A 05/06-21

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 22 March 2006 at 11:00 am and Thursday 23 March 2006 at 2:30 pm

I. Tabling of Papers

Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments L.N. No.
1.Import and Export (General) (Amendment) Regulation 200649/2006
2.Import and Export (Fees) (Amendment) Regulation 200650/2006
3.Professional Accountants (Amendment) Bylaw 200651/2006
4.Road Traffic (Registration and Licensing of Vehicles) (Amendment) Regulation 200652/2006
5.Public Health and Municipal Services (Setting Aside Places for Use as Public Pleasure Grounds) Order 200656/2006
6.Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Amendment of Fourth Schedule) Order 200657/2006

Other Papers

1. No.75-Report of changes to the approved Estimates of Expenditure approved during the third quarter of 2005-06 (Public Finance Ordinance : Section 8)
(to be presented by Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury)

2. No.76-Hong Kong Council for Academic Accreditation Annual Report 2004-2005
(to be presented by Secretary for Education and Manpower)

II. Questions for Written Replies

1. Hon Martin LEE to ask: (Translation)

According to Government stipulations, a non-official member of an advisory or statutory body should neither, in general, serve more than six years in any one capacity, nor as a member on more than six boards or committees at the same time. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the respective numbers of years that the incumbent appointed members of various District Councils ("DCs") and Area Committees ("ACs") have served in their present office and, among them, the names of those who have been appointed for more than six years or who are serving on more than six boards or committees, the reasons leading to such situation; and

    (b)whether the authorities have set a timetable for improving the situation, in order that the appointments of the relevant DC and AC members comply with the "six-year" and "six-board" rules?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

2. Hon WONG Yung-kan to ask: (Translation)

The Government has granted a number of lands in the New Territories as the sites for fishermen to build houses and live as a community ("fishermen villages"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the existing number of fishermen villages and the location of each village, the reasons for building the village, the year of its completion and its present population;

    (b)of the number of buildings in each of the fishermen villages, the average size of such buildings, and the ownership of the lands on which such villages are located;

    (c)of the maintenance projects undertaken by the Government in various fishermen villages in the past five years, and the total expenditure incurred in this regard; and

    (d)whether rehousing assistance will be offered to villagers in fishermen villages whose houses are in a dilapidated state or have collapsed?
Public Officer to reply :Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works
(in the absence of Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food)

3. Hon James TIEN to ask: (Translation)

People in the aviation industry have pointed out that civil flight paths and airspace are insufficient in the Pearl River Delta Region. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it has conducted any studies on this problem; if so, of the results;

    (b)of the implications of this problem on Hong Kong's position as an aviation hub in the Asia Pacific Region, the aviation industry and travellers, etc; and

    (c)of the measures that have been taken and the plans to be undertaken to address this problem since its emergence?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Development and Labour

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

Will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the current number of vacant school premises in each administrative district, their addresses, the names of the schools last occupying such premises, the intended future use of such premises as well as the implementation timetable in this regard; and

    (b)whether it plans to convert some of the vacant school premises for use as community centres; if so, of the details of such plans; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

5. Hon Miriam LAU to ask: (Translation)

Regarding traffic signs, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of complaints received by the authorities in the past three years about unclear or improperly positioned traffic signs, together with a breakdown of such complaints by subject matter;

    (b)of the measures to ensure that traffic signs are clear and properly positioned; and

    (c)whether there is an established mechanism for reviewing the design and positioning of traffic signs; if so, of the details of the mechanism; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

6. Hon WONG Ting-kwong to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that in order to encourage Hong Kong businessmen to invest in Guangzhou, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Guangzhou Municipal Government and the trade associations concerned reached a co-operation agreement and formed the Guangzhou-Hong Kong CEPA Market Entry Facilitation Group ("Facilitation Group") in late November last year, with a view to assisting Hong Kong businessmen in resolving the difficulties they encounter in obtaining approval for starting businesses or in applying for setting up individually owned stores. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number and nature of complaint and distress cases received by the Facilitation Group since the commencement of its operation and, among such cases, the number of those already resolved and their nature;

    (b)whether the authorities will study these complaint and distress cases, so as to explore ways to perfect the zero tariff preferential arrangement under CEPA; and

    (c)of the main role of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Guangdong in the Facilitation Group, and the time for the Administration to examine jointly with the Mainland authorities the establishment of similar facilitation groups in other provinces and municipalities?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology

7. Dr Hon YEUNG Sum to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the support provided to teachers or principals for coping with work-related pressure, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of calls for help received since the official launch of the Teachers' Helpline established for the above purpose, and the nature of help sought and, among them, the number of cases requiring follow-up action by the authorities, as well as the details of such cases;

    (b)whether it will publish on a regular basis the number of cases in which help was sought through the Helpline; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (c)of the way forward for the Helpline; and

    (d)whether it will consider setting up a teacher health centre to enhance the pre-service and in-service psychological health training for teachers?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

8. Hon Ronny TONG Ka-wah to ask: (Translation)

According to the findings of a research, people vacationing on mega cruise ships are on a rise and cruise travelling has become a world trend. It is expected that the number of cruise travellers will increase up to 100% in the next 15 years. Also, cities may lose over half of their market share in cruise industry in the next ten years if their ports and terminals cannot accommodate mega cruise ships. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number and trend of visitors visiting Hong Kong by cruise ships over the past three years, and the authorities' measures to increase the number of such visitors;

    (b)of the current utilization rate of the cruise terminal in Hong Kong, when the terminal is expected to reach its maximum uptake, and whether there are any corresponding measures to cope with such situation; and

    (c)whether it has conducted an overall and comprehensive assessment on the supporting hardware in Hong Kong for developing cruise industry, in order to maintain or even raise Hong Kong's competitiveness in this regard?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Development and Labour

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

It has been reported that during mid-night, the Family Crisis Support Centre ("FCSC") Hotline, which is fully funded by the Social Welfare Department, is so busy that as high as 76% of the incoming calls have to be transferred to the voice mailbox. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the respective numbers of voice mail received, calls answered immediately and calls transferred to voice mail but no messages were left at the FCSC Hotline in each of the last three years;

    (b)whether it has immediately improved the situation in which calls to the above Hotline were unanswered; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c)how it can ensure that callers to the Hotline who face the problems of family violence or child abuse will receive immediate response and support?
Public Officer to reply :Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works
(in the absence of Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food)

10. Hon Audrey EU to ask: (Translation)

Regarding incidents of passengers falling onto the railway track, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of such incidents each year since 1997, with a breakdown by the following details:

    (i)whether the incident happened during peak hours;

    (ii)the name of the station and the platform number involved;

    (iii)the number of cars of the train involved;

    (iv)duration of interruption of train service;

    (v)the age group (in bands of five years) and gender of the passenger concerned;

    (vi)cause of the incident (trespassing onto the track, accident, attempted suicide or suicide); and

    (vii)casualties of the passengers concerned (unhurt, injured or killed);

    (b)with regard to stations along the MTR lines, East Rail and West Rail where platform screen doors/gates have been retrofitted, of the respective completion dates of such works;

    (c)whether it knows if the two railway corporations have

    (i)put in place plans to prevent passengers from falling onto the railway track; if they have, of the specific details of the plans; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (ii)provided psychological counselling to staff who witnessed such incidents; if they have; of the details; and

    (d)whether it has assessed if the two railway corporations have provided adequate training to their staff on preventing passengers from falling onto the railway track, for example, whether such training include identifying passengers who intend to commit suicide by jumping onto the railway track?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

11. Hon TAM Heung-man to ask: (Translation)

I have recently received complaints about the venues in the community halls under the Home Affairs Department being used by certain local organizations for a prolonged period or for profit-making purpose, and some community halls have even been put under the management of a single local organization. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the numbers of community centres/community halls currently managed by local organizations;

    (b)whether the authorities have reviewed the existing procedure and rules for the hiring/borrowing of the venues in community centres/community halls with a view to preventing abuse of public resources; if they have, of the outcome of the review; if not, whether and when they will conduct such reviews; and

    (c)whether the authorities will require organizations hiring these venues for profit-making activities to pay higher charges; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

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

Some members of the public have complained to me that, on the day the marathon race was held on 12 February this year, the Government implemented traffic diversions in areas along the race route on that day, causing heavy traffic congestion from morning till noon in such areas. Furthermore, traffic congestion was particularly serious on the roads close to Harcourt Road flyover (near The Hong Kong Arts Centre), which formed part of the race route, as road maintenance works were carried out on that flyover during the race. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:
    (a)public announcements were broadcast, from time to time on that day, about the traffic diversions and congestions in the areas along the race route, so as to update the public on the traffic conditions;

    (b)various government departments coordinated among themselves the traffic arrangements made in the areas near the above flyover during the marathon race, and whether it has assessed the traffic impact of the road maintenance works carried out on the flyover during the race; if it has, of the assessment results; and

    (c)arrangements will be made in the future to better coordinate the schedules of road maintenance works, so as to ensure that such works will not be carried out during a marathon race on the road sections that form part of the race route, thereby avoiding further traffic congestion caused by such works?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

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

In view of the serious slippage in the contractor's works, the Housing Authority ("HA") took re-entry action in the middle of last month regarding the construction sites of three public rental housing ("PRH") projects, including Fanling Area 36 Phase 1 and Phase 2. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
    (a)given that the re-entry of the construction sites in Fanling will delay the anticipated completion dates of the relevant construction projects by 11 to 18 months, the arrangements to be made by HA for the households affected by redevelopment programmes and waiting to be rehoused in the relevant PRH flats; and

    (b)whether HA will, in the light of the above delay, formulate any measures to strengthen the monitoring of its contractors' progress of work?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands

14. Hon CHEUNG Hok-ming to ask: (Translation)

I have received complaints from members of the public that while the same day return fare discounts offered under the bus fare adjustment mechanism, which allows fares to go upward and downward, have been formally implemented since 19 February this year, the bus companies concerned need a longer lead time to modify the software of their Octopus systems, so as to ensure that the same system applies consistently across different bus companies, and hence will not implement the fare discounts on jointly operated cross-harbour routes until July this year. They consider that this arrangement is unfair to the bus passengers concerned. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of jointly operated cross-harbour routes involved and the number of passengers affected;

    (b)of the reasons for the bus companies concerned taking about five months to complete the above software modification work;

    (c)whether it has assessed if it is technically feasible to advance the implementation of the fare discounts on jointly operated cross-harbour routes; if so, of the assessment results; if the results indicate that it is not feasible, the reasons for that; and

    (d)whether the bus companies have considered providing the same amounts of discounts through other fare reduction initiatives to the passengers of jointly operated cross-harbour routes when the modification work is under way, so as to uphold the principle of fairness?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

15. Hon SIN Chung-kai to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the searches of web-hosting companies for the private information of their clients by law enforcement agencies, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of searches conducted, the number of companies searched and the number of criminal prosecution cases in which information obtained from such searches was used, in each quarter of the past three years;

    (b)of the types of information which are the subject of the searches;

    (c)whether the law enforcement agencies provided on each occasion a copy of the search warrant to the company concerned for record;

    (d)whether the law enforcement agencies will request the companies being searched not to inform the clients concerned that their private information has been searched; if they will, of the reasons for that; and

    (e)whether it has put in place measures to reduce the impact of such searches on the daily operation of web-hosting companies; if it has, of the details of the measures?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

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

Will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it knows the respective monthly capacities of various allied health services in the existing hospital clusters, the number of persons awaiting such services and the average waiting time;

    (b)of the number of allied health personnel estimated to be required by the Hospital Authority, the Department of Health and the private sector in the coming three years; and

    (c)of the respective numbers of graduates from courses on physiotherapy, occupational therapy, radiography and biomedical engineering in the past three years, and the expected numbers of such graduates in the coming three years; the employment situation of such graduates in the past three years, and whether there were any of them who were unable to engage in related work due to the lack of vacancies for allied health personnel in the job market?
Public Officer to reply :Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works
(in the absence of Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food)

17. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)

The 18 Elderly Health Centres ("EHCs") under the Department of Health currently provide services of health assessment, physical check-up, counselling and curative treatment for about 40 000 elderly members. As at December 2004, about 25 000 elderly people were waiting for enrolment as EHC members and the median waiting time was 26 months. Recently, I have received complaints from many elderly people about the excessively long waiting time. In the paper on "Building a Healthy Tomorrow", the authorities estimate that, with an aging population, one in five people will be over the age of 65 by 2023. Besides, a social service organization has conducted a survey and found that 40% of the elderly are unaware of the services provided by the EHCs. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
    (a)whether they will open additional EHCs and increase the membership size of the existing ones; if not, of the reasons for that;

    (b)of the measures taken to shorten the waiting time;

    (c)whether they have set targets for shortening the waiting time; if so, of the targets; if not, the reasons for that;

    (d)given that the services provided by the EHCs are insufficient to meet the demand, whether the authorities plan to subsidize the elderly to undergo physical check-ups at private medical institutions; and

    (e)how they will ensure that the elderly are generally aware of the services provided by the EHCs?
Public Officer to reply :Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works
(in the absence of Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food)

18. Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that last September, an 82-year-old woman of Singapore nationality who felt discomfort in Hong Kong Disneyland ("HKD") was sent to Princess Margaret Hospital and subsequently certified dead. Her daughter complained that, in the course of the incident, she had sought help from the staff of HKD, but failed to obtain prompt assistance. She also said that the rescue was delayed because the ambulance could not have access to HKD from its main entrance. Regarding the handling of emergencies and rescue work by HKD, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the details of the above incident, and whether the Coroner's Court will conduct a death inquiry into the incident; if it will, when the inquiry will be conducted; if not, the reasons for that;

    (b)whether it has assessed the adequacy of the current medical and health facilities and emergency measures of HKD; if it has, of the assessment results, and whether it will discuss with the management of HKD the ways to perfect the relevant facilities and conduct staff training, in order to enhance the staff's ability to respond to emergency situations; and

    (c)how it will monitor the operation and enhance the entrepreneurial responsibility of HKD in order that it will face up to the importance of rescue work, so as to ensure that the tourists and members of the public are offered rescue expeditiously in case they have accidents or feel discomfort in HKD?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Development and Labour

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

The Court of Final Appeal ruled on the 28th of last month that contractual commission calculated on a monthly basis should not be included in the calculation of an employee's holiday pay and annual leave pay. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of claims in which the Labour Tribunal has ruled, since the delivery of the above judgment, that commission of the above nature should not be included in the calculation of holiday pay or annual leave pay; and

    (b)whether it plans to amend the Employment Ordinance (Cap. 57) to specifically provide for the inclusion of commission of the above nature in the calculation of holiday pay and annual leave pay; if so, of the legislative timetable and contents; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Development and Labour

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

With regard to promoting the use of electric vehicles, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of electric vehicles first registered in each of the past three years, and the total number of registered electric vehicles at present;

    (b)whether the percentage of electric vehicles among all vehicles in Hong Kong is lower than those in major cities of Europe and America; if so, of the reasons for that; and

    (c)apart from exempting the payment of first registration tax, of the measures to encourage the public to switch to electric vehicles, and whether there is any publicity in this respect?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

III. Bills

Second Reading (Debate to resume)

Appropriation Bill 2006 : Financial Secretary

Clerk to the Legislative Council