At the second meeting of the Task Force on District Governance chaired by Deputy Chief Secretary Cheuk Wing-hing today, Chief Secretary Chan Kwok-ki instructed heads of departments to make good preparations for the upcoming District Council (DC) election.

The seventh-term DC election, to be held on December 10, will be the first citywide district election after the DC reform in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Mr Chan said: “It is an important milestone in improving district governance and carries great historical significance.

“The preparations for the election have entered a crucial stage. All the government departments concerned must jointly make good preparations for the DC election to ensure that it will be conducted in accordance with the law in an open, fair, honest, safe and orderly manner.”

Noting that the DC election involves sizeable manpower, resources and logistical arrangements, he also requested that the heads of departments mobilise all necessary manpower and resources for comprehensive planning and deployment, such that voters and candidates would be offered appropriate facilitation and that the election would be conducted in an efficient and orderly manner.

This way, capable candidates with an affection for the motherland and Hong Kong would be elected as DC members, enabling the smooth and full-fledged operation of the seventh-term DCs starting January 1 next year, Mr Chan added.

“I have every confidence that the new-term DCs will return to their original positioning under the Basic Law, perform their services and advisory functions as entrusted and support the Government in planning and carrying out district work, so as to enhance the efficacy of district governance, achieve good governance and strengthen people’s sense of fulfilment, happiness and security.”

Separately, the task force followed up on the progress of the five key district initiatives formulated earlier by the Steering Committee on District Governance. Having received a briefing by the relevant heads of departments, Mr Cheuk was pleased to note the steady progress as scheduled.

He also urged the departments to continue with the orderly implementation of the measures while following up on issues of district concern at the central level, with a view to responding to people’s needs.