Officials Accused Of Inaction Over Blind Charity

Labour Party lawmaker Fernando Cheung says the government needs to communicate better with charities, after a training and work facility for the blind was only found a potentially suitable new home following his intervention.

The Factory for The Blind, run by the Society for the Blind, has been in To Kwa Wan for more than half a century, but will be torn down for redevelopment.

About 200 people would have had to be relocated to remote places or get a new job. However Cheung, who has been helping the workers, says officials told them a few days ago that a primary school in Ping Shek could be used during the redevelopment period, if it passes safety tests.

But he said officials need to be more pro-active: "If it wasn't for my direct question to the Chief Executive the other day, and if it wasn't for our intervention, I think the transition of this blind factory would have gone to Tuen Mun, and that NGO would be left without much assistance from the government.

"We should be reminded that this special project involves not just one NGO: currently there are 17 such projects going on and there should be more coming."