II. Questions for Written Replies

1. Hon LAU Kong-wah to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the sale of public rental housing ("PRH") units under the Tenants Purchase Scheme ("TPS"), will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the number of PRH units sold and the revenue so generated in each of the first three phases of the Scheme; the respective numbers of cases in which the purchase prices were paid in lump sum and those in which the flats were bought with mortgage loans;
(b)	whether it plans to continue with the TPS in 2004 and beyond; and
(c)	whether PRH units which were completed before 1982 will be sold; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

2. Hon James TO to ask: (Translation)

With the inclusion of most blocks of Shek Kip Mei Estate into the Comprehensive Redevelopment Programme ("CRP"), the Administration is now rehousing the residents there and demolishing the blocks concerned. I have received complaints from residents of the Estate about drug addicts frequenting the Estate and allegedly causing law and order problems. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council, in order to ensure the safety of the households in the Estate who have yet to move out, whether it will consider installing temporary iron gates at the ground floor lobby of each housing block expeditiously; if not, the reasons for that, and of the other measures to safeguard the safety of the households?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing

3. Hon HUI Cheung-ching to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the operation of container terminals, will the Government inform this Council of:

(a)	the respective expiry dates of the land lease of each container terminal; and
(b)	the plans to introduce new container terminal operators?

4. Hon Eric LI to ask: (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council, in respect of the cases which have been audited by the Field Audit Group of the Inland Revenue Department, of the respective amounts of back profits tax and salaries tax recovered in the assessment year 2000-01?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Treasury

5. Hon Frederick FUNG to ask: (Translation)

The Smoking (Public Health) Ordinance (Cap. 371) prohibits the publication, displaying and broadcasting of tobacco advertisements, but not those of non-tobacco products or services carrying brand names of tobacco products. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of the measures in place to prevent tobacco companies from promoting their tobacco products indirectly through advertisements of such non-tobacco products or services (such as watches and group tours); if there are no such measures, of the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare

6. Hon CHOY So-yuk to ask: (Translation)

In view of the poor reception of Radio Television Hong Kong's Putonghua Channel programmes at many places in Hong Kong, which are now broadcast by amplitude modulation ("AM"), will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	whether it has assessed if the reception problem has hindered the promotion of Putonghua in Hong Kong; if the assessment result is in the affirmative, of the improvement measures; if the assessment concludes otherwise, the justifications for that; and
(b)	of the measures to solve the problem, including whether it will consider switching the Putonghua Channel to frequency modulation ("FM") broadcasting?

7. Hon Cyd HO to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ("HKSAR") has proposed to the Central People's Government ("CPG") the removal of the reservations made by the Government of the United Kingdom in respect of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights ("ICESCR") when it was extended to Hong Kong in 1976. Regarding the ICESCR and five other international human rights treaties applicable to the HKSAR, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the reservations made in respect of the ICESCR that have been proposed for removal; if only some of the reservations have been proposed for removal, when it plans to propose the removal of the remaining reservations; if it has no plan to remove all the reservations, of the reasons for that;
(b)	whether it will propose that the CPG, on behalf of the HKSAR, remove the reservations made in respect of the other five international human rights treaties applicable to the HKSAR as well; if so, when it will put forward such a proposal; if not, of the reasons for that; and
(c)	as the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress made a declaration with respect to subparagraph 1(a) of Article 8 of the ICESCR when ratifying it at the end of February this year, stating that the Chinese Government would handle, in accordance with relevant legislation, matters concerning the right to freely form and join trade unions, whether it has assessed if the declaration is applicable to the HKSAR; if it is applicable, of the measures it will adopt to ensure that the right to form and join trade unions as enjoyed by Hong Kong people will not be affected?

8. Hon LAW Chi-kwong to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the implementation of the Chiropractors Registration Ordinance (Cap. 428) and the composition of the Chiropractors Council, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)

why some provisions of the Ordinance, which was enacted in 1993, have not yet been put into operation; whether a timetable has been drawn up for implementing these provisions; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

(b)

whether it has assessed if the five chiropractors serving as members of the existing Chiropractors Council can sufficiently represent the chiropractic profession; of the expiry dates of their appointments; and whether there are plans to appoint as members of the Council chiropractors affiliated with various trade associations or organizations when the opportunity arises, so as to enhance the Council's representativeness?

9. Hon Fred LI to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the supply-and-demand of District Open Space and Local Open Space in Kwun Tong District and Wong Tai Sin District, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the current population and the respective areas designated for these two types of space in each of these two districts, and the geographical statistical breakdowns by:
	(i)	the regions for which various Area Committees under the Home Affairs Department are responsible ("HAD regions"); and
	(ii)	the zones as delineated by Approved Outline Zoning Plans ("planning zones");
(b)	according to the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines ("HKPSG"), the respective areas of the two types of space that should be provided in these two districts, their HAD regions and planning zones;
(c)	of details of the supply-and-demand situation in the next ten years regarding the two types of open space in these two districts, their HAD regions and planning zones; and
(d)	if the provision of the two types of open space in these two districts, their HAD regions or planning zones are below the relevant standards set in HKPSG, of the long-term measures in place to meet the shortfall?

10. Hon Howard YOUNG to ask:

I have received complaints that tourist coaches bound for Repulse Bay Beach cannot find enough parking lots in the vicinity and have to park along the narrow Beach Road, and that the wooden boards now enclosing the construction works alongside the Lido section of Beach Road are very unsightly. Given that Repulse Bay Beach is a popular tourist spot and in view of the upcoming swimming season, will the Government inform this Council whether it will take measures to improve the parking condition there and the streetscape of Beach Road?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport

11. Ir Dr Hon HO Chung-tai to ask: (Translation)

With regard to cross-border infrastructual projects, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the number and average frequency of meetings held by the Hong Kong and Mainland Cross-Boundary Major Infrastructure Co-ordinating Committee ("ICC") since the reunification, as well as the date of the last ICC meeting; and
(b)	whether, in comparison with Hong Kong, the relevant Mainland authorities make faster progress in constructing cross-border road and railway links; if so, of the reasons for that and the names of the infrastructural projects involved; as well as how it plans to expedite the works on the Hong Kong side?

12. Hon Albert CHAN to ask: (Translation)

The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department's refuse collection vehicle depot in Yuen Long has long daily operation hours and generates stenches and noises, causing serious nuisances to the residents of Tin Wah Estate in Tin Shui Wai, which is less than 20 metres away. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the solution to the above problem;
(b)	whether it will consider relocating refuse collection vehicle depots which are quite close to residential premises; and
(c)	how the relevant authorities will avoid such problems when planning for land uses in the future?

13. Hon LAU Kong-wah to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the search for missing persons, will the Government inform this Council of:

(a)	the number of reports to the Police on person missing in each of the past three years, together with a breakdown of the missing persons concerned by sex and age group (each covering five years);
(b)	the number of missing persons found in each of the past three years;
(c)	the usual channels for the Administration to search for missing persons; and
(d)	the circumstances under which the Administration will pass information about missing persons to the relevant Mainland authorities, and request their assistance in searching for these persons?

14. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)

In 1998, the Government provided an interest-free loan of HK$2,364 million to the Guangdong Provincial People's Government to help finance the construction of a closed aqueduct in Guangdong Province for conveying potable water from Dongjiang to Hong Kong. The construction project commenced in August last year and is expected to be completed in 2003. However, some Hong Kong deputies to the National People's Congress have recently raised queries on the project, claiming that the water quality of the lower reaches of Dongjiang will deteriorate upon the commissioning of the aqueduct. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council whether:

(a)	they know the details of the queries mentioned above and whether they have examined if such queries are well founded;
(b)	they know the current progress of the construction project; and
(c)	to prevent the pollution of Dongjiang water, they will propose to the relevant Mainland authorities suspending the construction project and, in its place, building adequate sewage treatment works along the mainstream and tributaries of Dongjiang?

15. Hon Eric LI to ask: (Translation)

Will the Government provide this Council with the following breakdowns of the revenue on the profits tax and salaries tax, estimated to be HK$41.2 billion and HK$25.5 billion respectively, in the 2000-01 assessment year:

(a)	the respective amounts of taxes levied on the assessable profits and income earned in that assessment year;
(b)	the respective amounts of provisional profits and salaries taxes levied on the assessable profits and income estimated to be earned in the following assessment year;
(c)	the respective amounts of back taxes levied in respect of past assessment years; and
(d)	the amounts of protective assessments made in respect of cases under investigation?

16. Hon HUI Cheung-ching to ask: (Translation)

At the meeting of the Panel on Commerce and Industry of this Council on 8 January this year, the Administration advised that the relevant Mainland authorities were considering posting representative(s) of the Mainland's Customs General Administration to the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to assist Hong Kong businessmen in reflecting matters about the enforcement of law by customs authorities of the Mainland. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows the progress thereof, including the specific responsibilities of the representative(s) concerned?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Industry

17. Hon CHOY So-yuk to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that last year saw a substantial increase in the number of cases in which tourists were pick-pocketed in Hong Kong, as compared to the preceding year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:

(a)	the conviction rate on pick-pocketing offences last year, and the conviction rate in those cases in which the victims were tourists; and
(b)	the measures in place to boost the conviction rate in respect of those cases in which the victims were tourists, such as by simplifying the prosecution procedure and shortening the time for setting down the cases for trial?

18. Hon Fred LI to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the Comprehensive Redevelopment Programme ("CRP") for public rental housing estates, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the time lapse to date since the site at Lam Tin Estate became vacant after Blocks 1 to 4 were demolished under the Programme, and the reasons for that; as well as the details and timeframe of the development plan concerned;
(b)	of the number of CRP sites which have been left vacant for more than one year in the past three years, and the locations of such sites as well as the reasons for individual sites being left vacant; and
(c)	whether it has formulated policies or internal guidelines on the progress of the redevelopment programme and the maximum permissible period for such sites to be left vacant etc.; if it has, of the details?

19. Ir Dr Hon HO Chung-tai to ask: (Translation)

With regard to the employment of disabled persons, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	whether it has conducted statistical surveys on the employment situation of disabled persons in the past three years, with specific reference to the first year after they graduated from or dropped out of school; if so, of the details;
(b)	whether government departments provide employment specifically for disabled persons; if so, of the details; and
(c)	of the measures in place to assist the disabled in finding employment?

20. Hon Albert CHAN to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the protection of owners of private domestic flats from tenants who wilfully default on rent payments, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the measures in place to protect the owners from defaults on rent payments; and
(b)	of the timing to introduce amendments to the Landlord and Tenant (Consolidation) Ordinance (Cap. 7) with a view to strengthening the protection of owners' rights?

III. Bills

First Reading

1. Attachment of Income Orders (Amendment) Bill 2001
2. Banking (Amendment) Bill 2001

Second Reading (Debates to be adjourned)

Second Reading (Debates to resume), Committee Stage and Third Reading

Clerk to the Legislative Council