A 02/03-29

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 21 May 2003 at 2:30 pm

I. Tabling of Papers
Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments L.N. No.
1. Legislative Council (Subscribers and Election Deposit for Nomination) (Amendment) Regulation 2003 119/2003
2. District Councils (Subscribers and Election Deposit for Nomination) (Amendment) Regulation 2003 120/2003
3. Declaration of Constituencies (District Councils) Order 2003 121/2003
4. Aerial Ropeways (Operation and Maintenance) (Amendment) Regulation 2003 122/2003
5. Air Pollution Control (Emission Reduction Devices for Vehicles) Regulation 123/2003
6. Air Pollution Control (Vehicle Design Standards) (Emission) (Amendment) Regulation 2003 124/2003
7. Electoral Affairs Commission (Electoral Procedure) (District Councils) (Amendment) Regulation 2003 125/2003
8. Registration of Persons (Application for New Identity Cards) Order 126/2003
9. Registration of Persons (Application for New Identity Cards) (Repeal) Order 2003 127/2003
10. Import and Export (General) Regulations (Amendment of Seventh Schedule) (No. 5) Notice 2003 128/2003
11. Statutes of the University of Hong Kong (Amendment) Statute 2003 129/2003


Other Papers

1. No.83 - Audited Statement of Accounts of the Language Fund, together with the Director of Audit's Report, for the year ended 31 August 2002
(to be presented by Secretary for Education and Manpower)

2. No.84 - Audited Statement of Accounts of the Director of Social Welfare Incorporated together with the Director of Audit's Report for the year ended 31 March 2002
(to be presented by Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food)

3. No.85 - Report on the Recommended Constituency Boundaries for the 2003 District Councils Election
(to be presented by Secretary for Constitutional Affairs)

4. Report of the Bills Committee on Interest on Arrears of Maintenance Bill 2001
(to be presented by Hon Margaret NG, Chairman of the Bills Committee)


II. Questions

1. Hon Frederick FUNG to ask: (Translation)

It is learnt that sewage discharged from the Princess Margaret Hospital ("PMH") is currently delivered to Stonecutters Island Sewage Treatment Works ("SCISTW") for chemically-enhanced primary treatment, i.e. the removal of pollutants by a sedimentation process which is speeded up by adding chemical additives to the sewage. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

    (a) of the reasons for providing only chemically-enhanced primary sewage treatment at SCISTW, and whether it will upgrade the sewage treatment level at SCISTW to the secondary level, i.e. to provide biological treatment to sewage in which organic matters are converted to stable substances by bacterial activities; if it will, of the implementation details and timetable; if not, the reasons for that;

    (b) whether the authorities have drawn up specific sewage treatment procedures for the removal of possible viruses and chemical wastes in the sewage discharged from PMH; if they have, of the details and effectiveness of such procedures; if not, the reasons for that; and whether these viruses and chemical wastes have affected the health of the residents near SCISTW by way of water and wind; and

    (c) of the impact of the treated sewage discharged from SCISTW on the water quality and marine ecology of Hong Kong?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

2. Hon Michael MAK to ask: (Translation)

Regarding government departments' publication of periodicals, such as annual, quarterly and monthly reports, will the Government inform this Council:

    (a) of the total number of copies of periodicals published and the total expenditure incurred by each government department in each of the past three years;

    (b) whether it has issued guidelines to government departments on avoiding wastage of public monies in the production of periodicals; if so, of the details of the guidelines; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c) of the respective numbers of periodicals printed by the Printing Department and outside printers last year and the respective costs incurred; and whether it has compared the cost-effectiveness of the two approaches?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

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

With regard to the co-ordination and co-operation between Hong Kong and the ports along the Pearl River Delta, will the Government inform this Council whether:

    (a) it has assessed the competition posed to the port of Hong Kong by the Nansha Port developed by the Guangzhou Municipal Government; if it has, of the details of the assessment; and whether it has explored with the Guangzhou Municipal Government how to co-operate in this respect;

    (b) it has examined the competition posed to the port of Hong Kong by the development of the Yantian Port in Shenzhen, and whether any co-ordination efforts have been made regarding the co-operation between the ports of the two cities; and

    (c) it has conducted a comprehensive study of how Hong Kong and the ports along the Pearl River Delta develop and co-operate with one other; if it has, of the details of the study; if not, the reasons for that and how it deals with matters relating to the development of and co-operation among the ports concerned?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Development and Labour

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

It is learnt that as Octopus cards with a negative value cannot be used before value is added onto them, members of the public who intend to enjoy the interchange concessions by using Octopus cards will not be able to do so if the remaining value of their cards is negative after paying the fares for the first leg of the journey and they are not able to add value onto the cards before paying the fares for the second leg. Under such circumstances, they can only pay the fares of the second leg in cash, thus failing to enjoy the interchange concessions. Such scenario is particularly common at some major bus-to-bus interchange points, such as the Shing Mun Tunnel Interchange Point and the Tate's Cairn Tunnel Interchange Point. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

    (a) of the numbers of complaints received by the authorities and companies concerned respectively over the past six months about Octopus card deposits and the commuters' failure to enjoy the interchange concessions due to the above restriction;

    (b) although members of the public have paid deposit at the time of purchasing an Octopus card, a card with a negative value cannot be used before value is added onto it, will the authorities discuss with the companies concerned solutions to the inconvenience and unfairness caused by the above restriction to the public; and

    (c) whether guidelines have been issued to the companies concerned requiring them to provide adequate number of Octopus add value machines to facilitate the use of Octopus cards by the public to enjoy the interchange concessions?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

5. Hon Emily LAU to ask:

Regarding the promotion of fair competition, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:

    (a) in view of the World Trade Organization ("WTO") Secretariat's critical comments concerning the current competition policy in Hong Kong during the Trade Policy Review of Hong Kong in December last year, and as 80 member countries of the WTO have adopted competition laws and Singapore is planning to enact competition law within three years, whether the Executive Authorities will study the overseas countries' experience in adopting competition laws and consider if it is applicable to Hong Kong; if so, of the details of the study and consideration; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (b) whether there are plans to enact a set of competition laws in Hong Kong; if not, of the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Development and Labour

*6. Hon Abraham SHEK to ask:

Regarding the low fertility rate in Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council:

    (a) as a local survey reveals that one in every six interviewees has fertility problems, whether the authorities have assessed the impact of the declining fertility rate caused by infertility on the population age structure, when projecting the future fertility rates for the formulation of the population policy; if they have, of the assessment results; if not, the reasons for that;

    (b) as some medical practitioners do not consider infertility an illness and the cost of fertility treatment is relatively high, whether the authorities have assessed if the resources for fertility treatment in public hospitals are inadequate, thus discouraging those who are infertile from seeking early treatment; if they have, of the detailed results of the assessment; if the resources are assessed to be inadequate, the reasons for that; if the resources are assessed to be adequate, of the details; and

    (c) as the authorities have indicated that it is not appropriate to adopt policies to promote childbirth and pointed out that the effectiveness of the pro-natalist policies to promote childbirth pursued by some countries whose fertility rates are low (but are still higher than that of Hong Kong) is not clear, whether it is the authorities' policy to not try to adjust it to improve the situation; if so, from the perspective of sustainable development, how the authorities cope with the pressures arising from the aging population in the future; if not, how the authorities will adjust the relevant policy?
Public Officer to reply : Chief Secretary for Administration

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

It is learnt that upon receipt of students' requests for reviewing examination assessment results, some tertiary institutions, such as the Open University of Hong Kong, will only arrange for a review committee to review the examination papers, but will not allow the students to inspect the examination papers in person. As such, the students will never know the mistakes they have made in answering the examination papers. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:

    (a) it knows the number of tertiary institutions students who requested a review of their examination papers last year, the number of requests refused, and the results of the reviews; and

    (b) the Government will request tertiary institutions to revamp their arrangements for reviewing of examination papers, with a view to allowing students to inspect the papers in person; if not, of the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

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

It has been reported that as Hong Kong Internet Exchange ("HKIX") operated by the Chinese University of Hong Kong ("CUHK") might cease operation due to CUHK's financial constraints, the Commerce, Industry and Technology Bureau ("CITB") has indicated that it would discuss with CUHK HKIX's financial provision and source of funding. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

    (a) whether it knows HKIX's annual operation costs and its source of funding;

    (b) of the progress of discussion between CITB and CUHK; whether they have drawn up a discussion timetable;

    (c) whether it has studied adopting its practice in dealing with the registration of internet domain names last year, and set up a non-profit-making and non-statutory corporation to take over HKIX's function in local internet data exchange; and

    (d) whether it has formulated policies and measures to set up an internet exchange centre in Asia, encourage local internet service providers to link up with network operators in the Mainland, and encourage international telecommunications carrier companies to roll out their cable networks in Hong Kong, with a view to promoting the development of a commercial data exchange centre and strengthen Hong Kong's status as an information hub in Asia; if it has, of the details of such policies and measures; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology

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

Regarding the building numbers of ground floor shops, will the Government inform this Council:

    (a) upon the allocation of building numbers to newly completed buildings by the Rating and Valuation Department, of the party responsible for assigning individual numbers to ground floor shops of the buildings concerned; if the numbers are to be assigned by the developers, whether they have been issued with guidelines on the format of building numbers of ground floor shops; if so, of the details of such guidelines;

    (b) whether it has surveyed the display of building numbers by ground floor shops in the past three years; if so, when the last survey was conducted, the number of ground floor shops covered in the survey and the number of them with building numbers displayed on the premises; and

    (c) of the measures, other than issuing warning letters, taken by the authorities to ensure the proper display of building numbers by the owners or occupiers of ground floor shops?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands

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

Regarding people who have contracted atypical pneumonia in Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council:

    (a) whether it has maintained contact with atypical pneumonia patients who have recovered, so as to keep track of their conditions; if so, of the duration such contacts will be maintained;

    (b) whether it has provided psychological counselling for the above patients or followed up their conditions such as their emotional changes; if so, of the details; and

    (c) of the assistance provided to the families of atypical pneumonia patients who have recovered or died, as well as the number of requests received so far for such assistance and their details?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

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

It has been reported that a member of the public has lodged a complaint against a bank which has, without obtaining his prior consent, transferred his deposit into a non-interest-bearing account on grounds that his account has been inactive for over six years. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

    (a) whether it knows the circumstances under which each bank will transfer its customers' deposit accounts to non-interest-bearing accounts;

    (b) of the rules set by the relevant authorities on banks' unauthorized transfer of customers' accounts into non-interest-bearing accounts, and the penalties for breaches;

    (c) whether the relevant authorities will consider requiring banks to obtain their customers' consent prior to taking such action; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (d) whether the relevant authorities will consider fine-tuning banks' procedure for notifying their customers before they take such action, so as to plug any loopholes and prevent the recurrence of such incidents; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

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

It is reported that since the Government announced the suspension of kindergartens on 29 March this year, some kindergartens encounter financial crises due to the reduction in tuition income. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

    (a) of the details of the reduction in tuition income of all kindergartens in the territory during April and May this year; and

    (b) whether it will assist kindergartens in resolving their financial crises; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

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

Recently, there has been a substantial increase in visitors to country parks. Some of these visitors leave behind litter, thus directly affecting the hygiene conditions of country parks. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:

    (a) the average number of litter bins provided by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department ("AFCD") for each type of recreational facilities (e.g. picnic spots and barbecue sites) in country parks, and the average distance between such litter bins;

    (b) the timetable and other details of the work of AFCD's staff in clearing litter in country parks; and

    (c) to ensure the hygiene conditions of country parks, the measures AFCD will take to address the litter problem caused by the substantial increase in country park visitors?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

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

The Permanent Secretary for Education and Manpower indicated that she had approached the Hong Kong Doctors Union and the Hong Kong Medical Association regarding the implementation of the "One School One Doctor" scheme before the full resumption of classes. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of the details of the "One School One Doctor" scheme and the amount of expenditure involved?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

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

Currently, the Hospital Authority ("HA") mainly uses Ribavirin and steroids to treat patients of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ("SARS"). However, the World Health Organization and the local medical profession have pointed out that the two drugs have serious side effects on the patients, including weakened immunity and damage to hearts and kidneys. The HA also uses the sera of recovered SARS patients for treatment. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:

    (a) of the countries or places which adopt the same methods as those adopted in Hong Kong to treat SARS patients and the mortality rates of their SARS patients, as well as the countries or places adopting different treatment methods, the details of such methods and the mortality rates of their SAR patients;

    (b) whether they have conducted a study of the side effects on the SARS patients who have taken Ribavirin and steroids, and of the number of patients who have died of complications developed as a result of the side effects of the drugs; and

    (c) whether they know if the HA will consider making other treatment options (such as Chinese therapies and medication, alternative therapies, naturopathy and homeopathy) available to SARS patients or their relatives; if it will not, of the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

*16. Hon Ambrose LAU to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the progress of flood prevention works at five most serious flood areas in the territory (namely Kan Tau Tsuen and Chow Tin Tsuen in Ta Kwu Ling; Yau Tam Mei Tsuen, Yau Tam Mei San Tsuen and Chuk Yuen Tsuen in Yuen Long; KCRC Bridges in Kau Lung Hang, Tai Po; Lam Tsuen Valley Basin in Tai Po; and Nathan Road between Boundary Street and Prince Edward Road West), will the Government inform this Council:

    (a) why the flood prevention works at none of the above areas have been completed so far even though the flooding problems there have been categorized as the most serious; and

    (b) of the measures to mitigate the flooding problems in these areas before the completion of the relevant flood prevention works?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

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

Some subvented schools have reflected to me that the delay in allocating funding to schools for repair and maintenance works has rendered it difficult for the school management to carry out the repair and maintenance work on various building services installations and drains for schools within this year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

    (a) of the reasons for the delay in allocating funding;

    (b) of the respective amount of funding given to subvented and subsidized schools for such purpose in each of the past three years;

    (c) whether it will reduce the funding for such purpose in future; if it will, of the reasons for that;

    (d) of its plans to ensure that subvented and subsidized schools will carry out proper repair and maintenance works; and

    (e) whether it has plans to check the design and maintenance of sewerage of all schools so as to prevent the spread of viruses and safeguard the health of students; if it has, of the details of the plans; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

*18. Hon Ambrose LAU to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that the management of the Ocean Park urged the Government two years ago to amend the legislation so as to allow the Ocean Park to increase its revenue by accepting commercial consultancy work. Recently, the Government has set up a Task Force led by the Financial Secretary to study the strategies for the redevelopment of Ocean Park. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:

    (a) the reasons for its failure so far to amend the relevant legislation; and

    (b) the progress of the work of the above Task Force?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

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

In April 2001, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department ("LCSD") took over from the Hong Kong Sports Development Board ("SDB") the Community Sports Clubs ("CSC") movement, which aims to assist national sports associations ("NSAs") to establish CSCs so as to promote sports at the community level. It is learnt that some sports clubs have made several applications for participation in that movement through the NSA concerned over the past few years, but to no avail. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

    (a) of the number of such applications received by SDB in the two years before that movement was taken over by LCSD, the total number of applications received by LCSD so far; among them, the respective numbers of those accepted and refused, together with a breakdown by the types of sports;

    (b) of the time normally required respectively by NSAs for processing, and by LCSD for vetting, such applications;

    (c) whether it has established a mechanism for handling appeals or requests for review put forward by sports clubs against the refusal for participation in that movement; if it has, of the details of such mechanism; if not, the reasons for that;

    (d) whether it has set upper limits on the number of participating CSCs in each district for each type of sports under that movement; if it has, of the details of the rationale for those limits; and

    (e) whether participating CSCs are required to re-apply annually; if not, whether it has conducted regular reviews on the qualifications of such CSCs; if it has, of the details of the mechanism concerned, including the approach to deal with those participating CSCs which do not actively promote sports; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

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

In view of the reducing demand for kindergarten places resulting from the continuous decline in the birth rate of Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council:

    (a) of the planning standards for deciding whether space in public housing estates will be designated for use as kindergartens; and

    (b) whether it plans to review such planning standards so as to avoid an oversupply of kindergarten places; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

*For written reply.

III. Bills

First Reading

1. Town Planning (Amendment) Bill 2003

2. Public Officers Pay Adjustments (2004/2005) Bill

3. United Nations (Anti-Terrorism Measures) (Amendment) Bill 2003


Second Reading (Debates to be adjourned)

1. Town Planning (Amendment) Bill 2003 : Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands

2. Public Officers Pay Adjustments (2004/2005) Bill : Secretary for the Civil Service

3. United Nations (Anti-Terrorism Measures) (Amendment) Bill 2003 : Secretary for Security


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

1. Interest on Arrears of Maintenance Bill 2001 : Secretary for Home Affairs

2. Merchant Shipping (Liability and Compensation for Oil Pollution) (Amendment) Bill 2003 : Secretary for Economic Development and Labour


IV. Members' Motions
  1. Proposed resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance
    Hon Andrew WONG:


    2. RESOLVED that the Maximum Amount of Election Expenses (Village Representative Election) Regulation, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 81 of 2003 and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 2 April 2003, be amended in section 2 -

    (a) in paragraph (a), by repealing "$14,000" and substituting "$18,000";

    (b) in paragraph (b), by repealing "$20,000" and substituting "$28,000".


    Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Home Affairs

  2. Expeditiously implementing the election of the Chief Executive and all Members of the Legislative Council by universal suffrage
    Hon Albert HO:
    3. (Translation)

    That this Council demands that the Basic Law be amended so as to expedite the full implementation of the election of the Chief Executive and all Members of the Legislative Council by universal suffrage.

    Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Constitutional Affairs

  3. Independence of statutory organizations handling public complaints
    Hon Cyd HO:
    4. (Translation)

    That this Council urges the Government to ensure the independence of the Independent Commission Against Corruption, the Office of The Ombudsman, the Equal Opportunities Commission and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data.

    Amendment to Hon Cyd HO's motion
    Hon CHOY So-yuk:     (Translation)

    To delete "ensure" after "That this Council urges the Government to" and substitute with "continue to maintain".

    Public Officers to attend : Chief Secretary for Administration
    Secretary for Home Affairs


Clerk to the Legislative Council