A 03/04-10
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 3 December 2003 at 2:30 pm
I. Tabling of Papers| Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments | L.N. No.
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| 1. | Import and Export (General) Regulations (Amendment of Seventh Schedule) (No. 9) Notice 2003 | 254/2003
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| 2. | Registration of Persons (Amendment) Regulation 2003 (L.N. 165 of 2003) (Commencement) Notice 2003 | 255/2003
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| 3. | Matrimonial Causes (Amendment) Rules 2003 (L.N. 209 of 2003) (Commencement) Notice 2003
| 256/2003
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Other Papers|
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| 1. | No.32 | - | Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation Annual Report 2002/2003
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(to be presented by Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology)
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| 2. | No.33 | - | Hong Kong Productivity Council Annual Report 2002/2003
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| (to be presented by Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology)
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II. Questions
1. Hon CHEUNG Man-kwong to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the appointment of chairpersons and members of statutory and advisory bodies, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the total number of members of the Election Committee or political parties appointed as chairpersons or members of statutory or advisory bodies by the relevant authorities since the reunification, with a table listing the bodies and posts to which each such person has been appointed and by whom the appointments were made; and
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| (b) | whether the relevant authorities will consider appointing members of the Election Committee or political parties of different political views, professional expertise or backgrounds to sit on statutory or advisory bodies so that such bodies may take in different views in a more balanced manner?
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Public Officer to reply :
Secretary for Home Affairs
2. Hon Fred LI to ask: (Translation)
At present, some large real estate developers in Hong Kong concurrently run other businesses such as estate management, retail and telecommunications, and make use of the housing estates they developed as platforms for expanding these businesses. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:
| (a) | the Competition Policy Advisory Group or government departments have received complaints against large real estate developers using the above practice to run other businesses; if so, of the number of such complaints received in each of the past three years and the follow-up actions taken;
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| (b) | it has examined the impact of the above business practice on other competitors, and whether such a practice violates the principle of fair competition; and
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| (c) | it knows if regulations and restrictions on business practices of cross-sector enterprises are in place in overseas countries; if so, of the details, and whether the authorities will put in place similar regulations and restrictions?
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Public Officer to reply :
Secretary for Economic Development and Labour
3. Hon LAU Wong-fat to ask: (Translation)
Regarding litigations arising from the acquisition of private land by the Government, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the number of litigations instituted in the past five years as a result of the Government's failure to reach an agreement with owners of private land on compensation for the resumption or lease of private land, as well as the respective numbers of those cases in which the Government lost and lodged an appeal;
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| (b) | of the total amount of litigation fees paid from public money for such cases in the past five years; and
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| (c) | whether it has required the departments concerned to review if the cases in which judgement was given against the Government involved any mistakes on the part of government officials, and if such officials have to be held responsible; if the departments concerned have been required to do so, of the details of the review results; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply :
Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands
4. Hon Michael MAK to ask: (Translation)
Regarding civil servants' work pressure, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the total number of civil servants who sought help or guidance over the past three years from the Civil Service Bureau or their own departments because of work pressure, together with a breakdown by their ranks;
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| (b) | whether it will take the initiative to study the work pressure experienced by the management and front-line staff of various departments and consider ways to alleviate their pressure; if it will, of the details of the study and consideration; if not, the reasons for that; and
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| (c) | whether the departments concerned will assess the psychological conditions of the candidates when considering promoting civil servants to management posts in order to ensure that they can cope with the work pressure after promotion?
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Public Officer to reply :
Secretary for the Civil Service
5. Hon Abraham SHEK to ask:
The Housing Authority ("HA") is exploring the feasibility of converting the two surplus Home Ownership Scheme ("HOS") blocks into guesthouses or for similar uses, and has invited expression of interest from the public in such a proposal so as to gauge the interest of the market in providing a different category of visitor accommodation. In addition, if HA decides to pursue the guesthouse proposal, the flats will only be leased or sold on a block basis. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the reasons for HA's inclusion of the option of selling the flats on a block basis in the proposal, and whether HA intends to permanently change the functions and uses of the blocks concerned;
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| (b) | whether the Administration or HA has sought in-house or outside legal advice to assist it in deciding whether the proposal to lease or sell the HOS blocks on a block basis for guesthouse use would exceed HA's functions and authority, depart from the HA's principle of focusing on providing public housing for the public and is inconsistent with the Housing Ordinance (Cap. 283) and other relevant legislation; and
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| (c) | if legal advice has been sought, whether different legal opinions have been received; if so, of the details of and rationale for the opinions and why, despite the legal opinions, HA has decided to proceed to invite expression of interest from the public?
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Public Officer to reply :
Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands
*6. Hon LAU Kong-wah to ask: (Translation)
On the 10th of last month, a serious traffic accident occurred at a signal-controlled junction at Sau Mau Ping Road in Kwun Tong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:
| (a) | it has completed the investigation of the accident; if so, of the causes of the accident; and
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| (b) | there is information indicating that the road layout or traffic signal arrangement has some bearing on this accident; if so, of the improvement measures it will take, and whether it will assess if similar improvement measures are needed for the road layouts or traffic signal arrangements at other junctions; if no such assessment will be made, of the reasons for that?
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| Public Officer to reply | : | Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
(in the absence of Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works)
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*7. Dr Hon David CHU to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the provision of isolation facilities for infectious diseases in private sector institutions, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the reasons for giving funding support for installing additional isolation facilities in subvented residential care homes for the elderly only, but not all such homes; and
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| (b) | whether it has assessed if various private hospitals have installed adequate isolation facilities; if so, of the details of the assessment?
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Public Officer to reply :
Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
*8. Hon MA Fung-kwok to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the recent spate of post office robberies, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the details of the enhanced security measures adopted by the authorities in the wake of these robberies; whether the authorities will consider changing the existing layouts of post offices by separating fee collection areas from operation areas, so as to make it more difficult for post offices to be robbed and prevent robbers from jumping over the counters to grab the cash;
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| (b) | whether the authorities have issued guidelines and conducted drills to teach staff of post offices how to react in the event of a robbery in order to safeguard their safety; and
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| (c) | whether, in the light of these post office robberies, the authorities have reviewed the security measures for fee-collection counters of other government departments; if so, of the results; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply :
Secretary for Economic Development and Labour
*9. Hon Bernard CHAN to ask:
In his statement on Hong Kong's economy and management of public finances, made at the Council meeting on 22 October 2003, the Financial Secretary said that "only slightly over one third of the working population need to pay any tax on their salaries. Only 100,000, which is 3% of the working population, will contribute 59% of the salaries tax.". In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of the total number of taxpayers paying salaries tax only in each of the past three financial years and, among them, the respective numbers of taxpayers whose salaries tax payment represents only five percent, 10 percent and 15 percent of their annual total assessable income less total deductions?
Public Officer to reply :
Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
*10. Dr Hon TANG Siu-tong to ask: (Translation)
As the Hongkong Tramways Limited undertook to implement a number of safety and service improvement measures when it applied for a fare increase in 1998, will the Government inform this Council whether it has assessed if the company has implemented these measures as scheduled; if so, of the results of the assessment?
| Public Officer to reply | : | Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
(in the absence of Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works)
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*11. Hon LEUNG Fu-wah to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the reclamation projects in progress, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the details and progress of the projects;
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| (b) | whether the projects involve the disposal of carcinogenic substances; if so, of the project names and the routes along which carcinogenic substances are transported; and
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| (c) | of the authorities' control measures to ensure that carcinogenic substances are properly disposed of?
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| Public Officer to reply | : | Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
(in the absence of Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works)
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*12. Hon WONG Sing-chi to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the problem of begging in the streets, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether there are beggars in Hong Kong who come from foreign places; if so, of the number of such beggars as well as the number of local beggars;
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| (b) | whether the beggars are controlled by syndicates and, if so, of the scale of these syndicates and the number of beggars controlled by them, and how the authorities tackle this problem; and
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| (c) | of the number of persons who beg in the streets because of financial hardship and how the authorities assist them?
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Public Officer to reply :
Secretary for Security
*13. Hon Frederick FUNG to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the problem of Hong Kong students committing suicide, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the respective numbers of students who attempted suicide and who died of suicide in each of the past five years, broken down by grades in school; and
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| (b) | whether measures and means are in place to identify suicide-prone students and to help them give up the thought of suicide; if so, of the details and effectiveness of such measures and means; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply :
Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
*14. Hon James TIEN to ask: (Translation)
Members of the public have told me that the volume of vehicular traffic on the Tai Tam Reservoir dam is very high every day. They are concerned that the aged dam may thus be overloaded and collapse. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:
| (a) | the date of completion of the dam, its design life and allowable vehicular traffic load;
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| (b) | the daily average vehicular traffic on the dam; whether it has assessed the impact of such vehicular traffic on the structure of the dam; if it has, of the details of the assessment; if not, the reasons for that; and
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| (c) | the frequency of inspection on the structural safety of and maintenance works for the dam?
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| Public Officer to reply | : | Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
(in the absence of Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works)
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*15. Hon Kenneth TING to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that most industrial buildings in Hong Kong are dilapidated as the owners are reluctant to pay for their maintenance and the number of tenants is decreasing. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it will relax the user restrictions on industrial buildings, provide regrant premium concessions to the industries and adopt other relevant measures to encourage owners of industrial building to renovate the buildings and improve their facilities; if it will, of the authorities' specific plans; if not, whether the authorities will expeditiously formulate the relevant policy?
Public Officer to reply :
Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands
*16. Hon Fred LI to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that the Hong Kong Eastern District Community Association, whose Honorary Chairman is a Legislative Council ("LegCo") Member, rented several soccer pitches in Victoria Park for organising the Hong Kong Thrives carnival held from 26 September to 17 November this year, with venue fee waived by the authorities. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the criteria adopted by the Government for approving community organizations' applications to rent the soccer pitches in Victoria Park for a lengthy period for organizing activities; and whether the criteria include "the person in charge of the activity is a LegCo Member" and "the activity is recommended by a LegCo Member";
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| (b) | whether, before approving the application, it has assessed if renting the venue to a single organization for a lengthy period is fair to other persons and groups who intend to use the venue and how they are thus affected; if it has, of the assessment results; if not, the reasons for that; and
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| (c) | as it has been reported that the promotional leaflets of Hong Kong Thrives have claimed that the activity was supported by several bodies including the Home Affairs Bureau, the Hong Kong Sports Development Board and the Hong Kong Tourism Board, of the reasons for these Government departments and statutory bodies supporting this commercial activity?
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Public Officer to reply :
Secretary for Home Affairs
*17. Ir Dr Hon HO Chung-tai to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that the vacancy rates of student hostel places at the University Grants Committee funded institutions are on the high side, resulting in wastage. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
| (a) | the number of students admitted to the hostels of the above institutions and its percentage in the total number of students of all institutions in the past year, and the year of study of the majority of these student residents;
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| (b) | the respective average vacancy rates of student hostel places at the above institutions during the summer vacation and the other period in each of the past two years; and
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| (c) | the total amount of rental income forgone between October last year and May this year as a result of the student hostel places at the above institutions being left vacant?
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Public Officer to reply :
Secretary for Education and Manpower
*18. Hon Albert CHAN to ask: (Translation)
Many national sports associations ("NSAs") rely on public funding for operation and hosting sports events. However, some members of the public query some NSAs for their failure to make effective use of the funding to promote and develop sports events, resulting in a waste of public money. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the amount of public funding provided to each NSA in each of the past three years;
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| (b) | of the principles and criteria adopted by the relevant authorities in deciding whether or not to provide funding to a NSA;
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| (c) | whether it has formulated measures to ensure that NSAs make the best use of their funding and spend their money in a cost-effective manner; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
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| (d) | whether new measures will be devised to enhance supervision on NSAs in the use of their funding so as to promote and develop sports events more effectively; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply :
Secretary for Home Affairs
*19. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)
On 26 May this year, the Government announced that it would temporarily put the Tamar development project on hold in order to review its spending priorities. It also indicated that it would complete the review within six months and would announce the outcome. The development project included the construction of a new Legislative Council Complex. On 19 November, the Government announced its decision to defer the project following its review. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
| (a) | given that the relevant authorities completed late last year a prequalification exercise and selected five syndicates to participate in the tender, whether the relevant authorities have to pay compensation to these syndicates; if so, of the amount of compensation; if not, the justifications for that;
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| (b) | given that the Government has made several different decisions concerning whether or not to take the project forward since September 2001, whether they have assessed the damage done to the business environment and the Government's credibility by its indecisiveness; if so, of the assessment results; and
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| (c) | whether they will provide another piece of land for the construction of a new Legislative Council Complex; if not, of the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply :
Chief Secretary for Administration
*For written reply.
III. Bills
First Reading
Employees Compensation Assistance (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2003
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Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)
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| Employees Compensation Assistance (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2003 | : | Secretary for Economic Development and Labour
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IV. Motions
- Education policy
Hon CHEUNG Man-kwong: (Translation)
That this Council opposes the Government's reduction in spending on education, and urges the Government to implement small-class teaching in primary and secondary schools by phases, adopt the four-year normative undergraduate structure as early as possible, and provide funding support for existing associate degree programmes run by universities, so as to provide students with quality education and nurture future talents for Hong Kong.
Amendments to Hon CHEUNG Man-kwong's motion
| (i) | Hon LEUNG Yiu-chung: (Translation)
To add "expresses dissatisfaction with the Government for its failure to honour its pledge made in the past Policy Addresses in regard to investment in education and" after "That this Council"; and to add "at the same time" after "opposes the Government's reduction in spending on education, and".
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| (ii) | Hon Tommy CHEUNG: (Translation)
To add "unreasonable" after "That this Council opposes the Government's"; to delete "implement small-class teaching in primary and secondary schools by phases, adopt the four-year normative undergraduate structure as early as possible, and provide funding support for existing" after "and urges the Government to" and substitute with "comprehensively review the use of educational resources on condition that tuition will not be raised, and to actively assist the institutions in developing their education-related businesses with a view to increasing income and reducing expenditure, in order that the subsidized"; and to add "can switch smoothly to a self-financing basis; furthermore, the Government should examine the implementation of small-class teaching in primary and secondary schools, and adoption of the six-year secondary education structure and four-year normative undergraduate structure under the principle of appropriate deployment of resources" after "associate degree programmes run by universities".
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Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Education and Manpower
- Improving the competitiveness of Hong Kong's container freight industry
Hon Kenneth TING: (Translation)
That this Council urges the Government to promptly address the problem of Hong Kong's container terminals rapidly losing their competitive edge, seriously examine the reasons for the decline in the competitiveness of the local container freight industry, and expeditiously take corresponding measures to reclaim Hong Kong's leading position as a maritime and logistics centre.
Amendment to Hon Kenneth TING's motion
Hon SIN Chung-kai: (Translation)
To add ", including conducting feasibility studies on the selection of site for and the planning of Container Terminal 10 in view of the construction of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, so as" after "and expeditiously take corresponding measures".
Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Economic Development and Labour
- Appointing least number of District Council members
Dr Hon YEUNG Sum: (Translation)
That, as more than one million voters cast their votes in the District Council elections on 23 November, the appointment of District Council members by the Chief Executive will be tantamount to changing the results of voting by the public, this Council urges the Chief Executive to appoint the least number of District Council members in accordance with the law and respect the choices made by more than one million voters who cast their votes in the District Council elections.
| Public Officers to attend | : | Secretary for Constitutional Affairs
Secretary for Home Affairs |
Clerk to the Legislative Council
