A 04/05-10

Legislative Council

Agenda
Wednesday 1 December 2004 at 2:30pm

I. Tabling of Papers

No.31 - Emergency Relief Fund
Annual Report by the Trustee for the year ending
31 March 2004
(to be presented by Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food)


II. Questions

1. Hon KWONG Chi-kin to ask:(Translation)

It has been reported that a civil servant, who had held the position of Deputy Director, Housing Department before her retirement at the end of November last year, joined a ferry company as the director in its business development department in April this year. The scope of work of the director includes the cultural items relating to the West Kowloon Cultural District project, for which the holding company of the ferry company has submitted a development proposal. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether the above retired civil servant had been given approval to take up appointment in the ferry company; if so, of the position of the approving officer, the policy bureau or government department to which the officer belonged and when the approval was given;
(b) whether the authorities were aware of the scope of work of the director's post before the retired civil servant took up the appointment, and whether further approval was given in respect of the particular scope of work; if so, of the position of the approving officer, the policy bureau or government department to which the officer belonged and when the approval was given; and
(c) given that the retired civil servant has worked in the former Urban Services Department and the Housing Department, whether the authorities have assessed if there is any conflict of interest between her present work and her previous work in those departments, and whether her taking up the present post is in breach of the restrictions for retired civil servants in taking up appointments in the private sector; if they have, of the assessment results?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Civil Service

2. Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG to ask:(Translation)

It has been reported that not long ago an ex-mental patient, who relapsed due to a divorce, died after having jumped from Lei Chak House of Ap Lei Chau Estate, carrying his six-year-old son with him. The incident causes extensive concern in the social work sector regarding family services, as well as treatment and rehabilitation services provided for mental patients. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether the five Single Parent Centres will be re-opened; if so, of their re-opening time; if not, the reasons for that;
(b) of the total number of mental patients receiving services from public psychiatric specialist out-patient clinics in Hong Kong at present, as well as the number of medical social workers in these clinics; and whether the Social Welfare Department ("SWD") still maintains its personnel policy of 'triennial transfer' for medical social workers; and
(c) whether the Hospital Authority and SWD have any plan to provide services to those mental patients who have not taken the initiative to contact medical social workers?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

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

Regarding the preservation of the ridgelines and the views of Victoria Harbour, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) when it will publish the results of the consultation conducted by the Planning Department a few months ago on the building height restrictions for coastal areas along Victoria Harbour, and whether it will enforce, by way of legislation, the height limits resulting from the consultation; if not, the reasons for that;
(b) whether the authorities conducted the consultation exercises on the building height restrictions for all the selected areas concurrently or set different consultation periods for individual selected areas; if the latter mode of consultation was adopted, of the reasons and justifications for that; and
(c) for those lots the land leases of which did not include any building height restrictions, whether the authorities have taken remedial measures to restrict the height of buildings which are being and will be built on such lots, so as to avoid such buildings damaging the ridgelines in the vicinity; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands

4. Hon Tommy CHEUNG to ask:(Translation)

Since 1 January 2002, the Mainland authorities have lifted the export quota control over chilled meats for supply to Hong Kong, and have also abolished the restriction in relation to the granting of export business operating right and the sole agency system. However, I have learnt that so far no chilled pork has been allowed to be imported from the Mainland. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of the reasons for that, and when chilled pork will be allowed to be imported from the Mainland? Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

5. Hon James TIEN to ask:(Translation)

As air pollution continues to worsen in Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council whether: (a) it has assessed the losses to the local economy caused by air pollution; if so, of the outcome of the assessment;

(b) it has offered any assistance to the Guangdong authorities in reducing the emissions; if so, of the details of such assistance; and
(c) it will discuss with the Guangdong authorities enhanced efforts to reduce emissions in Guangdong, so that the emission reduction targets for 2010 can be achieved at an earlier date? Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

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

The Chief Executive indicated in the 2004 Policy Address that the Government would review the function and composition of District Councils ("DCs") at a suitable time. It is the hope of DC members that the Government will conduct the review as soon as possible to further strengthen the role of DCs in district affairs. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:
(a) the time for commencement of the review by the Administration, as well as the anticipated timetable of the review exercise;
(b) the scope of the review; and
(c) the ways to consult the public on the review?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Constitutional Affairs

*7. Hon LEUNG Yiu-chung to ask:(Translation)

Regarding the discussions between the Mainland authorities and the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on the arrangements for the transfer of sentenced persons, will the Government inform this Council of:
(a) the total number of meetings held between the authorities and the Mainland authorities so far, and the total number of correspondence and documents exchanged;
(b) the progress of the discussions between the authorities and the Mainland authorities on the transfer of sentenced persons;
(c) the rank of the highest ranking Mainland officials currently in charge of such discussions; and
(d) the specific reasons for still not being able to reach an agreement with the Mainland authorities, and the expected timing for reaching such an agreement?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Constitutional Affairs
(in the absence of Secretary for Security)

*8. Hon WONG Kwok-hing to ask:(Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of traffic accidents in Hong Kong and the resultant casualties in each of the past three years and, among them, the respective numbers of accidents and casualties resulting from drivers' careless braking in areas adjacent to the traffic light junctions and those from red light jumping, together with a breakdown by the type of vehicle involved, such as light, medium and heavy goods vehicles, public bus, public light bus, tram, light rail vehicle, etc; and
(b) whether the Transport Department will publish on the department's homepage statistics on traffic accidents, broken down by the cause and the type of vehicle involved, on a regular basis; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

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

It has been reported that in the middle of last month, some travel agents accommodated Mainland tour groups in the holiday camps managed by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department ("LCSD"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the details of the incidents, including the names in which the travel agents booked the holiday camps, and whether the staff of the camps realized that the group members were tourists when handling the check-in procedure for the tour groups;
(b) whether it is a violation of the law or stipulations concerned to rent holiday camps managed by LCSD for commercial or profit-making purposes, and of the measures to be put in place to curb such practice; and
(c) whether foreigners are allowed to stay in LCSD's holiday camps; if so, whether it will consider accepting direct bookings by foreigners and charging local residents and foreigners on a graded scale?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

*10. Hon Abraham SHEK to ask:

The price of oil has exceeded US$50 a barrel recently. The market expects that it may rise further, and is concerned that it will lead to an energy crisis. When the oil crisis occurred in 1973-74, the Government set up two committees to help Hong Kong meet the threat of an oil shortage, namely the Oil Policy Committee, which oversaw the general strategy towards oil supplies and considered broadly any necessary controls over consumption, and the Oil Distribution Committee, which proposed priorities and worked out detailed plans for economising on oil consumption and for ensuring that priorities were met. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of its latest estimation of the impact of the record-high oil prices on the local economic growth and inflation respectively; and
(b) whether it will consider setting up such committees this time?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Development and Labour

*11. Hon Mrs Selina CHOW to ask:(Translation)

It is learnt that the Environmental Protection Department tentatively confirmed in 2000 that 29 out of the 655 "noisy roads" in Hong Kong, including the Tsing Tsuen Bridge in Kwai Tsing District, would be the first batch of roads to be retrofitted with noise shielding facilities. In the same year, the Executive Council endorsed the retrofitting of noise shielding facilities on these roads at a cost of $2.3 billion spreading over a 10-year period. According to the information paper provided by the Government for the joint meeting of the Environmental Affairs Panel, the Transport Panel and the Planning, Lands and Works Panel of this Council on 15 January 2002, the Government planned to commence works on retrofitting the Tsing Tsuen Bridge with noise barriers in April 2002, and the project was expected to be completed in December 2007. However, the Progress Report on the Works Programme in Kwai Tsing District as at the end of June this year indicated that the Government was reviewing the commencement and completion dates of the project. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of the reasons for not yet carrying out the project and its latest progress? Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

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

It was reported that a fire broke some time ago at a plastic bottles recovery plant in Tin Sam village, Yuen Long, and caused a heap of waste tyres in the village to burn on and off several times and release thick smoke and gases. Those waste tyres had been recovered under public funding for recycle and reuse. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) as people in the tyre trade have pointed out that, after a fire has been extinguished, strong heat energy is still hidden in the fragments of burnt tyres, and they may burn spontaneously when the heat inside comes into contact with oxygen from the wind, whether the authorities have taken any measures to remove the inflammable waste tyres in question, so that the life and property of residents nearby will not be put at risk; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(b) of the measures to regulate the disposal of wastes that may emit toxic gases, such as waste tyres, and the contingency measures in place to tackle the problem of toxic emission from such wastes, so as to ensure that residents nearby are not exposed to health hazards for inhaling such gases; and
(c) of the effectiveness of the publicly-funded scheme for the recovery industry and universities to recover waste tyres for producing construction materials, and whether the progress of the scheme has been reviewed regularly?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

*13. Hon LEE Cheuk-yan to ask:(Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council of:
(a) the reasons for the Fire Services Department not granting a lunch break of one hour to its ambulancemen; and
(b) the measures in place to ensure that ambulancemen and other disciplined services staff are given meal breaks of reasonable duration?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Constitutional Affairs
 (in the absence of Secretary for Security)

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

It has been reported that the Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works had said recently that the Government would improve the waste separation and recovery system before considering imposing fees on the public for the disposal of solid waste. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the latest progress of various waste separation and recovery measures (such as the product responsibility scheme as well as promotional and public education measures) currently implemented in the community;
(b) whether it will consider offering tax and land lease concessions etc. to environmental protection and waste recovery industries, or setting up a loan fund, so as to support the development of these industries in Hong Kong; and
(c) how it will determine the fees payable by the public for the disposal of waste (for instance, on the basis of equal apportionment among all households in the territory or according to the amount of waste produced by each household) and whether, in determining the fees, it will ensure that such fees will not impose a heavy financial burden on grass-roots people, that there will be a fee waiver mechanism, and that it will avoid making waste collection arrangements which cause a nuisance to the public?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

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

Will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the respective numbers of various promotional activities organized in the past three years to enhance motorists' awareness of safe driving, and the driving offences targeted by these promotional activities; and
(b) whether it will step up efforts to promote safe driving among professional drivers and other motorists respectively; if so, of the relevant details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

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

It has been reported that at a State Council press conference held recently, the Deputy Director of the Mainland's General Administration of Customs talked about cross-border smuggling activities involving the use of vehicles bearing both Mainland and Hong Kong licence plates, and pointed out that the customs authorities in the Mainland and Hong Kong should join hands to strengthen enforcement efforts in this respect. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the scale of smuggling activities involving the use of vehicles bearing both Mainland and Hong Kong licence plates and the major types of goods involved, and whether such activities are on an upward trend;
(b) of the actions taken by the Customs and Excise Department ("C&ED") to combat the above smuggling activities, and the effectiveness of these actions; and
(c) how C&ED will step up joint efforts with the Mainland's customs authorities to combat such smuggling activities, and of the specific measures in this regard?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Constitutional Affairs
(in the absence of Secretary for Security)

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

According to a survey conducted in the United Kingdom last year, Mr Jackie CHAN and Mr Bruce LEE, the two martial art superstars of Hong Kong, were elected the top 50 greatest movie stars in the world. Recently, the chairman of the Bruce Lee Club told me that the Bruce Lee Museum in Yau Ma Tei was closed after operating for only one year, whereas the Guangdong Provincial Government has invested in the establishment of a Bruce Lee museum to stimulate tourism there. Will the Government inform this Council whether, to attract long haul visitors and balance the customer base of inbound tourists:
(a) it will, in promoting the tourism development projects in Hong Kong, consider developing more tourist attractions with Chinese martial art as a theme to enhance the promotion of the unique local culture and arts, thereby maintaining the continuous development of the long haul visitor market; and
(b) it will consider erecting a sculpture of Bruce Lee or setting up a Bruce Lee museum at the Avenue of Stars along the Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade to display his film costumes, posters, nunchaku and other memorabilia, with a view to further commending his outstanding contributions in promoting Chinese martial art and Kung Fu films of Hong Kong?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

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

It has been reported that due to lax control by the Government, construction waste has been dumped on the Tung Wan Beach on Peng Chau. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the measures in place to prevent more beaches becoming dumping grounds for construction waste; and
(b) whether it has any measures to restore the beaches which have been used as dumping grounds for construction waste, such as the Tung Wan Beach on Peng Chau; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

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

The Chief Executive announced in his 1998 Policy Address that the then Chai Wan Community Centre would be re-developed into a centre for youth development ("CYD"). In May this year, the Administration submitted to this Council a progress report on the project, advising that while the piling and basement works for the CYD had been completed at the end of last year, the works on the superstructure had yet to commence. The report pointed out that if the "Limited Company model" was adopted for the operation of the CYD, a recurrent shortfall of more than $90 million could be incurred over the first 10 years. The report also revealed that the Administration had submitted to the Steering Committee on the Centre for Youth Development a proposal to contract out the management and operation of all the facilities of the CYD, but the proposal had not been accepted by the Steering Committee, and that given these problems, the Home Affairs Bureau had commissioned a consultancy study and it was expected to be completed in four months' time. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
(a) whether the above consultancy study has been completed; if so, of the recommendations made in the consultancy report on the construction, mode of management and operation as well as the source of funding of the CYD; if not, when the consultancy study is expected to be completed;
(b) of a breakdown on the expenditure of the project, including the costs of the demolition of the Chai Wan Community Centre and the foundation works for the CYD, as well as the consultancy fee; and
(c) of the expected commencement date of the works on the superstructure of the CYD?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

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

It has been reported that the Hospital Authority is planning to implement a monitoring system next year to review the appropriateness of medical practitioners' decisions to prescribe antibiotics, with a view to preventing the deterioration of bacterial drug resistance because of the abuse of antibiotics. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
(a) the quantities of various types of antibiotics prescribed by medical practitioners in public hospitals in the past 12 months;
(b) the details of the above monitoring system; and
(c) if the relevant authorities have put in place measures to monitor the prescription of antibiotics by private medical practitioners?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

*For written reply.

III. Motions

Proposed resolution under the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance
Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury to move the following motion:

RESOLVED that Schedule 1 to the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance be amended, in paragraph 1A of Part III -
(a) in subparagraph (a), by repealing "31 December 2004" and substituting "31 December 2005";
(b) in subparagraph (b), by repealing "1 January 2005" and substituting "1 January 2006".
IV. Members' Motions
  2. Proposed resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance

    Hon CHOY So-yuk to move the following motion:


  3. RESOLVED that in relation to the -

    (a) Waste Disposal (Designated Waste Disposal Facility) (Amendment) Regulation 2004, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 165 of 2004; and
    (b) Waste Disposal (Charges for Disposal of Construction Waste) Regulation, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 166 of 2004,
    and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 3 November 2004, 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 5 January 2005.

  4. That the Council do now adjourn

    Hon Albert Jinghan CHENG:
  5. (Translation)

    That this Council do now adjourn for the purpose of enabling Members, having regard to the Administration's and the Housing Authority's disregard for the motion passed by the Panel on Housing of this Council at its special meeting on 22 November this year that the Housing Authority should put the listing arrangements for The Real Estate Investment Trust ("The Link REIT") on hold until a consensus has been reached between The Link Management and the commercial tenants, to debate and express opinions on the listing and public offering arrangements, evaluation of assets and all matters relating to the divestment of retail and car-parking facilities in public rental housing estates in respect of The Link REIT.

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

  6. Implementing small class teaching

    Hon Audrey EU:
  7. (Translation)

    That this Council urges the Government to progressively implement small class teaching in primary schools, and then in secondary schools, to enable teachers to tailor their teaching to students' varied abilities, so as to realize and achieve the goal of quality education, promote education reform and fulfil the expectations of parents, teachers and students.

    Amendment to Hon Audrey EU's motion
    Hon Mrs Selina CHOW:     (Translation)

    To add "prudently assess the additional resources required for implementing small class teaching, weigh the commitments of both the Government and parents and, by ensuring that complementing training for teachers is available," after "urges the Government to"; and to delete ", and then in secondary schools," after "primary schools".

    Amendment to Hon Mrs Selina CHOW's amendment
    Hon CHEUNG Man-kwong:     (Translation)

    To delete "prudently assess" after "the Government to" and substitute with "make optimal use of"; to delete "additional" before "resources"; to delete "required for implementing" after "resources" and substitute with "saved due to the drop in the primary and secondary school student population to provide training for teachers on"; to delete ", weigh the commitments of both the Government and parents and, by ensuring that complementing training for teachers is available" before ", progressively implement small class teaching" and substitute with "and, through a 'by district and by grade' mode of transition"; to delete "in" after "progressively implement small class teaching" and substitute with ", starting with"; and to add "and junior secondary forms," after "primary schools".

    Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Education and Manpower

  8. Overall development of Chinese medicine practitioners

    Hon LI Kwok-ying:
  9. (Translation)

    That, whereas the professional status of Chinese medicine practitioners ("CMPs") has been established for quite a long time, the development of CMPs has been handicapped because the Government does not have a long-term development strategy for Chinese medicine, is not adequately involved in this regard, and fails to establish avenues for CMPs to receive professional training, this Council urges the Government to formulate a long-term policy on the development of CMPs, which should include:

    (a) expediting the expansion of the scope of services provided by CMPs in the public medical system, implementing the outstanding plan to set up 15 public Chinese medicine out-patient clinics, establishing a mechanism for public hospitals whereby their in-patients can seek joint consultation and treatment by CMPs, setting up a Chinese medicine in-patient department in public hospitals, and studying the establishment of a Chinese medicine hospital;
    (b) establishing a committee on the development of Chinese medicine, and formulating strategies and policies to facilitate the development of Chinese medicine, such as giving statutory status to the sick leave certificates issued by CMPs, and reviewing the medical equipment that CMPs are allowed to use; and
    (c) formulating a mechanism and avenues for CMPs to receive professional training.
    Amendments to Hon LI Kwok-ying's motion
    (i) Hon LEUNG Yiu-chung: (Translation)

    To add "or provide proper registration avenues that cater for the CMPs' tradition of acquiring practice skills through apprenticeship or family succession, resulting in some 3 000 listed CMPs still not being able to become registered CMPs" after "to establish avenues for CMPs to receive professional training"; to delete "and" after "CMPs are allowed to use;"; and to add "; (d) having regard to the unique circumstances of CMPs and bone-setters who acquire their practice skills through apprenticeship or family succession, devising a more suitable examination system and syllabus for them, and arranging for the listed CMPs concerned to receive training before taking the examination, in order to enable them to become registered CMPs smoothly; and (e) reforming the compositions of the Chinese Medicine Council of Hong Kong and its various boards and committees, and enhancing their transparency and the representativeness of their members, so as to enable them to reflect a wide spectrum of opinions in the sector" after "(c) formulating a mechanism and avenues for CMPs to receive professional training".
    (ii) Hon Andrew CHENG: (Translation)

    To add "(b) reviewing the levels of fees as well as the fee subsidy and waiver systems in respect of public Chinese medicine out-patient clinics, and considering subsidizing elderly recipients of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance payments who use the services of non-public Chinese medicine out-patient clinics;" after "Chinese medicine hospital;"; to delete the original "(b)" and substitute with "(c)"; to add ", insurance claim forms, receipts and other documents" after "the sick leave certificates"; to delete "and" after "issued by CMPs,"; to add ", and their rights and responsibilities in the referral of patients" after "are allowed to use"; and to delete the original "(c)" and substitute with "(d)".
    (iii) Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki: (Translation)

    To add "long-term" after "formulating strategies and"; to delete "and" after "issued by CMPs,"; to add ", promoting the delivery of quality services by CMPs and setting benchmarks for quality services, as well as providing continuing education in Chinese medicine for serving CMPs so as to upgrade their standards" after "CMPs are allowed to use"; and to add ", and providing appropriate on-the-job training for graduates from the Chinese medicine schools of local universities, with a view to nurturing a new generation of excellent CMPs" after "(c) formulating a mechanism and avenues for CMPs to receive professional training".
    Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

Clerk to the Legislative Council