A 05/06-12

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 21 December 2005 at 11:00 am



I. Tabling of Papers
Subsidiary Legislation / InstrumentsL.N. No.
1.Legal Aid (Assessment of Resources and Contributions) (Amendment) Regulation 2005224/2005
2.Legal Aid (Charge on Property) (Rate of Interest) Regulation225/2005
3.Census and Statistics (2006 Population Census) Order226/2005
4.Adoption (Amendment) Ordinance 2004 (Commencement) Notice 227/2005
5.Convention Adoption (Exclusion) Order228/2005
6.Intercountry Adoption (Contracting States) Order 229/2005
7.Adoption (Amendment) Rules 2005230/2005
8.Convention Adoption Rules231/2005
9.Securities and Futures (Contracts Limits and Reportable Positions) (Amendment) (No. 2) Rules 2005232/2005
10.Road Traffic (Traffic Control) (Designation of Prohibited and Restricted Zones) (Amendment) Notice 2005233/2005

Other Papers

1. No.42-Occupational Safety and Health Council Annual Report 2004-2005
(to be presented by Secretary for Economic Development and Labour)

2. No.43-The Accounts of the Lotteries Fund 2004-05
(to be presented by Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury)

3. No.44 -Report of the Chinese Temples Committee on the administration of the General Chinese Charities Fund for the year ended 31 March 2005
(to be presented by Secretary for Home Affairs)

4. No.45 -Grantham Scholarships Fund Annual Report for the year ended 31 August 2005
(to be presented by Secretary for Home Affairs)

5. No.46-Report of the Chinese Temples Committee on the administration of the Chinese Temples Fund for the year ended 31 March 2005
(to be presented by Secretary for Home Affairs)

6. No.47-The Sir Murray MacLehose Trust Fund Trustee's Report for the period from 1 April 2004 to 31 March 2005
(to be presented by Secretary for Home Affairs)

7. No.48-Report of the Brewin Trust Fund Committee on the administration of the Fund for the year ended 30 June 2005
(to be presented by Secretary for Home Affairs)

8. No.49 -Secretary for Home Affairs Incorporated Audited Statement of Accounts and Auditor's Report for the year ended 31 March 2005
(to be presented by Secretary for Home Affairs)

9. No.50 -Report of the Board of Trustees for Sir Edward Youde Memorial Fund for the period from 1 April 2004 to 31 March 2005
(to be presented by Secretary for Home Affairs)

10. No.51 -Hong Kong Housing Authority Annual Report 2004/2005
(to be presented by Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands)

11. No.52 -Hong Kong Housing Authority Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2005
(to be presented by Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands)

12. No.53 -Police Welfare Fund Annual Report 2004/2005
(to be presented by Secretary for Security)

13. No.54-Annual Report on the Police Children's Education Trust and the Police Education and Welfare Trust for the year 2004/2005
(to be presented by Secretary for Security)

14. Report of the Subcommittee to Study the Administration's Proposals for the Methods for Selecting the Chief Executive in 2007 and for Forming the Legislative Council in 2008
(to be presented by Hon TAM Yiu-chung, Chairman of the Subcommittee, who will address the Council)

II. Questions

1. Dr Hon LUI Ming-wah to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that while the Chinese Government has not yet approved the planting and selling of genetically modified rice on a commercial scale, a green group has tested 16 rice samples from the wholesale and retail markets in Hubei Province and finds that 10 of these samples have been genetically modified, and some of the rice has even been exported to other provinces and cities including Guangdong Province. Since the Mainland is one of the sources of rice imported into Hong Kong, genetically modified rice which comes from unknown sources and has not undergone safety tests may possibly be imported into Hong Kong, hence posing a threat to public health. Regarding the monitoring of genetically modified foods, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it will, in the light of the above sample test results, ascertain if genetically modified rice has been imported from the Mainland into Hong Kong, and whether measures have been taken to curb the import into Hong Kong of genetically modified rice which does not have the Mainland authorities' approval for its planting and selling;

    (b)whether the authorities have taken samples of all imported rice and conducted DNA-tests on the rice samples, or have required rice importers to produce certification of the relevant tests; if not, whether they will, in the light of the above sample test results, conduct the tests or require the relevant certification, so as to ensure that all the imported rice is safe for consumption; and

    (c)as it has been reported that the European Union, the Mainland, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan, etc, have vigorously formulated and implemented legislation or mandatory labelling systems on monitoring genetically modified foods, whether the Hong Kong authorities will formulate and implement similar legislation or systems?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

2. Hon LAU Wong-fat to ask: (Translation)

As the Correctional Services Department ("CSD") conducts a thorough body search on each sentenced person or detainee upon admission to correctional institutions, including searching the rectum with fingers, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it is provided in the existing legislation that sentenced persons or detainees may not refuse rectal searches with fingers by CSD staff; if so, of the specific provisions; if not, how CSD handles such refusal cases;

    (b)whether CSD will accede to requests for replacing rectal searches with fingers by other means, such as applying laxatives or enema, made by sentenced persons or detainees on grounds of fear, illness such as haemorrhoid, religion or privacy, etc; and

    (c)of the reasons for CSD not following overseas practices, such as those of Ireland, of using X-ray devices for rectal searches?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

3. Hon WONG Ting-kwong to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that an officer of the Mainland Public Security Bureau has admitted that some Mainlanders came to Hong Kong with endorsements under the Individual Visit Scheme ("IVS") for committing crimes, and has indicated that the authorities concerned would step up cooperation with the Hong Kong Police to crack down on such criminals. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of a breakdown on the number of Mainlanders arrested since the implementation of the IVS, by the types of crimes allegedly committed by them, who came to Hong Kong with endorsements under the IVS; and

    (b)how the Police would strengthen its cooperation with the Public Security Bureau of the Mainland to curb such crimes?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

4. Hon Martin LEE to ask: (Translation)

The Constitutional Development Task Force of the Government has pointed out in its Fifth Report that during the consultation on its Fourth Report, the views received on the future of functional constituencies included the suggestions for setting up a "bicameral system" in the legislature of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ("HKSAR"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it has assessed if the establishment of a "bicameral system" in the legislature of HKSAR will contravene the Basic Law; if it will, of the rationale for that; if it will not, the reasons for that? Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Constitutional Affairs

5. Hon Audrey EU to ask: (Translation)

At the end of last month, the Government made use of the evening prime-time slots of three commercial television stations to broadcast the statement of the Chief Executive ("CE"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether the television segment was produced by the Information Services Department; if not, the reasons for the authorities' engaging outside production companies to produce it; the amount of expenses involved and the government department which bears the expenses;

    (b)of the reasons for CE deciding to use the evening prime-time slots of those television stations to broadcast the statement; whether such time slots had originally been allocated to the Government free of charge, and the amount of advertising costs for the use of these time slots when converting them into advertising time; and

    (c)whether currently there is any policy regulating the use of electronic media by CE and principal officials for political publicity; if so, of the details; and whether the authorities will, in their future production of political publicity programmes which involve criticisms on other persons, consider providing a similar amount of time in the programmes, for those who have been criticized to have a fair chance to respond?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

6. Hon CHAN Kam-lam to ask: (Translation)

In the Shenzhen 2030 Development Strategy published early this month, the Shenzhen Planning Bureau stated its wish for Shenzhen and Hong Kong to cooperate and develop jointly into an international metropolis. Regarding the integration of Shenzhen and Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it will establish a regular mechanism with the Shenzhen authorities to consider how the Shenzhen 2030 Development Strategy and the Hong Kong 2030: Planning Vision and Strategy prepared by the Hong Kong Planning Department may tie in with each other;

    (b)whether, in addition to the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Western Corridor under construction and the Eastern Corridor under consideration, the authorities have studied other cross-boundary links; if not, of the reasons for that; and

    (c)of the timing for the existing boundary control points to implement co-location of immigration and customs facilities, in order to enhance efficiency and promote the integration of Shenzhen and Hong Kong?
Public Officers to reply : Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands
Secretary for Security
Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

*7. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)

The Community Investment and Inclusion Fund ("CIIF") set up by the authorities with the provision of $300 million in February 2002 aims to develop social capital. As at August this year, CIIF has allocated a total of $65,151,283 for 82 organizations. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
    (a)in respect of the CIIF Committee, its Assessment Sub-Committee and the CIIF Secretariat:

    (i)of the respective numbers of meetings convened for assessing funding applications, the lists of present and absent members at such meetings, as well as the number of applications assessed at each meeting; and

    (ii)of the respective numbers of site visits conducted and the lists of members attending such visits;

    (b)of the percentage of the projects' administrative costs in the total amount of funds allocated to the projects; and

    (c)whether an appeal mechanism is in place for the organizations whose funding applications have been rejected; if so, of the numbers of organizations which have lodged appeals and those whose appeals have been allowed; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

*8. Hon Timothy FOK Tsun-ting to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the mini-soccer pitches under the Leisure and Cultural Services Department ("LCSD"), will the Government inform this Council of:
    (a)the respective numbers and locations of those mini-soccer pitches in respect of which artificial turfing works were completed in the past three years, are being carried out or will be carried out, as well as the completion date of the entire project; and

    (b)the average usage rate of mini-soccer pitches where such works have been completed?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

*9. Hon LI Kwok-ying to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the hiring of venues in the community halls and community centres under the Home Affairs Department by local organizations to organize community activities, will the Government inform this Council of:
    (a)the number of complaints received by the Administration in each of the past three years that some people applied for hiring these venues in the names of different organizations so as to boost their chance of success; how the Administration followed up these complaints;

    (b)the measures to curb such practice to ensure that all local organizations have equal chances to hire these venues; and

    (c)the measures to prevent hirers from using these venues for profit-making activities?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

*10. Hon Albert HO to ask: (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)when the redeveloped Pok Oi Hospital will officially resume full operation;

    (b)whether accident and emergency ("A&E") service will be provided by Pok Oi Hospital immediately upon resumption of its full operation; if so, of the measures taken by the Hospital Authority ("HA") to ensure the smooth provision of A&E service by the hospital; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c)of the arrangements to be made by HA for the staff of Pok Oi Hospital deployed to other hospitals during its redevelopment, and whether there is a need to recruit additional medical and nursing staff for the hospital; if so, of the number of additional staff involved; if not, how HA will ensure that there will be adequate staff to cater for the additional services to be provided by Pok Oi Hospital following resumption of its full operation?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

*11. Hon SIN Chung-kai to ask: (Translation)

Since February 2003, members of the public have been free to use, for personal communications, walkie-talkies operating within the frequency band of 409.74 - 410 MHz and of effective radiated power not exceeding 0.5 Walt, without the need to obtain licences. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of complaints received since February 2003 about interferences caused to other telecommunications apparatus by the use of walkie-talkies not conforming to the prescribed specifications; the procedure adopted for handling such complaints, the number of prosecutions against the relevant persons, as well as the measures to curb such interferences;

    (b)of the public education plan to alert people that, in purchasing walkie-talkies, they should pay heed to whether the products have been certified by the Office of the Telecommunications Authority ("OFTA") as conforming to the technical specifications prescribed by OFTA;

    (c)whether it will issue guidelines on the use of walkie-talkies for reference by the public; if it will, of the details of the guidelines; if it will not, the reasons for that; and

    (d)as it will open up the frequency band of 26.96 - 27.41 MHz for public use and designate Channel 9 of the band solely for emergency communications, whether it will also designate Channel 9 of the frequency band of 409.74 - 410 MHz solely for emergency communications and deploy staff to constantly monitor the contents of the communications in that channel; if it will, of the details; if it will not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology

*12. Hon Howard YOUNG to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the deployment by franchised bus companies of low-floor buses to provide service, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the current number of low-floor buses in the fleet of each franchised bus company, the routes and districts to which these buses are mainly deployed, their frequencies expressed as a percentage of the total frequencies of the relevant routes, and the number of low-floor buses planned to be purchased in the coming five years by each company;

    (b)whether the franchised bus companies have looked into the passenger demand on different routes for low-floor bus services; if not, of the respective criteria adopted by the companies for deciding on the deployment of low-floor buses to individual routes; and

    (c)of the channels through which passengers in need, such as wheelchair users and mobility-handicapped persons, learn whether there are low-floor buses serving a particular bus route and about their schedules?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

*13. Hon WONG Kwok-hing to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the use of prefabricated building components in public housing construction projects, will the Government inform this Council of the following since January 2000:
    (a)the value and quantity of prefabricated building components used each year by public housing contractors and, among them, the respective percentages of components which were prefabricated locally and imported, together with a breakdown of imported components by place of manufacture; and

    (b)the annual number of workers, broken down by job types, who would otherwise be involved in in-situ construction processes at construction sites had such construction processes not been replaced by such imported components?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands

*14. Dr Hon Joseph LEE Kok-long to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the manpower of nursing staff of the Hospital Authority ("HA"), will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the reasons for the decrease in the number of HA's nursing staff vis-a-vis the preceding year, and the rank distribution of the nursing staff who departed in each of the past five years;

    (b)as the number of HA's nursing staff decreased from 19 727 in 2000-01 to 19 162 in 2004-05, of the reasons for HA not having filled the vacant posts; whether such reasons include the shortage of nurses who have received training at Bachelor's degree level at universities, and the existing nursing staff not having been promoted to the rank of senior nursing officer or nurse specialist due to their inadequate training and experience;

    (c)if the reasons mentioned in item (b) include the shortage of nurses who have received training at the Bachelor's degree level, whether the Administration has followed up with the University Grants Committee ("UGC") on the outcome of the proposed increase in the student number targets for nursing education offered by UGC-funded institutions in the coming three years; if so, of the details; and

    (d)if the reasons mentioned in item (b) include the existing nursing staff not having been promoted, whether HA will allocate additional resources to provide training for the staff concerned?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

*15. Hon CHEUNG Hok-ming to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that a petrochemical plant in Daya Bay ("Daya Bay plant") is scheduled to officially commence operation in December this year. Nevertheless, the explosion of a petrochemical plant in Jinlin and the resultant pollution of the Songhua River and temporary suspension of water supply in Harbin etc. have aroused concerns of the public and green groups in Hong Kong about issues such as the safety and environmental impacts of the Daya Bay plant. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether the Hong Kong authorities have measures to monitor the operational safety of the Daya Bay plant; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (b)whether the Hong Kong authorities will be immediately notified of any leakage of chemicals from the Daya Bay plant; if so, of the notification mechanism involved, and the contingency and preventive measures, which the Hong Kong authorities have in place, to prevent such contaminants from entering Hong Kong and causing health hazards to the public and damage to the environment of Hong Kong; and

    (c)whether it has measures to monitor whether local agricultural products have been contaminated as a result of the operation of the Daya Bay plant?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

*16. Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the planning of private hospital services by the Government, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the overall utilization ratio of private hospitals in Hong Kong in each of the past 10 years, and the reasons for changes in such ratios;

    (b)of the authorities' estimated number of additional beds to be provided under the expansion project of various private hospitals in the coming five years; if the authorities cannot provide such information, the reasons for that;

    (c)whether it has assessed if the existing provision of beds in private hospitals can meet the demand for private medical services after their re-positioning, and whether the authorities have policies on encouraging non-governmental or private organizations to establish new private hospitals; and

    (d)whether any non-governmental or private organizations have discussed with the authorities the construction of new private hospitals in Hong Kong since the commissioning of the newest private hospital in 1995, and whether the relevant hospital sites include the private hospital site in Wong Chuk Hang?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

*17. Hon TAM Heung-man to ask: (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether the authorities introduced, in the past three years, language education programmes which were not funded by the Language Fund; if so, of the details of the programmes (including their contents and assessment methods) and the resources involved;

    (b)whether it has reviewed the effectiveness of the above programmes; if so, of the review results; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c)whether it plans to put forward new language education programmes which are not funded by the Language Fund or revise the existing ones; if so, of the details of the plan; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

*18. Hon LEE Wing-tat to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the crackdown on touting activities of taxi operators/drivers through the offer of fare discounts, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the respective numbers of prosecutions instituted by the Police against those engaged in touting activities, and by the Office of the Telecommunications Authority against those who used illegal telecommunication devices for touting and, among such cases, the numbers of convictions in each year since January 2004;

    (b)whether it has assessed the effectiveness of such enforcement actions; if it has, of the outcome of the assessment; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c)whether it has discussed with various taxi associations the possibility of adjusting downward the scale of taxi fares prescribed by the law, in order to eliminate such touting activities; if it has, of the details of the discussions; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

*19. Hon Andrew CHENG to ask: (Translation)

I have recently received complaints that quite a number of motorcycles have been burnt in arson attacks in recent years. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of cases in which motorcycles were allegedly burnt in arson attacks, the total number of motorcycles involved, and the percentage of detected cases in the total number of such cases in each of the past three years, as well as the general motives behind the arson attacks as reflected by the detected cases;

    (b)whether the percentage of motorcycles burnt in arson attacks in the total number of motorcycles was higher than that of private cars in each of the past three years; if so, whether the authorities have reviewed the reasons for that; and

    (c)how it can prevent the recurrence of similar crimes?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

*For written reply.

III. Motions

Government motions

  1. Motion on the Amendment to the Method for the Selection of the Chief Executive

    Secretary for Constitutional Affairs to move the following motion:

    Pursuant to Article 7 of Annex I to the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (that is, amendments must be made with the endorsement of a two-thirds majority of all the members of the Legislative Council and the consent of the Chief Executive, and they shall be reported to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for approval), the Interpretation by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of Article 7 of Annex I and Article III of Annex II to the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, and the Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Issues relating to the Methods for Selecting the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in the year 2007 and for Forming the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in the year 2008, the "(Draft) Amendment to Annex I to the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China Regarding the Method for the Selection of the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region" annexed to this Motion is hereby endorsed by this Council by a two-thirds majority of all Members, for submission to the Chief Executive for consent, and thence for reporting by the Chief Executive to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for approval.

    Annex

    (Draft) Amendment to Annex I to the Basic Law
    of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
    of the People's Republic of China Regarding the
    Method for the Selection of the Chief Executive of the
    Hong Kong Special Administrative Region


    1.The Election Committee to elect the third term Chief Executive in 2007 shall be composed of 1 600 members from the following sectors:

    Industrial, commercial and financial sectors300
    The professions300
    Labour, social services, religious and other sectors300
    Members of the Legislative Council, members of the District Councils, representatives of the Heung Yee Kuk, Hong Kong deputies to the National People's Congress, representatives of Hong Kong members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference

    		700

    The term of office of the Election Committee shall be five years.

    2.Candidates for the office of Chief Executive may be nominated jointly by not less than 200 members of the Election Committee. Each member may nominate only one candidate.

  2. Motion on the Amendment to the Method for the Formation of the Legislative Council

    Secretary for Constitutional Affairs to move the following motion:

    Pursuant to Article III of Annex II to the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (that is, amendments must be made with the endorsement of a two-thirds majority of all the members of the Legislative Council and the consent of the Chief Executive, and they shall be reported to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for the record), the Interpretation by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of Article 7 of Annex I and Article III of Annex II to the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, and the Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Issues relating to the Methods for Selecting the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in the year 2007 and for Forming the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in the year 2008, the "(Draft) Amendment to Annex II to the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China Regarding the Method for the Formation of the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and its Voting Procedures" annexed to this Motion is hereby endorsed by this Council by a two-thirds majority of all Members, for submission to the Chief Executive for consent, and thence for reporting by the Chief Executive to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for the record.

    Annex

    (Draft) Amendment to Annex II to the Basic Law
    of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
    of the People's Republic of China Regarding the
    Method for the Formation of the Legislative Council of the Hong
    Kong Special Administrative Region
    and its Voting Procedures

    The fourth term Legislative Council in the year 2008 shall be composed of 70 members, and the composition shall be as follows:
    Members returned by functional constituencies35
    Members returned by geographical constituencies through direct elections35


Clerk to the Legislative Council