As regards the general issue of disclosure of consultancy reports commissioned by the Government, there are already established arrangements for Bureaux and Departments to consult the relevant Panels of the Legislative Council before and after the commissioning of these studies, especially where significant funding or policies are involved. I am pleased that in noting the MAA with the VTC, the Finance Committee has supported the new funding arrangements which will give the VTC greater flexibility in managing its resources to meet changing demands and greater incentive to achieve productivity savings. These improvements are part of the Administration's efforts to invigorate the subvention system in order to bring out the greatest potential of our Non-Government Organisations in providing services to the community. I look forward to Members' support of our similar endeavours in other sectors. Water Purchased from Guangdong Province I now turn to a subject of much concern to the community, and that is water supply.
Water is essential for life.
Given our very limited local water resources, Hong Kong must obtain a reliable water supply to meet our primary need and sustain its stability and prosperity. With the co-operation from Guangdong, we secured a more reliable water supply from Dongjiang in 1989. In fact, Dongjiang water has played an extremely important role in supporting our lives and sustaining the economic growth of Hong Kong over the past 30 years. It should be noted that negotiating for a steady and reliable supply of raw water to meet growing population needs is no easy task. Heavy and front-end loaded capital investment in infrastructure is involved and some projections of demand are unavoidable.