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Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu recognized the exceptional efforts of local civil servants on Friday by presenting the Chief Executive's Award for Exemplary Performance to two dedicated interdepartmental teams.
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The prestigious awards celebrated the swift and safe handling of a wartime bomb crisis and the rapid development of the Light Public Housing project.
Defusing a wartime bomb under pressure
The first award was given to the joint operation team that managed a severe bomb threat in Quarry Bay last September.
After a highly destructive 1,000-pound World War II bomb was discovered at a local construction site just as a super typhoon was approaching, authorities faced a tightly compressed window to act.
The Security Bureau rapidly activated an emergency response mechanism. Police officers managed the high-risk disposal operations and traffic control, while firefighters remained on strict standby.
Simultaneously, the Home Affairs Department collaborated with district councilors, local care teams, and volunteers to swiftly and safely evacuate approximately 3,000 nearby residents.
The team successfully provided the displaced citizens with overnight shelter and safely neutralized the explosive, averting a potential disaster with minimal public disruption.
Rapid public housing solutions
The second award recognized the joint efforts of the Housing Bureau and the Architectural Services Department for their work on the Light Public Housing initiative.
Tasked with addressing the city's urgent housing shortage, the team utilized standardized designs and advanced modular construction methods to rapidly build 30,000 temporary housing units.
This efficient approach has successfully helped to shorten the overall public housing waiting time by more than a year, allowing citizens in desperate need to improve their living conditions much earlier than expected.
The massive project is expected to save grassroots families more than HK$7.5 billion in total rent expenses. Furthermore, the initiative combines private property management with social services provided by non-governmental organizations to ensure a caring community environment for the new residents.
Reflecting on his administration's four years in office, the Chief Executive praised the broader civil service workforce for their continuous innovation, courage to tackle challenges, and result-oriented mindset.
He encouraged all government workers to keep striving for excellence to build a better and more compassionate home for all Hong Kong residents.
