A 04/05-30

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 25 May 2005 at 11:00 am

I. Tabling of Papers

1. No.90-Report by the Trustee of the Correctional Services Children's Education Trust for the period from 1 September 2003 to 31 August 2004
(to be presented by Secretary for Security)

2. Report of the Bills Committee on Chief Executive Election (Amendment) (Term of Office of the Chief Executive) Bill
(to be presented by Hon TAM Yiu-chung, Chairman of the Bills Committee)

3. Report of the Bills Committee on Citibank (Hong Kong) Limited (Merger) Bill
(to be presented by Hon James TIEN, Chairman of the Bills Committee)

II. Questions

1. Dr Hon LUI Ming-wah to ask: (Translation)

Some factory operators have reflected to me that the prices of factory buildings in industrial estates are excessively high. It is not uncommon for a factory building to be sold for tens of millions of dollars, which is beyond the means of ordinary businesses. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the current vacancy rates of various industrial estates as well as the number and percentage of factory buildings which are being used for logistics operations instead of industrial production; and

    (b)whether it will consider offering the factory buildings in industrial estates to factory operators under a "rent before purchase" option, so as to benefit more of them; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology

2. Dr Hon Joseph LEE Kok-long to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that the median waiting time for psychiatric specialist out-patient service in public hospitals has increased from three weeks in the year 2000-01 to five weeks in 2004-05, which is the longest waiting time among those for various specialist out-patient services. Moreover, the average length of stay of psychiatric in-patients was 105 days, the highest among all specialist consultation units. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council if it knows:
    (a)the respective average waiting time for the new and old cases for psychiatric specialist out-patient service in public hospitals for each of the past five years; whether new and old cases, and cases in various conditions are placed on separate waiting lists; whether the Hospital Authority ("HA") has reviewed the ways to shorten the relevant waiting times; if so, of the review results;

    (b)the respective numbers of the new and old cases for psychiatric specialist out-patient service in hospitals of each hospital cluster as well as the number of psychiatrists and psychiatric nurses, in each of the past five years; and

    (c)whether HA has assessed by how much the average length of stay of psychiatric in-patients can be shortened upon execution of its plan to transfer approximately 200 long-stay patients in psychiatric hospitals to a newly commissioned long-stay care home?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

3. Hon James TO to ask: (Translation)

According to the report released by Office of the Telecommunications Authority ("OFTA") at the end of March this year, since section 7M of the Telecommunications Ordinance came into operation in 2000 to tackle the problem of mis-selling behaviour, OFTA had received a total of 391 complaints in this respect, and it adjudged that fixed network operators had violated the provision in 86 cases. However, OFTA did not impose any fine on the four fixed network operators which had violated the law, but only issued warning letters to these operators regarding 32 cases. The fixed network operators also agreed to adopt the nine best practices drawn up by OFTA, and made a funding contribution of 2.3 million to the authority concerned to carry out a consumer education programme. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether OFTA's established policy is merely to issue warning letters to telecommunications service operators which violate the law, instead of imposing a fine on them;

    (b)given that the Telecommunications Authority has never invoked the relevant provision under the Telecommunications Ordinance to impose a fine on telecommunications service operators which have violated the law, whether it will consider abolishing such provision; if it will, of the details of its consideration; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c)of the overseas experience OFTA had made reference to when drawing up the above best practices, and whether it has assessed if allowing operators to voluntarily adopt the best practices will be more effective than OFTA's enforcement of the law in restraining the mis-selling behaviour of telecommunications service operators and enhancing self-discipline of the trade?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology

4. Hon CHEUNG Man-kwong to ask: (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the respective numbers of places provided annually between 2000 and 2008 in the self-financing programmes offered by University Grants Committee-funded ("UGC-funded") institutions or their affiliated schools, private organisations, or jointly by these two types of institutions, and the percentages of such places in all those provided in the self-financing programmes offered by all local institutions each year;

    (b)among the land and loans granted by the authorities over the past five years for the above programmes, whether there were cases of the land and loans granted being given up or of failure to offer programmes as planned; if so, of the details of such cases and the ways to deal with these cases by the authorities; and

    (c)whether the authorities have assessed if there are difficulties in enrolment and operation of self-financing programmes run by the above institutions; if there are difficulties, of the details of such difficulties and whether they affect students in terms of continuity of the programmes; and whether the authorities will consider assisting those institutions that have financial difficulties?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

5. Hon Patrick LAU Sau-shing to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the treatment of waste oil in Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the quantity of waste oil treated in Hong Kong and the expenses incurred in each of the past five years, as well as the respective percentage shares of such expenses borne by the authorities and the waste oil producers;

    (b)of the name of the operator commissioned to handle waste oil treatment currently, as well as the commencement and expiry dates of the contract awarded to the operator; and

    (c)whether it has drawn up any plans for the arrangements upon the expiry of the above contract; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

6. Hon TSANG Yok-sing to ask: (Translation)

In order to promote electronic commerce, the Hongkong Post ("HK Post") has offered the public the option of embedding a digital certificate ("e-Cert") in their smart identity cards ("IDs"), for free use in the first year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of e-Certs that have been embedded in smart IDs since the commencement of the Hong Kong Smart Identity Card Replacement Exercise in August 2003, and the respective percentages of this number against that of smart IDs issued by the Immigration Department and that of personal e-Certs issued by the HK Post so far;

    (b)whether it has estimated the monthly numbers of electronic transactions conducted in the past twelve months by the use of the e-Certs embedded in smart IDs for identity authentication; and

    (c)whether it has enquired about the up-to-date number of persons who never used the e-Cert embedded in their smart IDs for identity authentication by the expiry of the first-year free offer, and the reasons for their not using the e-Cert?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology

*7. Hon LEUNG Kwok-hung to ask: (Translation)

I have received complaints from many members of the public, alleging that the pitches set up on streets by many organizations and companies to conduct sales promotion activities have caused obstruction and nuisance to the public. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of complaints concerning the above activities received by government departments in each of the past three years, the respective numbers of cases in which verbal warnings were issued and prosecutions instituted, as well as the locations and natures of the pitches involved;

    (b)whether any accidents or conflicts involving on-street sales promotion pitches have been reported to government departments over the past three years; if so, of the respective numbers of cases received and persons injured; and

    (c)whether the authorities will step up the management measures or enforcement actions against the black spots of on-street sales promotion activities; if so, of the details?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

*8. Hon Vincent FANG Kang to ask: (Translation)

Concerning ex gratia payments of a compensatory nature made by government departments, will the Government inform this Council of the following over the past five years:
    (a)the total amount of ex gratia payments set aside by various Government departments, the annual amount of ex gratia payments approved by various departments, and the change compared to that of the previous year;

    (b)an annual list of:

    (i)the names of government departments which made ex gratia payments, the types, number and amount of such payments;

    (ii)the number of applications made to the above government departments, the average amounts applied for and, of the successful applications, the time limit on making ex gratia payments set by the relevant government departments; and

    (iii)the average amount of ex gratia payments approved by the departments;

    (c)whether any government departments have applied for supplementary provisions to cover the amount in excess of their estimates for ex gratia payments; if so, the number of government departments involved; and

    (d)whether any government departments have made ex gratia payments below their estimates; if so, whether the balances have been returned to the Treasury or retained in the accounts of the relevant government departments, and the up-to-date total unused amount of ex gratia payments?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

*9. Hon Andrew CHENG to ask: (Translation)

Under the Road Traffic (Driving-offence Points) Ordinance (Cap. 375), where 15 or more points have been incurred by a person in respect of offences specified in the Schedule to the Ordinance which were committed in any two-year period, he shall be disqualified from holding a driving licence. On 27 March this year, the Police advised that if a person not holding a driving licence committed the specified offences while cycling, the points thus incurred would also be logged in his register of points. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:
    (a)the legal basis for adopting the measure mentioned above; and

    (b)the number of cyclists not holding a driving licence who incurred points in the past three years and, among them, the number of those who obtained a driving licence within a period of two years from the dates at which they had committed the last cycling-related offence?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

*10. Hon LI Kwok-ying to ask: (Translation)

For many years, Tai Po District Council has been striving for the construction of a heated public swimming pool in the district, but so far little progress has been made. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the progress of its study on converting the main pool at Tai Po Swimming Pool into an uncovered outdoor heated pool, and when the study results will be published;

    (b)whether it has looked for another location outside Tai Po Swimming Pool but within the district for the construction of a heated swimming pool; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c)whether it will construct a heated public swimming pool in Tai Po; if so, of the anticipated implementation date for the construction works; if not, whether it is attributable to the lack of resources?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

*11. Hon LEUNG Kwok-hung to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that, although The Link Real Estate Investment Trust could not be listed as scheduled, The Link Management Limited ("The Link") had taken over the divestment portfolio of the Housing Authority ("HA") and the related services half a year ago. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
    (a)the amount of funding provided by HA to subsidize the monthly operating expenses of The Link, and the details of the manpower deployed to monitor its operation;

    (b)whether HA has conducted any tendering exercise before handing over the divestment portfolio and the related services to The Link; if it has, of the details of the tendering exercise and the tender results; if it has not, the reasons for dispensing with the tendering exercise; and

    (c)whether, after the taking over of HA's divestment portfolio and the related services by The Link, HA has received any complaints concerning the closedown of shops in The Link's shopping centres, the charging of new fees by The Link and increases in the rents of shop premises and parking spaces in car parks; if so, of the number of such complaints and their details?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands

*12. Hon LEE Wing-tat to ask: (Translation)

Under the Country Parks Ordinance (Cap. 208), the Country and Marine Parks Authority ("the Authority") should prepare and publish in the Gazette draft maps showing proposed country parks for public consultation, and should, within the following six months, submit such draft maps, together with papers setting out the objections and representations made, to the Chief Executive in Council for approval. After a draft map has been approved, the Chief Executive should, by order in the Gazette, designate the area shown to be a country park. Given that the Authority has published in the Gazette the draft map of Lantau North (Extension) Country Park in July 2001, but designation of the country park has yet to be made, will the Government inform this Council of the latest progress of and the timetable for the designation; if a timetable is not available or another round of public consultation will be conducted, the justifications for that? Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

*13. Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG to ask: (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council whether it has issued guidelines to Government departments instructing them to make special arrangements to ensure that disabled applicants for Government posts are given, when attending various types of selection tests, sufficient opportunities to demonstrate their capabilities at work; if so, of the details of the arrangement for each type of disabled persons attending each type of tests; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply :Permanent Secretary for the Civil Service
(in the absence of Secretary for the Civil Service)

*14. Hon LI Kwok-ying to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that in order to save expenditure, the Hospital Authority ("HA") has recently purchased medical consumables such as masks, syringes and gloves, etc, of poor quality for use in public hospitals, adversely affecting the efficiency of health care personnel and the quality of their service. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
    (a)the number of complaints received by HA in the past two years about the poor quality of medical consumables, broken down by the type of the consumables concerned and the place of origin;

    (b)if HA's procurement guidelines have specified certain safety specifications for medical consumables; if so, of the details of the specifications; and

    (c)HA's procedure for the procurement of medical consumables, including the selection criteria and the acceptance procedure?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

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

Recently I have received complaints from many members of the public that a number of clinics under the Hospital Authority ("HA"), such as Lady Trench Polyclinic, have substantially reduced the number of chips allotted per day, and many members of the public are unable to receive timely out-patient services because of their failure to obtain a chip. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
    (a)the number of chips allotted by each clinic each month over the past three years;

    (b)the reasons for the recent substantial reduction in the number of chips allotted per day by some clinics; and

    (c)if HA has any measures to ensure that all of its clinics have the capacity to meet the public demand for out-patient services during the peak influenza season; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

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

It has been reported that the Environmental Protection Department ("EPD") recently invited tenders for the operation of the livestock waste composting plants in Sha Ling and Ngau Tam Mei and the provision of livestock waste collection services. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether, prior to the tendering exercise, it had compared the composting techniques adopted by the above composting plants to the new techniques available in the market before deciding on the techniques to be used in the composting plants; if it had, of the new techniques involved and details of the comparison results, including the time and land area required for making compost, the market value of compost and whether other emissions will be produced during the composting process; if it had not, the reasons for that;

    (b)given that EPD has indicated that it will study setting compost standards so that composted waste can be put to use in more ways, of the details and timetable of the study;

    (c)given that EDP has indicated that it will require the new operator of the composting plants to increase their handling capacity, of the reasons for not specifying such requirement in the tender document;

    (d)of the authorities' estimated amount of livestock waste that has to be transported to landfills for disposal each day by the successful tenderer, in order to meet the requirements of the tender document; and

    (e)whether the authorities have considered adopting other techniques to handle the livestock waste collected by the operator, in order to reduce waste loads to landfills; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

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

The former Chief Executive stated in the 2005 Policy Address that the Administration would establish a consultative framework for cultural and creative industries as soon as possible, and "will work together to study the vision for development, direction, and organizational structure to see how we may deploy our advantages, consolidate resources and pursue key areas". In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:
    (a)the establishment of a consultative framework for cultural and creative industries has been affected by the departure of the Chief Executive; if not, of the progress of the work in this respect, and the date of its establishment and the mode of operation to be adopted; and

    (b)it will consider reorganizing the government structure when studying "the vision for development, direction, and organizational structure" by, for example, setting up, with reference to the experience of Taiwan or some European countries, a high-level cultural council, so that it will take more account of cultural factors and attach greater importance to promoting the development of cultural industries in the course of policy formulation and implementation?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

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

It has been reported that in order to promote the further development of the digital entertainment industry and the wireless technology industry in Hong Kong, the Government plans to launch a pilot internship programme to enable selected graduates from the relevant disciplines to gain practical working experience through attachment to local digital entertainment companies. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:
    (a)the application requirements for the above internship programme and the estimated number of graduates who will benefit from the programme;

    (b)the estimated amount of expenditure on the programme; and

    (c)the commencement and completion dates of the programme?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology

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

Widening and improvement works are currently underway at the section of Castle Peak Road between Area 2 and Ka Loon Tsuen in Tsuen Wan. Upon completion of such works, this road section will be realigned from a single two-lane to a dual two-lane carriageway. It has been reported that the Highways Department has broken the continuous double white line in the middle of that road section at locations off a number of housing estates and placed right-turn road markings on the westbound fast lane, so that when there is a gap in the opposite stream of traffic, vehicles can turn right, cross the two lanes for traffic from the opposite direction and enter roads leading to those housing estates. Such a measure has departed from the original design of such works, which prohibits westbound vehicles from turning right. The Police has also closed the eastbound fast lane at the relevant parts of the road section, reducing the number of eastbound lanes from two to one at these locations. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of requests made to the departments concerned in the past three years by members of the public for permission for westbound vehicles to turn right at the above locations after completion of the works;

    (b)given that westbound vehicles will be able to reach the housing estates concerned by making U-turns at any one of the five roundabouts at the above road section, of the reasons for permitting westbound vehicles to turn right at the above locations;

    (c)when the decision to assign the right-turn locations for westbound vehicles was made, which government department(s) made the decision and which government departments were involved in the decision;

    (d)whether the Police has given any advice to the government department(s) deciding to assign the right-turn locations for westbound vehicles; if so, please provide the relevant correspondence and minutes of meetings held between the Police and the department(s) concerned;

    (e)of the date at which the department(s) concerned assigned the right-turn locations for westbound vehicles at the above road section, and whether they are considering assigning more right-turn locations; if so, of the reasons for that and the locations concerned;

    (f)whether it goes against the existing road safety standards to permit vehicles travelling on fast lanes to turn right at non-signal-controlled locations with no waiting area available to right-turning vehicles, and cross two-lane (multiple-lane) carriageways for traffic from the opposite direction where permissible speeds are very high and traffic is heavy; if so, of the reasons for implementing such a measure at the locations concerned; if not, the reasons for that;

    (g)among the busy roads with a permissible speed of 50 kilometres per hour or above, of those which have adopted the measure mentioned in (f) above and the relevant details; and

    (h)of the reasons for the Police closing the eastbound fast lane at certain parts of the road section, reducing the number of eastbound lanes from two to one at these locations?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

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

Regarding sexual offences in Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the respective numbers of various sexual offences which occurred last year, broken down by:

    (i)the districts in which such crimes occurred; and

    (ii)whether such crimes occurred at public housing estates;

    (b)of the number of suspected persons prosecuted for sexual offences in the past year;

    (c)whether the Police has taken special actions, such as stepping up patrols, at places where repeated sexual offences have occurred; and

    (d)whether the number of sexual offences has been on the rise in recent years; if so, of the measures in place to combat such crimes?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

*For written reply.

III. Bills

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

Chief Executive Election (Amendment) (Term of Office of the Chief Executive) Bill :Secretary for Constitutional Affairs

IV. Members' Bills

First Reading

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Asia) Limited (Merger) Bill

Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Asia) Limited (Merger) Bill : Dr Hon David LI

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

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

Citibank (Hong Kong) Limited (Merger) Bill : Dr Hon David LI

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

V. Members' Motions

  1. Proposed resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance

    Hon Margaret NG to move the following motion:

    RESOLVED that in relation to the -

    (a)Consular Relations (Additional Privileges and Immunities) (United Kingdom) Order, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 51 of 2005;

    (b)Consular Relations (Additional Privileges and Immunities) (United States of America) Order, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 52 of 2005;

    (c)Administration of Estates by Consular Officers Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule) Order 2005, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 53 of 2005;

    (d)Consular Conventions (Application of Section 3) Order 2005, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 54 of 2005;

    (e)Consular Relations (Additional Privileges and Immunities) (Vietnam) Order, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 55 of 2005;

    (f)Administration of Estates by Consular Officers Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule) (No. 2) Order 2005, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 56 of 2005; and

    (g)Consular Conventions (Application of Section 3) (No. 2) Order 2005, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 57 of 2005,

    and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 27 April 2005, 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 15 June 2005.

  2. The 4 June incident

    Hon Albert HO: (Translation)

    That this Council urges that: the 4 June incident be not forgotten, the 1989 pro-democracy movement be vindicated, and tribute be paid to the late Mr ZHAO Ziyang.

  3. Regulating the handling of electronic wastes and promoting the electronic waste recycling industry

    Hon KWONG Chi-kin: (Translation)

    That this Council urges the Government to amend the legislation relating to the regulation of the disposal as well as the import and export of electronic wastes, and to step up law enforcement in order to eliminate the environmental hazards posed by electronic wastes to Hong Kong and other places; at the same time, the Government should implement a producer responsibility scheme and establish a comprehensive recycling system to promote the recycling of electronic wastes, with a view to creating employment opportunities.

    Amendment to motion
    Hon Tommy CHEUNG:     (Translation)

    To delete "producer" after "the Government should implement a" and substitute with "comprehensive"; to add "encompassing the producers, importers and users," after "responsibility scheme"; and to add "and effective" after "and establish a comprehensive".

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

Clerk to the Legislative Council