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As the tropical cyclone signal No 1 has been cancelled, the public enquiry service hotline 2835 1473 operated by the Home Affairs Department has stood down.
Emergency relief is one of the major services provided by the Home Affairs Department. This service will remain unchanged under the new five-day week arrangement from July 1, a department spokesman said today (June 28).
Emergency relief services provided by the department include: in the event of extreme weather, operating a hotline to answer public enquiries, activating an emergency co-ordination centre and arranging temporary shelters for people in need of refuge. During major emergency incidents such as a No 3 or higher alarm fire, an interdepartmental help desk will also be set up at the scene or in hospitals to co-ordinate emergency relief efforts.
Other than the emergency relief services, the department﷿s Public Enquiry Service Counters(PESCs) will be extended by 90 minutes daily on weekdays to deliver the best services to the public with effect from July 1 ﷿ opening from 9am to 7pm from Monday to Friday (except Cheung Chau and Mui Wo).
To better serve people in outlying islands, Mui Wo PESC will operate from 9am to 7pm every Monday, Wednesday and Friday while Cheung Chau PESC will open at 8.45am and close at 6.45pm on weekdays.
For the free Legal Advice Scheme and Meet-the-Public Scheme, people will be able to make appointments at the PESCs during the extended working hours and follow-up action will be made with the relevant organisations on the following working day.
For details of the new working hours, please visit the HAD﷿s website(www.had.gov.hk) and a dedicated website on five-day week (www.info.gov.hk/info/5day/) or make enquiries to the 24-hour 1823 Citizen's Easy Link.
Ends/Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Issued at HKT 20:59
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