A 01/02-21

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 10 April 2002 and
Thursday 11 April 2002 at 2:30 pm respectively

I. Tabling of Papers

Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments		L.N. No.
1.	Po Leung Kuk Ordinance -- Resolution of the Board of Directors of the Po Leung Kuk	36/2002
2.	Road Traffic (Construction and Maintenance of Vehicles) (Amendment) Regulation 2002	40/2002
3.	Road Traffic (Traffic Control) (Amendment) Regulation 2002	41/2002
4.	Tax Reserve Certificates (Rate of Interest) (No. 4) Notice 2002	42/2002
5.	Gas Safety (Installation and Use and Miscellaneous) (Amendment) Regulation 2002	43/2002
6.	Fixed Penalty (Public Cleanliness Offences) Regulation	44/2002
7.	Noise Control (Motor Vehicles) (Amendment) Regulation 2002	45/2002
8.	Business Registration Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule 2) Order 2002	46/2002
9.	Intellectual Property (Miscellaneous Amendments) Ordinance 2001 (2 of 2001) (Commencement) Notice 2002	47/2002
10.	Patents (General) (Amendment) Rules 2002	48/2002

II. Questions for Written Replies

1. Hon James TIEN to ask: (Translation)

With regard to the Environmental Protection Department, will the Government inform this Council of the following in each of the past three years:

(a)	as at the end of each year, the total number of its professional grade staff with a breakdown by ranks, as well as their proportion in all staff of the department; and
(b)	the total amount of remuneration paid out to officers at professional grades and its proportion in the gross staff remuneration of the department?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment and Food

2. Hon IP Kwok-him to ask: (Translation)

To help District Council ("DC") members discharge their duties more effectively, the Finance Committee ("FC") approved in December 2001 the Government's proposal to enhance the allowances for DC members and the flexibility in the use of such allowances, as well as to strengthen support resources provided to DCs. The specific guidelines have been drawn up by the Home Affairs Department. However, I note that too many restrictions exist in the guidelines, which pose obstacles to DC members in discharging their day-to-day duties. This goes against FC's original intention of approving the Government's proposal. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:

(a)	it will consider conducting a review on the specific guidelines in the near future; and
(b)	it will, by making reference to the existing mechanism of this Council, set up a committee made up of DC members to handle appeals relating to claims for allowances?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

3. Hon Miriam LAU to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the flow of passenger vehicles in existing cross-border links, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the respective numbers and growth rates of private cars, coaches, shuttle buses, lorries and container trucks travelling between Hong Kong and the Mainland via the boundary control points ("BCPs") at Sha Tau Kok, Man Kam To and Lok Ma Chau in each of the past three years;
(b)	of the measures in place to accommodate the persistent growth in the flow of passenger vehicles at the three BCPs, especially the one at Lok Ma Chau; and
(c)	how it can ensure that the measures adopted to improve the flow of passenger vehicles in cross-border links will not adversely affect the development of logistics business?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

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

It has been reported that following the opening of the world's first Police Tactical Training Complex ("PTTC") late last year, the Police Force is planning to provide another simulated tactical training ground this year for serving police officers. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the utilization rate and effectiveness of the PTTC at present;
(b)	of the practical differences between the proposed tactical training ground and the PTTC opened late last year; and
(c)	whether assessment has been made to ascertain the difficulties that may arise when both new recruits and serving police officers are using the same training ground?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

5. Hon LAU Ping-cheung to ask: (Translation)

In reply to a Member's question raised at the Council meeting on 30 January this year, the Administration indicated that the Planning Department would commission a consultancy study to comprehensively review land use in the New Territories. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	whether the consultant will be engaged through open recruitment;
(b)	of the commencement and completion dates of the study; and
(c)	of the detailed scope of the study, and whether it will include the compilation and verification of geographical co-ordinates for land boundary; if not, of the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Planning and Lands

6. Hon LEUNG Fu-wah to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the employment and training of local domestic helpers, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the respective numbers of registration received by the Labour Department ("LD") with respect to domestic helpers' job applications and vacancies over the past five years; and among the registered job seekers, of the number of people who have secured employment with the help of the vacancy processing service;
(b)	whether LD has assessed the reasons for other registered job seekers' failure to secure employment as domestic helpers; if so, of the results; and whether LD will formulate new policies or adjust existing policies, or introduce other measures to help job seekers secure employment;
(c)	with respect to domestic helpers training courses run by institutes under the Employees Retraining Board ("ERB") over the past five years, whether it knows the numbers of training places offered, students enrolled, students who have secured employment as domestic helpers upon graduation and the average level of their salary, daily working hours and job duties;
(d)	whether it knows if ERB has carried out regular reviews on whether the numbers of training places and contents of the courses run by their institutes have met the needs of the market; if so, of the results of such reviews and ERB's follow-up actions; and
(e)	how LD and ERB would delineate their roles and responsibilities in helping domestic helpers to secure employment; and whether there will be changes to such delineation in the future?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

7. Hon Michael MAK to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that a female worker in Princess Margaret Hospital had fraudulently used the identity label of a patient for testing her own urine sample. In respect of the protection of patients' privacy and professional conduct of the staff, will the Government inform this Council of:

(a)	the mechanism in place to protect the information on the resident patients' medical record in the ward from being read indiscriminately or even disclosed; and
(b)	the measures in place to ensure that a patient's testing request form and sample will not be altered or changed in the course of delivery?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare

8. Hon Frederick FUNG to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the attendance of members at meetings of the Housing Authority, Board of Urban Renewal Authority, Town Planning Board, Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority, Hospital Authority and Sports Development Board, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:

(a)	the respective number of meetings held by these public organizations and the attendance rate of each member in the past year;
(b)	the number of public organizations whose members' average attendance rate was below 60% in the past year; and the number of meetings held by each of these organizations; and
(c)	if mechanisms are in place to require that the remunerated Chairmen/members concerned should reach a certain level of attendance rate; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

9. Hon Kenneth TING to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that as electronic and innovative technological toys have been considered by most toy manufacturers to be the mainstream orders in the coming three years, the Toys Manufacturers' Association of Hong Kong proposes that the Government set up an "Innovative Toy Design Centre" to upgrade the quality of local toy products. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	whether it will consider setting up an "Innovative Toy Design Center" to provide resources for local toy designers to study overseas, launching toy designing programmes and engaging overseas experts to teach in Hong Kong in order to enhance the competitiveness of the entire toy industry; and
(b)	of the policy to steer the development of the local toy industry in the direction of high-tech and innovative designs?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Industry

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

Regarding the election of the second-term Chief Executive, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the number of temporary staff employed by the Registration and Electoral Office to prepare for and conduct the election and the overall expenditure, with detailed breakdowns by the expenditure on the salary of temporary staff, rent for the office, activity arrangements, press conferences, printing, postage, publicity advertisements etc.; and
(b)	whether it knows the public or statutory bodies which have put up advertisements to congratulate the Chief Executive on his re-election, of their expenditure on the advertisements, and whether they have spent public money or used their own resources to meet such expenses?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Constitutional Affairs

11. Hon Cyd HO to ask: (Translation)

Last year, the Home Affairs Bureau ("HAB") consulted commercial organizations, non-governmental organizations ("NGOs") and groups of ethnic minorities respectively on the need to legislate against racial discrimination in the private sector and among individuals. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	whether the outcome of the consultation has indicated that most commercial organizations, NGOs and groups of ethnic minorities are in support of legislating against racial discrimination, together with the names of organizations and groups which support, do not support and have no comment respectively;
(b)	of the criteria for evaluating the views of these organizations and groups and the weighting of each criterion;
(c)	of the ranks of the government officials responsible for evaluating and analyzing the views of these organizations and groups, the number of meetings they have held, the details of other relevant work and the conclusions drawn so far; and
(d)	given that the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights ("the Committee") has requested Hong Kong to submit information on its progress in implementing the Committee's recommendation regarding racial discrimination in the private sector and among individuals by 30 June 2003, whether relevant legislation will be timely enacted by that date, and of the legislation timetable?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

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

The Control of Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance (Cap. 390) prohibits the display of obscene and indecent articles in public places. However, it has been reported that prosecution has never been instituted against offenders under the Ordinance, and that there is an increasing trend of obscene posters being posted on the streets under the aegis of operators of vice establishments. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the number of prosecutions brought against persons connected with the posting of obscene posters in the past three years; if the number of prosecutions is not large, the reasons for that;
(b)	of the specific measures taken to prevent the posting of obscene posters in public places by operators of vice establishments; and
(c)	whether it has assessed regularly the effectiveness of the existing measures and of the ways to improve the situation?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Information Technology and Broadcasting

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

Regarding the counselling for divorced spouses and their children, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the number of cases out of the 13 247 divorce decrees granted in 2000 which involved children aged below 18, and the number of children involved in these cases, together with a breakdown by their age;
(b)	whether counselling services are currently provided to the divorcees and their children in divorce cases involving children; if so, of the details; if not, whether it has assessed the need to provide them with counselling services in a systematic manner; and
(c)	whether the Administration will consider the introduction of "counselling conferences", given that the Sub-committee on Guardianship and Custody of the Law Reform Commission recommended in December 1998 the introduction of such conferences modelled on the Australian system of conciliation counselling and conciliation conferences, and the inclusion of such conferences as an integral part of the case management process of the court system, so as to assist divorced spouses and their children to adjust to new lives and work through their anger and hurt; if it will not, of the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare

14. Hon Abraham SHEK to ask:

During the peak hours, heavy traffic congestion develops at the Cross-Harbour Tunnel ("CHT"), causing serious congestion in the main roads nearby, and this problem has remained unsolved for years. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	whether it has assessed the economic losses suffered by Hong Kong as a result of the persistent traffic congestion at the CHT;
(b)	of the average waiting time for motorists to pass the CHT by using the autotoll system and by paying at the manual toll booths respectively during the peak hours; and
(c)	of the measures in place to smoothen traffic flow to ease congestion at the CHT; whether it will consider replacing all manual toll booths with the autotoll system and requiring all vehicles using the CHT to be equipped with an autotoll device?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport

15. Hon Fred LI to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that the bacterial content of the toilet paper provided in public toilets in Hong Kong exceeds the level prescribed in the Mainland hygiene standards, and may thus affect public health. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	whether it has conducted tests on the bacterial content of the toilet paper provided in public toilets; if it has, of the results; if not, whether it will do so;
(b)	how it will urge the public toilet cleansing contractors ("the contractors") to provide toilet paper that meets the hygiene standard; and
(c)	whether it will prohibit the contractors from providing toilet paper which does not meet the hygiene standard; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment and Food

16. Hon Albert CHAN to ask: (Translation)

Regarding Light Rail Transit ("LRT") passengers paying their fares with Octopus cards, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the number of passengers who were warned or prosecuted in the past two years because there were no entry records on their Octopus cards due to the failure of the Octopus processors when they entered the station with Octopus cards; and
(b)	whether there is any mechanism monitoring LRT to ensure that failure of Octopus processors at the stations will not entail unfair treatment to the passengers; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport

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

At present, mobile phones are widely used in Hong Kong but they have some adverse effects. Apart from their possible secret use by race-goers for illegal off-course horse bookmaking in the racecourse, their ringing may also interfere the progress of various activities, such as opera performances. However, under the Telecommunications Ordinance (Cap 106), it is an offence for the person in charge of a place to install mobile phone immobilisers to jam the normal reception of signals by mobile phones. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it will consider amending the Ordinance to the effect that the persons in charge of individual places may, having obtained permission from the authorities, install mobile phone immobilisers; if it will, of the timetable for the relevant work; if not, the reasons for that? Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Information Technology and Broadcasting

18. Hon Emily LAU to ask:

Regarding claims against the Airport Authority by contractors in relation to the Chek Lap Kok airport project, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council of:

(a)	the number of such claims that were settled in the past 24 months, the nature of each claim and the total amount of compensation involved;
(b)	the comparison between the amount of compensation as settled in each of such claims and the original estimate of the contract from which the claim arises; and
(c)	the number of claims still unresolved and the estimated contingent liability?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Services

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

It has been reported that some members of the public who were served with injunctions by the court failed to act on such injunctions because they did not understand the content of court documents written in English, and they were subsequently accused of defying injunctions. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the maximum penalty for defying injunctions;
(b)	of the number of cases in which members of the public were accused of defying injunctions under the circumstances mentioned above in the past three years; and
(c)	why bilingual injunctions in Chinese and English are not issued by the court, and whether there are plans to make it mandatory for all injunctions to be set out in both languages; if not, of the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Chief Secretary for Administration

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

Regarding cancer cases, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the number of new diagnosed cancer cases in each of the past three years, together with a breakdown by the types of cancer and the patients' age profile (in age groups each covering five years); and
(b)	whether there are adequate data at present to indicate the types of cancer the incidence rates of which are on an upward trend and the causes of such a trend?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare

III. Bills

Second Reading (Debate to resume)

Appropriation Bill 2002 : Financial Secretary

IV. Members' Motions

Proposed resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance

Hon Fred LI to move the following motion:

RESOLVED that in relation to the Revenue (Variation and Reduction of Fees and Charges) Order 2002, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 35 of 2002 and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 13 March 2002, the period for amending subsidiary legislation referred to in section 34(2) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1) be extended under section 34(4) of that Ordinance to the meeting of 17 April 2002.

Clerk to the Legislative Council