Tung to hear appeal on welfare cuts Legislator-elect will ask the chief executive for the plan to be put on hold.

(From South China Morning Post)

Byline: Klaudia Lee

Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa will meet the welfare sector legislator-elect tomorrow to hear a plea for controversial benefit cuts to be put on hold.

The meeting with Fernando Cheung Chiu-hung will take place amid mounting calls for the cuts to be scrapped.

Mr Cheung said he would ask Mr Tung to suspend a 5.4 per cent reduction in Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) for the elderly and disabled, due on October 1.

The cut will affect 232,000 people and save the government $360 million a year. It is the second stage of an 11.1 per cent cut announced last year in line …