department could take on the responsibility instead of the Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands to speed up communication.
However, the Director of Social Welfare, Mr Ian Strachan, said the public should be aware of the increasing number of such centres in the territory in the near future.
Mr Strachan also pledged to step up public education in response to the concerns of legislators about the resentment among residents.
Meanwhile, the discussion on the allocation of youth centres in new towns almost turned into a row yesterday when legislators asked Mr Strachan to submit details of the relocation plan and consult Legco before carrying out the proposals.
Mr Strachan said there was great difficulty with such a request.
''I'm responsible for the operation of social work services and I have to ultimately make the decision, not this panel. I'm not prepared to let this panel make decision on operational matters,'' he said.
