A 02/03-19

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 26 February 2003 at 2:30pm

I. Tabling of Papers
Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments L.N. No.
1.Security and Guarding Services Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule 2) Notice 200348/2003
2.Village Representative Election (Registration of Electors) (Appeals) Regulation49/2003
3.Telecommunications (Telecommunications Apparatus) (Exemption from Licensing) Order (L.N. 4 of 2003) (Commencement) Notice 200350/2003


Other Papers

1. No.63-Audited Statement of Accounts together with the Director of Audit's Report and Trustee's Report on the Administration of the Education Scholarships Fund for the year ending 31 August 2002
(to be presented by Secretary for Education and Manpower)

2. No.64-Hong Kong Council for Academic Accreditation Annual Report 2001-2002
(to be presented by Secretary for Education and Manpower)

3. No.65-Li Po Chun Charitable Trust Fund Annual Report for the period from 1 September 2001 to 31 August 2002
(to be presented by Secretary for Home Affairs)

4. No.66-Audited Financial Statements and Programme of Activities of the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority for the year ending 31 August 2002
(to be presented by Secretary for Education and Manpower)

5. Report of the Bills Committee on Dutiable Commodities (Amendment) Bill 2002
(to be presented by Hon HUI Cheung-ching, Chairman of the Bills Committee)

6. Report of the Bills Committee on Inland Revenue (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2001
(to be presented by Hon Eric LI, Chairman of the Bills Committee)


II. Questions

1. Hon Martin LEE to ask:(Translation)

Early this month, at the request of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited ("SEHK") and the regulatory authority in the United Kingdom ("UK"), the Pacific Century CyberWorks Limited ("PCCW") responded to press reports about its plan to make a takeover offer for the Cable and Wireless plc in UK by issuing two public announcements with different contents one after another. However, the first announcement submitted to the SEHK did not make full disclosure of the matter. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council :
    (a)whether it has assessed if the regulatory standards and requirements of the local regulatory bodies for listed companies are lower than those of UK, and if this is the reason for PCCW's failure to make timely and full disclosure of the matter in Hong Kong;

    (b)whether it knows if the local regulatory bodies have investigated this incident to ascertain whether PCCW has violated the provisions of the Listing Rules and the relevant legislation; and

    (c)how the Government and relevant regulatory bodies will follow up this incident?
Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

2. Hon Abraham SHEK to ask:

In early 2001, the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation ("KCRC") and the MTR Corporation Limited were both invited to submit bidding proposals for the operation of the new Shatin to Central Link. Subsequently, the new rail project was awarded to KCRC in June 2002. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the respective categorized expenditures incurred by the two railway corporations in conducting the studies on the operation of the new rail link and preparing the bidding proposals, as well as the categorized expenditures incurred by the Government in preparing the tender documents and assessing the proposals;

    (b)whether it has considered awarding the new rail project to either of the two corporations based on factors such as the overall planning of the railway networks in the territory and the two corporations' respective experience in operating cross-harbour rail links, thereby sparing the need for tendering and the costs so incurred; if so, of the details; and

    (c)whether the study on the merger of the two corporations had already commenced when they were invited to submit their bidding proposals; if so, of the reasons for not waiting for the outcome of the study before making a decision on the new railway project?
Public Officer to reply: Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

3. Hon Fred LI to ask:(Translation)

Regarding the purchase of Dongjiang water, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it has reached an agreement with the Guangdong Authority on the price of water for 2001, 2002 and 2003; if not, of the reasons for that and the progress of the discussion on this issue between the two sides, and whether it has asked the Guangdong Authority to lower the price of water;

    (b)as the 1989 Water Supply Agreement is due to expire next year, whether it has assessed the annual water demand and made a forecast on the rainfall of Hong Kong over the next 15 years; if so, of the basis of the assessment and forecast and the results; and

    (c)whether it will consider changing the basis adopted for calculating the quantities of water to be purchased, which is "the rainfall in a serious drought of one in fifty years", with a view to reducing the quantities of water purchased and avoiding wastage?
Public Officer to reply: Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

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

It has been reported that in September last year, a liver transplant to be conducted in Prince of Wales Hospital was cancelled right before the operation, and the liver in question was sent to Queen Mary Hospital. In this regard, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
    (a)the reasons for the sudden cancellation of the operation, and who should be responsible for the incident;

    (b)the respective numbers of patients who underwent liver transplants at the two hospitals last year, the average length of time for which they had waited, and the current number of patients on the waiting list; and

    (c)the progress of the establishment of a Central Registry for Liver Transplants by the Hospital Authority?
Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

5. Hon Mrs Selina CHOW to ask:(Translation)

According to the Police, the overall number of crimes targeted at tourists in 2002 was 63.4% higher than that of 2001 and, among them, those crimes categorized as "miscellaneous thefts", "robbery" and "wounding and serious assault" were about 70%, 84% and 98% higher respectively. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of both the long-term and short-term measures that it will take to curb such crimes, so that the reputation of Hong Kong as one of the safest cities in the world can be maintained? Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Security

*6. Hon James TIEN to ask:(Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of Mainland persons holding Two-way Exit Permits who entered Hong Kong on business and the number of such trips, in each of the past three years;

    (b)of the restrictions imposed on such persons' commercial activities in Hong Kong, including making investments, establishing companies and holding company directorship; and

    (c)whether it plans to relax the relevant restrictions; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Security

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

It has been reported that the Education Department launched a pilot scheme on electronic schoolbags in 10 primary and secondary schools in September last year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the way in which electronic schoolbags operate and their effectiveness in teaching and learning as well as reducing the weight of schoolbags carried by students;

    (b)whether it will promote the use of electronic schoolbags in all primary schools in Hong Kong; if so, of the details and the estimated expenditure; and

    (c)whether it has conducted surveys on students' and parents' acceptance of electronic schoolbags; if so, of the survey results?
Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Education and Manpower

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

Currently, some flushing cisterns have, for the sake of saving water, two different discharge volumes for users to choose according to their needs. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
    (a)whether they will assess the cost effectiveness of such kind of cisterns;

    (b)of the neighbouring countries or cities using such kind of cisterns; and

    (c)whether they will encourage professionals in the building industry to use such kind of cisterns?
Public Officer to reply: Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

*9. Hon Albert HO to ask:(Translation)

Regarding the Home Ownership Scheme ("HOS"), the HOS Secondary Market Scheme, the Tenants Purchase Scheme, the Buy-or-Rent Option and the Home Purchase Loan Scheme implemented by the Housing Authority ("HA"), will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the numbers of cases in which property owners who had been subsidized by the above schemes defaulted on mortgage payments and the amounts of bad debt involved in each of the past five years;

    (b)of the financial arrangements made by HA for providing default guarantee to relevant financial institutions in respect of those schemes; and

    (c)whether it has regularly reviewed the risks borne by HA for providing default guarantee, and of the ways to reduce such risks?
Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands

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

Will the Government inform this Council whether it will consider amending the Inland Revenue Ordinance (Cap. 112) to allow married couples who have elected to be separately assessed to apply individually for calculating their payable taxes based on "personal assessment", so as to enjoy the tax concessions concerned; if not, of the reasons for that? Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

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

I notice that many advertisement signboards overhanging from buildings are huge in size and some of them even span the whole width of the street. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether erecting such large signboards over the streets constitutes an encroachment on government land; if so, of the details;

    (b)how the cases involving signboards assessed as encroaching on government land are to be dealt with under existing legislation; and whether and how the relevant authorities have dealt with such cases; and

    (c)whether it will consider imposing a charge on the owners of such signboards for the occupation of government land; if so, how the charge is calculated; if not, of the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands

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

It has been reported that security loopholes are present in the computer systems in over 20% of the primary and secondary schools and such systems are therefore vulnerable to hacking and stealing of the data stored therein. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of cases reported to the authorities over the past two years in which computer systems in primary and secondary schools were hacked, and the details of such cases including the losses incurred;

    (b)whether it has issued security guidelines to schools concerning the storing of information in computer systems; if so, of the relevant details and the way to monitor their compliance by schools; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c)whether it plans to step up the training for teachers to know the security issues relating to the storing of information in computer systems; if so, of the details?
Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Education and Manpower

*13. Hon CHAN Yuen-han to ask:(Translation)

Over the past two months, there were three accidents involving residents injured by metal main gates or loosened spare parts thereof in the buildings of public rental housing ("PRH") estates. Given that the Housing Department ("HD") has contracted out the property management work for these estates to private property management companies, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the respective numbers of reports and complaints received in the past three years by HD from PRH residents about injuries caused by the damaged public facilities in the estates; and how HD dealt with such reports and complaints;

    (b)whether HD will compensate those who were injured in the above accidents, and whether it will penalize the property management companies concerned;

    (c)whether HD will strengthen its monitoring over property management companies; if it will, of the details; and

    (d)whether HD will stop contracting out the property management work for the estates or review the appropriateness of continuing with contracting out such work; if it will not, of the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands

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

Will the Government inform this Council whether there are mechanisms for monitoring and regulating the order of the securities market to guard it against disruption by vicious competition (such as stockbrokers' cut-throat reduction in commission charged on transactions) and unfair competition, and to ensure that the objective of maintaining a level playing field will not be affected; if there is, of the details, if not, the reasons for that? Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

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

The recent outbreak of atypical pneumonia cases in Guangdong Province has claimed several lives and caused extensive public concern in Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it has learnt about the latest morbidity of the disease in the Mainland and the number of such patients so that timely contingency measures can be drawn up;

    (b)whether it has requested public and private medical institutions to report on various types of pneumonia cases in recent months for analyzing the spread of the disease; if it has, of the results;

    (c)how it will step up promotional and educational activities to enhance the alertness of the public and health care personnel to pneumonia cases; and

    (d)whether it will discuss with the relevant authorities in Guangdong Province the setting up a notification mechanism on infectious and serious diseases; if it will, of the details, if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

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

As many students studying in whole-day primary schools order lunchboxes from food suppliers through their schools collectively, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of licensed food suppliers which are providing lunchboxes to schools; and

    (b)whether it has laid down standards on the nutrient composition and hygiene level of such lunchboxes and asked food suppliers to follow them; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

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

Will the Government inform this Council of the following since the Fixed Penalty (Public Cleanliness Offences) Ordinance (Cap. 570) came into operation in June last year:
    (a)the number of fixed penalty notices issued in each month, with a breakdown by the types of public cleanliness offences, and the number of summonses issued in relation to such offences by magistrates' courts in each of the preceding three years; and

    (b)the number of cases in each month in which designated public officers were assaulted while enforcing the Ordinance, with a breakdown by categories of public officers, the number of persons arrested for the attacks, and the penalties imposed on those who have been convicted?
Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

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

The Drainage Services Department ("DSD") plans to construct a sewage treatment plant at Ngong Ping, Lantau Island, and to discharge the treated effluent into the sea via Tung Wan. According to the Environmental Assessment Report for Tung Wan Option submitted by DSD to the Environmental Protection Department, the inorganic nitrogen level at a distance five metres downstream from the discharge point is predicted to exceed, by over 60 times, the relevant water quality objective for the Southern Water Control Zone in which Tung Wan is situated, but the report claims that the discharge will not have grave impact on the quality of the waters concerned. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it will adopt remedial measures to minimize the impact of the effluent on the water quality of Tung Wan; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (b)whether, given that the Administration will prosecute those members of the commercial and industrial sector who have caused the discharge of effluent exceeding the prescribed standard, it has adopted equally stringent water quality standard for the effluent of this project of a government department; if not, of the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply: Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

*19. Hon Albert CHAN to ask:(Translation)

It is learnt that the Lands Department ("LD") will consult the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department ("AFCD") about trees suspected to have withered on government land. If AFCD indicates that a tree has withered but poses no immediate danger of falling down, LD will put it on the waiting list for removal. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of withered trees that fell down before removal by LD over the last three years and, among them, the number of those that affected residential premises and caused obstruction on roads;

    (b)of the number of trees currently on the list of trees awaiting removal and the average waiting time for removal; and

    (c)whether the Administration will pay compensations to the relevant persons for casualties or damage to property caused by the fall of withered trees awaiting removal, and of the procedure for such persons to claim compensation from the Administration?
Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands

*For written reply.

IIA. Statements

Report of the Task Force on Population Policy:Chief Secretary for Administration


III. Bills

First Reading

1. National Security (Legislative Provisions) Bill

2. Legislative Council (Amendment) Bill 2003

Second Reading (Debates to be adjourned)

1. National Security (Legislative Provisions) Bill:Secretary for Security

2. Legislative Council (Amendment) Bill 2003:Secretary for Constitutional Affairs


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

1. Dutiable Commodities (Amendment) Bill 2002:Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

2. Inland Revenue (Amendment) (No.2) Bill 2001:Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury


IV. Members' Bills

First Reading

Dao Heng Bank Limited (Merger) Bill

Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)

Dao Heng Bank Limited (Merger) Bill:Dr Hon David LI

Public Officer to attend:Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury


V. Members' Motions
  1. Proposed resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance
    2.
    Hon James TO to move the following motion:

    RESOLVED that the Ocean Park Bylaw, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 1 of 2003 and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 15 January 2003, be repealed.

  2. Opposing cutbacks in welfare benefits
    Hon WONG Sing-chi:
    3. (Translation)

    That this Council opposes cutbacks in welfare benefits for the elderly, the vulnerable and the disabled.

    Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

  3. Compendium of Submissions on the Consultation Document on Proposals to Implement Article 23 of the Basic Law
    Hon SIN Chung-kai:
    4.  (Translation)

    That this Council condemns the authorities for compiling the Compendium of Submissions in respect of the enactment of laws to implement Article 23 of the Basic Law in a slipshod, incomplete and inequitable manner, distorting the views expressed by the public and organizations, and urges the authorities to commission an independent organization to analyze and summarize the views expressed by the public on the various proposals in the Consultation Document and to ensure that public opinions are fully and properly reflected and addressed.

    Amendments to Hon SIN Chung-kai's motion
    (i)Hon Howard YOUNG:(Translation)
    To delete "condemns" after "That this Council" and substitute with "expresses disappointment with"; to delete "," after "in a slipshod" and substitute with "and"; to delete "and inequitable" after "incomplete"; to delete ", distorting" after "manner" and substitute with "and for categorizing wrongly"; to delete "the public" after "the views expressed by" and substitute with "some members of the public"; and to delete "commission an independent organization to analyze and summarize the views expressed by the public on the various proposals in the Consultation Document and to ensure that public opinions are fully and properly reflected and addressed" after "and urges the authorities to" and substitute with "rectify the inaccuracies and omissions as soon as possible".

    (ii)Dr Hon YEUNG Sum: (Translation)
    To add "; hence, this Council urges the authorities to shelf the continuation of the legislative procedures for the National Security (Legislative Provisions) Bill" after "to ensure that public opinions are fully and properly reflected and addressed".


    Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Security
Clerk to the Legislative Council