The government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region approved three grants on Thursday, 40 million Hong Kong dollars (US$5.16 million) each, to the drought victims of Guangxi, Guizhou and Yunnan on Chinese mainland, following the Legislative Council Finance Committee's approval.

Those grants come from the Disaster Relief Fund and the Legislative Council has approved Thursday a supplementary provision of 150 million HK dollars to replenish the fund to provide aid to the mainland drought victims.

The Legislative Council Finance Committee has established a fast-track mechanism to respond quickly to direct appeals for aid in kind from relief agencies. Under the mechanism, a grant of 2.8 million HK dollars was approved Thursday to World Vision to undertake a relief project for Guangxi and Yunnan drought victims.

The grants add to the earlier disbursement of 1.4 million HK dollars for the Amity Foundation to undertake relief projects in Guangxi and Yunnan, bringing the total value of grants for the mainland drought victims to 124.2 million HK dollars.

The recipient government authorities and relief organizations will provide information on the disbursement of the grant upon completion of the relief activities. (One U.S. dollar equals 7.759 HK dollars).