Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, Secretary for Labour and Welfare of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government, stated on the 23rd that the HKSAR Government is committed to providing comprehensive support services for persons with disabilities to build a barrier-free living environment and promote their full integration into society.
In a blog post published that day, Mr. Cheung said that the recurrent expenditure on rehabilitation services provided by the government for persons with disabilities in the welfare sector (excluding relevant payments under the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance Scheme and the Social Security Allowance Scheme) has increased from over HK$2.8 billion (all figures in Hong Kong dollars, same below) in the 2007-08 financial year to HK$5.6 billion in the 2015-16 financial year, an increase of 100%. The overall recurrent expenditure invested in related services during the same period increased from HK$16.6 billion to HK$28.6 billion, an increase of over 70%.
The government is very concerned about the importance of providing barrier-free transport for persons with disabilities. To further foster a spirit of care and inclusion in the community, the government launched the "Public Transport Fare Concession Scheme for the Elderly and Eligible Persons with Disabilities" (commonly known as the "$2 Concession Scheme") at the end of June 2012 to encourage the elderly and persons with disabilities to participate more in community activities. The scheme has been implemented in phases across the MTR, buses, ferries, and green minibuses. It is widely popular, attracting approximately 880,000 passenger trips per day, with persons with disabilities accounting for about 110,000 of those trips.
Regarding barrier-free access, the government launched a large-scale improvement project costing HK$1.3 billion in 2010 to upgrade barrier-free facilities in approximately 3,500 existing government premises and facilities, as well as about 240 public housing estates. The project was completed on June 30, 2014.
Mr. Cheung stated that in the future, the Labour and Welfare Bureau will continue to work with the Rehabilitation Advisory Committee, non-governmental organizations, public institutions, groups for persons with disabilities, and all sectors of society to organize territory-wide and district-based public education activities on rehabilitation services to promote a barrier-free and inclusive society.