The government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) will allocate 490 million HK dollars(63.25 million U.S. dollars) for renovating six historic buildings, an official said here Tuesday.

Announcing the historic buildings to be included in the first batch of the Revitalization Scheme at a press conference, Hong Kong Secretary for Development Carrie Lam said all the projects selected were able to deliver the dual objectives of the revitalization scheme, which are preserving those historic buildings and at the same time putting them for use in the best interest of the community. Additionally, they are making significant contributions to the development of arts and culture, tourism, creative industries and traditional Chinese medicine, Lam said.

Six creative projects were selected to preserve the first batch of antiquities in the Revitalizing Historic Buildings Through Partnership Scheme. The projects include the Old Tai O Police Station, Fong Yuen Study Hall, Lai Chi Kok Hospital, Lui Seng Chun, the former North Kowloon Magistracy and Mei Ho House.

"The HKSAR government will allocate 490 million HK dollars(63. 25 million U.S. dollars) for renovating the historic buildings, except the North Kowloon Magistracy, which will be renovated at the applicant's own cost. Funding of 11 million HK dollars(1.42 million U.S. dollars) will also be reserved for the operation of the four social enterprises in initial years," Lam said.

"These revitalization projects will create about 1,000 jobs during the construction period, and about 500 full-time and part- time jobs upon commissioning," she added.

"Heritage conservation is an important and long-lasting endeavor. Despite the financial tsunami, the HKSAR government is determined to implement the heritage conservation policy, and to allocate more resources to take forward various heritage conservation measures," she said.

Lam also announced the historic buildings to be included in the second batch of the Revitalization Scheme. They are the Old Tai Po Police Station; the Blue House Cluster in Wan Chai; the Stone Houses in Kowloon City; the Old House at Wong Uk Village, Sha Tin, and the Former Fanling Magistracy.

(Xinhua News Agency February 17, 2009)