The Legco's Finance committee has approved the second round of relief measures to help businesses and workers affected by the slowing economy sparked by the coronavirus pandemic as earlier attempts to adjourn the meeting failed.
The committee resumed the discussion of the anti-epidemic funds this morning, and the bill was passed with 41 yes votes, all 22 pro-democrats voted against the bill and two legislators abstained.
Council Front legislator Eddie Chu Hoi-dick earlier moved a motion to adjourn the meeting and said Beijing's latest criticism on the pan-dems made the discussion impossible to move on.
The approval came a day after Beijing's liaison office in Hong Kong issued a statement that refuted pan-democrats' accusation that it was interfering with the SAR's internal affairs. It stressed that it has the responsibility to ensure the SAR is implementing 'one country, two systems' right.
Many pan-dems took the opportunity to protest the statement during the meeting earlier this morning.
The committee had spent 18 hours over two days scrutinizing the package, which was the largest emergency aid rolled out since the outbreak. More than 20 motions were put forward by pan-democratic lawmakers, including giving allowances to the jobless, were voted down.
The HK$137.5 billion anti-epidemic fund was announced by the government last week, of which HK$80 billion will be earmarked for the employment support scheme to 1.5 million Mandatory Provident Fund contributors, where the government will pay half of the workers' salaries for six months up to HK$9,000 a month, as long as those employees don't sack staff.
Legislators from both sides said the scheme does not cover people such as freelance or casual workers, employees aged 65 and over, or those who have been made redundant recently.
But Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung Kin-chung said that the funds can help to rebuild the city after the pandemic.
“These measures are all aimed at helping out economy recover,” Cheung said yesterday in a Legco meeting.
