New Panel Mooted To Deal With Major Disasters

The government has proposed setting up a steering committee, to be led by the Chief Secretary, to coordinate preparatory and recovery work for super typhoons and other natural disasters of similar magnitude, so that resources can be deployed more efficiently.

The proposal was made in a Legco paper following a review of the extensive damage from super typhoon Mangkhut last September.

Mangkhut was the most intense storm to hit the city since records began in 1946. It was even stronger than Super Typhoon Hope in 1979, which left 12 people dead in Hong Kong.

When a typhoon signal number eight is cancelled, the steering committee will also be given the power to allow employees more time to get back to work under "extreme conditions", such as storm surges or heavy rain.

At present, workers have to return to work within two hours.

The Chief Executive, Carrie Lam, was criticised in the wake of the super typhoon last September for not giving workers time off one day after Mangkhut because of damage to the city's public transport system.

However, she said at the time that it would have been irresponsible, noting that there was no mechanism or legal basis in place for the government to do so.