A 00/01-8(1)

Legislative Council

Agenda
Wednesday 15 November 2000 at 2:30 pm

I. Tabling of Papers

Subsidiary Legislation / InstrumentsL.N. No.
1.Specification of Arrangements (Government of the Kingdom of Denmark Concerning Air Services) (Double Taxation) Order298/2000
2.Specification of Arrangements (Government of the Kingdom of Norway Concerning Air Services) (Double Taxation) Order299/2000
3.Specification of Arrangements (Government of the Kingdom of Sweden Concerning Air Services) (Double Taxation) Order300/2000
4.Waste Disposal (Chemical Waste) (General) (Amendment) Regulation 2000301/2000
5.Waste Disposal (Permits and Licences) (Forms and Fees) (Amendment) Regulation 2000302/2000
6.Water Pollution Control (General) (Amendment) Regulation 2000303/2000
7.Air Pollution Control (Asbestos) (Administration) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulation 2000304/2000
8.Air Pollution Control (Open Burning) (Amendment) Regulation 2000305/2000
9.Air Pollution Control (Specified Processes) (Amendment) Regulation 2000306/2000
10.Noise Control (General) (Amendment) Regulation 2000307/2000
11.Noise Control (Air Compressors) (Amendment) Regulation 2000308/2000
12.Noise Control (Hand Held Percussive Breakers) (Amendment) Regulation 2000309/2000
13.Ozone Layer Protection (Fees) (Amendment) Regulation 2000310/2000
14.Environmental Impact Assessment (Fees) (Amendment) Regulation 2000311/2000
15.Dumping at Sea (Fees) (Amendment) Regulation 2000312/2000
16.Medical Registration (Fees) (Amendment) Regulation 2000313/2000
17.Dentists (Registration and Disciplinary Procedure) (Amendment) Regulation 2000314/2000
18.Ancillary Dental Workers (Dental Hygienists) (Amendment) Regulation 2000315/2000
19.Midwives Registration (Fees) (Amendment) Regulation 2000316/2000
20.Nurses (Registration and Disciplinary Procedure) (Amendment) Regulation 2000317/2000
21.Enrolled Nurses (Enrolment and Disciplinary Procedure) (Amendment) Regulation 2000318/2000
22.Medical Laboratory Technologists (Registration and Disciplinary Procedure) (Amendment) Regulation 2000319/2000
23.Occupational Therapists (Registration and Disciplinary Procedure) (Amendment) Regulation 2000320/2000
24.Optometrists (Registration and Disciplinary Procedure) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulation 2000321/2000
25.Physiotherapists (Registration and Disciplinary Procedure) (Amendment) Regulation 2000322/2000
26.Radiographers (Registration and Disciplinary Procedure) (Amendment) Regulation 2000323/2000
27.Dutiable Commodities (Amendment) Regulation 2000324/2000
28.Gambling (Amendment) Regulation 2000325/2000
29.Declaration of Change of Titles (Senior Management Personnel of Civil Aviation Department) Notice 2000326/2000

Other Papers

1.No.27-Accounts of the Government for the year ended 31 March 2000
(to be presented by Secretary for the Treasury)

2.No.28-Report of the Director of Audit on the Accounts of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for the year ended 31 March 2000
(to be presented by the President)

3. No.29-Report No. 35 of the Director of Audit on the results of value for money audits - October 2000
(to be presented by the President)


II. Questions

1. Hon LEUNG Yiu-chung to ask: (Translation)

It was reported that the Government had discussed with a company the implementation of a pilot scheme under which the company would be partially funded by the Government to deploy its staff to various public housing estates to collect plastic household waste, and the waste so collected would be cleaned and compressed and then transported to waste recyclers for recycling. It was anticipated that some ten or more jobs would be created as a result of the implementation of such a scheme. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the details of the above pilot scheme and the progress of the relevant discussions, and whether it has plans to extend the scope of the scheme to cover other types of waste;

    (b)given that a number of bodies have proposed to the Government that financial assistance should be provided for the unemployed and the low-income groups to engage in waste recovery, of the reasons for considering only the above scheme which will provide just a few jobs; and

    (c)whether it will consider helping the unemployed and the low-income groups to engage in waste recovery on a similar funding basis; if so, of the details and the proposed amount of allocation; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply:Secretary for the Environment and Food

2. Hon Emily LAU to ask:(Translation)

Will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of female persons who died of breast cancer in each of the past five years, and how such number compares to the numbers of female persons who died of other types of cancer in the corresponding year;

    (b)how the incidence rate of breast cancer in Hong Kong compares to those in neighbouring territories; and

    (c)whether additional resources will be allocated to enhance public awareness of breast cancer?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare

3. Hon CHEUNG Man-kwong to ask: (Translation)

Since December 1998, all employment contracts signed between the Government and its contract staff have stipulated that the amount of end-of-contract gratuity payable to the staff member upon completion of the contract shall be reduced by the Mandatory Provident Fund Scheme contributions the Government has made in respect of the staff member during the contract period. A considerable number of public-funded organizations have followed suit. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the current number of people bound by such terms among the contract staff of all government secondary and primary schools; whether these employees may refuse to accept such terms;

    (b)whether it knows the number of contract staff bound by such terms in each of the public-funded tertiary institutions and other organizations; and

    (c)as the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Ordinance stipulates that employers shall, "from the employer's own funds, contribute to the relevant registered scheme", of the justifications for its opinion that such terms of employment do not violate the stipulation?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Civil Service

4. Hon WONG Yung-kan to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that the Administration plans to designate the waters south of Cheung Chau as a permanent dumping area for construction waste. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

    (a)of the possible sites which it has considered, and the reasons for choosing the above waters;

    (b)whether any feasibility study and environmental impact assessment ("EIA") will be conducted before the implementation of the above plan; if so, of the details and timetables of such studies; whether the scope of the EIA will cover the impact of the proposed project on the marine ecosystem of the waters as well as the fishing and fish farming industries; and

    (c)whether fishermen's organizations will be consulted; if not, of the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply: Secretary for the Environment and Food

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

It was reported that an overseas company which had contacted the Administration to indicate its intention to construct a semiconductor chip fabrication plant in Hong Kong eventually decided to construct the plant in Shanghai, China. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it knows the reasons for the company's decision not to construct the plant in Hong Kong;

    (b)of the number of overseas companies which have contacted the Administration in the past two years to indicate their intention to invest in the construction of this type of plants in Hong Kong; and

    (c)whether it has assessed the adequacy of favourable conditions in Hong Kong for attracting foreign investments in constructing plants of this type here; if it has, whether such assessment reports will be made available to this Council; if the assessment result shows otherwise, of its plans to improve Hong Kong's conditions for attracting such investments?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Industry

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

On 20 October, the collision avoidance system of a passenger aircraft was activated when the aircraft was about to land at the Beijing international airport on a flight from Hong Kong to Beijing. On 1 November, another passenger aircraft flying from Rome to Hong Kong had to turn back to the Rome airport shortly after take-off. Both incidents involved two Hong Kong-based airlines. Regarding the liaison mechanisms for aviation safety incidents outside the territory involving passenger aircraft to and from Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council:

    (a)whether it knows the respective numbers of aviation safety incidents involving each of the two airlines over the past three years and the details of such incidents;

    (b)of the current liaison mechanisms set up between the Government and these two airlines in respect of aviation safety incidents, and whether such mechanisms are different from those made between the Government and other non-Hong Kong-based airlines; if so, of the details; and

    (c)whether the Administration will take the initiative to seek detailed information from these two airlines on any aviation safety incidents involving their aircraft or from the civil aviation authorities of the countries where these incidents have occurred, and request them to provide the relevant investigation reports; if so, of the details of the above two incidents; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Economic Services

*7. Hon Fred LI to ask: (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council of:

    (a)the existing ordinances it can invoke to prosecute households for allowing muddy water to drip when watering their pot plants or discarding wastewater out of their premises, and thus causing nuisances to others; and

    (b)the department responsible for enforcing such ordinances, and the number of prosecutions instituted by that department in the past three years?
Public Officer to reply: Secretary for the Environment and Food

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

Regarding the nuisances caused by prostitutes soliciting in public places, will the Government inform this Council:

    (a)of the number of complaints received concerning female members of the public being mistaken for prostitutes and harassed in public places by people seeking sexual services, and the follow-up actions taken in this regard;

    (b)whether it has assessed the current number of prostitutes soliciting in public places in various districts; if it has, of the figure, and whether it is on an upward trend in comparison with those figures in the same time in each of the past three years; and

    (c)of the measures it has taken to solve the problem of prostitutes soliciting in public places, hence causing nuisance to the public?
Public Officer to reply:Secretary for Security

*9. Hon LEUNG Yiu-chung to ask: (Translation)

Regarding occupational health protection for employees in noisy entertainment establishments such as karaokes, mahjong parlours and amusement game centres, will the Government inform this Council whether:

    (a)officers are regularly deployed to measure the noise levels in such establishments; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (b)it will consider amending the Occupational Deafness (Compensation) Ordinance (Cap. 469) to include, in the "noisy occupations" category, employees in the above establishments for entitlement to compensation; if it will, of the legislative timetable; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Education and Manpower

*10. Hon Fred LI to ask: (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council whether it knows if the Hong Kong Housing Authority ("HA") plans to include public rental housing estates of the Harmony-type ("public housing estates") in the list of estates to be sold in 2003 or after under the Tenants Purchase Scheme; if HA has such plans, whether the order of selling these public housing estates will be according to their year of completion; if it will not be so, of the criteria for determining the order of sale?

Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Housing

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

Last month, a green group criticized the poor quality and long completion time of a number of environmental studies conducted by environmental consultancy firms commissioned by the Administration and alleged that one of the consultancy firms had conflict of interests. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:

    (a)of the current tendering procedure and selection criteria for such consultancy studies, and whether they will review such procedure and criteria;

    (b)of the total amount of public money spent on environmental studies conducted by environmental consultancy firms commissioned by the Administration in the past five years;

    (c)of the nature of, time spent on and costs of each of the studies;

    (d)whether completion deadlines have been set for such studies; and

    (e)whether environmental consultancy firms with poor performance records have been disqualified over the past three years from bidding for environmental studies commissioned by the Administration?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Works

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

Regarding the maintenance of fresh water pipes in units of public rental housing ("PRH") estates, will the Government inform this Council:

    (a)whether the Housing Department ("HD") regularly checks the extent of corrosion on the inside of water pipes in PRH units; if so, of the details;

    (b)of the criteria used by HD to decide on whether the water pipes with corrosion inside need to be replaced; and

    (c)of the lead time normally required for the HD to replace the water pipes in PRH units in need of such works, and whether the tenants concerned are required to pay part of the costs of the works?
Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Housing

*13. Hon CHEUNG Man-kwong to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the education of non-Chinese Asian children and youths in Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council:

    (a)of the current number of these children and youths who are below the age of 15, and of the respective numbers of those who are attending government, aided, directly subsidized and private primary and secondary schools, as well as those who are not attending any school;

    (b)of the number of children and youths involved in cases in which assistance by the Government had been sought in finding school places in the past three years and, among them, the number of those who succeeded in getting school places;

    (c)whether it plans to take the initiative to assist those children and youths who are not attending schools to get enrolled; and

    (d)of the measures for providing education opportunities to the youths aged 15 or above who have not completed junior secondary school and have a relatively lower standard of Chinese and English?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

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

Regarding the accident and emergency ("A&E") services provided by public hospitals, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:

    (a)the respective numbers of doctors working on day and night shifts at A&E departments of public hospitals at present, with a breakdown by their ranks, and whether there have been any changes to such manning scales over the past three years; if so, of the details;

    (b)the existing arrangements and established procedure in public hospitals for junior doctors to seek immediate advice from senior doctors when encountering problems while on duty at A&E departments; and

    (c)the special procedure in place for dealing with patients who have been discharged after receiving treatment at A&E departments but have returned for treatment on the same day because their condition deteriorates?
Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Health and Welfare

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

Regarding the admission of pupils with special education needs by mainstream primary schools, will the Government inform this Council:

    (a)of the respective numbers of mainstream primary schools which commenced operation in the past and current school years; and among them, the number of schools which have admitted pupils with special education needs, together with a breakdown of the numbers of such pupils admitted to each school by classes and types of special education needs;

    (b)of the estimated number of such pupils to be admitted to mainstream primary schools in the next school year, together with a breakdown by type of special needs, and whether the Education Department ("ED") plans to increase such school places and the types of special needs;

    (c)of the additional resources provided to the schools which have admitted such pupils, and whether it knows how the relevant school authorities use the additional resources;

    (d)whether the ED has created new posts over the past two years for providing relevant support to the primary schools concerned; if it has, of the number, ranks and duties of the posts; and

    (e)whether it has encouraged mainstream schools and assisted the relevant school principals, teachers and other pupils to accept such pupils; if it has, of the details; if it has not, whether it will consider doing so?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

*For written reply.

III. Members' Motions

1. Rental subsidy

Hon Albert HO: (Translation)

That this Council urges the Government to formulate a rental subsidy policy, whereby rental subsidies are offered to eligible families which have been on the Waiting List for public housing for a period of time.

Amendment to Hon Albert HO's motion

Hon Frederick FUNG: (Translation)

To delete "of time" from "Waiting List for public housing for a period of time" and substitute with "exceeding the average waiting time for public rental housing, as pledged by the Government, until public rental housing units are allocated to them".

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Housing

2. Extending the effective period of concessionary duty rate for ultra low sulphur diesel

Hon Mrs Miriam LAU: (Translation)

That this Council urges the Government to extend the effective period of the concessionary duty rate of $1.11 per litre for ultra low sulphur diesel (ULSD) to 31 December 2001, and to expeditiously conduct a review before deciding on an appropriate duty level for ULSD for the year 2002.

Amendment to Hon Mrs Miriam LAU's motion

Hon Fred LI: (Translation)

To add "devise a regulatory mechanism to prevent oil companies from reaping profits through the concessionary duty rate; at the same time, the Government should" after "31 December 2001, and to".

Public Officer to attend: Secretary for the Treasury

Clerk to the Legislative Council