A 02/03-31
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 11 June 2003 at 2:30 pm
I. Tabling of Papers
| Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments | L.N. No.
|
|---|
| 1. | Dutiable Commodities (Amendment) Regulation 2003 | 136/2003
|
| 2. | Karaoke Establishments (Fee Concessions) Regulation 2003 | 137/2003
|
| 3. | Road Traffic (Waiver of Motor Vehicle Licence Fees) Regulation 2003 | 138/2003
|
| 4. | Travel Agents (Waiver of Fees) Regulation 2003 | 139/2003
|
| 5. | Dutiable Commodities (Waiver of Liquor Licence Fees) Regulation 2003 | 140/2003
|
| 6. | Places of Public Entertainment (Waiver of Fees) Regulation 2003 | 141/2003
|
| 7. | Road Traffic (Waiver of Passenger Service Licence Fees) Regulation 2003 | 142/2003
|
| 8. | Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Public Pleasure Grounds) (Amendment of Fourth Schedule) (No. 2) Order 2003 | 143/2003
|
| 9. | Tax Reserve Certificates (Rate of Interest) (No. 2) Notice 2003 | 144/2003
|
| 10. | Road Traffic (Temporary Reduction of New Territories Taxi Fares) Regulation 2003 | 146/2003
|
| 11. | Road Traffic (Temporary Reduction of New Territories Taxi Fares) (No. 2) Regulation 2003 | 147/2003
|
| 12. | Apprenticeship (Designation of Trades) Order 2003 | 148/2003
|
| 13. | Apprenticeship (Periods of Apprenticeship) Notice 2003 | 149/2003
|
| 14. | Designation of Libraries Order 2003 | 150/2003
|
| 15. | Village Representative (Election Petition) Rules | 151/2003
|
Other Paper
| No.88 | - | Occupational Safety and Health Council Annual Report 2001-2002
|
| (to be presented by Secretary for Economic Development and Labour)
|
IA. Addresses
Hon LEUNG Fu-wah to address the Council on Road Traffic (Temporary Reduction of New Territories Taxi Fares) Regulation 2003 and Road Traffic (Temporary Reduction of New Territories Taxi Fares) (No. 2) Regulation 2003, which are subsidiary legislation laid on the Table of the Council on 11 June 2003.
II. Questions
1. Hon WONG Yung-kan to ask: (Translation)
The Fisheries Protection Ordinance prohibits destructive fishing practices. In October 1998, this Council passed amendments to the above Ordinance, which included raising the maximum fine for breaches of the provisions concerned from $10,000 to $200,000. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | how the Ordinance has been enforced by the department concerned since its above amendment, and details of the convicted cases, including the penalties imposed by the court; and
|
| (b) | whether it will consider taking more stringent measures, such as introducing another amendment to the Ordinance to further increase the penalties, for combating destructive fishing activities?
|
Public Officer to reply
: Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
2. Hon Cyd HO to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that cast iron pipes with sand holes formed during the casting process are prone to corrosion and leakage, which may affect public health and may cause diseases to spread. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the names and locations of the public housing estates in which cast iron sewage pipes are installed; and
|
| (b) | whether it will expeditiously replace the sewage pipes of the public housing estates mentioned above; if it will, of the replacement timetable; if not, the reasons for that?
|
Public Officer to reply
: Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands
3. Hon Bernard CHAN to ask:
The Undesirable Medical Advertisements Ordinance prohibits the publication of advertisements which claim that any medicine or treatment has curative or preventive effects on specified diseases or conditions, including respiratory diseases like pneumonia. In view of the recent surge in advertisements on Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ("SARS")-related products, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it has monitored the contents of the advertisements for SARS-related products published on web-sites or other media; if so, of the findings;
|
| (b) | of the law enforcement actions it has taken against persons who publish advertisements claiming that their products can cure or prevent SARS; and
(c) whether it plans to step up enforcement of the relevant legislation to further protect consumers?
|
Public Officer to reply
: Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
4. Hon Audrey EU to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that the Hong Kong Police Force and the Guangdong Provincial Public Security Bureau reached an agreement last year to establish a mechanism for reporting the particulars of offenders. Through this mechanism, the authorities in Hong Kong will provide their Mainland counterparts with information on the Mainland residents who have committed crimes in Hong Kong, whereas the Mainland authorities will deny the persons concerned permits to visit Hong Kong for two to five years. Nevertheless, the number of Mainland visitors arrested for committing crimes in Hong Kong over the first quarter of this year has still increased by more than 20%, compared to the figures of the same period last year. The crimes committed are mainly thefts and frauds. The Mainland visitors who have committed crimes in Hong Kong, particularly those involved in frauds, quickly and secretly returned to the Mainland, making it difficult for the Hong Kong Police to carry out crime investigation and make arrests. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the effectiveness of the reporting mechanism;
|
| (b) | of the measures to deal with the quick and secret return of Mainland visitors to the Mainland after committing crimes in Hong Kong; and
(c) as the Central Government has, in response to a proposal by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ("SAR"), agreed to study further relaxation of current restrictions to facilitate Mainland residents' visits to Hong Kong, whether the SAR Government has formulated any measures to step up the enforcement actions against the above-mentioned criminal activities; if so, of the details?
|
Public Officer to reply
: Secretary for Security
5. Hon TSANG Yok-sing to ask: (Translation)
An environmentalist is reported to have stated that the underground drainage system in the area around Dundas Street in Mongkok has been misconnected, causing the inflow of sewage from commercial and domestic buildings into the stormwater drainage system and threatening the health of the residents in the vicinity. As such sewage may not have undergone any treatment before it is directly discharged into the Victoria Harbour, the marine environment may be polluted. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it has assessed the risk of virus spreading through the misconnected drainage system; if it has, of the assessment results;
|
| (b) | as the stormwater drainage system in the above area also discharges sewage and its flood relief ability is thus weakened, of the measures the authorities will take to prevent the occurrence of flooding in the area during rainstorms; and
(c) whether it has assessed if the discharge of sewage from commercial and domestic buildings into the harbour through stormwater drainage pipes will hinder the optimal use of public sewage treatment facilities, resulting in a waste of public funds?
|
Public Officer to reply
: Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works
6. Hon Albert CHAN to ask: (Translation)
Some of the domestic sewage from villages in the New Territories is treated by private treatment facilities such as septic tanks and soakaway systems, rather than by sewage treatment plants via communal sewer. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:
| (a) | the respective numbers of inspections conducted by the relevant department last year on private treatment facilities and orders issued to or prosecutions instituted against households that had failed to treat the sewage properly and caused pollution to the environment, and the outcome of these orders and prosecutions; and
|
| (b) | the measures to ensure proper checking and maintenance of these private treatment facilities to prevent pollution of the environment and the breeding of mosquitoes and pests?
|
Public Officer to reply
: Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works
*7. Hon LEE Cheuk-yan to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the employment statistics compiled by the Census and Statistics Department, will the Government inform this Council of the numbers of employed persons (excluding unpaid family workers, foreign domestic helpers and employed persons who worked less than 35 hours during the seven days before enumeration due to vacation) in each of the past three years, broken down by the groupings in the form appended below?
| Number of employed persons Monthly employment earnings
|
|---|
Gender/
Hours of work
during the seven
days before
enumeration Less | than $3,000 | $3,000 - $4,999 | $5,000 - $7,499 | $7,500 - $9,999 | $10,000 or above | Total |
| Female |
|
| Less than 35 hours |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 35 - 49 hours |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 50 - 59 hours |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 60 hours or above |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Sub-total |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Male |
|
| Less than 35 hours |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 35 - 49 hours |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 50 - 59 hours |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 60 hours or above |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Sub-total |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Female and male |
|
| Less than 35 hours |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 35 - 49 hours |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 50 - 59 hours |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 60 hours or above |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Total |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Public Officer to reply
: Secretary for Economic Development and Labour
*8. Hon Kenneth TING to ask: (Translation)
Various banks, public utilities as well as industrial and commercial organizations have recently taken the initiative to adopt relief measures to assist industries which have been badly hit by the atypical pneumonia epidemic. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it will commend these organizations openly and encourage more organizations to adopt similar measures in order to help revive the economy?
Public Officer to reply
: Financial Secretary
*9. Hon YEUNG Yiu-chung to ask: (Translation)
Will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it has a mechanism for the surveillance, early warning, treatment and study of infectious diseases; if it has, of the details of the mechanism;
|
| (b) | of the rationale and details of the study on setting up in Hong Kong an organization similar to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States of America; whether the functions of this organization will overlap with those of the Department of Health; if so, of the improvements to be made by the authorities; and
(c) of the details of the education and training for the prevention, control and treatment of infectious diseases?
|
Public Officer to reply
: Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
*10. Hon CHAN Yuen-han to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that the method of refuse collection currently used in public housing estates and Home Ownership Scheme ("HOS") courts often involves spills and emission of foul odours from refuse chutes, refuse storage chambers and refuse containers, and the transportation of refuse also gives rise to environmental hygiene problems. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the districts where complaints were lodged about spills and emission of foul odours from refuse chutes, refuse storage chambers and containers and the areas adjoining elevators for disposing of refuse in public housing estates and HOS courts over the past three years, and how these complaints have been handled;
|
| (b) | whether it has prescribed the monthly cleansing frequency of refuse containers in public housing estates and HOS courts; if it has, of the details;
(c) as the Housing Authority agreed in 1998 that, except in special circumstances, all public housing developments with more than 2,400 domestic flats and scheduled for completion after 1 January 2001 would be provided with an Automated Refuse Collection System ("ARCS") and that the feasibility of retrofitting the facilities in both existing estates and those under construction would be studied, of the progress of the provision of these facilities by the authorities, and whether a timetable has been set by them for such provision in all public housing estates and HOS courts in the territory; and
(d) whether it will consider providing additional elevators specially designed for transporting refuse in public housing estates and HOS courts which could not be installed with ARCS; if not, the reasons for that?
|
Public Officer to reply
: Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands
*11. Hon Fred LI to ask: (Translation)
The Competition Policy Advisory Group has developed a set of draft guidelines to define anti-competitive practices, provide pointers with objective benchmarks to assess Hong Kong's overall competitive environment and promote consistent application of Hong Kong's competition policy across sectors. Interested parties are being consulted on the draft guidelines. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the details of the draft guidelines, particularly the definitions of anti-competitive practices and the objective benchmarks for assessing competitive environment;
|
| (b) | of the details of the consultation exercise conducted on the draft guidelines, and whether consumers and non-business sectors are consulted;
(c) whether this Council will be consulted on the contents of the draft guidelines before they are finalized; if so, of the consultation timetable; if not, the reasons for that;
(d) of the proposed timetable for finalising and implementing the guidelines; and
(e) how it will ensure that various sectors and bodies take heed of the guidelines, which have no legal effect?
|
Public Officer to reply
: Secretary for Economic Development and Labour
*12. Hon Frederick FUNG to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the Mongkok Stadium managed by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the number of activities held at the Stadium in the past 12 months and the details of each, including the organisers, type of activities, number of days rented and number of spectators;
|
| (b) | whether it regularly collects users' opinion on the facilities of the Stadium; if it does, of the method of collection and the results of the latest opinion survey, as well as the follow-up actions taken by the authorities concerned; if not, the reasons for that; and
(c) whether it plans to improve the standard of the Stadium's facilities, such as retrofitting a roof and permanent seats with back rests at the spectator stands; if so, of the details and implementation timetable of the plan; if not, the reasons for that?
|
Public Officer to reply
: Secretary for Home Affairs
*13. Hon CHOY So-yuk to ask: (Translation)
I have learnt that, as a general practice, when the Government invites Legislative Council Members or District Councils members to attend official functions, only their spouses but not other immediate family members (for example, their parents and children) are also invited. Even if their spouses have declined such invitations, their other immediate family members will not be invited. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the rationale for such a practice;
|
| (b) | whether it has assessed if such a practice is an unfair treatment to the immediate family members other than the spouses, and contravenes the spirit of the Family Status Discrimination Ordinance (Cap. 527); if it has, of the assessment results; and
(c) whether it will consider inviting, in addition to the spouses, the other immediate family members to attend official functions?
|
Public Officer to reply
: Secretary for Home Affairs
*14. Hon SIN Chung-kai to ask: (Translation)
It is learnt that the Australian National Office for the Information Economy released a research report on the social impacts of e-mail spamming in April this year. According to the report, e-mail spamming has brought about various adverse impacts which include losses in production and internet bandwidth, dispersal of pornographic materials, internet frauds, money-laundering activities and so on. In this regard, the Australian government will enact legislation to regulate email-spamming activities. The government of the United Kingdom also plans to amend its legislation to regulate usage of information on personal e-mail addresses. In response to my questions raised in April and May last year, the Government advised that the Office of the Telecommunications Authority was currently reviewing the effectiveness of the Guidelines for Senders of Fax Advertisements (the Guidelines) published in July 1999 regarding junk fax, and was working with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data and the Hong Kong Internet Service Providers Association ("HKISPA") to review the effectiveness of the Code of Practice for Prevention of E-mail Spamming ("the Code") issued by HKISPA in February 2000 to decide on the need for legislation against junk fax and e-mail spamming. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the countries and regions which already regulate or plan to regulate against junk fax and e-mail spamming;
|
| (b) | whether it has conducted a study similar to that in Australia to assess the economic and social impacts of junk fax and e-mail spamming on the local economy; if it has, of the findings of the study; and
(c) of the progress of the respective reviews on the Guidelines and the Code; and whether the report on the reviews concerned will be published?
|
Public Officer to reply
: Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology
*15. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)
On the 5th of last month, the Chief Executive stated that "the Government has begun to study establishing an organization similar to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States to fight and prevent infectious diseases". In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
| (a) | of the proposed location of the office of the organization, as well as its estimated establishment costs and annual operation costs; and
|
| (b) | whether, in conducting research work on the control and prevention of infectious diseases, the organization will, apart from the mainstream western therapies, explore other treatment options (such as alternative therapies, Chinese therapies and medication, naturopathy and homeopathy); if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
|
Public Officer to reply
: Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
*16. Hon LAU Kong-wah to ask: (Translation)
The Housing Authority announced on April 23 the granting of rent concessions for three months to retail operators in public housing estates under its management, including those stallholders in markets managed by single operators. It has been reported that some single operators have offered rent concessions for stalls under their management at rates lower than those they enjoy themselves. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the number of market stalls managed by single operators;
|
| (b) | of the reasons for some stallholders being offered lower rates of rent concessions than those offered to the single operators concerned; and
(c) how it will penalize those single operators who have not offered rent concessions for stalls under their management at the same rates as offered to them?
|
Public Officer to reply
: Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands
*17. Ir Dr Hon HO Chung-tai to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that the Education and Manpower Bureau asks all primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong to conduct self-evaluation in the new school year commencing in September this year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether consultation has been carried out prior to implementing the school self-evaluation project; if so, of the parties consulted and the consultation results;
|
| (b) | of the mechanism in place to monitor self-evaluation by schools; and
(c) whether the scope of the school self-evaluation project will be extended to cover universities?
|
Public Officer to reply
: Secretary for Education and Manpower
*18. Hon Fred LI to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the impacts of town gas production plants and power plants on the residents in their vicinity, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it regularly monitors the amounts of emissions from town gas production plants and power plants and the radiation levels of such emissions; if so, of the findings of the last monitoring work; if not, the reasons for that;
|
| (b) | whether it has studied if the emissions from such plants have any health impacts on the residents nearby; if so, of the results of the study;
(c) of the stipulation under the existing legislation on the shortest distance between such plants and residential premises; whether it knows the relevant stipulations in the United States, United Kingdom, Japan and other advanced countries and the criteria for determining the permitted shortest distance; if so, of the relevant details; and
(d) whether it will consider prohibiting the construction of residential premises within a certain distance from such plants?
|
Public Officer to reply
: Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works
*19. Hon Kenneth TING to ask: (Translation)
Will the Government inform this Council whether:
| (a) | it has made a forecast on the number of mainland private enterprises which plan to apply within the next two years for listing in Hong Kong; if it has, of the forecast number; and
|
| (b) | it knows if the authorities concerned will take measures to encourage more high-quality mainland private enterprises to get listed in Hong Kong; if they will, of the details of the measures; if not, whether they will expeditiously consider taking such measures?
|
Public Officer to reply
: Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
*20. Hon YEUNG Yiu-chung to ask: (Translation)
It is learnt that the Government will spend $102 million on Operation CARE, whereby non-governmental organizations ("NGOs") will be commissioned to create a total of 4 500 jobs that will last for three months, for providing household cleaning and minor repair services for the elderly living alone and people with lower self-care ability. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the procedures for NGOs to apply to create such jobs and the approval criteria;
|
| (b) | of the number of applications submitted by NGOs so far, the outcome of these applications and the amount of the approved grants, broken down by the districts in which the service recipients live; and
(c) how it will monitor the NGOs' spending of the approved grants?
|
Public Officer to reply
: Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
*For written reply.
III. Bills
First Reading
1. Landlord and Tenant (Consolidation) (Amendment) Bill 2003
2. Boundary Facilities Improvement Tax Bill
Second Reading (Debates to be adjourned) 1. Landlord and Tenant (Consolidation) (Amendment) Bill 2003
| : | Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands
|
2. Boundary Facilities Improvement Tax Bill
| : | Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
|
IV. Motions
- Proposed resolution under section 6(3) of the Betting Duty Ordinance
Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury to move the following motion:
RESOLVED that with effect from 1 August 2003 section 6(1)(b) of the Betting Duty Ordinance be amended by repealing "19%" and substituting "20%".
- Proposed resolution under section 3(4) of the Betting Duty Ordinance
Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury to move the following motion:
RESOLVED that with effect from 1 August 2003 section 3(3)(b) of the Betting Duty Ordinance be amended by repealing "76%" and substituting "75%".
V. Members' Motions
- Proposed resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance
Hon IP Kwok-him to move the following motion:
RESOLVED that in relation to the Fire Services (Fire Hazard Abatement) Regulation, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 113 of 2003 and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 14 May 2003, 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 2 July 2003.
- Resumption of private streets
Hon IP Kwok-him: (Translation)
That, as the fragmented ownership of many of the private streets in the territory has given rise to poor management of such streets, resulting in their facilities falling into disrepair and sewers bursting, thereby creating breeding grounds for viruses and posing hazards to public health, this Council urges the Government to re-formulate the policy direction for private street resumption, so as to provide the relevant policy bureaux with sufficient powers and resources to effect the resumption of the remaining 104 private streets under the Private Street Resumption Programme, with a view to fully resolving the various problems arising from private streets, thereby improving the environment of the community and enhancing people's quality of life.
Amendments to Hon IP Kwok-him's motion
| (i) | Hon Mrs Sophie LEUNG: (Translation)
To add "and amend the relevant legislation" after "this Council urges the Government to re-formulate the policy direction for private street resumption"; to delete "effect the resumption of the remaining 104" after "so as to provide the relevant policy bureaux with sufficient powers and resources to" and substitute with "adopt decisive measures to effect the expeditious resumption of all the"; to add "original" after "private streets under the"; and to add "which are still beset with problems of environmental hygiene and poor management" after "Private Street Resumption Programme".
|
| (ii) | Hon James TO: (Translation)
To add "while respecting the wishes of the majority of the owners, and to consider according priority to the redevelopment of such streets" after "so as to provide the relevant policy bureaux with sufficient powers and resources to effect the resumption of the remaining 104 private streets under the Private Street Resumption Programme".
|
Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Home Affairs
- Asia's World City
Hon Abraham SHEK: (Translation)
That, as the Government has proposed to position Hong Kong as "Asia's World City", this Council urges the Government to fully evaluate and assess Hong Kong's current economic and social conditions, comprehensively review the policies and strategies relevant to Hong Kong's position as an international city, promote the building of a more open, tolerant, receptive and innovative city image, and reinforce and enhance Hong Kong's international status, so as to make Hong Kong truly "Asia's World City".
Amendment to Hon Abraham SHEK's motion
Dr Hon YEUNG Sum: (Translation)
To add "democratic, human rights-respecting, equitable," after "promote the building of a more".
Public Officer to attend : Chief Secretary for Administration
Clerk to the Legislative Council
