The Leisure & Cultural Services Department today announced that it will subsidise Places of Amusement Licence holders and workers engaged in cultural, recreation and sports programmes through the sixth round of the Anti-epidemic Fund.

Under the Places of Amusement Licence Holders Subsidy Scheme which aims to provide relief to licence holders whose businesses have been directly affected by the Government’s anti-epidemic and social distancing measures, $100,000 in aid will be disbursed to billiard establishments, public bowling alleys and public skating rinks operating with a licence issued under the Places of Amusement Regulation.

Applications will open on February 23 and close on March 8. The application form and guidelines will be sent to each licence holder by post or are available on the department’s website.

Upon submission of the completed application form and supporting documents, the subsidies could generally be granted in batches around two weeks after the application deadline.

Separately, a new round of ex-gratia payments will be made to cultural, recreation and sports programme personnel, the department announced.

Aligning with the Government’s social distancing measures, the department closed its leisure and cultural venues/facilities from January 7, resulting in the subsequent cancellation of cultural, recreation and sports programmes to be organised or subvented.

An ex-gratia payment will be offered to people directly engaged by the department, or sports coaches and staff hired by National Sports Associations (NSAs) or sports organisations (SOs) subvented under the Sports Subvention Scheme, or sports coaches engaged by NSAs or SOs through the department’s Direct Purchase Authority Management System to provide services.

The subsidy is equivalent to the amount of their original full remuneration for the cancelled programmes scheduled to start or to be held from February 4 to 28.

As the department will make the payment to the personnel directly or through the NSAs and SOs, the coaches and workers are not required to submit applications, it noted. The disbursement is expected begin next month in batches.

In addition, the department will provide an ex-gratia payment to speakers, storytellers and workers who have been engaged by the Hong Kong Public Libraries and Music Office for extension activities which were cancelled and could not be rescheduled due to venue closures amid the epidemic.

Part-time ushers and part-time ticketing assistants affected by the closure of cultural venues will also be covered.

Meanwhile, a one-off ex-gratia payment of $5,000 will be disbursed to each commercial stall operator affected by the cancellation of the Hong Kong Flower Show 2022, the department added.