Tai Po tour: Chief Executive Donald Tsang chats with a  fisherman.

Tai Po's sea-land market will help the less-advantaged gain confidence and return to the job market, Chief Executive Donald Tsang says. It also shows the community's creativity in making the best use of the district's resources.

Mr Tsang toured Tai Po today to inspect progress in a number of development projects promoting local tourism.

He visited the sea-land market - a social enterprise launched under the Enhancing Self-reliance Through District Partnership programme - at the Waterfront Park Pier Deck. The market will improve the livelihoods of and employment opportunities for fishermen, women and young people from the grassroots and other under-privileged groups.

It opened in May and operates Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. It consists of specially decorated boats which run ecological tours to outlying islands in the district and sightseeing tours on Tolo Harbour. On land, there are 20 booths for people to start their own businesses. Fishermen hold netting demonstrations and different models of fishing boats are displayed.

Next stop

Mr Tsang then took a boat ride to Sam Mun Tsai Fishermen Village. With funds contributed by the private sector through the Tai Po District Office, the Construction Industry Training Authority renovated the village late last year. Plans to enhance its appeal are being explored.

Visiting a fisherman's family, Mr Tsang said he was pleased to see that through the joint efforts of several parties the living environment has improved.

The Chief Executive's last stop was Tai Mei Tuk where he saw the artificial bathing beach project at Lung Mei, one of the 25 priority community projects identified by the Government. To be completed by the end of 2010, the beach will promote local tourism and strengthen recreational infrastructure.