A 03/04-12

Legislative Council

Agenda



Wednesday 17 December 2003 at 2:30 pm

I. Tabling of Papers

Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments L.N. No.
1.Particulars Relating to Candidates on Ballot Papers (Legislative Council) Regulation 263/2003
2.Application for New Identity Cards (Persons Born in 1958 to 1963) Order264/2003
3.Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Public Pleasure Grounds) (Amendment of Fourth Schedule) (No. 4) Order 2003265/2003
4.Securities and Futures (Price Stabilizing) (Amendment) Rules 2003266/2003
5.Companies (Amendment) Ordinance 2003 (28 of 2003) (Commencement) Notice 2003267/2003
6.Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Gas Welding and Flame Cutting) Regulation (Cap. 59 sub. leg. AI) (Commencement) Notice 2003

268/2003

Other Papers

1.No.39-Forty-second Annual Report on the Social Work Training Fund by the Trustee of the Fund for the year ending on 31 March 2003
(to be presented by Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food)

2.No.40-Report on the Administration of the Fire Services Department Welfare Fund, together with the Director of Audit's Report and Audited Statement of Accounts, for the year ended 31 March 2003
(to be presented by Secretary for Security)

3.No.41-The Accounts of the Lotteries Fund 2002-03
(to be presented by Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury)

4.No.42-Report of the Chinese Temples Committee on the administration of the Chinese Temples Fund for the year ended 31 March 2003
(to be presented by Secretary for Home Affairs)

5.No.43-Report of the Chinese Temples Committee on the administration of the General Chinese Charities Fund for the year ended 31 March 2003
(to be presented by Secretary for Home Affairs)

6.No.44-The Sir Murray MacLehose Trust Fund Trustee's Report for the period from 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2003
(to be presented by Secretary for Home Affairs)

7.No.45-Report of the Brewin Trust Fund Committee on the Administration of the Fund for the year ended 30 June 2003
(to be presented by Secretary for Home Affairs)

8.No.46-Grantham Scholarships Fund Annual Report for the year ended 31 August 2003
(to be presented by Secretary for Home Affairs)

9.No.47-Hong Kong Housing Authority Annual Report 2002/2003
(to be presented by Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands)

10.No.48-Hong Kong Housing Authority Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2003
(to be presented by Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands)

II. Questions

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

On 27th of last month, the Hospital Authority ("HA") decided that all liver transplant operations would in future be carried out in Queen Mary Hospital and the liver transplant centre in Prince of Wales Hospital ("PWH") would be closed down. Regarding HA's various organ transplant centres, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
    (a)if HA has conducted prior consultations with the doctors working in the liver transplant centre in PWH, patients' rights groups and those patients waiting to undergo liver transplant operations in PWH; if so, of the results of the consultations; if not, the reasons for that;

    (b)the reasons for HA members or management turning down the proposal of using donations from the public to subsidize the liver transplant centre in PWH; and

    (c)if HA has any further plan to merge other organ transplant centres; if so, of the details of the plan?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

2. Dr Hon David CHU to ask: (Translation)

As the recently appointed Director of Audit ("DoA") is a senior administrative officer, which has aroused concern about the independence of the Audit Commission, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the statutory, administrative and other mechanisms or measures in place to prevent situations that may give rise to real or potential conflict of interests or favouritism on the part of DoA in discharging his duties, for example, where an audit review conducted by the Audit Commission involves a decision which DoA had made, or had taken part in making, during his service in government departments, or where the controlling officer of an audited body is his relative or former colleague in the civil service;

    (b)whether such mechanisms or measures have spelt out how to deal with the situation in which a former DoA may take up employment in a government department or an organization within the purview of DoA after his departure from office; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c)of the actions to be taken to ensure that such mechanisms and measures are effective in preventing the situation in (a) above, and in handling the situation in (b) above?
Public Officers to reply :Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
Secretary for the Civil Service

3. Hon SZETO Wah to ask: (Translation)

Regarding post-duty visit briefings for the Legislative Council ("LegCo") by the Chief Executive ("CE") on his meetings with the leaders of the Central People's Government, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the total number of such duty visits made by CE since the reunification, the dates of each duty visit, whether CE has subsequently briefed LegCo on the details and outcome of the visits, and whether he will brief LegCo on his latest duty visit; if he will, when the briefing will take place;

    (b)whether CE is obliged to brief LegCo every time he returns from a duty visit to manifest the Executive Authorities' accountability towards LegCo; and

    (c)whether it plans to make it a convention for CE to brief LegCo upon his return from duty visits?
Public Officer to reply : Chief Secretary for Administration

4. Question withdrawn.

5. Hon Ambrose LAU to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that at least one hundred cargo compartments of lorries used as garbage containers are placed on the streets in the territory each day. These cargo compartments not only block traffic flow and threaten the safety of vehicles and pedestrians, but also cause environmental nuisances. The Lands Department has pointed out that the placing of cargo compartments on government land requires prior approval of the Department. In this regard, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)apart from the Lands Department, whether other government departments responsible for overseeing road traffic, environmental hygiene and road construction have exercised control over the cargo compartments being placed on roadsides or pavements; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (b)of the total number of applications for placing cargo compartments on the streets received by the authorities over the past three years, and the total number of persons prosecuted for unauthorized placing of cargo compartments on the streets; if the authorities have not instituted prosecutions, of the reasons for that; and

    (c)whether the authorities will consider treating the unauthorized placing of cargo compartments on the streets as illegal parking, littering or causing obstructions on passageways, so that the Police Force, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department or the relevant departments may prosecute the owners of the cargo compartments concerned?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands

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

To alleviate the unemployment problem, assist the disadvantaged in entering the labour market and combat the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome which broke out early this year, the Government has implemented a number of measures aimed at creating jobs. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the progress of the above measures;

    (b)among the jobs which have been created by the relevant measures, of the types and number of jobs which will expire by March next year; and

    (c)whether the authorities will extend the employment periods of the jobs mentioned in (b); if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Development and Labour

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

To prevent the cross-boundary spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, health control measures have been implemented at various immigration control points. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the health control facilities currently installed in various control points;

    (b)whether it has conducted surprise checks to ensure strict enforcement of the health control measures by frontline staff at various control points;

    (c)of the respective numbers of travellers who refused to complete and return health declaration forms and those who refused to undergo health checks since March this year; how these cases were handled; and

    (d)of the number of complaints received from travellers regarding the health control measures?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

*8. Hon LEUNG Fu-wah to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the disciplined services' plan to outsource some of their work, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the types of work each disciplined service intends to outsource; and the numbers and ranks of the staff members whose work will be outsourced, broken down by whether they are civil servants, non-civil service contract staff, temporary staff and part-time staff;

    (b)whether the disciplined services have set timetables for the outsourcing exercise; if they have, of the detailed timetables; if not, the reasons for that and whether such reasons are related to their financial provision for the coming year;

    (c)how the disciplined services will deploy the manpower saved from the outsourcing exercise;

    (d)of the financial implications of the implementation of the outsourcing exercise on the disciplined services; whether additional financial provision will be allocated to the disciplined services concerned as a result of the exercise; if so, of the respective additional provision for each disciplined service; if not, the reasons for that;

    (e)of the criteria adopted by each disciplined service for deciding whether its work will be outsourced; whether the relevant disciplined services will consult their staff and staff unions prior to the decision to outsource their work; if so, of the form of consultation; if not, the reasons for that, and whether the authorities have assessed if the staff morale of the disciplined services will be affected by the outsourcing of some of their work; if they have, of the assessment results; if not, the reasons for that;

    (f)how the authorities monitor the entire outsourcing process and the quality of the outsourced work; and

    (g)whether the authorities will conduct regular reviews on the outsourcing exercise with regard to its effectiveness, quality of the outsourced work and its impact on the relevant disciplined services and their staff?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

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

Regarding places for holding weddings and persons officiating at marriage registration, and the question of whether Hong Kong-registered marriages are recognised by the Mainland authorities, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it has plans to authorize lawyers to officiate at marriage registration, and to allow prospective couples to hold weddings at places other than the marriage registries or authorized places of public worship; if so, of the details and progress of the plans, and the qualifications required of the lawyers to be so authorized; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (b)of its plans to obtain the Mainland authorities' recognition of mainlanders' marriages which are registered in Hong Kong, so as to attract prospective couples from the Mainland to travel to Hong Kong and hold their weddings here, and thus boost the tourism of Hong Kong?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

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

It has been reported that, currently, the Government does not regulate private medical laboratories. As quite a number of private medical laboratories are housed in commercial buildings, they may endanger residents in the neighbourhood in the event of any mistakes made by such laboratories in handling high-risk tests. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the total number of accidents involving private medical laboratories in the conduct of laboratory tests over the past three years;

    (b)whether it knows if the United States and Canada have legislation for regulating private medical laboratories; if so, of the details; and

    (c)whether there is legislation regulating private medical laboratories; if so, of the details; if not, whether such legislation will be enacted?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

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

Recently, I have received many complaints from designated collectors of recyclables about their business being affected by people who are not designated collectors and who employ goods vehicles to collect discarded household articles which have values. Such goods vehicles occupy the roadside loading/unloading bays for lengthy periods, emit a bad smell and cause environmental hygiene problems. Despite repeated complaints made to the Police by these collectors and me, the Police have not taken any specific actions to combat such activities. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of relevant complaints received by the authorities concerned last year, the locations and number of people involved and, as well as the follow-up actions they have taken; and

    (b)whether it will consider stepping up enforcement actions against activities of driving goods vehicles around to collect discarded articles; if it will, of the details of such actions; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

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

Between March and October this year, a concern group for sex workers received 76 complaints from sex workers about the abuse of power by police officers. Of these, 18 cases were allegations of police officers' taking advantage of the opportunities to obtain sex services for free while posing as clients in anti-vice operations, one case related to the alleged use of violence by police officers, three cases involved the use of police officers' capacity to ask for free sex services, and four cases involved police officers unreasonably demanding the arrested sex workers to take off all their clothes for body search in police stations. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
    (a)whether the Police have obtained concrete information on such complaints and conducted investigations accordingly, and of the penalties to be imposed on those police officers confirmed to have committed the above acts;

    (b)whether the Police have taken the initiative to contact and follow up with the concern group; if so, of the details of such contacts and follow-up; if not, the reasons for that;

    (c)of the measures the Police have adopted for monitoring the conduct of police officers in anti-vice operations;

    (d)whether the relevant internal guidelines of the Police have specific provisions on the permissible body contacts between police officers carrying out anti-vice operations and sex workers; if so, of the details of such provisions; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (e)whether the Police have reviewed the procedures for instituting prosecutions against the sex workers arrested, in order to identify possible areas for improvement?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

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

Will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)how it treats abandoned pets (such as dogs and cats); whether it knows the assistance offered by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Hong Kong) in this respect and whether the Society will provide shelter for abandoned pets; if it will, of the details;

    (b)of the number of pets put down because they have been abandoned or no adopters have been found for them in each of the past three years and the expenses involved, broken down by animal species; and

    (c)of the measures the authorities have to enhance public education on being kind to animals and to promote such a message to the community?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

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

There are criticisms that the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department ("AFCD") has repeatedly made mistakes in its attempts to rescue or capture wild animals. On one occasion, its failed rescue attempt resulted in the death of a stranded sperm whale, and on another occasion, its misuse of a dog-catching pole to capture a little barking deer led to the animal being strangled to death. Besides, the Australian crocodile expert invited by the AFCD to capture a young crocodile found in Shan Pui River also failed after numerous attempts for more than ten days. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether AFCD has consulted the relevant organizations and experts on the methods to be used when planning its operations to rescue or capture wild animals;

    (b)of the reasons for AFCD's inviting the Australian expert to come to Hong Kong to capture the crocodile, without first allowing or inviting local or Mainland experts to do the job; and

    (c)of the communication and cooperation between AFCD and local experts and voluntary organizations engaging in the study or conservation of wild animals; and whether their experiences and resources have been fully utilized to tackle problems in the management, rescuing, capturing and handling of wild animals?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

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

The Financial Secretary told this Council on 5 November that the Administration would establish a panel of inquiry on the Harbour Fest event and that the terms of reference and the membership of the panel would be announced shortly. However, such announcements were made only on the twelfth of this month. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
    (a)of the reasons for having spent more than one month in establishing the panel of inquiry, as well as the difficulties encountered;

    (b)of the reasons for not appointing the panel under the Commissions of Inquiry Ordinance (Cap. 86) so that it will be vested with statutory powers to summon witnesses and gather evidence; and

    (c)whether they have stipulated that the panel of inquiry shall hold public hearings?
Public Officer to reply : Financial Secretary

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

It was reported that testers managed to bring forbidden items such as explosive substances and sharp knives into the restricted area of the Hong Kong International Airport (the airport) during three of the four internal tests conducted recently to assess the performance of airport security officers in discharging their inspection duties, which reflected serious security loopholes at the airport. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the airport's level of attack risk each year based on the assessment results and overseas intelligence collected over the past three years, and whether the authorities have adopted special security measures in response to the risk level; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (b)of the number and types of forbidden items found by airport security officers in the course of inspecting passengers and goods in each of the past three years; and

    (c)whether the Aviation Security Company Limited ("AVSECO") provides updated training for its security officers on a regular basis, including training on security procedures such as passenger inspection, so as to enable them to act against the many and varied tricks of terrorists; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and of the details of the Airport Authority regular monitoring of the AVSECO's performance in the provision of security services?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

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

It has been reported that Grantham Hospital has postponed some of the patients' appointments for cardiac consultation and treatment due to a shortage of cardiologists. Regarding the staffing of cardiologists in public hospitals, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the total number of cardiologists in public hospitals and its ratio to the total number of such patients;

    (b)of the average waiting time for first appointments for cardiac consultation at each public hospital;

    (c)whether there are sufficient cardiologists in public hospitals to meet the demand for service;

    (d)of the percentage of the cardiologists in public hospitals who work in Grantham Hospital; and

    (e)of the measures to resolve the shortage of cardiologists in Grantham Hospital?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

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

In the paper for the Stage Three Public Consultation on "Hong Kong 2030: Planning Vision and Strategy", the Government has pointed out that in formulating the long-term development patterns, it needs to consider whether to lower the development intensities, for example, from plot ratio of 8 to 5 in existing built-up areas or from 6.5 to 5 for new development areas. Moreover, the Housing Authority ("HA") has indicated recently that in designing new public housing, it will optimize the development intensity instead of maximizing it. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:
    (a)the development intensities, which the authorities decide to adopt following the above consultation, will be applicable to the development pattern of new public rental housing in the future planning; if not, of the reasons for that; and

    (b)it knows the criteria to be adopted by HA for optimizing the land resources for public housing development?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands

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

The Transport Department launched a six-month trial scheme on pedestrian flashing green countdown timers last December and commissioned the City University of Hong Kong to study the effectiveness of the scheme. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether the study has been completed; if so, of the results of the study; if not, the expected date of completion? Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

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

Regarding the postponement of the Tamar Development Project, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the total number of jobs originally expected to be created by the Project, with a breakdown by job types;

    (b)whether it has assessed the impact of the postponement on Hong Kong's economy (including the recovery rate) and employment situation; if it has, of the results of assessment; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c)of the circumstances under which the Administration will resume the Project?
Public Officer to reply : Chief Secretary for Administration

*For written reply.

III. Bills

First Reading

Waste Disposal (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2003

Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)

Waste Disposal (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2003:Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

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

Employees Compensation Assistance (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2003:Secretary for Economic Development and Labour

IV. Motions

  1. Proposed resolution under the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance

    Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food to move the following motion:


    2. RESOLVED that -

    (a)the Pharmacy and Poisons (Amendment) (No. 4) Regulation 2003; and

    (b)the Poisons List (Amendment) (No. 4) Regulation 2003,

    made by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board on 26 November 2003, be approved.
    (The two Regulations have been issued on 1 December 2003 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 218/03-04)

  • Proposed resolution under the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance

    Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food to move the following motion:


    • RESOLVED that -

      (a)the Pharmacy and Poisons (Amendment) (No. 5) Regulation 2003; and

      (b)the Poisons List (Amendment) (No. 5) Regulation 2003,

      made by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board on 26 November 2003, be approved.
      (The two Regulations have been issued on 1 December 2003 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 218/03-04)

    V. Members' Motions
    1. Proposed resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance

      Hon Margaret NG to move the following motion:


      2. RESOLVED that in relation to the Summary Disposal of Complaints (Solicitors) Rules, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 251 of 2003 and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 26 November 2003, the period for amending subsidiary legislation referred to in section 34(2) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1) be extended under section 34(4) of that Ordinance to the meeting of 14 January 2004.

    2. Proposed resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance

      Hon Cyd HO to move the following motion:


      3. RESOLVED that the -

      (a)Chinese Medicine Ordinance (Cap. 549) (Commencement) (No. 2) Notice 2003, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 227 of 2003;

      (b)Chinese Medicine (Fees) Regulation (Cap. 549 sub. leg. E) (Commencement) (No. 2) Notice 2003, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 228 of 2003; and

      (c)Chinese Medicines Regulation (Cap. 549 sub. leg. F) (Commencement) (No. 2) Notice 2003, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 229 of 2003,

      and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 29 October 2003, be repealed.

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

  • Digital 21 Strategy

    Hon SIN Chung-kai:
    • (Translation)

    That this Council considers that the Government should take the opportunity of reviewing the Digital 21 Strategy to promote the use of information technology ("IT") by local enterprises, the public and the Government itself so as to achieve the target of enhancing Hong Kong's competitiveness and creating business opportunities for the IT industry; the Government should also tie in with the Mainland's IT policies and understand the complementary advantages of the IT industries in both places, with a view to facilitating co-operation between enterprises in Hong Kong and the Mainland in receiving IT goods orders from the world market, developing products jointly or promoting Mainland products in the world market, thereby achieving mutual benefits.


    Amendment to Hon SIN Chung-kai's motion
    Hon Howard YOUNG:     (Translation)

    To add "enhance the exploitation of the market opportunities in the Mainland for the local telecommunications industry brought about by the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement," after "the Government should also"; to delete "co-operation between" after "with a view to facilitating"; and to delete "and the Mainland" after "enterprises in Hong Kong" and substitute with "in developing the Mainland market or co-operating with the Mainland enterprises".

    Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology

  • Labelling Scheme on Nutrition Information

    Hon Fred LI:
    •  (Translation)

    That this Council urges the Government to expeditiously introduce a mandatory labelling scheme on nutrition information for prepackaged food and draw up a legislative timetable to implement, in three years' time, the first and second phases of the scheme as proposed in the consultation paper, so as to facilitate consumers in choosing foods that are beneficial to health; besides, as the international community has not yet arrived at a consensus on how to regulate foods for infants and foods prepared for people with special dietary needs, this Council also asks the Government to carry out a study as soon as possible, to explore the feasibility of including these food products in the scheme.

    Amendment to Hon Fred LI's motion
    Hon Mrs Selina CHOW:     (Translation)

    To delete "the Government to expeditiously introduce" after "That this Council urges" and substitute with "that, before introducing"; to delete "and draw up a legislative timetable to implement, in three years' time, the first and second phases of the scheme as proposed in the consultation paper" after "prepackaged food" and substitute with ", the Government should conduct a regulatory impact assessment, taking into account the views of the public, consumers, importers, distributors, wholesalers, suppliers and retailers, and make reference to relevant overseas experience and practices"; and to delete "; besides, as the international community has not yet arrived at a consensus on how to regulate foods for infants and foods prepared for people with special dietary needs, this Council also asks the Government to carry out a study as soon as possible, to explore the feasibility of including these food products in the scheme" after "foods that are beneficial to health".

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

    Clerk to the Legislative Council