The Legislative Council (LegCo) yesterday urged the government to provide food allowances to help offset the impact of inflation on the grassroots.

The LegCo passed a motion yesterday, calling on the government to provide free breakfast and lunch to financially-struggling students, offer rent-free privileges to community groups to establish food banks, issue food coupons to the financially disadvantaged, encourage the public to donate food and curb supermarket chains from manipulating prices.

Labor sector legislator Kwong Chi-kin said the average pay rise can hardly catch up with the rising living cost. And poor families are most vulnerable to the inflation.

"There are families picking up leftovers by barbecue stoves in country parks. Some even search for food in rubbish bins," he said.

An old lady surnamed Chan, who is in the terminal stage of colon cancer and has had a stroke, lives on a monthly welfare payment of HK$2,020 and finds it hard to catch up with the increasing food prices.

On three occasions, she even picked up leftovers at shopping mall food courts.

"The rising prices are making my life miserable," she said.

Chan is one of the many elderly members that are suffering from hunger, a help group said.

In a recent investigation by the Against Elderly Abuse of Hong Kong (AEAHK), an average of eight elderly people consume leftovers at shopping mall food courts daily.

Some of them live in "cubicle apartments" in Sham Shui Po, and the monthly rent often exceeds their welfare payments.

A cleaner at Dragon Centre said food seekers mostly come during lunch time. "Some of them are old people, but some are in their 30s."

Roy Lam, the group's assistant executive director, said the group will express its concern at the LegCo welfare panel meeting today.

Pork and beef prices in April increased by 59.3 and 51.4 percent respectively from a year earlier. Prices of canned meat also increased by 44.5 percent.

The difficulties faced by the grassroots may intensify as restaurants are contemplating further price increases.

Chan Chee-shing, executive director of fast food chain Fairwood, expected prices to increase by two to three percent this year, after a five percent increase last year.

Federation of Restaurants and Related Trades president Simon Wong Ka-wo expected the overall food prices this year to be 20 percent more than last year because of the snowstorm earlier in the year on the mainland and the Sichuan earthquake.

The Olympics in August will worsen inflation as domestic demand will rise with the surge in the number of visitors.

Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood legislator Fung Kin-kee said the government should spend more on helping the poor considering its significant fiscal surplus.

However, according to Secretary for Labour and Welfare Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, the government has no intention to review welfare payments.

But he added that the Housing Department will offer a concessionary rent to community groups that use public housing units as food banks for the poor.

(HK Edition 06/12/2008 page1)