Acting Chief Executive Carrie Lam has urged lawmakers to stop filibustering the Appropriations Bill, as a delay in its passage will affect public services and prolong the launch of relief measures.
Briefing reporters before an Executive Council meeting today, Mrs Lam said interim funding will last only until the end of May, and delaying the bill will affect the Government’s daily operations and public services.
Financial Secretary John Tsang will host an emergency meeting this Thursday with Financial Services & the Treasury Bureau officers and Government controlling officers to work out arrangements in the case that interim funding runs out, she added.
Mrs Lam also noted that filibustering has spread to other legislative committees, including the Finance Committee’s discussion on the North East New Territories development and the Public Works subcommittee’s discussion on a landfill extension and incinerator.
She stressed that these delays will have serious effects, as they are holding up relief measures including paying one month’s rent to public housing tenants and providing an extra allowance to welfare recipients. There might also be a need to re-tender public works projects if funding cannot be secured before the tenders lapse, which will delay projects and boost costs, she added.
Mrs Lam met House Committee Chairman Andrew Leung and Deputy Chairman Ronny Tong yesterday to raise her grave concerns, she said, and asked the Rules of Procedure Committee to consider an appropriate response.
