Council Meeting ( Agenda ) 12 May 2004

A 03/04-28

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 12 May 2004 at 2:30 pm

I. Tabling of Papers

Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments		L.N. No.
1.	Education (Exemption) (Private Schools Offering Non-formal Curriculum) Order	76/2004
2.	Application for New Identity Cards (Persons Born in 1952 to 1957 and Cross-boundary Drivers) Order	77/2004
3.	Companies Ordinance (Amendment of Eighth Schedule) Order 2004	78/2004
4.	Dangerous Drugs Ordinance (Amendment of Second Schedule) Order 2004	79/2004
5.	Particulars Relating to Candidates on Ballot Papers (Legislative Council) Regulation (L.N. 263 of 2003) (Commencement) Notice 2004	80/2004
6.	Stamp Duty (Specification of Instruments) Notice	81/2004
7.	Stamp Duty (Amendment) Ordinance 2003 (21 of 2003) (Commencement) Notice 2004	82/2004

Other Papers

1. No.82 -	Audited Statement of Accounts of the Language Fund for the year ended 31 August 2003, together with the Director of Audit's Report
(to be presented by Secretary for Education and Manpower)
2. No.83 -	Audited Statement of Accounts of the Quality Education Fund for the year ended 31 August 2003, together with the Director of Audit's Report
(to be presented by Secretary for Education and Manpower)
3. No.84 -	Securities and Futures Commission Annual Report 2003-2004
(to be presented by Financial Secretary)

II. Questions

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

Regarding the "laundry-pole-holder" type drying racks in public housing estates, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the number of accidents involving people falling from heights while using this type of racks in the past three years;
(b)	of the measures in place to prevent such accidents; and
(c)	given that each household in the estates concerned still has to pay $200 for the replacement of such drying racks despite the Housing Department's proposal to bear half of the replacement cost, starting from June this year, whether the authorities will consider bearing the full cost; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands

2. Hon Ambrose LAU to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the Hong Kong Link 2004 Limited Retail Bonds, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the experience gained in the first issuance of such bonds; and
(b)	whether it will continue to issue Government bonds of this type; if so, of the details and how it will proceed with future issuance work by reference to the above experience; if not, the reasons for that?

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

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

Recently, some hikers in need of emergency assistance were unable to call the emergency hotline immediately because they were located outside the coverage of mobile telephone service networks, or they failed to tell the personnel of emergency service departments their exact locations owing to the absence of distinct geographical features. As a result, rescue workers took a long time to reach the scene. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	whether a performance pledge has been made for the lead time from the receipt by emergency service personnel of calls for assistance made by people at remote locations (in particular country parks and hiking trails) to their arrival at the scene; if so, of the basis for making the pledge; if not, the reasons for that;
(b)	of the number of emergency calls for assistance received from people at remote locations in each of the past 12 months, and the respective average time taken by the personnel of various disciplined services to arrive at the scene; and
(c)	whether measures will be taken to facilitate emergency service centres and rescue personnel in finding the exact locations of the help seekers and keeping contact with them while coming to their rescue?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

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

It was reported that last year, a seven-year-old girl was taken to hospital for medical examination after falling unconscious from excessive hunger on the street. Doctors found that she suffered from severe malnutrition and detected on different parts of her body multiple bruises which had not been caused by accidents. Subsequently, the parents of the girl were both sentenced to imprisonment for 20 months for child abuse offences. It is understood that while the Social Welfare Department ("SWD") has taken up this child abuse case since 1999, it failed to spot the girl's plight of being abused for a prolonged period. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	whether the Administration has, in view of the above-mentioned case, reviewed the existing mechanism for identifying and handling child abuse cases; if it has, of the review results, including improvement measures to be put in place;
(b)	among the suspected child abuse cases reported to the Police over the past three years, of the number of cases which had previously been handled by SWD; and
(c)	whether the Administration will consider setting up review mechanisms, such as multi-disciplinary review committees, on those child abuse cases in which family violence has caused serious injuries or deaths?

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

5. For Dr Hon David CHU, Dr Hon TANG Siu-tong to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the smuggling of protected animals into Hong Kong by lawless elements, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the number of detected smuggling cases in the first four months of this year, and whether the number exceeds that for the corresponding period last year;
(b)	of the number of pet shops prosecuted by the authorities for illegal sale of protected animals in the past year; and
(c)	whether it has plans to launch large-scale education programmes to promote the public's knowledge of the protected animals of endangered species, and advise them not to buy and keep such animals; if so, of the details of such plans?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

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

I have repeatedly received complaints from trade unions and workers of the construction industry alleging that the problem of illegal workers in the industry has been worsening, which affects the employment of local workers. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	whether it has, in the past three years, found any cases in which persons who came to Hong Kong in the name of receiving training or on business visas taking up illegal employment in the construction industry; if it has, of the respective numbers of illegal workers involved in each of these years;
(b)	of the measures in place to step up actions against illegal workers engaging in renovation works in private residential premises; and
(c)	whether it has plans to reinforce efforts in combating the employment of illegal workers in the construction industry, such as raising the penalty for employing persons not lawfully employable and aiding or abetting them to work in Hong Kong, so as to safeguard the job opportunities of local workers; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

*7. Hon LAU Ping-cheung to ask: (Translation)

The Administration is now inviting proposals for the development of the West Kowloon Cultural District. The Administration has estimated that the development project will create 500 professional jobs. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	whether it will adopt measures to ensure that these jobs will be taken up by local professionals as far as possible; if it will, of the details of such measures; if it will not, the reasons for that;
(b)	given that the Government does not prohibit developers from forming consortia to bid for the development project, whether it has assessed if the number of these professional jobs will be affected if the successful proponent is a consortium of several developers; if it has, of the assessment outcome;
(c)	of the measures it will adopt (such as imposing restrictive clauses in the invitation of tenders) to ensure that the number of jobs for local professionals (including those in building design, construction and supervision) provided at the time of project implementation will match the original estimate; and
(d)	whether it will consider splitting the development project into several smaller ones to enable participation by more than one consortium, so as to increase the overall social and economic benefits as well as the number of local professional jobs; if it will not, of the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands

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

Will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	whether members of the public have complained to the authorities about nuisances caused by stray dogs in the past year; if so, of a breakdown of such complaints by district;
(b)	whether it will deploy officers to areas frequented by stray dogs to catch them; and
(c)	how the stray dogs caught will be handled, and the number of stray dogs put down by the authorities in the past three months?

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

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

Regarding the supply of Dongjiang water to Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	as the Water Supplies Department has undertaken to supply water in compliance with the international standards for potable water recommended by the World Health Organization, whether the quality of Dongjiang water for use in Hong Kong, including its content levels of bacteria, mercury and other chemical compositions etc., has been improved as a result of the commissioning of concealed piping; if so, of the details;
(b)	whether the water treatment costs required to upgrade the current quality of Dongjiang water to meet the above standards is more costly or otherwise compared to those before the commissioning of concealed piping, and the difference in the amounts thereof;
(c)	whether it will consider discussing with the Guangdong provincial authority the setting up of a "Dongjiang water savings account", so that when the demand of Dongjiang water by Hong Kong is lower than the supply volume stipulated in the water supply agreement, the difference of the volumes concerned will be recorded in that account and be supplied to Hong Kong in future as necessary, so as to avoid wasting water; if not, the reasons for that; and
(d)	as there are frequent changes in the Dongjiang River course, whether it knows the frequency of inspection on the flow direction of the rivers near Taiyuan pumping station carried out by the Guangdong provincial authorities, as well as the date of the last inspection?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

*10. Hon Howard YOUNG to ask: (Translation)

It is reported that the High Court has recently ruled that a travel agent has to compensate a man who lost his wife and his son in a shipwreck in the Philippines. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the number of criminal and civil proceedings involving travel agents and the compensation amount over the past five years;
(b)	whether it has issued guidelines to travel agents operating outbound and inbound tours, specifying the codes to be complied with in respect of itinerary arrangements so as to ensure the safety of travellers and avoid unnecessary proceedings;
(c)	whether it will consider amending the existing legislation to set up another fund or utilize the Travel Industry Compensation Fund with a current balance of $300 million to assist travel agents which have been sued for negligence in dealing with the proceedings concerned, in order to prevent consumers from suffering losses because of the closing down of these travel agents; and
(d)	of the measures in place for assisting travel agents so that they will not be liable for compensation in future incidents or accidents similar to the above shipwreck arising from negligence of a third party?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Development and Labour

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

At present, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department is responsible for the licensing work for private swimming pools, while the Leisure and Cultural Services Department ("LCSD") is responsible for the management of public swimming pools. Besides, the qualification required of lifeguards at private swimming pools is lower than those for their counterparts at public swimming pools. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the current number of licensed private swimming pools; and
(b)	whether it will consider amending the legislation to set higher qualification requirements for lifeguards at private swimming pools to bring them in line with those for lifeguards at public swimming pools, and transferring the licensing work for private swimming pools to LCSD so that the regulation of private and public swimming pools will be under the charge of one government department?

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

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

Regarding the expenditure of tertiary institutions on full-time and part-time courses for training medical, nursing and allied health grade personnel, as well as the employment situation of the graduates concerned, will the Government inform this Council of the following, in respect of each grade:

(a)	the respective relevant total expenditures, numbers of graduates and student unit costs of various institutions in each of the past two academic years;
(b)	the respective numbers of places for relevant diploma, high diploma, bachelors' degree, masters' degree and doctorate courses in each of the next five academic years;
(c)	the employment situation of graduates of relevant programmes at the end of the graduation year over the past two years and, among them, the number and percentage of those who were employed in trades related to their own disciplines, and their average starting salaries; and
(d)	the respective numbers of graduates of relevant programmes employed/to be employed by government departments and subvented organizations last year and each of the next five years, as well as the terms of appointment concerned?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

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

A number of residents in Tin Shui Wai and Tung Chung have reflected to me that some people often ride their bicycles on the pavements and weave through the crowds, endangering the safety of the pedestrians. Some elderly people, women and children have thus been knocked down and injured. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:

(a)	the respective numbers of cyclists who were given verbal warnings and prosecuted last year for alleged breach of the Road Traffic Ordinance (Cap. 374), and the results of the prosecutions; and
(b)	the measures in place to deter such behaviours of cyclists which endanger the safety of pedestrians?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

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

Regarding law programmes offered by local universities, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:

(a)	the respective enrolment capacities and enrolments of various full-time and part-time bachelor's degree and master's degree programmes in law run by the University of Hong Kong ("HKU") and City University of Hong Kong ("CityU") in the past three years;
(b)	if HKU and CityU allowed taking the above programmes in distance learning mode in the past three years; if so, of the programmes involved and the respective numbers of HKU and CityU students who have dropped out from such programmes; and
(c)	the rationale for the establishment of a faculty of law in the 2006-07 academic year proposed by the Chinese University of Hong Kong, as well as the proposed programmes and numbers of places to be offered by the faculty?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

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

Regarding sexual abuse of primary and secondary students by their peers and the implementation of sex education in schools, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the total number of cases received by the authorities in the past three years concerning sexual harassment, sexual abuse with and without bodily contact of primary and secondary students;
(b)	how the authorities and the schools concerned have investigated these cases and followed up the situations of the victims, and whether the authorities have instituted prosecutions;
(c)	whether schools hold regular meetings with parents and social workers to exchange teaching experience in areas such as the enhancement of students' and children's knowledge of sex; and
(d)	whether schools currently conduct sex education classes at junior levels only?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

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

Regarding the taking up of employment in statutory bodies by retired civil servants, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:

(a)

of the number, in the past three years, of directorate officers who took up employment in statutory bodies within the two years following retirement, together with details of their employment, including the names of the bodies concerned, positions held, dates of appointment, remuneration and benefits, and whether they were allowed to continue to receive their monthly pensions while being so employed; and

(b)

of the measures to eliminate the belief held by some members of the public that "senior positions of statutory bodies are set up for retired senior government officials"?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Civil Service

*17. Dr Hon David CHU to ask: (Translation)

Regarding non-Hong Kong residents giving birth in Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council whether:

(a)	it knows the total number of cases in which non-Hong Kong residents gave birth in public hospitals in Hong Kong in the past three years, and whether, among them, there were cases involving default in payment of hospital charges and medical fees; if so, of the total amount of payment in default;
(b)	it knows how the Hospital Authority handles requests from non-Hong Kong residents for giving birth in local hospitals and cases of default in fee payment; whether the Authority has considered tightening the criteria for vetting and approving such requests, as well as improving the arrangements for collecting hospital charges and medical fees from non-Hong Kong residents; and
(c)	it has measures to restrict the entry of pregnant women who are not Hong Kong residents; if so, of the details of such measures; if not, whether the authorities will consider taking measures to prevent and stop non-Hong Kong residents from coming to Hong Kong for childbirth, and of the measures to deal with the non-Hong Kong residents who enter Hong Kong with the intention of giving birth during their stay here?

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

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

In view of the growing popularity of diving activities in recent years, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	whether it knows the number of Hong Kong residents who were injured or died while taking part in diving activities within or outside the territory in each of the past three years;
(b)	whether the offering of dive training courses and qualifications of the instructors are regulated by existing legislation; if so, of the details of such regulation; if not, whether such regulation will be put in place; and
(c)	whether the Leisure and Cultural Services Department organized dive training courses in the past three years; if it did, of the number of learners each year, and the qualification requirements stipulated for the instructors by the Department?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

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

Regarding the repair and maintenance of potable water systems, will the Government inform this Council whether:

(a)	it has replaced the potable water pipes of public housing units in the past year; if so, of the number of housing units involved and the reasons for such replacement;
(b)	it will consider replacing the potable water pipes in all public housing estates to safeguard public health; if so, of the implementation timetable; if not, the reasons for that; and
(c)	it has required management companies of public housing estates to regularly clean the water tanks of the buildings under their management on a monthly basis; if so, of the specific requirements; if not, whether it will make such requirements?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands

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

Regarding the vacant shops and stalls in the shopping centres and markets of the Hong Kong Housing Authority ("HA"), will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:

(a)

of the vacancy position of the shops and stalls in the HA's shopping centres and markets in the past five years by providing the relevant details in the tables below:

Name of the shopping centre	Estate and district in which the shopping centre is located	Age of the estate	Vacancy rate	Number of shops which had been left vacant for more than two years
			1999: 2000: 2001: 2002: 2003:	1999: 2000: 2001: 2002: 2003:

Estate and district in which the market is located	Age of the estate	Vacancy rate	Number of stalls which had been left vacant for more than two years
		1999: 2000: 2001: 2002: 2003:	1999: 2000: 2001: 2002: 2003:

(b)

whether they have assessed the impact on HA's revenue of the vacancy position of the shops and stalls in its shopping centres and markets; if so, of the assessment results; if not, the reasons for that;

(c)

whether they have any plan to improve the business environment of such shops and stalls in order to reduce the number of vacant shops and stalls; if so, of the details of the plan; if not, the reasons for that; and

(d)

whether they will consider taking the initiative to discuss with the tenants not renewing tenancies, and offering rent concessions to encourage tenancy renewals, so as to avoid the vacancy position of such shops and stalls from deteriorating?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands

*For written reply.

III. Bills

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

Revenue Bill 2004 : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

IV. Members' Motions

The 4 June incident

Hon SZETO Wah:

Public housing rent policy

Hon LAU Ping-cheung:

Amendments to Hon LAU Ping-cheung's motion
(i)	Hon LEUNG Yiu-chung: (Translation) To add ", based on the principles of alleviating the burden on public housing tenants and enhancing their right of participation," after "with a view to formulating"; to delete "," after "that is socially just" and substitute with "and"; to delete "and sustainable" after "caring"; and to add "the mechanisms for consultation and decision-making," after "the review should include".
(ii)	Hon Frederick FUNG: (Translation) To delete "and" after "caring" and substitute with ","; and to delete "; the scope of the review should include the definition and levels of rent, the methodology and basis for rent calculation, the adjustment mechanism, the eligibility criteria for public rental housing, the relevant vetting, monitoring and appeal mechanisms, as well as the mechanism for dealing with individual households with financial difficulties and for providing assistance to them, etc" after "sustainable" and substitute with ", flexible and affordable to public housing tenants".
(iii)	Hon Albert HO: (Translation) To delete "," after "that is socially just" and substitute with "and"; to delete "and sustainable" after "caring"; and to add "; the Government should also consider amending the existing legislation to introduce a tier system whereby the levels of rent payable by tenants are determined according to their actual income and affordability, and to include in the new legislation a mechanism that allows for upward and downward adjustments of rents" after "providing assistance to them, etc".

: Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands

Clerk to the Legislative Council

Legislative Council

Agenda Wednesday 12 May 2004 at 2:30 pm

Agenda

Wednesday 12 May 2004 at 2:30 pm