A 02/03-18

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 19 February 2003 at 2:30pm

I. Tabling of Papers
Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments L.N. No.
1. Import and Export (General) (Amendment) Regulation 2003 32/2003
2. Import and Export (Registration) (Amendment) Regulation 2003 33/2003
3. Import and Export (Removal of Articles) (Amendment) Regulation 2003 34/2003
4. Reserved Commodities (Control of Imports, Exports and Reserve Stocks) (Amendment) Regulation 2003 35/2003
5. Electronic Transactions (Exclusion) (Amendment) Order 2003 36/2003
6. Import and Export (General) Regulations (Amendment of Seventh Schedule) (No. 2) Notice 2003 37/2003
7. Dutiable Commodities Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule 1B) Notice 2003 38/2003
8. Dutiable Commodities (Amendment) Ordinance 2001 (19 of 2001) (Commencement) Notice 2003 39/2003
9. Import and Export (Electronic Transactions) Ordinance 2002 (24 of 2002) (Commencement) Notice 2003 40/2003
10. Pilotage (Dues)(Amendment) Order 2002 (L.N. 234 of 2002) (Commencement) Notice 2003 41/2003
11. Electoral Affairs Commission (Registration of Electors) (Village Representative Election) Regulation 47/2003


Other Papers

1. No.60 - Hong Kong Arts Development Council Annual Report 2001-2002
(to be presented by Secretary for Home Affairs)

2. No.61 - The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts Annual Report 2001-2002 and the Financial Statements and Auditor's Report for the year ended 30 June 2002
(to be presented by Secretary for Home Affairs)

3.No.62-Report of the Public Accounts Committee on the Reports of the Director of Audit on the Accounts of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for the year ended 31 March 2002 and the Results of Value for Money Audits (Report No. 39) and Supplemental Report of the Public Accounts Committee on Report No. 38 of the Director of Audit on the Results of Value for Money Audits
(February 2003 - P.A.C. Report No. 39)
(to be presented by Hon Eric LI, Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, who will address the Council)

4.Report of the Bills Committee on Education Reorganization (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2002
(to be presented by Hon Cyd HO, Chairman of the Bills Committee)


II. Questions

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

Last month, a private car went out of control and crashed into a pedestrian refuge, killing two and injuring six pedestrians at the refuge. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a) of the measures in place to improve the design of pedestrian refuges in order to ensure the safety of pedestrians; and

    (b) whether it has reviewed if it is appropriate to provide pedestrian refuges on roads with heavy pedestrian and traffic flow?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

2. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)

The Department of Justice ("D of J") earlier invoked the Public Order Ordinance for the first time to prosecute three persons for organizing or assisting in organizing an unauthorized public procession on 10 February 2002. It was reported that, in giving the verdict, the Chief Magistrate responsible for hearing the case had queried whether the case, which was of a "political nature", should have been handled by the court. Moreover, as a total of 344 public processions and meetings of which less than seven days' notice had been given were held during the period from January 1999 to July 2002, and none of the organizers of these processions and meetings had been prosecuted, there have been comments that the prosecution was selective and had undermined the spirit of the rule of law. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
    (a) whether they will consider not prosecuting in the future those people who organize or assist in organizing unauthorized peaceful public processions or meetings, or give less than seven days' notice of such processions or meetings;

    (b) of the criteria adopted by the D of J for determining whether to prosecute those people who organize or assist in organizing unauthorized peaceful public processions or meetings, or give less than seven days' notice of such processions or meetings; and

    (c) whether they have assessed the impact of the prosecution on the spirit of the rule of law in Hong Kong; if so, of the assessment results; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Justice

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

It is learnt that the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation ("KCRC") has yet to reach an agreement with the MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL") on the provision of interchange concessions for passengers of the West Rail, scheduled to commence operation in this year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
    (a) the reasons for MTRCL and KCRC not having reached such an agreement;

    (b) the details of the concessionary interchange schemes implemented by MTRCL in collaboration with other public transport operators over the past two years, and the effects of these schemes on the patronage as well as the revenue and expenditure of MTRCL; and

    (c) the circumstances under which MTRCL implemented concessionary interchange schemes jointly with other public transport operators in the past two years?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

4. Hon Albert HO to ask: (Translation)

In a newspaper article on the Public Order Ordinance published on 30 November last year, the Secretary for Security stated that, "When the Police are aware of meetings and processions for which notifications have not been given in accordance with the law, they will take appropriate actions having regard to the circumstances of the event. Usually, verbal or written warning will be given at the beginning. If the situation is comparatively serious, such as involving the breach of public peace, the Police will carry out follow up investigation and seek necessary legal advice." In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a) whether the current practice adopted for handling public meetings and public processions for which notifications have not been given in accordance with the law has deviated from that mentioned in the article; if it has, of the reasons;

    (b) of the respective numbers of public meetings and public processions held without prior notification in the past five years; and among these activities, the respective numbers of those for which notification was required under the law; and

    (c) of the criteria for determining whether cases of public meetings and public processions for which notifications have not been given in accordance with the law should be submitted to the Department of Justice ("D of J") for consideration of instituting prosecutions; and the respective numbers of cases which the authorities submitted and did not submit to the D of J over the past five years and, among the submitted cases, the respective numbers of those involving the breach of public peace and those which the D of J after consideration instituted prosecutions?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

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

It is learnt that the heads of Kwang Hwa Information and Culture Center and Chung Hwa Travel Service, two Taiwan organizations in Hong Kong, were only granted entry visas to Hong Kong by the Hong Kong SAR Government one year after their appointment. Regarding the vetting and approving of entry visa applications by Taiwan officials, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a) of the criteria adopted for determining individual organizations as Taiwan official organizations in Hong Kong or as Taiwan civic organizations;

    (b) of the number of entry visa applications received from Taiwan officials each year since the Reunification and, among them, the number of approved cases and the average validity period of the visas; the average time required for vetting such applications; the number of visas which had taken more than three months for vetting and the reasons for that; and the number of rejected cases and the reasons for that; and

    (c) whether there are conditions attached to the entry visas concerned, such as demanding that the visa holders promise to abide by certain stipulations or not to participate in certain activities?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Constitutional Affairs
Secretary for Security


6. Hon Michael MAK to ask: (Translation)

The charge for Accident and Emergency ("A&E") services at public hospitals was introduced on 29 November last year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a) of the respective average daily numbers of attendances in A&E departments in the months before and after the introduction of the A&E service charge; whether it has assessed the impact of the service charge on the number of attendances;

    (b) of the number of payment notices issued so far to A&E patients or their family members who were unable to settle the payment forthwith; the number and percentage of payment notices which remain unsettled one month after the date of their issue; whether the Government will make up for the loss of the Hospital Authority in this respect; and

    (c) of the number of A&E patients who have applied for fee remission so far, together with the number and percentage of the applications approved?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

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

Will the Government inform this Council:
    (a) of the respective numbers of cases involving complaints and requests for assistance received by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Guangdong ("GDETO") of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region since its establishment; how the GDETO has handled those cases, and of the outcome of the cases; and

    (b) whether the GDETO has participated in the discussions of the following: the project to construct the Hong Kong-Macau-Zhuhai bridge, the arrangement for implementing 24-hour passenger clearance between Shenzhen and Hong Kong, the ways to ensure the quality of Dongjiang water, and the promotion of total economic integration between Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta; if it has, of the details?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology

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

The Housing Department launched a pilot scheme to provide waste separation bins on each floor of two selected blocks of public rental housing ("PRH") estates in September and October 2000. The scheme was extended to two other PRH estates in November 2001. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a) of the details and effectiveness of the above pilot scheme;

    (b) whether it plans to provide waste separation bins on each floor of every block in PRH estates; if so, of the implementation timetable; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c) whether it has launched any pilot schemes in PRH estates for recovery of recyclable materials other than plastic bottles, aluminium cans and waste papers; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands

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

The Government of the United States of America announced in December last year that, as a safeguard against attacks by biochemical weapons, it would inoculate some of its servicemen and health care personnel against smallpox and planned to stockpile sufficient quantities of smallpox vaccine for inoculating its entire population. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a) whether it plans to conduct publicity campaigns to enhance people's awareness of the smallpox disease and to encourage them to have smallpox inoculation; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (b) of the cost required for inoculating the entire population of Hong Kong against smallpox; and

    (c) whether it has assessed the possibility of an epidemic of smallpox in Hong Kong and assessed if the local medical institutions are capable of controlling the epidemic; if so, of the assessment results?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

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

Regarding "lift operators" grade in the civil service establishment, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a) of the establishment and strength of lift operators;

    (b) of their total monthly remuneration, and the percentage of such amount in the total monthly remuneration of the civil service as a whole;

    (c) of the current number of lifts in government buildings which still have to be operated by lift operators; and

    (d) whether it plans to phase out this grade; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Civil Service

*11. Hon TAM Yiu-chung to ask: (Translation)

The consultant commissioned by the Territory Development Department has completed a review on the noise issues of the two sections of Route 5 Extension passing through Discovery Park in Tsuen Wan. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a) of the conclusions of the consultancy study, in particular, whether it has recommended the provision of noise enclosures for the road sections concerned; if it has, whether the consultant has mentioned how the noise enclosures are to be constructed and their effectiveness in mitigating noise impact; and

    (b) whether it will provide noise enclosures for the road sections concerned; if it will, of the commencement and completion dates of the works; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

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

In September 1999, unusual cracks caused by problems with the foundation works were found in Blocks 17 and 18 of Tin Yuet Estate, Tin Shui Wai, which were under construction. The Housing Department ("HD") then carried out remedial works, which took over two years to complete, and announced that it would follow up the question of responsibility with the contractors concerned. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a) of the final figure of the total expenditures on the remedial works; and whether there has been any overspending; if so, of the reasons;

    (b) whether the HD has reported to the Housing Authority and the policy bureau concerned on a regular basis the updated expenditures on the remedial works; if so, of the date and contents of each report; and

    (c) of the progress in recovering the expenditures on the remedial works from the relevant contractors?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands

*13. Hon CHAN Kwok-keung to ask: (Translation)

In September 2001, the Government launched a Skills Upgrading Scheme to provide skills training courses for people with secondary or lower education. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:
    (a) the respective numbers of people who have enrolled and completed training; the courses which were over subscribed and the details thereof;

    (b) the number of persons who were unemployed when they enrolled in the courses, together with breakdowns by the industries to which the courses belonged, and the age, educational attainments and trades in which these persons had been last employed; and

    (c) the employment rate of those persons, who had been previously unemployed, three months after they completed their training and, among them, the number who are employed in industries related to the courses they have completed?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

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

Regarding the income and expenditure of foreign domestic helpers ("FDHs"), will the Government inform this Council:
    (a) of the criteria and method of calculation adopted for setting the current minimum wage level of FDHs, and whether it carries out regular reviews on that level;

    (b) whether it has conducted surveys on the average monthly spending of each FDH in Hong Kong; if so, of the details; and

    (c) whether it has assessed the total amount of money remitted or taken back by FDHs to their home countries each year; if so, of the details?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Development and Labour

*15. Hon Frederick FUNG to ask: (Translation)

Around July and August last year, the Government called upon the business and industrial community to participate in the "One Company One Job" Campaign to provide practicum places for young graduates. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:
    (a) the number of companies which have participated in the campaign;

    (b) the names of the top ten companies which have provided the largest number of jobs;

    (c) a breakdown of the number of such jobs by industries;

    (d) a breakdown of the number of job seekers by academic qualifications; and

    (e) a breakdown of the number of appointees by academic qualifications and monthly salaries (in bands of $1,000 apart)?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Development and Labour

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

Will the Government inform this Council:
    (a) whether the disciplined services have set criteria for altering the uniform and accoutrements of their disciplined staff; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (b) of the details of the alteration of the uniform and accoutrements of disciplined staff of various disciplined services over the past five years, including the dates and reasons of alteration, the expenses incurred, and the design life, materials and countries of origin of the new uniform and accoutrements;

    (c) whether the disciplined services have made reference to the practices in other jurisdictions before they decided to adopt the present uniform and accoutrements for their disciplined staff; if so, of the jurisdictions referred to and the results thereof;

    (d) of the most recent dates and results of the reviews made by various disciplined services on the uniform and accoutrements of their disciplined staff;

    (e) of the disciplined services that will be altering the uniform of their disciplined staff and making additions to their accoutrements in the near future; and

    (f) whether it has reviewed if the alteration of the uniform of the disciplined services (especially that of the Hong Kong Police Force) in recent years has been so frequent that public money has been wasted?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

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

It has been reported that some horticulturists had criticized the staff of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department for not taking appropriate measures to prevent the cleanser from running down the soil when cleaning up a batch of smeared trees in Tsim Sha Tsui at the end of last year, thus causing undesirable effects on the growth of the trees. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a) of the composition of the relevant cleanser; and

    (b) whether it has assessed the extent of the damage caused to the trees, and of the remedial measures that it will take?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

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

In June last year, the Information Technology Services Department entered, under the Information Technology Professional Services Arrangement ("ITPSA"), into 23 standing agreements with 12 companies. These companies are allowed to bid for service contracts of government information technology ("IT") projects during a 30-month contract period. Moreover, during the period from 27 June to 30 September last year, in terms of the number of contracts awarded under the ITPSA and the contract sums, the ratios between local small and medium enterprises ("SMEs") and foreign multi-national companies registered in Hong Kong are 1 to 2.6 and 1 to 8 respectively. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:
    (a) ITPSA has laid down criteria for selecting IT service contractors by various departments; if so, of the weighting of the bidding price in the selection criteria;

    (b) it has formulated measures to ensure that the services provided by the contractors and subcontractors who have been awarded the contracts under ITPSA will not affect the interoperability of computer systems among various government departments; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c) it will formulate policies and adopt measures, such as splitting up the projects, so as to strengthen local SMEs's ability to bid for government service contracts and boost their chances of winning them; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology

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

Regarding the deterrence of unscrupulous business practices of shops, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a) of the number of complaints received in the past three years against shops operating in an unscrupulous way, together with a breakdown by trade;

    (b) given that unscrupulous shops can always change to another name to continue operation immediately after being named by the Consumer Council, whether it has reviewed if there are more effective measures to assist consumers in identifying such shops;

    (c) of the number of prosecutions instituted against unscrupulous shop operators in the past three years; whether it has reviewed if the existing legislation is adequate for deterring shops from operating in an unscrupulous way, and changing its name to continue operating in an unscrupulous way after being named; and

    (d) of the measures in place to completely solve the problem of unscrupulous business practices by shops, including whether it will consider the enactment of laws to enhance the protection of consumer rights; if it will not consider, of the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Development and Labour

*20. Hon Michael MAK to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that an investigation has revealed that, out of the 13 public hospitals in which oesophagectomy operations are performed, the post-operative mortality rates of patients of ten of these hospitals were higher than the average international benchmark. Regarding the mortality rates of patients after undergoing excision operations in public and private hospitals, will the Government inform this Council whether:
    (a) it will investigate the reasons for the relatively higher mortality rates of patients after undergoing excision operations in some public hospitals, for instance, whether this is attributable to the skills of the surgeons; if no investigation will be conducted, of the reasons for that;

    (b) it has monitored the skills of surgeons in public hospitals who performed excision operations to see if they meet international standards, and how it protects the patients' rights to proper surgical treatments; and

    (c) it has compared the mortality rates of patients after undergoing such operations in public hospitals to those of private hospital patients; if it has, of the results?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

*For written reply.

III. Bills

First Reading
  1. Foreshore, Sea-bed and Roads (Amendment) Bill 2003

  2. Bills of Exchange (Amendment) Bill 2003
Second Reading (Debates to be adjourned)

1. Foreshore, Sea-bed and Roads (Amendment) Bill 2003 : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works
2. Bills of Exchange (Amendment) Bill 2003 : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

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

Education Reorganization (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2002 : Secretary for Education and Manpower


IV. Motions

Proposed resolution under the Security and Guarding Services Ordinance

Secretary for Security to move the following motion:

That the notice, as annexed to this Motion, which specifies the revised criteria that a person must satisfy before the Commissioner of Police may, under the Security and Guarding Services Ordinance, issue to him a permit to do security work, be approved.
    (Contents of the notice as annexed to the Motion are contained in the Appendix)

V. Members' Motions

  1. The 2003-04 Budget

    Dr Hon YEUNG Sum:
    2.  (Translation)

    That this Council demands the Government, when formulating the 2003-04 Budget, not to raise tuition fees, not to increase the government fees and charges that affect people's livelihood, not to cut spending across the board on government services, and not to introduce tax increases targeted at the middle class.

    Amendments to Dr Hon YEUNG Sum's motion

    (i) Hon YEUNG Yiu-chung: (Translation)

    To add "to take account not only of the need to tackle the huge deficits, but also of the hardships faced by the public, and" after "That this Council demands the Government, when formulating the 2003-04 Budget,"; to add "not to reduce the rates of the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance across the board," after "not to cut spending across the board on government services,"; and to add "the grass roots and" after "and not to introduce tax increases targeted at".

    (ii) Hon Miriam LAU: (Translation)

    To add "and the business environment" after "not to increase the government fees and charges that affect people's livelihood"; and to add "not to abolish the concessionary duty rate for ultra low sulphur diesel, not to increase the duty on petrol," after "not to cut spending across the board on government services,".
    Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

  2. Public consultation on constitutional reforms

    Hon Emily LAU:
    3. (Translation)

    That, as the Executive Authorities have undertaken in the Policy Agenda to begin to make suitable preparations for the review of constitutional developments after 2007, this Council urges the Administration to conduct as soon as possible a public consultation on constitutional reforms.

    Amendment to Hon Emily LAU's motion

    Dr Hon Philip WONG:     (Translation)

    To delete "a" after "this Council urges the Administration to conduct as soon as possible" and substitute with "research concerning constitutional developments and thereafter to commence"; and to delete "on constitutional reforms" after "public consultation" and substitute with "at an appropriate time".

    Amendment to Dr Hon Philip WONG's amendment

    Hon LAU Ping-cheung:     (Translation)

    To delete "commerce" after "this Council urges the Administration to conduct as soon as possible research concerning constitutional developments and thereafter to" and substitute with "conduct"; and to delete "at an appropriate time" after "public consultation" and substitute with "after the 2004 Legislative Council elections".

    Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Constitutional Affairs


Clerk to the Legislative Council