Jobs, NM housing part of DAB policy push

DAB lawmakers have come up with 54 suggestions across five sectors for two upcoming blueprints – the SAR's first five-year plan and the Chief Executive's Policy Address.

The proposals, the party said, included ideas such as ensuring employment for local workers, larger space requirements for housing built in the Northern Metropolis, as well as amending public hospital fee charges for elderly on the Old Age Living Allowance scheme.

Lawmaker Cheung Pui-kong said the government should ensure employment for local workers be safeguarded in various ways.

"I hope the government can set up a dynamic standard to stop the import of foreign workers when unemployment rates in different sectors reach a certain percentage," he said.

"The government should also roll out an AI job matching platform as soon as possible... and provide cross-department data for the Labour Department to conduct inspections, such as by comparing Mandatory Provident Fund contributions through a certain time frame so as to see if any companies tried to illegally hire foreign workers."

Cheung's colleague Yiu Ming urged the government to set up a standard for housing in the Northern Metropolis so that residents in the area can live in larger spaces.

Lawmaker Holden Chow said the administration should automatically waive fees for people on the Old Age Living Allowance who visit public hospitals.

His call came after, starting this year, charges at public hospitals were hiked as part of a medical reform that aims to enhance overall healthcare quality.

"We understand the rationale behind the Health Bureau's reform, but we also need to take care of this group of elderly people who have genuine financial needs," Chow said.

"Those receiving the Old Age Living Allowance have all undergone a means test, so we believe that automatic exemption is the best way to help them so they do not have to go through complicated procedures to apply for an exemption."

Edited by Edmond Fong ...