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Circular Memorandum No. 13/99 recently announced details of the Long Service Travel Award Scheme for 1999/2000.
In a nutshell, all local non-directorate officers with a 'continuous' period of service of 20 years or more as at October 1, 1998 are eligible for consideration for the award.
An officer who has already received a merit trip award under the former Merit Trip Scheme or a travel award under this scheme through the entitlement of his/her spouse is not eligible for the award.
The award takes the form of a travel allowance fixed at a maximum of $14,400 for each officer. No baggage allowance will be payable. If an officer is married, a similar travel allowance will be provided for his/her spouse, provided that he/she accompanies the officer. The use of the travel allowance is subject to the following conditions :
(a) the officer (and his/her spouse) must undertake one round trip of recreational travel outside Hong Kong and Macau before March 31, 2000 or before the officer's pre-retirement leave ends, whichever is the earlier. The allowance cannot be split to cover the expenses of more than one tour;
(b) the officer will not be permitted to increase his/her allowance by off-setting savings from his/her spouse's allowance, or vise versa;
(c) the officer may travel to any country outside Hong Kong and Macau subject to the usual regulations for visits to foreign countries. There will be no limit on the duration of the travel but the officer will have to use earned leave for the purpose;
(d) the travel allowance can be used to cover passage costs outside Hong Kong and Macau, including travel by coach, rail and ferry. The allowance can also be used to pay for accommodation, package tours, car-hire, Hong Kong Security Service Charge and airport departure tax; and
(e) the travel allowance is fully accountable i.e. it only covers actual expenses. The officer must retain the used air tickets and all receipts for the travel-related expenses and submit them as evidence of travel within one month on completion of the travel.
The travel arrangements may be made with any airline office or travel agent. The officer may request the Treasury to pay the airline or travel agent direct (if they belong to the International Air Transport Association, have offices in Hong Kong and accept Government's payment procedures), or pay by himself and seek reimbursement with the receipts.
Eligible and interested officers should pay attention to the relevant Force Orders on the subject.
For enquires, please call the Staff Relations Hotline(2866-7519).
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