A 02/03-4

Legislative Council

Agenda
Wednesday 23 October 2002 at 2:30 pm

I. Tabling of Papers

Subsidiary Legislation / InstrumentsL.N. No.
1.Road Traffic (Construction and Maintenance of Vehicles) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulation 2002147/2002
2.Road Traffic (Safety Equipment) (Amendment) Regulation 2002148/2002
3.Employees Retraining Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule 2) Notice 2002149/2002
4.Airport Authority (Permitted Airport-related Activities) Order (L.N. 127 of 2002) (Commencement) Notice 2002150/2002

Other Papers

1.No.6-The Land Registry Trading Fund Hong Kong Annual Report 2001-02
(to be presented by Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands)

2.No.7-Report of changes to the approved Estimates of Expenditure approved during the first quarter of 2002-03 (Public Finance Ordinance : Section 8)
(to be presented by Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury)

3.No.8-Report by the Trustee of the Prisoners' Education Trust Fund for the period from 1 April 2001 to 31 March 2002
(to be presented by Secretary for Security)

4.No.9-Report on the Administration of the Immigration Service Welfare Fund prepared by the Director of Immigration Incorporated in accordance with Regulation 12(b) of the Immigration Service (Welfare Fund) Regulation
(to be presented by Secretary for Security)

5.No.10-Office of the Telecommunications Authority Trading Fund Report 2001-2002
(to be presented by Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology)

II. Questions

1. Hon MA Fung-kwok to ask: (Translation)

At present, banks stipulate in property mortgage loan agreements that the mortgagors must take out fire insurance for the property concerned. It is learnt that some banks require the insured amount to be equal to the "initial loan value", instead of "the cost of reinstating the property in the event of fire" ("reinstating cost"), which is usually lower in amount; while some other banks charge mortgagors extra administration and valuation fees if they choose the reinstating cost as the insured amount. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:
    (a)it knows the current number of fire insurance policies taken out for mortgaged properties, together with a breakdown by cases where the insured amount is equal respectively to the "initial loan value", the "reinstating cost" or other amounts such as the "market value" of the properties, as well as the number of fire insurance policies in respect of which the insured amount is equal to the "initial loan value" and higher than the "reinstating cost";

    (b)it has assessed if the amount which the banks charge mortgagors as extra administration and valuation fees for choosing the "reinstating cost" as the insured amount for fire risk is reasonable; if so, of the assessment results; and

    (c)it has assessed if the existing legislation and the Code of Banking Practice are adequate to protect the rights of mortgagors in the choice of the insured amount when taking out fire insurance for their properties; if it is assessed to be adequate, of the justifications; and whether it will consider formulating measures to better protect consumers' rights in this regard; if so, of the details?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

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

Under the Motor Vehicles Insurance (Third Party Risks) Ordinance, the Government is not required to insure its vehicles against third party risks. Regarding claims relating to traffic accidents involving government vehicles, will the Government inform this Council of:
    (a)the total amount of compensation for deaths and injuries paid to third parties in traffic accidents involving government vehicles, and the number of claims for third party deaths and injuries rejected by the Government as well as the reasons for rejection, in each of the past three years;

    (b)the justifications for stating, in its reply to a question raised in this Council in June 2000, that it was more cost effective for the Government to take on directly the compensation liability arising from traffic accidents involving its vehicles than to pay premium for third party insurance; and

    (c)the arrangement for awarding compensation and ex-gratia payments to third parties or their families for deaths and injuries caused by traffic accidents involving government vehicles driven by unauthorized persons; whether it has compared this arrangement to that for traffic accidents involving non-government vehicles driven by persons without the consent of the vehicle owners, and assessed if the arrangement in respect of government vehicles is fair to the victims concerned?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

3. Hon Albert CHAN to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the expenditure and claims relating to the Airport Core Programme projects, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the total expenditure of the projects as at the end of last month and the difference between this figure and the estimated expenditure originally approved; where there is over-spending, of the organization(s) to shoulder the extra expenditure;

    (b)whether it is aware of the number and amounts of claims received by the Airport Authority in respect of the construction contracts of the projects, together with a breakdown by cases settled and not yet settled; among these cases, the number and amounts of claims pertaining to the Airport Station of the Airport Railway, and the difference between the actual expenditure for construction of the station and the estimated expenditure originally approved; where there is over-spending, of the reasons for that; and

    (c)whether it knows the number of employees who used to be the management staff of the Airport Authority and involved in these projects and who now work in private organizations; and how the authorities ensure that the Airport Authority can fairly and reasonably deal with the claims made by the organizations in which these people now work?
Public Officers to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

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

According to the Report of the Panel of Enquiry on Penny Stocks Incident, the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau had received an Executive Summary and a Summary Table submitted respectively by the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited ("HKEx") and the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission ("SFC"), before the release of the Consultation Paper on Proposed Amendments to the Listing Rules Relating to Initial Listing and Continuing Listing Criteria and Cancellation of Listing Procedures (the Consultation Paper) on 25 July this year. However, the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury (the Secretary) supplied wrong information to the Financial Secretary ("FS"), resulting in FS advising the media on 29 July this year that the HKEx had not consulted the Government on the Consultation Paper before its release. When reading from his speaking note at the Special Meeting of the Legislative Council Panel on Financial Services held on 31 July this year, the Secretary also indicated that neither the HKEx nor the SFC had consulted him on the contents of the Consultation Paper and that he had not received the Consultation Paper before its release. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it has looked into the above acts of the Secretary to see if they comply with the Code for Principal Officials under the Accountability System ("the Code"), particularly sections 1.2 and 2.11 thereof; and

    (b)whether the Chief Executive has considered imposing penalties on principal officials for breaching the Code and stipulating the proper behaviour required of the principal officials in discharging duties in future; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Constitutional Affairs

5. Hon Albert HO to ask: (Translation)

Since 1996, the Government has published five White Bills on various legislative proposals, to enable the public to express their views on the provisions of the various bills. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:
    (a)the criteria adopted in deciding whether or not to publish a White Bill for public consultation;

    (b)the reasons for deciding not to publish a White Bill on the legislation for implementing Article 23 of the Basic Law; and

    (c)the reasons for planning to conclude the legislative process for the implementation of Article 23 of the Basic Law by July next year?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

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

Regarding the establishment of the Mainland/Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement being discussed by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Central Government, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the result of the public consultation on the Arrangement conducted in February this year and the timetable for the announcement of the result; whether it will issue a more detailed consultation paper to the public so as to explain its policies in this aspect and enhance public involvement in the discussion;

    (b)of the progress of the discussion on establishing the Arrangement; in the process of the discussion, whether it will strive for the relaxation of restrictions on the importation of Hong Kong films into the Mainland and on the investments in telecommunications services by Hong Kong businessmen in the Mainland; and

    (c)whether it has plans to form a Greater China Free Trade Area with Macau and Taiwan at the same time, or discuss with other Asian countries or regional trade organizations such as Association of South-East Asian Nations, for drawing up similar free trade agreements; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Financial Secretary

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

It is learnt that the Government is considering converting some of the Home Ownership Scheme ("HOS") flats for other uses. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)when a decision on the uses of these HOS flats will be made;

    (b)whether it will consider converting these HOS flats into public rental housing units; if so, of the number of such flats; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c)whether it will consider offering these HOS flats as compensation to homeowners affected by urban renewal projects; if not, of the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands

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

It has been reported that the records of the Air Pollution Index as measured by the ambient air quality monitoring stations in Tung Chung had been broken twice during the period from the end of August to the beginning of September this year. It was alleged that the pollutants might have originated from the Pearl River Delta region. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it has studied the reasons for the serious air pollution in the area; if so, of the findings; if not, the reasons for that;

    (b)of the specific measures to completely solve the air pollution problem in the area; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c)how it ensures that the health of long-term dwellers in the area will not be harmed by air pollution?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

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

Under section 5.24 of the Code Of Practice For Minimum Fire Service Installations And Equipment, the minimum effective quantity of water required to be available in the supply tank for fire fighting is classified into four levels according to the floor area (gross) factor of the largest floor of the building in which the supply tank is located. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the respective numbers of supply tanks in domestic, commercial and composite buildings in Hong Kong at present, broken down by these four levels,

    (b)of the criteria for defining these four levels; whether they are related to the Performance Pledge of the Fire Services Department that building fire calls should be responded to within six minutes in built-up areas; and

    (c)whether it will consider adopting the structure and space of the building in which the supply tank is located as the criteria for determining the minimum effective quantity of water required to be available; if not, of the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

*10. Hon LEUNG Yiu-chung to ask: (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of cases in which employers defaulted in payment of wages to their employees, as well as the number of employees and the amount of wages involved, in each of the past three years;

    (b)among the cases in (a) above, of the number of those involving the construction industry, as well as the number of employees and the amount of wages involved; and

    (c)whether the relevant legislation will be amended to enhance the protection for employees; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Development and Labour

*11. Hon Fred LI to ask: (Translation)

Under the Road Traffic (Traffic Control) (Amendment) Regulation 2002, drivers of motor vehicles must turn on the obligatory headlamps (or commonly known as "main headlamps") during the hours of darkness or in poor visibility conditions. Although the Regulation has come into operation since July 1 this year, I notice that a lot of drivers still fail to comply with the stipulation. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:
    (a)the respective numbers of warnings given and prosecutions instituted by the enforcement departments since the implementation of the Regulation, in respect of contraventions of the above stipulation by motorists; and

    (b)the details of the authorities' efforts in promoting public awareness of the new Regulation; and whether it has reviewed the effectiveness of such efforts; if it has, of the outcome?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

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

At present, quite a number of ground floor shops do not have building numbers displayed on the premises, making it difficult for tourists to locate the shops they intend to visit. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether building numbers are properly displayed at existing ground floor shop premises in tourist areas;

    (b)of the plans to ensure that all operators of ground floor shops will properly display building numbers at prominent positions of the shop premises; and

    (c)whether it plans to standardize specifications for the display of building numbers to facilitate tourists in locating shops; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands

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

I have received complaints that students of government-designated driving schools ("driving schools") have a shorter queuing time than those of private driving instructors for driving tests arranged by the Administration and, as a result, many people choose to learn driving at driving schools. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
    (a)whether they know how the number of students of driving schools compares to that of private driving instructors for the past three years, and whether the number of students of private driving instructors is on a downward trend; please give the relevant figures in detail;

    (b)of the current difference between the queuing times of the two types of students on average; and whether they have assessed if the difference in queuing time is the cause of more people choosing to learn driving at driving schools and hence a gradual decline in the market share of private driving instructors;

    (c)whether they have assessed if the difference in queuing time will result in driving schools monopolizing the driver training market and constitute violation of the principle of fair competition; if so, of the assessment results; and

    (d)whether the relevant authority will consider uniformizing the queuing times for both types of students?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

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

Regarding the two territory-wide exercises conducted by the Housing Authority to relieve overcrowding from 2001 up to now, will the Government inform this Council of:
    (a)the number of flats provided for transfer in each of the above exercises, broken down by their locations as follows: in urban areas, extended urban areas, the New Territories and the islands, as well as the number of new ones among those flats;

    (b)the respective numbers of families which applied for transfer and which were successfully transferred in each exercise, broken down by locations as in (a); and

    (c)the number of families which were successfully transferred in each exercise, broken down by the average living area per person as follows: below 4.5 square metres, between 4.5 and 5.5 square metres, and above 5.5 square metres?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands

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

Members of the public have expressed concerns that the Chinese language proficiency, in particular the Chinese writing skill, of secondary school leavers, matriculants and even university graduates has been declining in recent years. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
    (a)the average number of Chinese essays that students taking Chinese subjects at various levels of secondary and matriculation education are required to complete each year, and if the Education Department has issued relevant guidelines to schools;

    (b)the respective average scores attained by candidates in the Chinese Language essay-writing papers in the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination and the Chinese Language and Culture essay-writing papers in the Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination, in each of the past three years; and

    (c)the specific measures taken by universities to enhance the Chinese language proficiency of their students?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

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

The stipulation in existing legislation, which imposes on the suppliers of goods certain implied statutory undertakings in respect of the goods they supply, is applicable only to contracts of sale. In its Report on Contract for the Supply of Goods published in February this year, the Law Reform Commission recommends legislative amendments to extend the ambit of the stipulation to cover other types of contracts for the supply of goods, such as contracts of hire, hire purchase agreements and contracts for work and materials. It has been reported that the Administration does not intend to adopt the recommendation. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
    (a)of the reasons for the Administration's not intending to adopt the recommendation;

    (b)whether they have assessed the impact of implementing the above recommendation on the operating costs of businesses and on litigations involving consumers' rights and interests; and

    (c)whether they have assessed if existing legislation is effective in protecting the rights and interests of consumers entering into the three types of contracts for the supply of goods mentioned above; if an assessment has been made, of the outcome?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Development and Labour

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

It has been reported that although the salaries of civil servants have been reduced as from 1 October this year, the Inland Revenue Department ("IRD") points out that according to the Inland Revenue Ordinance (Cap 112), employees who have their salaries reduced have to pay their provisional salaries tax for the current year of assessment by reference to the net chargeable amount and rates specified for the preceding year of assessment; thus, the amount of provisional salaries tax payable by civil servants who have their salaries reduced cannot be lowered. Moreover, a person is qualified for a holding over of payment of provisional salaries tax if the net chargeable income during the year of assessment of the person assessed to provisional salaries tax is, or is likely to be, less than 90% of the net chargeable income for the year preceding the year of assessment. As the rate of salary reduction for civil servants on this occasion is less than 10%, civil servants are not qualified for the said holdover. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether the authorities are empowered by the existing legislation to exercise discretion in dealing with applications for reduction in the amount of provisional salaries tax and for holding over of payment of provisional salaries tax; if so, of the details; and

    (b)whether it will review the existing legislation to enable more employees who have their salaries reduced to be qualified for holding over of payment of their provisional salaries tax?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

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

It has been reported that laboratory tests on the radiation levels of samples of local and imported vegetables are regularly conducted by the Hong Kong Observatory, and the latest test results show that there are indications of an increase in such radiation levels in recent years. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether, in respect of the increase in the radiation levels of vegetables, it has made inquiries with vegetable farmers or conducted site inspections; if so, of the details;

    (b)whether it has studied the factors contributing to the increase in the radiation levels of vegetables; if so, of the results; and

    (c)whether it has studied the possible measures to reduce the radiation levels of vegetables, such as enhancing the education on farming practices for farmers?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

*19. Hon LAU Chin-shek to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the impact on passengers of the broadcasting of television programmes on buses by franchised bus companies, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of complaints received from passengers about such broadcasting and the specific contents of these complaints in each of the past two years;

    (b)whether it has conducted surveys to see if such broadcasting has had negative impact on passengers;

    (c)given that regulation 46(1)(n)(i) of the Road Traffic (Public Service Vehicles) Regulations (Cap. 374, sub. leg.) provides that a passenger on a public bus shall not, when in or on the vehicle, use or operate to the annoyance of any other person any noisy instrument such as radio, etc., of the justifications for allowing franchised bus companies to broadcast television programmes; and

    (d)whether consideration has been given to the inclusion of clauses regulating such broadcasting in public bus service franchise agreements in future to protect the interests of passengers?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

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

Regarding the clearance of unauthorized rooftop structures and rehousing of the tenants concerned, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the progress and timetable of clearance of unauthorized rooftop structures;

    (b)of the current percentage of unauthorized rooftop structures with potential fire hazards in the total number of such structures;

    (c)whether it has studied how to expedite the clearance of unauthorized rooftop structures so as to minimize fire hazards;

    (d)of the respective numbers of such tenants who have and those who have not been allocated public rental housing ("PRH") units in each of the past three years; and the reasons for not allocating PRH units to some of the tenants; and

    (e)whether, in view of the current social and economic climate, it will review the eligibility criteria for allocating PRH units to such tenants?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands

*For written reply.

III. Members' Motions

  1. "Local Agenda 21" and sustainable development

    Hon CHOY So-yuk:

 (Translation)

That this Council urges the Government to actively respond to the spirit of the Earth Summits convened by the United Nations on sustainable development in 1992 and 2002 and to expeditiously implement the relevant agreements on sustainable development, including formulating and implementing strategies for sustainable development, a "Local Agenda 21" and action plans; to this end, the Government should set up the Council for Sustainable Development as soon as possible, commence dialogues with different sectors of society, including non-governmental organizations, District Councils, local groups and private organizations, so as to work out a package of specific strategies, agendas, goals and timetables that suit local circumstances, provide sufficient resources, devise a mechanism for public participation, implement action plans, and to report to the public regularly on the progress and achievements of its work.

Public Officer to attend : Chief Secretary for Administration

  • Reducing transport fares

    Hon Andrew CHENG:

    • (Translation)

    That, in view of the enormous transport expenses borne by the public, this Council urges the Government to discuss with various public transport operators with a view to reducing expeditiously the fares of transport services and, at the same time, establishing a fare adjustment mechanism, so as to alleviate the burden on people's livelihood.

    Amendment to Hon Andrew CHENG's motion
    Hon LAU Kong-wah:     (Translation)

    To add ", to request these operators to offer further concessions, including: (a) the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation and the MTR Corporation Limited taking the lead in reducing fares; (b) co-operation of the various transport operators in offering joint concessions; (c) the rationalization by bus companies of any unreasonable fare structures of their circular routes, cross-harbour tunnel routes, express routes and those routes served by air-conditioned buses, and the introduction of more section fares for long-distance routes; (d) promoting monthly ticket schemes; and (e) reintroducing half-fare travel concessions for students;" after "this Council urges the Government to discuss with various public transport operators with a view to reducing expeditiously the fares of transport services"; and to delete "establishing" after "at the same time," and substitute with "to establish".

    Amendment to Hon LAU Kong-wah's amendment
    Hon WONG Sing-chi:     (Translation)

    To add "introducing and" after "(d)"; to add "one-day and one-week travel pass schemes and" after "promoting"; to delete "and" after "monthly ticket schemes;"; and to add "and (f) providing comprehensive fare concessions for the elderly;" after "(e) reintroducing half-fare travel concessions for students;".

    Public Officer to attend : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works Clerk to the Legislative Council