Law Chi-kwong says more data is needed before Poverty Commission can make changes. Photo: RTHK
Law Chi-kwong talks to RTHK's Janice Wong
A member of the Poverty Commission has denied that the government’s unexpected decision to shelve its own suggestion to revise the poverty line is a policy u-turn.
Law Chi-kwong said the proposal to take subsidised housing into account when setting the poverty line was never agreed upon, before the Commission met on Monday.
The social welfare expert also dismissed claims that the government had wanted to review the line to reduce the number of people who fall below it.
“I guess that is a basic mistrust towards the government,” he said.
Law argued that taking housing subsidies into consideration would actually have a beneficial effect, saying this “will highlight the importance of public rental housing, and that should be able to give more weight to the government to push for building more public rental housing, which at the present moment receive a lot of resistance in the community.”
He also told Janice Wong that more data needs to be collected before an informed decision can be made on how the poverty line should be reviewed.
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Last updated: 2016-04-26 HKT 13:13
http://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1256657-20160426.htm
