A 03/04-20

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 3 March 2004 at 2:30 pm

I. Tabling of Papers

Subsidiary Legislation / InstrumentsL.N. No.
1.Merchant Shipping (Local Vessels) (Certification and Licensing) Regulation27/2004
2.Merchant Shipping (Local Vessels) (Typhoon Shelters) Regulation28/2004
3.Rectification of Errors Order 200429/2004
4.Tax Reserve Certificates (Rate of Interest) (No. 2) Notice 2004

30/2004

Other Papers

1. No.66-The Government Minute in response to the Report No.40A of the Public Accounts Committee dated November 2003
(to be presented by Chief Secretary for Administration, who will address the Council)

2. No.67-The Lord Wilson Heritage Trust Annual Report 2002-2003
(to be presented by Secretary for Home Affairs)

II. Questions

1. Hon Frederick FUNG to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the problem of triad infiltration in schools, will the Government inform this Council of:
    (a)the number of primary and secondary school students arrested by the Police for suspected involvement in triad activities in each of the past three years, and the percentage of such cases in the total number of primary and secondary school students arrested, and provide a tabulation of the figures by police districts;

    (b)the respective numbers of police officers currently assigned to be School Liaison Officers ("SLOs") for Secondary and Primary Schools, and the average number of schools under the charge of each SLO, and provide a tabulation of the figures by police districts; and

    (c)the measures other than the School Liaison Programme to curb triad infiltration in schools?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

2. Dr Hon David LI to ask:

With respect to the Special Finance Scheme for Small and Medium Enterprises, which has, since April 2000, ceased offering guarantees for loans made out by lending institutions, will the Government inform this Council of:
    (a)the total number of claims made by lending institutions for defaulted guaranteed loans, and the number of them settled so far;

    (b)the average time taken for processing such claims; and

    (c)the respective numbers of claims which have been outstanding for 12 months or less, over 12 months but less than 24 months, and 24 months or over?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology

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

It has been reported that while the beds in the medical wards of a hospital under the Hospital Authority ("HA") have long been in short supply, the surgical wards, paediatric wards, obstetric and gynaecological wards and private wards of that hospital were often redeployed as medical wards. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
    (a)the average monthly occupancy rates of the beds in various wards of HA's hospitals over the past three years, and the average waiting time for admission to various wards at present;

    (b)whether the staff side of HA has reflected to HA's management the problems arising from the shortage of beds in the medical wards of HA's hospitals; if so, of the response of HA's management; and

    (c)of the measures taken by HA to address the long-standing shortage of beds in the medical wards of its hospitals?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

4. Hon SZETO Wah to ask: (Translation)

Official media in the Mainland have recently re-published the remarks made by DENG Xiaoping in 1984, which mentioned the standards required of "patriots", and that "Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong" should mean the administration of Hong Kong affairs by "Hong Kong people, with patriots forming the main body of administrators". In this connection, will the Government inform this Council if it has assessed:
    (a)whether the people who initiated and participated in the procession on 1 July last year are "patriots";

    (b)whether members of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China and the people who participate in the candlelight vigil held in memory of the June 4th Incident every year are "patriots"; and

    (c)whether, in order to ensure the administration of Hong Kong affairs by "Hong Kong people, with patriots forming the main body of administrators", it is necessary to amend the existing legislation on elections to subject the candidates for the elections of the Chief Executive or Legislative Council Members to political vetting and benchmark tests for patriots?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Constitutional Affairs

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

Will the Government inform this Council whether, in order to equip the works staff with sufficient knowledge to prevent works projects from causing unnecessary nuisance to residents nearby and inflicting unnecessary damage on the environment:
    (a)it has provided the civil servants responsible for works projects with training programmes in environmental protection, including educating them on the criteria and measures for reducing site noises and protecting the ecological environment and trees, etc; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (b)it knows if the engineering courses offered by universities and tertiary institutions include the environmental protection training programmes mentioned in (a); if so, of the weightings of such training programmes in the relevant engineering courses?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

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

The Culture and Heritage Commission submitted its policy recommendation report to the Chief Executive at the end of March last year, but the Government has not yet responded to the recommendations in the report. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it has studied the recommendations in the report; if it has, of the reasons for not responding to the recommendations;

    (b)whether, in developing the West Kowloon Cultural District, the authorities have taken into consideration the report's recommendations, especially in terms of hardware facilities and the mode of operational management; if so, of the outcome of their consideration; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c)when the authorities will formulate an overall policy on cultural development and, in doing so, whether the authorities will adopt some or all of the principles and strategies on cultural development as recommended in the report; if so, of the recommendations which will be adopted and those which will not; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Civil Service
(in the absence of Secretary for Home Affairs)

*7. Hon Cyd HO to ask: (Translation)

The quantity of abandoned plastic bags has been increasing sharply over the past three years, from 281 050 tonnes in 2001 to 388 360 tonnes in 2002 and to 371 940 tonnes (initial figure) in 2003. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the reasons for the sharp increase in the quantity of abandoned plastic bags;

    (b)of the annual expenditure on the disposal of abandoned plastic bags in each of the past three years, and whether it has calculated the quantity of degradable plastic bags among such plastic bags; if so, of the results, and whether there are any treatment processes that can facilitate smooth decomposition of degradable plastic bags;

    (c)whether the authorities have plans to promote the recycling of abandoned plastic bags; if so, of the details of such plans; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (d)whether the authorities have plans to introduce measures to reduce the use of plastic bags; if so, of the details of such plans; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

*8. Hon James TO to ask: (Translation)

Prior to the Legislative Council elections held in 2000, the Government had announced that free legal advice would be made available to prospective candidates to ascertain whether they were qualified for being nominated as candidates, and details of applications for such service were also provided. Although the authorities have announced that the 2004 Legislative Council elections will be held on 12 September this year, they have not yet advised whether the above free legal advice service will be available for this year's Legislative Council elections. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it will provide the above service; if it will, when the service will be provided and the details on applications for the service; if not, the reasons for that? Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Constitutional Affairs

*9. Hon Audrey EU to ask: (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether complaints about scalping admission tickets on the Internet have been received over the past three years; if so, of the number of such complaints;

    (b)whether the existing legislation regulates the above scalping activities; if not, whether the authorities will consider enacting legislation to do so; and

    (c)of the measures currently adopted by the authorities to combat and prevent such scalping activities?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Civil Service
(in the absence of Secretary for Home Affairs)

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

The Hospital Authority ("HA") launched an 18-month pilot scheme in September 2003 which involved the creation of new posts entitled Advanced Practice Nurse ("APN"). Appointees must hold a relevant master's degree or are attending relevant courses, and are employed on contract terms. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows, in respect of HA:
    (a)why the possession of a relevant master's degree or taking of relevant courses is set as one of the entry requirements for APN posts;

    (b)the number of APN posts created;

    (c)the numbers of applications received and appointments made so far, and the numbers of appointees who have a relevant master's degree and are attending relevant courses respectively;

    (d)if HA has assessed whether the appointment of APNs on contract terms makes the appointees feel that their jobs are not permanent, and in turn affects the quality of nursing services; if so, of the assessment results; and

    (e)the criteria that will be adopted for assessing whether APN posts should be created on a territory-wide basis upon the completion of the pilot scheme?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

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

It has been reported that some beauty/slimming centres employ registered medical practitioners so that they can provide customers with prescribed weight-loss drugs. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the respective total numbers of complaints received by government departments and the Consumer Council in each of the past three years about the provision or prescription of weight-loss drugs by beauty/slimming centres and their doctors, together with breakdowns of the cases;

    (b)whether it knows if the World Health Organization has issued any guidelines on the prescription of weight-loss drugs; if so, of the details of such guidelines;

    (c)whether the relevant authorities have issued regulations on the prescription of weight-loss drugs by registered medical practitioners; if so, of the details of such regulations; if not, how the Government and the Medical Council of Hong Kong ("MCHK") prevent the abuse of weight-loss drugs; and

    (d)whether it knows if MCHK has assessed whether registered medical practitioners are in breach of the Professional Code and Conduct for the Guidance of Registered Medical Practitioners when they run businesses jointly with beauty/slimming centres or allow their names and titles to be published in advertisements or promotional materials of such centres; if MCHK has assessed this, of the results?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

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

The Office of the Telecommunications Authority ("OFTA") Trading Fund Report 2002/03 has pointed out that the number of consumer complaints against telecommunications operators handled by OFTA increased dramatically from 1 867 in 2001/02 to 2 930 in 2002/03. The report has also pointed out that keen competition in various telecommunications services was one of the major reasons for the increase in the number of complaints. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the respective numbers of complaints in 2001/02 and 2002/03, broken down by type of telecommunications service (such as fixed line telephones, mobile phones, external telecommunications and broadband access to the Internet) and nature of complaints;

    (b)whether the authorities will make reference to the experience gained in the Mobile Number Portability and formulate measures to improve the existing number portability for fixed telecommunications network services ("FTNS"), such as giving directions to operators and releasing the relevant statistics on a regular basis, so as to avoid the operators' delays in processing customers' applications for FTNS number portability by improper practices; and whether the authorities will consider simplifying the existing application procedures for FTNS number portability so as to reduce the inconvenience caused to customers;

    (c)given that some new FTNS operators have pointed out that, although they can rent local access link from the Pacific Century CyberWorks Limited to provide services under the policy of "Type II Interconnection", they have encountered substantial difficulties in applying for the link and cannot activate the number portability for their customers as scheduled, and some customers' FTNS were even suspended, whether the authorities will review the existing arrangements for such kind of number portability, formulate service standards and prevent FTNS operators from wilful obstruction, so as to shorten customers' waiting time for switching between service providers and reduce the impact of such switching on the customers; and

    (d)apart from formulating the scheme for monitoring the quality of public telecommunications services, whether the authorities will formulate measures, such as imposing heavier fines and taking proactive actions against operators which adopt improper business practice, obstruct fair market competition or are in breach of licence conditions, so as to maintain a fair and effective competitive environment for the telecommunications market; if they will, of the details of such measures?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology

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

For several consecutive days in December last year, a number of places in Hong Kong, especially Tung Chung, were engulfed in smog. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:
    (a)the number of days last year on which Hong Kong was engulfed in smog, as well as the concentration, composition and cause of the smog;

    (b)the impact of ambient smog on human health and the number of consultations at public hospitals last year on illnesses triggered by smog; and

    (c)the short, medium and long-term measures to address the smog problem and the estimated time for the problem to be completely solved?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

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

It has been reported that, in the morning of the ninth of last month, a sick old woman in Lai Chi Kok was not taken to the hospital speedily for treatment because no ambulance was available at that time. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of cases in the past three years in which the patients were not taken to hospitals speedily due to shortage of ambulances;

    (b)of the measures to improve the situation in which patients cannot be taken to hospitals speedily due to shortage of ambulances; and

    (c)whether it has reviewed if more ambulances should be procured to meet the demand for the service; if it has, of the result of the review?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

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

It has been reported that the English Schools Foundation ("ESF"), which currently runs 19 schools, has been accused by its former Secretary and Chief Executive of poor financial control. While ESF receives an annual subvention in the region of $300 million from the public purse, its accounts are not subject to audit by the Audit Commission because the amount of the subvention does not exceed half of ESF's income. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council whether:
    (a)they have demanded ESF to submit a financial report audited by an independent auditor, so as to have an understanding of its accounts and management; if so, when ESF will submit such a report; if not, of the reasons for that;

    (b)as it is stipulated in the Audit Ordinance (Cap. 122) that the Chief Executive may, in the public interest, authorize the Director of Audit ("Director") in writing to audit the accounts of any body corporate, whether the authorities will consider authorizing the Director to audit the accounts of ESF; if not, of the reasons for that; and

    (c)they will set up a mechanism for handling complaints about the financial control of subvented organizations in order to strengthen the supervision over these organizations and to avoid a wastage of public money; if so, when such a mechanism will be set up; if not, of the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Civil Service
(in the absence of Secretary for Education and Manpower)

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

It has been reported that the number of accidents occurring inside bus compartments in 2003 was substantially higher than that in 2001. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the respective numbers of claims made against bus companies in respect of the above accidents in 2003 and those which were successful, and the reasons for failure to make claims;

    (b)of the details of serious body injuries, disabilities or even deaths caused by such accidents; and

    (c)whether the authorities have studied jointly with various bus companies measures to reduce such accidents; if so, whether the scope of the study covers the measures to reduce the possibility of passengers sustaining injuries because of difficulty in holding handrails firmly in crowded bus compartments?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

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

Will the Government inform this Council of:
    (a)the total number of civil servants in the Old Pension Scheme ("OPS"), and the number of directorate civil servants among them;

    (b)the numbers of directorate civil servants who have reached/will reach the retirement age of 55 under OPS this and in the next two years and have to/will have to retire, broken down by salary point; and

    (c)its plans to avoid a succession gap among the directorate civil servants in order to ensure the quality and efficiency in implementing Government policies?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Civil Service

*18. Hon Audrey EU to ask: (Translation)

It was reported that in early February this year, a Nepalese family closed all the windows and burned charcoal at home, just like what they do in their native country, resulting in a tragedy with two deaths and one injury due to the excessive intake of carbon monoxide. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether, after the incident, it has stepped up publicity efforts to educate the ethnic minorities in Hong Kong on the safe ways to keep warm in the cold weather; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Civil Service
(in the absence of Secretary for Home Affairs)

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

In regard to the staffing of registered nurses (psychiatric) ("RNs(P)"), will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the target ratio of RNs(P) to patients determined by the Hospital Authority ("HA"), and the actual ratio at the end of each of the past five years;

    (b)of the numbers of patient-days in respect of psychiatry inpatient services, attendances and new cases at psychiatric specialist outpatient clinics, as well as service attendances for community psychiatric services provided by HA in each of the past five years;

    (c)of the respective numbers of RNs(P) employed by HA and the Department of Health at the end of each of the past five years, and the numbers of new appointees and those who left the service, broken down by ranks and salary points respectively, in each of the past five years; and

    (d)based on the target ratio of RNs(P) to patients, the number of such nurses in service and their wastage rate, and the number of patients, of the number of places of pre-employment courses for such nurses that should have been offered in each of the past five years; the respective numbers of actual places of those courses and graduates in each of the past five years, as well as the number of places that will be offered in each of the next three years; and provide breakdowns of the aforesaid numbers based on places and graduates by training institutions, levels of the courses, and whether such courses are public-funded?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

*20. Hon Emily LAU to ask:

Under the Currency Board System, which has been adopted in Hong Kong to maintain the peg of Hong Kong Dollar to the US Dollar, the interest rates will respond to inflows or outflows of funds, creating the monetary conditions that automatically counteract the original capital movement, thus stabilizing the exchange rate. However, it is learnt that with the strengthening of the Hong Kong Dollar, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority ("HKMA") has, since September 2003, intervened many times in the money market by selling Hong Kong dollars for US dollars, resulting in the Aggregate Balance of the banking system gradually building up from its normal level of about $0.6 billion in mid-September 2003 to about $54.7 billion in the middle of last month. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of times HKMA intervened in the money market in the past two years;

    (b)whether HKMA has recently adopted a more proactive approach in the operation of the Currency Board System; and

    (c)how the Currency Board System is now intended to operate?
Public Officer to reply : Financial Secretary

*For written reply.

III. Members' Motions
  1. Merger of the two railway corporations and provision of interchange concessions

    Hon LAU Kong-wah:
    2.  (Translation)

    That, as the Executive Council has formally invited the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation and the Mass Transit Railway Corporation Limited to conduct a merger study, and given that the plan will have far-reaching implications for the future fare structures of the two railway corporations, this Council urges the Government to expeditiously announce the outcome of the merger study by the two railway corporations after it has been completed before the end of August, in order to facilitate public consultation and ensure that the merger will alleviate the burden on the public; furthermore, before the implementation of the merger plan, the Government should give impetus to the two railway corporations to reduce their fares and encourage them to cooperate in introducing interchange concessions expeditiously.

    Amendments to Hon LAU Kong-wah's motion
    (i)Hon LI Fung-ying: (Translation)

    To add "the employees and" after "far-reaching implications for"; to delete "public" after "in order to facilitate"; to add "with the employees of the two railway corporations and the public," after "consultation"; to add "not affect the employment, conditions of work, and the rights and benefits of these employees, and will" after "and ensure that the merger will"; and to add "of the fares" after "alleviate the burden".

    (ii)Hon Andrew CHENG: (Translation)

    To add "ensure that the merged railway corporation will adopt a fare adjustment process which is based on a price-cap model for determining fares in the future, and" after "this Council urges the Government to"; to delete "and ensure that the merger will alleviate the burden" after "in order to facilitate public consultation" and substitute with "; meanwhile, the Government should also ensure that after the merger, other public transport operators can still have healthy competition with the merged railway corporation, thereby alleviating the burden of the fares"; and to delete "expeditiously" after "introducing interchange concessions" and substitute with "as a first step, and then abolish interchange fares to pave the way for implementing the recommendation in the Second Railway Development Study on closer integration of the fares of various rails to benefit the public".

    (iii)Hon Miriam LAU: (Translation)

    To delete "alleviate" after "ensure that the merger will" and substitute with "be in the public interest, increase the synergy between the two railway corporations, improve the service quality and provide room for fare adjustments with a view to alleviating"; and to delete "encourage them to co-operate" after "to reduce their fares and" and substitute with "strengthen their co-operation".

    Public Officer to attend :Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works
    Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

  2. Restoring the public's confidence in consuming live poultry

    Hon Tommy CHEUNG:
    3.  (Translation)

    That, as the successive outbreaks of avian flu in various parts of Asia has caused the public's confidence in consuming live poultry to sag drastically, dealing a severe blow to the livelihood of those engaged in the live poultry and other related trades, this Council urges the Government, while continuing to adopt rigorous measures to prevent the outbreak of the disease, to make every effort to restore the public's confidence in consuming live poultry, and provide compassionate measures for the affected stall or shop operators, including granting discretionary rent reduction or waiver to the tenants of stalls or shops in government premises and offering low interest loans to the trades concerned, so as to tide them over the difficult times until their normal business resumes.

    Amendment to Hon Tommy CHEUNG's motion
    Hon WONG Yung-kan:     (Translation)

    To add "and to allow the importation of quarantined healthy live poultry, day-old chicks, and chilled and frozen poultry carcasses from farms in Guangdong Province designated for export to Hong Kong from 21 days after the occurrence of the last avian flu case in the Province," after "to make every effort to restore the public's confidence in consuming live poultry,"; to delete "stall or shop" after "and provide compassionate measures for the affected"; and to add "and employees engaged in the trades concerned" after "operators".

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


Clerk to the Legislative Council