A 05/06-30

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 7 June 2006 at 11:00 am

I. Tabling of Papers

Subsidiary Legislation / InstrumentsL.N. No.
1.Import and Export (Strategic Commodities) Regulations (Amendment of Schedule 1) Order 2006 (Amendment) Order 2006131/2006
2.Declaration of Increase in Pensions Notice 2006132/2006
3.Widows and Orphans Pension (Increase) Notice 2006133/2006


Other Paper

No.93-Report of changes to the approved Estimates of Expenditure approved during the fourth quarter of 2005-06 (Public Finance Ordinance : Section 8)
(to be presented by Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury)


II. Questions

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

I received complaints from some fish farmers about the sharp increase in the number of incidents in which fish and shell fish died collectively in the fish culture zones of Tolo Harbour, compared to the corresponding figures in the past years. As the laying of natural gas pipelines in Tolo Harbour last year might have stirred up the toxic heavy metals deposited in the seabed, and the test results of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department ("AFCD") last year indicated that the concentration of cadmium, a heavy metal, in shell fish samples collected from such area was more than twice the permitted concentration specified for food in the Food Adulteration (Metallic Contamination) Regulations (Cap 132 sub. leg. V), the fish farmers requested the Environmental Protection Department ("EPD") to take soil samples for testing from two to three metres beneath the seabed near the works site. EPD turned down the request on grounds of insufficient resources and the lack of drilling equipment and technical staff in this respect. On the other hand, the test results of AFCD showed that such fish and shell fish were mainly infected by bacteria, virus and parasites. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether EPD has considered adopting other methods such as using hammer grabs, deploying divers or other means for taking soil samples for testing from two to three metres beneath the seabed;

    (b)how it will solve the problem relating to the lack of resources for EPD to conduct such tests; and

    (c)how it will help the fish farmers solve the problem of the infection of a large amount of fish and shell fish with bacteria, virus and parasites?
Public Officer to reply: Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

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

Will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)apart from the planned tax on plastic bags and levy on tyres, whether the authorities plan to review the modes, percentages and scopes of the existing taxes and government fees and charges (such as first registration tax on motor vehicles and sewage charges, etc), and to consider other new "green" taxes, so as to change, by way of economic incentives, the public's habit of using environmentally unfriendly products, thereby improving the quality of Hong Kong's environment; and

    (b)whether it will consider setting up an independent agency to take the place of the Treasury in receiving "green" tax revenue and be responsible for examining the details of implementing the levying of "green" taxes, as well as utilizing such revenue on environmental protection, so as to ensure that the purpose of levying "green" taxes is not to increase Government revenue but to change the public's habits by way of economic incentives?
Public Officer to reply: Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

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

It has been reported that five teaching staff of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology have been diagnosed as suffering from brain tumour, which is suspected to have been caused by radiation from the mobile phone repeater located at the rooftop of their office building. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether the authorities have recently conducted any studies on how the radiation of mobile phone repeaters may affect human health; if they have, of the results;

    (b)whether similar clinical cases have been found in Hong Kong; if so, of the details; and

    (c)of the treatments adopted in Hong Kong for such clinical cases, and how such treatments compare with those adopted in overseas countries?
Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

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

Some parents of associate degree course graduates have told me that these graduates encounter difficulties in further studies and employment. I have learnt that some employers are unwilling to employ these graduates because they do not know much about their academic level. Besides, not all professional bodies accept such graduates for professional qualifications examinations. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it will consider upgrading the quality of associate degree courses by setting an enrolment limit; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (b)whether it will consider publicizing the academic level of associate degree course graduates by various means, such as explaining to employers who have registered job vacancies with the Labour Department, or carrying out large-scale publicity activities, etc; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c)whether the authorities will consider discussing with the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants the acceptance of graduates of accounting associate degree courses for accountant qualification examinations held by the Institute; if they will, of the time to commence the discussion; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Education and Manpower

5. Hon Jeffrey LAM Kin-fung to ask:(Translation)

The Eleventh Five-Year Plan, which our country implements this year, has made specific reference to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region's functions and its interaction with the Mainland. It has also stated that support would be given to Hong Kong's development on fronts such as financial services, shipping, tourism and information services. The Government will hold an economic summit before September to explore the subject. In addition, the Qualified Domestic Institutional Investors ("QDII") scheme has been introduced since April this year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:
    (a)the measures in place before the economic summit to assist the service industries of Hong Kong in accessing the Mainland market and to facilitate co-ordinated development of Hong Kong and Mainland provinces and cities; and

    (b)the initiatives to be implemented in line with introduction of the QDII scheme to facilitate inflow of Mainland capital into Hong Kong and to assist the financial institutions of Hong Kong in providing their services in the Mainland?
Public Officer to reply: Financial Secretary

6. Hon Andrew CHENG to ask:(Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it will extend the opening hours of all public libraries in Hong Kong on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays to facilitate the use of library services by the public in the evening during public holidays and weekends;

    (b)whether it will standardize the opening days of all public libraries in Hong Kong by requiring them to operate seven days a week, and extend their opening hours to 12 hours a day; if so, of the details of their opening hours; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c)of the expenditure and manpower involved in implementing the measures mentioned in (a) and (b)?
Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Home Affairs

*7. Hon Mrs Sophie LEUNG to ask:(Translation)

Regarding the promotion of and the public response to the consultation paper of "Building a Healthy Tomorrow", will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the details of the authorities' promotion plan for the consultation on the paper, and whether there are promotional programmes which were not implemented or completed as planned;

    (b)whether the authorities have, in addition to organizing briefings and consultation sessions, established any other channels through which the public can direct their enquiries on the contents of the paper to the authorities, so that the public can understand the paper from the authorities' replies and submit their views on it;

    (c)as the authorities have received a total of about 600 submissions during the period of consultation, whether they have assessed if the number of submissions received is in line with the principle of "extensive consultation"; if they have, of the assessment results, and whether they have estimated the number of submissions, if so, whether there is any discrepancy between the estimated number and the actual outcome; and

    (d)whether any special promotional efforts have been directed to health care groups or organizations during the period of consultation, to encourage more active participation of the health care sector in expressing their views on the contents of the paper?
Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

*8. Hon Daniel LAM Wai-keung to ask:(Translation)

In his policy address delivered in October last year, the Chief Executive announced that the authorities had decided to reduce the coverage of the Frontier Closed Area ("FCA"), redraw its limits and put the land thus released to proper use. The results of an opinion poll which I carried out last month indicate that the residents in FCA hold divergent views on the opening up of FCA and they are also not clear about the details of the Government's proposal. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the timing for announcing the concrete proposal and the implementation timetable;

    (b)how the Government will consult the residents in FCA on the proposal, and whether the Heung Yee Kuk, individual Rural Committees, District Councils and the representatives of residents will be consulted;

    (c)of the principles on which the Government will consider the development mode for the land released; and

    (d)whether the authorities plan to conduct, in collaboration with the Shenzhen Municipal Government, studies on how to avoid the situation in which the planned uses of the land on both sides of the boundary were incompatible with each other?
Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Security

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

It has been reported that when meeting the residents of Nga Tsin Wai Village ("NTW Village") in February this year, the Urban Renewal Authority ("URA") undertook to announce the commencement of the redevelopment project of the NTW Village within three months, but no announcement in respect of the project has been made so far. It has also been reported that as URA has to discuss with the developers the collaboration of the project, its commencement has to be delayed for a year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
    (a)when URA will announce the commencement of the redevelopment project of the NTW Village; and

    (b)whether URA will consult the villagers involved before deciding whether or not the project should be delayed, and provide them with rehousing and compensation first as originally planned?
Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands

*10. Hon Bernard CHAN to ask:(Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council of:
    (a)the current number of forensic pathologists in the Department of Health; and

    (b)the respective numbers of bodies handled by hospital mortuaries and public mortuaries in each of the past three years; among them, the number of those which required autopsy by forensic pathologists for investigating the cause of death, and the average time they had to be stored in mortuaries before forensic pathologists performed autopsy on them?
Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

*11. Hon MA Lik to ask:(Translation)

It has been reported that some trainees of the Youth Pre-employment Training Programme have complained that the staff of the relevant training providers had requested them to join the march held on 1 May this year. Regarding the non-government organizations which run public-funded training and re-training courses, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it has received any complaints of this kind lodged by the trainees over the past three years; if it has, of the details of the complaints; and

    (b)of the measures to ensure that training providers will not seize the opportunity to promote activities which are irrelevant to the training or re-training courses, and whether it will take into consideration the training providers' past performance in this respect when selecting training providers?
Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Education and Manpower

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

Will the Government inform this Council of the number of applications received by the Student Financial Assistance Agency in this academic year under the Kindergarten and Child Care Centre Fee Remission Scheme for full-day fee assistance; the number of applications approved, together with a breakdown by the level of assistance (100%, 75% and 50%) and the number of applications which were processed within two months? Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Education and Manpower

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

It was reported that during a police operation against illegal immigrants in Sai Kung on 12 May this year, five rounds of illuminating flares were fired from police launches to assist in detecting illegal immigrants, and one of them landed on the hillside of Sharp Peak nearby, causing a hill fire. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether the Police have issued any guidelines regarding the circumstances under which illuminating flares may be used; if they have, whether the firing of illuminating flares in the above operation complied with the guidelines; if they have not, of the reasons for that;

    (b)whether the authorities have reviewed the incident and examined ways to prevent similar occurrence in the future, and whether any police officers should be held responsible for the incident; and

    (c)of the number of trees damaged in the hill fire and the area of land involved; whether restoration measures will be taken for the trees damaged in the fire; if so, of the details of such measures, as well as the expenditure and manpower involved?
Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Security

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

In an information paper submitted to the Establishment Subcommittee ("ESC") of the Legislative Council in November last year, the Civil Service Bureau made a forecast of civil service directorate proposals for the 2005-06 Legislative Council session. At the same time, it emphasized that the number of posts involved was only an assessment made at that time. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)among the above estimated number of posts, of the respective numbers of posts already created, deleted, lapsed or extended, together with the titles of the posts concerned;

    (b)whether it has so far revised the forecast of directorate proposals set out in the above paper; if so, of the details and reasons for that; and

    (c)regarding the forecast of directorate proposals set out in the above paper, of the number of posts involved in the proposals which have not yet been submitted to ESC; and the estimated timeframe for submitting the proposals to ESC?
Public Officer to reply: Secretary for the Civil Service

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

Many members of the public have reflected to me that the Government's cessation of some counter services on Saturdays from next month onwards, for implementing the five-day work week, will cause them inconvenience. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:
    (a)it has considered adjusting the work hours of the civil servants concerned, so as to further extend the counter service hours on Mondays to Fridays, which have already been planned to be extended; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (b)it will maintain the provision of the services concerned on Saturdays in accordance with the wishes of the public?
Public Officer to reply: Secretary for the Civil Service

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

It has been reported that the Secretary for Constitutional Affairs ("SCA") released, immediately after a meeting with officials of the Central Authorities in Beijing last month, to the media a discussion paper for the Committee on Governance and Political Development under the Commission on Strategic Development. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
    (a)whether the SCA discussed the contents of the aforesaid paper with officials of the Central Authorities during his visit to Beijing; if so, of the reasons for that, and whether the authorities have assessed if such an action is detrimental to the implementation of "one country, two systems", "a high degree of autonomy" and "Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong" in the territory; and

    (b)of the policies which the authorities had discussed with officials of the Central Authorities before announcing them in the past; as well as the details of and the reasons for such discussions?
Public Officer to reply:Secretary for Security
(in the absence of Secretary for Constitutional Affairs)

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

It has been reported that the Chief Executive of the Hospital Authority ("HA") pointed out at the HA Convention held in early May this year that 23% of HA patients had medical insurance cover or certain subsidies, while persons having such insurance or subsidies constituted 37% of the total Hong Kong population; furthermore, 10% (200 000 persons) of HA patients had a monthly income of $35,000, which is twice the overall median income for Hong Kong. He said that these patients were willing or could afford paying higher medical fees and charges, and they could turn to the private sector or private services provided by HA, and HA was therefore considering the provision of wider service choices for them. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
    (a)the sources of the above data, the target group, number of subjects, statistical method and details of the results of the survey concerned;

    (b)the justifications for HA's claim that the above patients can afford paying higher medical fees and charges; and

    (c)HA's plan to provide wider service choices for such patients, and whether HA is considering a corresponding increase in the number of private beds in HA hospitals?
Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

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

It has been reported that the Government has compiled a list on which upgrading works for various slopes in the territory are prioritized according to their levels of risk. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of slopes where landslides occurred as a result of no upgrading works being carried out in the past three years, whether they have been upgraded and, among them, the number of slopes which had not been included in the above list before the landslides occurred;
    (b)whether the authorities have assessed if the occurrence of landslides on the slopes mentioned in (a) reflects inadequacies in the existing system of slope risk assessment; if they have, of the assessment results; whether it will review the system and the upgrading works priority list, and enhance investigations of slopes in the territory;

    (c)of the respective numbers of government-managed and privately owned slopes where landslides occurred in the past three years and, among them, the number of slopes which have been upgraded; whether the authorities have looked into why landslides still occurred on those upgraded slopes, and whether they will review the current design of the upgrading works, the existing slope safety factor and drainage requirements, etc, and make improvements accordingly; and

    (d)of the number of slopes which are on the above list and were upgraded in the past year; its percentage in the total number of slopes on the list, the number of slopes which are on the list and have not yet been upgraded, as well as the timetable for completing upgrading works for these slopes?
Public Officer to reply: Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

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

Recently, I have received complaints from many members of the public, alleging that they were not given immediately a copy of the statement they made at the police station. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of such complaints received by the authorities concerned in each of the past three years;

    (b)whether there are guidelines requiring police officers to give a copy of the statement to the person from whom the statement was taken immediately after completion of the statement-taking procedure;

    (i)if there are such guidelines, of the details, including whether there are penalties for non-compliance by police officers; if there are such penalties, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (ii)if there are no such guidelines, of the reasons for that; and

    (c)whether it will improve the measures for providing a copy of the statement to the person from whom the statement was taken; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Security

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

Under the Inland Revenue Ordinance (Cap. 112), a person chargeable to Salaries Tax may claim dependent parent/grandparent allowance in respect of his or her parent/grandparent, or his or her co-residing spouse's parent/grandparent, who is maintained by that person and is ordinarily resident in Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the definition of being "ordinarily resident in Hong Kong";

    (b)given that an increasing number of retired elderly dependants have moved to live in the Mainland, whether the authorities will consider relaxing the relevant residence requirement; if not, of the justifications for that;

    (c)whether the authorities will consider permitting such allowance in respect of the same dependant to be equally apportioned among two or more eligible claimants; if not, of the reasons for that; and

    (d)of the evidence that the authorities may, during their spot checks of claims for such allowance, require the claimants to show that the dependants concerned were maintained by them during the relevant year of assessment, and whether the authorities have reviewed if this requirement is reasonable?
Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

*For written reply.



III. Motions

Proposed resolution under the District Councils Ordinance

Secretary for Security to move the following motion:

Resolved that the District Councils Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule 3) Order 2006, made by the Chief Executive in Council on 9 May 2006, be approved.

    (The District Councils Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule 3) Order 2006 has been issued on 18 May 2006 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 567/05-06)
IV. Members' Motions
  1. Proposed resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance

    Hon SIN Chung-kai to move the following motion:

    RESOLVED that in relation to the Broadcasting (Revision of Licence Fees) Regulation 2006, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 98 of 2006 and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 17 May 2006, 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 July 2006.

  2. Maintaining Hong Kong's role as the leader of economic development in the region

    Ir Dr Hon HO Chung-tai: (Translation)

    That, in order to ensure that Hong Kong can maintain its role as the leader of economic development in the region, this Council urges the Government to expeditiously study the long-term direction and strategy for Hong Kong's future economic development, with a view to formulating the relevant policies; furthermore, this Council also urges the Government to increase its investment in the infrastructures in Hong Kong, particularly the cross-boundary transport networks.

    Amendments to motion
    (i)Hon Jeffrey LAM Kin-fung: (Translation)

    To add "with the rapid development of the Mainland's economy and" after "That,"; to delete "with a view to" after "Hong Kong's future economic development," and substitute with "grasp the opportunities and explore how Hong Kong can complement the country's implementation of the outline of the Eleventh Five-year Plan, which will commence this year, including"; to delete "; furthermore, this Council also urges the Government" after "formulating the relevant policies"; to delete "its" after "to increase" and substitute with "Hong Kong's"; to add "domestic and cross-boundary" after "investment in the"; and to delete "in Hong Kong, particularly the cross-boundary transport networks" after "infrastructures" and substitute with ", enhance the co-operation between the Mainland and Hong Kong in the areas of industry development, resource utilization and environmental protection, etc, and strive to maintain Hong Kong's position as an international centre for finance, trading, logistics, tourism and information".

    (ii)Hon Andrew CHENG: (Translation)

    To add "as Hong Kong's economy has fully recovered," after "That,"; to add "its competitiveness and consolidate" after "Hong Kong can maintain"; to delete "particularly" after "its investment in the infrastructures in Hong Kong," and substitute with "including the completion and commissioning of the South Hong Kong Island Line before 2012, and the expeditious construction of the northern section of Route 10 and the Shatin to Central Link, so as to strengthen Hong Kong's economic and infrastructural base, facilitate the development of tourism and improve the Hong Kong-Mainland transport networking, as well as to make comprehensive planning for"; and to add ", including the expeditious construction of the Regional Express Line, so as to facilitate integration with the Pearl River Delta region" after "the cross-boundary transport networks".

    (iii)Hon CHAN Kam-lam: (Translation)

    To add "complement the implementation of our country's Eleventh Five-year Plan for national development, and give play to Hong Kong's functions as an international financial, trading and shipping centre so as to" after "That, in order to"; to delete "can maintain" after "ensure that Hong Kong" and substitute with "maintains"; to delete "with a view to formulating the relevant policies; furthermore, this Council also urges the Government to increase" after "Hong Kong's future economic development," and substitute with "including: (a) increasing"; and to add "; (b) expeditiously considering the development of commodity futures and bond markets in Hong Kong; (c) further promoting the participation of Hong Kong's banks in a wider scope of Renminbi business; (d) strengthening coordination among government departments to cut red tape affecting the business sector and improve the business environment; (e) developing innovative and high value-added new industries so as to create new growth areas for Hong Kong's economy; and (f) reviewing the current policy on supporting small and medium enterprises, and encouraging Hong Kong people to start up their business" after "cross-boundary transport networks".

    (iv)Hon Ronny TONG Ka-wah: (Translation)

    To delete "study" after "this Council urges the Government to expeditiously" and substitute with "draw up"; to delete ", with a view to formulating" after "Hong Kong's future economic development" and substitute with "with the objective of developing the territory into an international centre for finance, service, tourism and logistics, and to formulate"; and to delete "; furthermore, this Council also urges the Government to increase" after "the relevant policies" and substitute with ", including: (a) enhancing the independence and transparency of the regulatory regime of the financial market to bring it into convergence with the international standards; (b) preventing the loss of talent, nurturing professionals, and raising the language proficiency of Hong Kong people; (c) expeditiously implementing the various initiatives that are conducive to attracting tourists, including ameliorating the air pollution problem and building a new cruise terminal; and (d) creating a fair business environment, reducing the operating costs of the logistics industry, and increasing".

    Public Officer to attend : Financial Secretary

  3. Regulating the transactions of new private residential properties

    Hon Martin LEE: (Translation)

    That, although currently the Government has strict legislation to regulate the securities and futures market for the protection of investors' interests, there is no regulatory legislation targeted at the transactions in the property market, this Council urges the Government to:

    (a)introduce the Sales Descriptions of Uncompleted Residential Properties Bill into the Legislative Council, requiring developers to provide sales brochures regarding any public sale of uncompleted residential properties and include in the brochures such information as the location plan, floor plan, floor area, fittings and finishes, car parking spaces, salient conditions of the Government lease, salient provisions in the Deed of Mutual Covenant, defect liability period, completion date, slope maintenance, price list, number of units put up for sale, mortgage loans and payment scheme, and other fees and charges payable, so as to safeguard the rights and interests of consumers;

    (b)formulate legislation for regulating the sale of new residential properties and to prohibit market misconduct including insider dealing, false trading, price rigging and disclosing false or misleading information, so as to enhance the transparency of the property market and ensure its healthy development; and

    (c)in view of the increasingly hectic scenes at property sales and promotion activities, which can easily create an atmosphere that renders prospective buyers vulnerable to being misled and deceived, draw up guidelines on property sales and promotion activities in conjunction with the real estate sector, and study the provision of a cooling-off period in the contracts of new private residential properties, in order to allow time for buyers to decide whether or not ultimately to buy the residential properties concerned.

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

Clerk to the Legislative Council