HOSTEL OF HOPE FOR RUNAWAY CHILDREN

CYNTHIA WAN of South China Morning Post

Hong Kong: March 19 -- A 12-storey hostel will be built to provide accommodation for runaway children and hard-up teenagers. The $85 million centre will be built on a parking lot next to Sai Wan Ho MTR station with an area of about 1,220 square metres.  Youth Outreach, the hostel's operator, is to raise $15 million to cover the cost after the Jockey Club granted it $70 million.  Executive director Father Peter Newbery said a crisis intervention centre would be operating overnight to help street children or runaway youths settle in the temporary home. There will also be transitional housing at low rental for a maximum of one year for teenage workers who cannot afford to rent a home.

"We stress the importance of responsibilities and independence," Father Newbery said. "Young people who are making money will be charged a cheap rate. They will learn how to transform from childhood to adulthood and will be taught some practical skills, like doing laundry."

The exact rate would be determined according to the income of the young workers. Father Newbery said there would be special shelters for non-Chinese speaking youths as Outreach workers had come across runaway children of Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Indonesian, Indian and Pakistani origin.  Youth Outreach has been running three mobile teams to pick up street children across the territory after midnight since 1991. Two hostels operating in Yau Ma Tei and Chai Wan will move into the complex, which will include a recreational and art centre. Construction work will start as soon as the land is made available by the Lands Department.  A spokeswoman for Planning, Environment and Lands said the Government was still trying to decide on the land premium and could give no specific date when the land could be released.