HK grants 4.9 mln HKD to relieve Philippines typhoon victims

The Hong Kong government Thursday approved three grants totaling 4.918 million HK dollars ( about 634,580 U.S. dollars) to three relief agencies for providing relief to typhoon victims in the Philippines.

The approval was made after the government has accepted the advice of the city's Disaster Relief Fund Advisory Committee which hoped the three grants -- one of 3 million HK dollars to Adventist Development and Relief Agency, China, one of 1.244 million HK dollars to CEDAR Fund and one of 674,000 HK dollars to Social Workers Across Borders -- would help provide relief to the typhoon victims in the Philippines.

The grants came as supplement to three disbursements totaling 12.557 million HK dollars made earlier to three relief organizations, thus bringing the total grants for typhoon victims in the Philippines to 17.475 million HK dollars.

"To ensure that the money would be used for the designated purposes, the relief agencies would be asked to submit evaluation reports and audited accounts on the use of the grants after the relief projects have been completed," the spokesman said. (1 U.S. dollar = 7.75 HK dollars)