HK-based NGOs get little change out of quake allocation money

Only 5 per cent of the HK$2 billion in public money donated in Hong Kong for post-quake reconstruction in Sichuan province has been allocated to NGOs interested in relief work, according to an agreement signed by the government yesterday.

What might have been a chance to build the city's volunteer movement has now turned out to be commercialised tendering activities, some non-governmental organisations have said. NGO representatives have voiced fears that the Hong Kong government would become only a financing agent.

Initiatives to help Sichuan survivors overwhelmed the city earlier this year, with many professionals and NGOs wanting to contribute to the reconstruction work.

But according to the agreement signed by the Hong Kong and Sichuan governments yesterday, about HK$100 million of the HK$2 billion approved by the Legislative Council in July would be earmarked for NGOs and professional bodies, which are eligible to apply for funding for relief schemes for Sichuan cities.

Engineers Without Borders chairman Albert Lai Kwong-tak said the agreement did not live up to public expectations.

'The government is likely to be reduced to a financing agent,' he said. 'Engineers who want to volunteer will be discouraged by the decision to tender for reconstruction projects. We will lose a chance to build up volunteerism as social capital.'

News of the co-operation was announced a week after the Sunday Morning Post reported that former US president Jimmy Carter had written to Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, urging him to speed up the restoration efforts.