'District Council Denying Funds To Pro-govt Groups'

A group set up by pro-establishment figures to monitor the work of district councils has accused pro-democracy members of the Sha Tin District Council of abusing their majority to deny funding to groups with links to the pro-government camp.

They're now planning to take their complaints to the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC).

The group, Sha Tin District Councils Observers, says organisations that had previously received funding for recreational events in the past are now getting rejection after rejection.

A spokesman, Michael Ho, who is also a member of the pro-Beijing Federation of Trade Unions, said at least ten groups that have received funds from the council in the past, have been allocated nothing at all from the current establishment.

DAB lawmaker Elizabeth Quat, who was formerly a Sha Tin District Councillor for eight years, said some requests to fund Chinese opera performances have been rejected – presumeably because they engage pro-establishment figures as consultants.

However, similar requests from the Sha Tin Arts Association were generally approved, she added.

Quat said the time for talk appears to be over.

“I think Sha Tin District Council will not talk to us because we tried to contact them and they said they have no time to talk with us. So I think what our next step is, we will report the case to the ICAC and we will also arrange a meeting with [the Home Affairs Bureau] to discuss about this matter to see what the government can do to make a very clear instruction to the District Council – what can [be done] and what cannot” she said.

RTHK has reached out to the chairman of the Sha Tin District Council, Democratic Party Ching Cheung-ying, for comment.