A 03/04-29

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 19 May 2004 at 2:30 pm

I. Tabling of Papers
Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments L.N. No.
1.Legal Aid (Assessment of Resources and Contributions) (Amendment) Regulation 200483/2004
2.Electoral Affairs Commission (Electoral Procedure) (Legislative Council) (Amendment) Regulation 200484/2004
3.Food and Drugs (Composition and Labelling) (Amendment) Regulation 200485/2004
4.Medical Laboratory Technologists (Registration and Disciplinary Procedure) (Amendment) Regulation 200486/2004
5.Occupational Therapists (Registration and Disciplinary Procedure) (Amendment) Regulation 200487/2004
6.Optometrists (Registration and Disciplinary Procedure) (Amendment) Regulation 200488/2004
7.Physiotherapists (Registration and Disciplinary Procedure) (Amendment) Regulation 200489/2004
8.Radiographers (Registration and Disciplinary Procedure) (Amendment) Regulation 200490/2004
9.Airport Authority Ordinance (Map of Restricted Area) Order91/2004
10.Hong Kong Airport (Control of Obstructions) (Exemption) (Amendment) Order 200492/2004
11.Prisons (Amendment) Order 200493/2004
12.Rules of the District Court (Amendment) Rules 200494/2004
13.Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule 1) Notice 200495/2004
14.Import and Export Ordinance (Specification of Ending Date under Section 42) Notice 200496/2004
15.Import and Export (Registration) Regulations (Specification of Ending Date under Regulation 15) Notice 200497/2004
16.Telecommunications (Amendment) Ordinance 2003 (30 of 2003) (Commencement) Notice 200498/2004
17.Legal Aid Ordinance --- Resolution of the Legislative Council (L.N. 45 of 2004) (Commencement) Notice 200499/2004

Other Papers

1. No.85 -Report by the Trustee of the Correctional Services Children's Education Trust for the period from 1st September 2002 to 31st August 2003
(to be presented by Secretary for Security)

2. No.86 -The Government Minute in response to the Report No.41 of the Public Accounts Committee dated February 2004
(to be presented by Chief Secretary for Administration, who will address the Council)

3. No.87 -Annual Report 2002-2003, containing Statement of Accounts and Auditors' Report, of the Hospital Authority
(to be presented by Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food)

4. No.88 -Report and Statement of Accounts of the Samaritan Fund, together with the Director of Audit's Report, for the year ended 31 March 2003
(to be presented by Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food)

5. Second Report of the Legislative Council Select Committee on Building Problems of Public Housing Units
(to be presented by Hon Miriam LAU, Chairman of the Select Committee, who will address the Council)


II. Questions

1. Hon James TIEN to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the Helping Business Programme launched by the Government in 1996, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the respective numbers of helping business initiatives studied and implemented so far, broken down by trade;

    (b)whether it has assessed the effectiveness of the above initiatives, and whether there were initiatives not utilized by the industries; if there were, of the initiatives involved; and

    (c)of the annual expenditure of the above Programme, and whether it has assessed the effectiveness of the Programme for the operation of the commerce and industry sectors; if it has, of the assessment results; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Financial Secretary

2. Hon Frederick FUNG to ask: (Translation)

The Hong Kong Housing Authority intends to implement a comprehensive building rehabilitation programme for old public housing estates ("public housing") of Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
    (a)the details of the above programme, including the names of estates and the number of tenants affected as well as the expenditure involved, etc.; and whether the programme will replace the existing public housing redevelopment programme; if it will, of the reasons for that;

    (b)the measures to assist those tenants who will be affected and have to be temporarily transferred to other flats; and

    (c)whether the rent of the rehabilitated public housing flats will be increased?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands

3. Hon LAU Wong-fat to ask: (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the respective current numbers of rural schools which are still in operation and those which have been closed throughout the territory;

    (b)whether the premises of the rural schools which have been closed have been put to other uses; if so, of the respective numbers of school premises left vacant and those put to other uses; and

    (c)of the policy for disposing of the premises and land of the rural schools which have been closed?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

4. Hon WONG Sing-chi to ask: (Translation)

A number of mandatory requirements have been stipulated in the Invitation For Proposals for the development of the West Kowloon Cultural District, including the provision of a "canopy" covering at least 55% of the Development Area. However, an official of the Territory Development Department revealed last month that the provision of the canopy or not would ultimately depend on whether its construction cost, as quoted in the received proposals, was too high, hence making it financially not viable. Regarding the development project, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it has formulated contingency plans to tackle the scenario that construction of the canopy involves great technical difficulties or is too costly; if so, of the details of the plans; if not, the reasons for that;

    (b)whether it has assessed, in case it is eventually decided that the canopy will not be provided, if the land earmarked for commercial uses can be sold in divided lots by auctions, with a view to generating more revenue; if so, of the assessment results; and

    (c)whether, in view of the recent improvement in its financial position, it will consider dropping the approach of awarding the construction and operation of the entire project to a single developer, and providing the relevant cultural facilities with government funding; if so, of the progress of its consideration; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands

5. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)

For the prevention of conflict of interests, the Chief Executive ("CE") and some principal officials ("POs") under the accountability system have set up "family trusts" to manage their assets. A major difference between this kind of trusts and "blind trusts" is that the settlor, beneficiaries and trustee of a "family trust" can have kinship relations, while the trustee of a "blind trust" has to be an independent person, who is not required to, and will not, report to the settlor and beneficiaries the details of the trust's investments and specific assets. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
    (a)in terms of the effectiveness in preventing conflict of interests, how placing the assets of the CE and POs in a "family trust" compares with placing them in a "blind trust", as well as the rationale for the conclusions drawn therefrom;

    (b)of the measures to ensure that the setting up of "family trusts" can prevent the CE and POs from having conflict of interests in discharging official duties; and

    (c)whether they will reconsider requiring that the trusts set up by the CE and POs to prevent conflict of interest have to be "blind trusts"; if so, of the details of the relevant requirements; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Constitutional Affairs

6. Hon Michael MAK to ask: (Translation)

I have recently received many complaints about the rampant selling of duty-not-paid cigarettes (commonly known as "illicit cigarettes") overtly on busy streets by lawless elements. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the respective numbers of persons arrested, prosecuted and convicted for buying or selling illicit cigarettes, with a breakdown of the persons convicted by the penalty imposed on them, the number of non-Hong Kong residents convicted for selling illicit cigarettes, broken down by the types of travel documents they held, and the quantity of illicit cigarettes seized at retail level, in each of the past five years;

    (b)of the current black spots where illicit cigarettes are sold; and

    (c)whether it has reviewed the reasons for the relevant departments' failure to curb illicit-cigarette trading activities so far, and whether it has formulated measures to step up efforts in combating such activities, such as enhancing the exchange of intelligence with law enforcement agencies on the Mainland?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

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

Will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of detected criminal cases involving non-organized counterfeiting of currency with computer equipment in domestic premises over the past three years, broken down by age of suspects;

    (b)how the number of such criminal cases in the first four months of this year compares to that of the same period last year, and whether there is a trend of drastic increase; and

    (c)whether it has plans to enhance the education and publicity activities to advise young people not to commit such crimes; if so, of the details; if not, whether it will consider implementing the relevant plans?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

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

The Process Review Panel ("PRP") of the Securities and Futures Commission ("SFC") was established in November 2000 with the aim of providing adequate checks and balances to ensure that SFC exercises its regulatory powers in a fair and consistent manner. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows the following about the PRP in each of the years since its establishment:
    (a)the number of meetings held;

    (b)the manner in which cases were reviewed, the number of such cases and their percentage among the total number of cases in the areas concerned;

    (c)the number and details of problematic cases requiring follow-up;

    (d)the impacts of the procedures of the problematic cases found by PRP to be requiring improvements on the original ruling on those cases; and

    (e)whether reviews have been conducted on the operation of PRP to achieve its aim of providing adequate checks and balances on the measures of SFC; if so, of the results; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

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

I have recently received a number of complaints alleging that most of the bus trips to and from Tin Shui Wai are not serviced by wheelchair accessible buses with low-floor, and wheelchair users often have to wait for more than 30 minutes for such buses. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the respective current numbers of low-floor buses in the franchised bus companies' fleets;

    (b)of the total number of low-floor buses at present servicing Tin Shui Wai routes, their daily frequencies and such frequencies expressed as a percentage of the relevant total; and

    (c)whether it has requested the franchised bus companies to bring in more low-floor buses; if it has, of the details of the request; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

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

It has been reported that the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority ("HKEAA") is going to revamp the assessment methods for the Chinese Language and English Language subjects in the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination ("HKCEE"). The reforms include replacing the "norm-referencing" (commonly known as "drawing curves") approach with the "standards-referencing" approach, which can only reflect the changes in individual candidates' own level of academic performance in the subject concerned but not their performance in comparison with other candidates; adding an oral test and a listening test to the Chinese Language examination while abolishing the test in prescribed text; as well as increasing the weighting of candidates' school-based assessment in their HKCEE grades of the relevant subjects. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the countries that have adopted the "standards-referencing" approach and how the candidates assessed in that way can find out the academic standard they have attained compared to other candidates;

    (b)of the measures in place to ensure students' knowledge of modern and traditional classics following the abolition of the test in prescribed text; and

    (c)given the differences between the standards of students' performance in different schools, how HKEAA will ensure that, in implementing the above measure of increasing the weighting of candidates' school-based assessment, such assessment results can reflect the academic performance of school candidates, and whether this measure will also be applicable to private candidates; if so, of the details of such application?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

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

Regarding the control of obscene and indecent newspapers and magazines, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of complaints received in the past three years by the relevant authorities about the covers or contents of newspapers and magazines, together with a breakdown by the subjects of complaint;

    (b)how the relevant authorities have followed up these complaints, and the penalties imposed on those persons in charge of the newspapers and magazines found guilty; and

    (c)whether the operation and effectiveness of the Control of Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance (Cap. 390) have been reviewed, particularly whether the Ordinance can handle the practice of conveying an erotic flavour on the covers of magazines targeted at young people?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology

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

Will the Government inform this Council whether it has promised that after the authorization of football betting, it will allocate a portion of the football betting duty collected to sponsor the development of local football; if it has, of the amount of funds allocated to date, the allocation timetable and other funding details? Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

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

It was reported that during the procession held on 1 July last year, various mobile telecommunications networks had broken down because many mobile phone users made voice communications and sent short text messages at the same time. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it has reviewed the above situation; if so, of the results;

    (b)as an organization intends to hold a procession on July 1 this year, of the contingency measures it will take to avoid the recurrence of such situation; and

    (c)whether it will monitor the network load of various mobile telecommunications networks during the peak transmission periods of voice communications and short text messages (e.g. during Chinese New Year, Christmas and New Year Eve, etc.), and of the co-ordination measures it will take to reduce the inconvenience of network congestion to users?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology

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

It has been reported that following her reappointment in March this year, the Ombudsman stated that she planned to explore the possibility of expanding the functions and powers of the Office of The Ombudsman during her five-year term. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council whether:
    (a)they have reviewed the functions and powers of the Office; if so, of the outcome of review; and

    (b)they will consider amending The Ombudsman Ordinance (Cap. 397) to expand the functions and powers of the Office; if so, whether relevant monitoring measures will also be put in place to prevent the Office from abusing its powers?
Public Officer to reply : Chief Secretary for Administration

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

Regarding Workplace English Training, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the total number of applications received since the launching of the Funding Scheme for Workplace English Training in 2000; among these applications, the number of those approved and the total amount of grants involved;

    (b)whether it has collected feedback from various sectors on the effectiveness of the Scheme; if so, of the feedback collected and the criteria adopted by the authorities for assessing the effectiveness of the Scheme;

    (c)as the Scheme will cease receiving applications from individual employees or from companies on behalf of their employees for grants to attend English training courses offered in the market with effect from 1 January 2005 or until all the remaining funds have been earmarked for the applications, whichever occurs earlier, whether the authorities have plans to extend the above application deadline; if not, whether they will introduce a new funding scheme to replace the one in question; and

    (d)of the plans to raise the English standard of the employees in tourism and retail industries?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

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

Will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)the number of complaints about beauty products that the relevant government departments and the Consumer Council received in each of the past two years, together with a breakdown by the subjects of complaint, as well as the percentage of those which involved beauty products with claims of slimming effect; and

    (b)how these authorities have followed up the complaints, and whether they have ordered the sellers to recall questionable products?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Development and Labour

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

Will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it knows if the management company of the Avenue of Stars has plans to carry out regular maintenance and repair works to the Avenue; if so, of the details and the estimated annual expenditure on such works;

    (b)whether it knows if the management company will keep closer watch on visitors to prevent them from causing damage to this tourist attraction; if so, of the details; and

    (c)whether it has assessed the impact of the damage to the Avenue of Stars on the image of Hong Kong; if so, of the assessment results?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

*18. Hon James TIEN to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that since the beginning of last year, tiles have been falling off from the walls of the corridors of Chung Chi House in Chung On Estate, Ma On Shan, and some residents have been cut by those broken tiles. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)why the Housing Department ("HD") has not started the repair works yet and when such works will commence;

    (b)whether it has examined if there are signs of loose tiles on the walls of the corridors in the remaining buildings of the same housing estate; if it has, of the results of the examination; and

    (c)whether the problem of falling tiles is related to the quality of the materials and the workmanship; if so, whether it will recover the losses from the materials suppliers or contractors concerned through legal proceedings, of the other relevant housing estate projects which have been contracted to these suppliers and contractors, and whether HD has examined the tiles on the walls of the corridors in those housing estates, or requested the personnel concerned to provide relevant data, to ensure that those housing estates do not have the same problem?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands

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

It has been reported that a recent survey on the air quality of markets conducted by a research institute of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology found that the bacteria and suspended particulate levels in the ambient air around poultry stalls in markets were extremely high. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:
    (a)it conducted studies on the air quality of markets in the past three years; if so, of the results;

    (b)it will step up the cleaning work for the air-conditioning and ventilation systems in the markets under its management; and

    (c)it will consider installing independent ventilation systems for poultry stalls in the markets under its management to improve the air quality there?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

*For written reply.

III. Motions

Proposed resolution under the Loans Ordinance

Financial Secretary to move the following motion:

RESOLVED, in the exercise of the powers conferred by section 3(1) of the Loans Ordinance, that the Government be authorized to borrow, for the purposes of the Capital Works Reserve Fund established by resolutions passed under section 29 of the Public Finance Ordinance (Cap. 2), a sum or sums not exceeding in total $20 billion or equivalent.

IV. Members' Motions

  1. Anti-gambling

    Dr Hon TANG Siu-tong:
    2.  (Translation)

    That, as the forthcoming UEFA European Championship finals are likely to attract more people, particularly young people, to participate in football betting, this Council urges that the Administration should, in addition to strengthening its efforts in combating illegal gambling, immediately collaborate with relevant bodies and organizations to step up publicity and education, and formulate other long-term measures to foster an anti-gambling culture and prevent people from indulging in gambling; at the same time, the Administration should also allocate more resources to enhance the counselling and treatment services for problem and pathological gamblers and their families.

    Amendments to Dr Hon TANG Siu-tong's motion
    (i)Hon Andrew CHENG: (Translation)

    To add ", including specifying in the Betting Duty Ordinance the types of football matches on which bets may be accepted by the licensed operator and requiring, through administrative measures, that in future any new football betting options may only be introduced after the consent of the Panel on Home Affairs of this Council and the Football Betting and Lotteries Commission has been obtained, so as" after "long-term measures".

    (ii)Hon Tommy CHEUNG: (Translation)

    To delete "an anti-gambling" after "long-term measures to foster" and substitute with "a"; to add "that is conducive to regulating gambling" after "culture"; to add "review the operation of the Ping Wo Fund, optimize the use of existing resources and" after "the Administration should also"; and to add "as necessary" after "allocate more resources".

    Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Home Affairs

  2. Regretting the decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress to rule out universal suffrage in the years 2007 and 2008

    Hon Albert HO:
    3.  (Translation)

    That, in view of the objection of the people of Hong Kong at large to the decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress ("NPCSC") to rule out flatly the selection of the Chief Executive by universal suffrage in the year 2007 and the election of all the Members of the Legislative Council ("LegCo") by universal suffrage in the year 2008 in Hong Kong, and to maintain the existing ratio between LegCo Members returned by functional constituencies and Members returned by geographical constituencies through direct elections, as well as the procedures of separate voting on bills and motions introduced by individual Members, this Council considers that the decision of NPCSC completely ignores Hong Kong people's general aspirations for democracy; this Council expresses regret about and dissatisfaction with such decision, and calls upon the people of Hong Kong to continue striving for democracy with all might and never give up.

    Amendment to Hon Albert HO's motion
    Hon LEUNG Yiu-chung:     (Translation)

    To delete "; this Council" after "general aspirations for democracy" and substitute with "and"; and to add "; this Council urges the Chief Executive to request the State Council to propose to NPCSC the withdrawal of the above decision" after "dissatisfaction with such decision".

    Public Officers to attend : Secretary for Justice
    Secretary for Constitutional Affairs

Clerk to the Legislative Council