A 00/01-30(1)

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 30 May 2001 at 2:30 pm

I. Tabling of Papers

No.88	-	Vocational Training Council Annual Report 1999/2000
(to be presented by Secretary for Education and Manpower)

II. Questions

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

Hindered by financial difficulties or physical disabilities, the disadvantaged groups are often denied the opportunities to obtain information and communicate with others by means of information technology. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	whether financial assistance out of public money or charitable funds is currently provided to the disadvantaged groups for purchasing computers and communications equipment; if so, of the details, and the respective amounts of assistance provided in each of the past three years;
(b)	whether it will set up assistance funds or extend the scope of the existing assistance programme; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(c)	as most of the auxiliary aids for the disabled to use computers and access the Internet are very expensive, whether it will consider offering tax concessions to people who purchase these devices?

Public Officers to reply

:

Secretary for Health and Welfare Secretary for Information Technology and Broadcasting

2. Hon James TIEN to ask: (Translation)

On 1 May, Labour Day, this year, some labour organizations criticized that Hong Kong's existing legislation on protecting employees' rights and benefits had remained unchanged for 30 years, and alleged that the stipulations concerned were outdated and even lagged behind those of some countries in Southeast Asia. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the major amendments made to the legislation on the rights and benefits or the protection, of employees, in the past 30 years, and the contents of the amendments;
(b)	whether it has assessed the implications of these amendments on employers' costs; and
(c)	how the existing major legislative provisions on the protection of employees' rights and benefits in Hong Kong compare to those in other neighbouring jurisdictions?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

3. Hon YEUNG Yiu-chung to ask: (Translation)

Under the Kindergarten Subsidy Scheme ("KSS"), non-profit-making kindergartens receive subsidies at a rate of $41,000 for each class per year. In respect of the subsidizing of kindergartens, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the total amount of salaries paid every year by non-profit-making kindergartens to the Qualified Kindergarten Teachers ("QKTs");
(b)	whether it will consider providing each non-profit-making kindergarten with a subsidy equivalent to the total amount of salaries paid to the QKTs ("salaries subsidy") so as to replace the subsidy under KSS; if it will, of the implementation timetable; if it will not, the reasons for that; and
(c)	whether, if it will provide the salaries subsidy, it has assessed the respective percentages of the subsidy in this year's estimated expenditures for early childhood education and for education as a whole, and how the subsidy compares with the estimated expenditure for KSS this year?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

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

The Government obtained funding approval in October 1998 for commissioning a two-year consultancy study entitled "Study of Nitrogen Dioxide, Photochemical Smog and Particulates and their Control Measures", with a view to formulating effective measures to tackle air pollution problems. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:

(a)	the progress and preliminary findings of the study;
(b)	the scheduled time for completing the whole study and publishing its findings; and
(c)	the public expenditure incurred so far?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment and Food

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

It has been reported that some Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ("HKSAR") passport holders were required to apply for visas and pay the relevant fees on the spot while going through immigration clearance upon arrival in certain countries which, according to announcements made by the Administration, had granted visa-free access to HKSAR passport holders ("visa-free countries"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the number of complaints or requests for assistance received relating to this kind of incidents in the past three years, and the follow-up actions it has taken;
(b)	of the countries which have signed Visa Abolition Agreements with the Administration, and whether the implementation dates and other detailed arrangements had been specified when such agreements were signed; of the visa-free countries which have not signed such agreements with the Administration; and
(c)	whether it keeps regular contacts with the local consulates of the visa-free countries to verify that the visa-free treatment remains in effect; if not, how the Administration ascertains that such treatment is still in effect?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

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

It has been reported that there are many rare or endangered species of fish in 17 streams which are not located in areas designated for the conservation or protection of the environment. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	whether it will consider zoning these streams and the nearby land as sites of special scientific interest or conservation areas; if not, of the reasons for that; and
(b)	given that the majority of these streams run through private land, of the measures in place to ensure that their ecology will not be damaged by the activities on such land?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment and Food

*7. Hon NG Leung-sing to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that the Securities and Futures Commission and The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited ("SEHK") are studying the feasibility of requiring companies listed on the Main Board of the SEHK to publish their results on a quarterly basis. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the major stock markets which have adopted the quarterly reporting requirement ("QRR");
(b)	whether the relevant authorities have compared the respectively advantages and disadvantages of QRR and annual reporting requirement;
(c)	whether it has assessed the financial impact of QRR on listed companies of different sizes; if it has, of the measures the relevant authorities will take to reduce such impact; and
(d)	of the measures the relevant authorities will adopt to encourage listed companies to issue their quarterly reports in a more environmentally-friendly manner?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services

*8. Dr Hon TANG Siu-tong to ask: (Translation)

Of the medical charges written off by the Hospital Authority in 1999-2000, the outstanding charges defaulted by those in-patients of public hospitals who were not Entitled Persons accounted for $15.5 million. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the number of such default patients, together with a breakdown by the reasons for hospitalization, and the number of such patients who were admitted to hospitals for further treatment after emergency treatment; and
(b)	whether the authorities plan to require such in-patients to pay deposits at the time of admission, or adopt other measures to prevent default on medical charges?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare

*9. Hon Eric LI to ask: (Translation)

Regarding petitions presented to the court for bankruptcy orders, will the Government inform this Council whether:

(a)	it has assessed the reasons for the increasing number of petitions for bankruptcy orders in recent years;
(b)	it has statistics on the number and percentage of cases in which the debtors were civil servants or employees of public-funded bodies in all petitions in the past five years; and
(c)	a civil servant is required to report to his supervisor immediately upon his knowledge of the presentation of a petition to the court for a bankruptcy order against him, or upon the presentation of such a petition by himself; whether assistance will be provided to the civil servant concerned; if so, of the details; and whether the pension benefits of the civil servant will be affected by his bankruptcy?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Civil Service

*10. Hon Emily LAU to ask:

Will the Executive Authorities inform this Council whether the Police has a practice of compiling court conviction and acquittal statistics in respect of individual magistrates; if so,

(a)	of the reasons for, the commencement date and the total duration of such a practice; and
(b)	of the measures they have taken to dispel the possible concern of the magistrates that such statistics have a bearing on their promotion prospects and may create pressure that may drive them to convict more defendants?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

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

It has been reported that large piles of oil-contaminated mud are dumped at the former site of the Kai Tak Airport, exuding petrol smells to nearby residential premises from time to time. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the reasons for dumping the contaminated mud at the site;
(b)	of the impact on the health of people after inhaling air containing petrol particulates; and
(c)	how it plans to dispose of the contaminated mud to reduce the nuisances caused to the residents nearby?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Planning and Lands

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

Regarding the franchised bus routes served by a mix of air-conditioned and non air-conditioned buses, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the current number of such routes;
(b)	of the respective numbers of routes where the differences in full journey fares between air-conditioned and non-air-conditioned buses are below $3, between $3.1 and $5, between $5.1 and $8 and above $8.1;
(c)	whether franchised bus companies must obtain prior approval by the Administration before they can arrange for certain routes to be served entirely by air-conditioned buses, and whether they are required to announce such arrangements; if so, how such announcements will be made; and
(d)	whether the Administration has stipulated for these routes the ratios, at different times of the day, of the trips plied by air-conditioned buses to those by non-air-conditioned buses, and of the circumstances under which franchised bus companies are allowed to deploy air-conditioned buses only on such routes during rush hours?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport

*13. Hon Emily LAU to ask:

Regarding industrial land space in the urban area, will the Government inform this Council of:

(a)	the total area of land currently zoned as industrial land, and its breakdown according to the following:
	(i)	land that is unoccupied; and
	(ii)	land that is occupied for commercial purpose or by non-polluting industries;
(b)	the total area of land zoned as industrial land in 1990;
(c)	the area of industrial land re-zoned in the last ten years to alternative uses, and the percentage of it that has been redeveloped, or is in the process of redevelopment, for non-industrial use;
(d)	the estimated area of industrial land required in the next 10 years; and
(e)	the estimated respective amounts of industrial land that can be rezoned for commercial and residential uses?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Planning and Lands

*14. Hon Henry WU to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the sale of the second lot of shares in MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRC"), will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	whether it has set a timetable for the sale, if it has, of the details;
(b)	of the criteria it plans to adopt for selecting the sponsors, financial advisers, underwriters and distributors; and
(c)	whether it has drawn upon the experience gained in the initial public offering of MTRC shares last year to arrange for the sale in a more equitable, open and transparent manner; if it has, of the details?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Treasury

*15. Dr Hon TANG Siu-tong to ask: (Translation)

On the 9th of this month, a passer-by was hit and injured by a iron window frame which fell from a public rental housing ("PRH") unit in Tai Wo Estate, Tai Po, sold under the Tenants Purchase Scheme. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	according to the relevant standards under the existing building legislation and those adopted by the Hong Kong Housing Authority ("HKHA"), of the design life of iron window frames in PRH units during which they should not come loose; and
(b)	of the items in a sold PRH unit which are under the maintenance responsibility of the HKHA and the respective maintenance periods for such items; and how the HKHA's practice in these aspects compares with that of private developers?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing

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

Under the Employees' Compensation Ordinance (Cap. 282), employers are required to take out insurance to ensure that in case employees are injured or die in the course of their employment, the insurance companies concerned will undertake the liability for compensation. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of the respective numbers of employers warned and prosecuted by the Labour Department for failing to take out valid insurance for their employees, the number of convicted cases and the average penalties imposed by the courts in each of the past three years?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

*17. Hon David CHU to ask: (Translation)

It was reported that only small quantities of waste had been collected each day from the waste separation bins placed at 165 public places under a Waste Separation and Recovery Programme which started in October last year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:

(a)	the criteria adopted for selecting the locations for waste separation bins;
(b)	the effectiveness of the Programme; and
(c)	the measures to encourage the public to make use of the waste separation bins?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment and Food

*18. Hon Mrs Sophie LEUNG to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the handling of discarded computers, will the Government inform this Council whether:

(a)	it has compiled statistics on the number of computers discarded in each of the past three years;
(b)	it has adopted any measures to prevent pollution of the environment by the heavy metals contained in the components of discarded computers; and
(c)	it will consider setting up a collection centre to handle discarded computers; if so, when it plans to set up such a centre; if not, of the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment and Food

*19. Hon Kenneth TING to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the Home Purchase Loan Scheme ("HPLS") implemented by the Hong Kong Housing Authority, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:

(a)	the respective numbers of loan applications approved in each of the past three years which involved the purchase of flats at prices between $3 million and under $4 million, between $4 million and under $5 million, and $5 million or more;
(b)	the reasons for not imposing a ceiling on flat prices under HPLS; whether it will consider imposing such a ceiling; if not, of the reasons for that; and
(c)	the justifications for providing loans to families which can afford purchasing flats at prices over $5 million?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing

*20. Hon James TO to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the regulation and the number of mainland people settling in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ("HKSAR"), will the Government inform this Council :

(a)	of all the channels currently available to mainland people for settling in HKSAR (such as the One-way Permit Scheme catering primarily for family reunion, application for residence in Hong Kong after investing and residing in Hong Kong for seven years, or obtaining permission to stay in Hong Kong in accordance with specific government policies), and the respective application procedures;
(b)	of the number of people who have been permitted to settle in HKSAR through each of the above-mentioned channels since the reunification; and
(c)	as Article 22 of the Basic Law stipulates that "For entry into the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, people from other parts of China must apply for approval. Among them, the number of persons who enter the Region for the purpose of settlement shall be determined by the competent authorities of the Central People's Government after consulting the government of the Region", of the number of people permitted to enter HKSAR for settlement each year, as determined by the Central People's Government after consulting the HKSAR Government in accordance with the above stipulation, together with a breakdown by the channels mentioned in (a) above?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

*For written reply.

III. Bills

First Reading

The Ombudsman (Amendment) Bill 2001

Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)

The Ombudsman (Amendment) Bill 2001 : Chief Secretary for Administration

IV. Members' Motions

1. Attracting eligible persons from the Mainland to invest and spend money in Hong Kong


Hon James TIEN: (Translation)

That, in order to further promote Hong Kong's economic development, this Council urges the Government to step up discussions with the relevant Mainland authorities, with a view to exploring measures to admit eligible persons from the Mainland to invest and take up residence in Hong Kong and to attract high-income earners from the Mainland to spend money in Hong Kong, including:

(a)	in addition to the existing One Way Permit Quota System which is mainly for family reunion, exploring the introduction of a points system for admitting eligible persons from the Mainland to invest and take up residence in Hong Kong; and
(b)	examining whether the current entry restrictions on Mainland visitors can be relaxed, particularly the issuance of multiple entry permits to high-income earners in the Pearl River Delta Region, thereby facilitating their coming to Hong Kong to travel and spend money.

Amendment to Hon James TIEN's motion

Hon Margaret NG: (Translation)

To add ", cultural and academic" after "Hong Kong's economic"; to delete "measures" after "with a view to exploring" and substitute with "appropriate arrangements"; to delete "admit eligible" and substitute with "facilitate"; to delete "invest and take up residence in Hong Kong and to attract high-income earners from the Mainland to spend" and substitute with "engage in ordinary activities such as investing and spending"; to delete ", including" after "money in Hong Kong" and substitute with "; these arrangements should include"; to delete "admitting" after "the introduction of a points system for"; to delete "invest and take up" and substitute with "apply for"; to add ", which takes into account the applicants' connections with Hong Kong, their academic and other expertise, working abilities and investment plans" after "residence in Hong Kong"; to delete "particularly the issuance of" after "the current entry restrictions on Mainland visitors can be relaxed,"; to delete "to high-income earners in the Pearl River Delta Region" and substitute with "can be issued"; and to add ", and allowing persons from the Mainland sufficient time to stay and attend meetings and participate in academic, professional and cultural exchanges, in order to promote long-term development of the two regions" after "their coming to Hong Kong to travel and spend money".

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Security

Assisting owners' corporations and mutual aid committees to operate

Hon TAM Yiu-chung: (Translation)

That this Council urges the Government to strengthen the support services for owners' corporations (OCs) and mutual aid committees (MACs), provide more professional training to members of OCs and MACs, and examine the provision of more protection for such members, so as to enhance more active participation by residents in building management; furthermore, the Government must increase the overall manpower of the District Building Management Liaison Teams in various districts and upgrade their professional standard, so that the teams can actively participate in solving the problems faced by OCs and MACs, with a view to improving building management and enabling the public to live and work in contentment.

Amendment to Hon TAM Yiu-chung's motion

Hon James TO: (Translation)

To delete "," after "mutual aid committees (MACs)" and substitute with "; extend the scope of the Building Management Ordinance to the effect that owners holding divided shares of buildings are provided with feasible means to set up OCs; establish a mechanism for amending those provisions in the deed of mutual covenant which are extremely unfair;"; and to delete ", and examine" after "professional training to members of OCs or MACs" and substitute with "; and amend the legislation for".

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Home Affairs Clerk to the Legislative Council