A 05/06-9

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 30 November 2005 at 11:00 am

I. Tabling of Papers

Subsidiary Legislation / InstrumentsL.N. No.
1.Import and Export (General) (Amendment) Regulation 2005206/2005
2.Reserved Commodities (Control of Imports, Exports and Reserve Stocks) (Amendment) Regulation 2005207/2005
3.Prevention of the Spread of Infectious Diseases (Amendment) Regulation 2005208/2005
4.Air Pollution Control (Emission Reduction Devices for Vehicles) (Amendment) Regulation 2005209/2005
5.Substitution of References to Commencement Date of Revenue (Abolition of Estate Duty) Ordinance 2005 Notice210/2005

Other Papers

1. No.34-Audited Statement of Accounts of the Director of Social Welfare Incorporated together with the Director of Audit's Report for the year ended 31 March 2005
(to be presented by Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food)

2. No.35-Report of changes to the approved Estimates of Expenditure approved during the second quarter of 2005-06 (Public Finance Ordinance : Section 8)
(to be presented by Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury)

3. Report of the Subcommittee on Harmful Substances in Food (Amendment) Regulation 2005
(to be presented by Hon Fred LI, Chairman of the Subcommittee, who will address the Council)

4. Report of the Bills Committee on Merchant Shipping (Local Vessels and Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2005
(to be presented by Hon Miriam LAU, Chairman of the Bills Committee)

II. Addresses

Hon Tommy CHEUNG and Hon Vincent FANG Kang to address the Council respectively on Harmful Substances in Food (Amendment) Regulation 2005, which is subsidiary legislation laid on the Table of the Council on 12 October 2005.

III. Questions

1. Hon Fred LI to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that in the middle of last month, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department detected carcinogenic substances in three samples of canned mud carp, while in September this year, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department found the presence of unregistered pesticides in 11 samples of mosquito repellent coils. After learning of such test results, both departments only informed sellers to stop selling and to recall the foods and products, instead of making prompt announcements to the public. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of the following:
    (a)the respective numbers of cases in the past three years in which the two departments announced the relevant information immediately after learning that certain foods and products had failed the food safety tests, and those in which they did not;

    (b)the criteria the two departments adopted for determining whether prompt announcements should be made and the contents of such announcements, such as the information on brand names, countries of origin and batch numbers; and

    (c)the two departments' plans to improve the arrangements for announcing the results of food and product safety tests so that the public will be informed, at an early stage, about the details of the foods and products that have failed the tests?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

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

Early this month, the Government launched the Stage 2 Public Participation Programme for the Kai Tak Planning Review and prepared three draft Outline Concept Plans ("OCPs") to facilitate the public to put forth their views. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)given that the Government had conducted the Development Statement Study concerned in as early as 1993 and various opinions and suggestions had been collected since then, of the reasons for preparing only three OCPs for consideration by the public and allowing only two months for public consultation;

    (b)why the cultural and heritage features of the district have not been emphasized in the three OCPs; and

    (c)where the public object to the three OCPs or submit new planning proposals, whether it will launch a comprehensive planning exercise and public consultation afresh?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands

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

In his policy address delivered in October, the Chief Executive indicated that by the end of 2006, the Government would invest about $190 million to carry out over 120 Rural Public Works ("RPW") and Urban Minor Works projects, hence would create jobs. Regarding such projects and other RPW projects the commencement dates of which have yet to be fixed, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)among the 120-odd projects, of the respective numbers of projects to be carried out in the New Territories and the urban area, their categories, as well as the longest, average and shortest periods of time for which they have been included in the list of Home Affairs Department's projects;

    (b)apart from the 120-odd projects, of the number, titles and categories of RPW projects the commencement dates of which have yet to be fixed, as well as the periods of time for which they have been included in the above list; and

    (c)whether it plans to seek funding specially for expediting the implementation of the projects mentioned in (b); if so, of the details of the plan; if not, of the negative impact the delay in the implementation of such projects would have on the rural community, particularly on environmental hygiene?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

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

It has been reported that when attending a meeting of the Wan Chai District Council earlier, the Chief Secretary for Administration said that "universal suffrage is implemented in Hong Kong with no change to the existing councils, our middle class are bound to suffer miserably, and will all flee". Regarding the position and reaction of the middle class towards the implementation of universal suffrage, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the justifications for the above remark, and whether it represents the stance of the Government;

    (b)whether it has assessed if the above remark will cause more middle-class people to take part in the petition activities on 4 December this year to express their wish for the expeditious implementation of universal suffrage and the formulation of a timetable for universal suffrage; if it has, of the assessment results; and

    (c)whether it has conducted analysis of the two 1 July marches in the past, in which tens of thousands of people, including the middle class, took part in the petition activities to demand the expeditious implementation of universal suffrage; if it has, of the outcome of the analysis?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Constitutional Affairs

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

Regarding the 169 outstanding ex-Municipal Council projects, 23 of them had been shelved or deleted after consultation with the relevant District Councils. As for the remaining projects, the Government decided in January this year to bring forward 25 of them for priority implementation. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether these 25 projects have to compete with other public works projects for government funding, or will be funded under a special account so that they can be completed as early as possible;

    (b)of the updated implementation timetable and arrangements for the remaining hundred-odd projects, and the number of those which are scheduled to commence within the coming five years; and

    (c)whether it has considered setting up a special funding account to ensure that the projects mentioned in (b) will be implemented and completed as soon as possible; if not, the measures taken by the authorities to expedite the implementation of such projects?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

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

It has been reported that the construction costs of the facilities in Hong Kong Disneyland ("HKD") are excessively high, which casts doubt on whether the Government, being the major shareholder of the joint venture company of HKD, has closely monitored the relevant expenditure. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the details of the construction costs of various facilities in HKD, to enable the public to assess whether such facilities are good value for money;

    (b)of the criteria and procedure adopted for vetting and approving the estimated expenditure on the construction of the various facilities; and

    (c)whether it will strengthen its efforts on monitoring the expenditure on the future extension works in HKD; if it will, how they will be strengthened; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officers to reply :Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works
Secretary for Economic Development and Labour

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

On the 13th of last month, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department ("FEHD"), in the light of food safety test results, notified the two major chain supermarkets to recall the canned mud carp which might contain carcinogenic substances. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the respective numbers of cases in the past three years in which FEHD asked food wholesalers and retailers to stop selling and to recall the food products in the light of food safety test results;

    (b)how FEHD monitored to ensure their compliance with such demands; and

    (c)whether it will consider making it mandatory for them to stop selling and to recall the food products, and prosecuting those retailers who continue to sell such food products?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

*8. Hon Albert HO to ask: (Translation)

The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress ratified the United Nations Convention Against Corruption ("the Convention") last month and the Convention will come into force for all States Parties with effect from 14 December this year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether the Convention will be applicable to Hong Kong; if so,
    (a)what measures have been taken by the SAR Government to inform the public of the implementation of the Convention in Hong Kong and how the administration of the Government and civic rights will be affected;

    (b)whether provisions of the Convention will be incorporated into the Laws of Hong Kong; if not, whether it has assessed if local courts may invoke the provisions of the Convention in passing judgements; and

    (c)whether it has studied how the provisions of the Convention relating to the extradition of offenders and recovery of proceeds from crimes will affect the relevant legal provisions of Hong Kong, and whether the Mainland authorities may solicit help from local law enforcement authorities to extradite offenders in Hong Kong?
Public Officer to reply : Chief Secretary for Administration

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

In the Fifth Report of the Constitutional Development Task Force, the Government proposes that the number of members of the Election Committee for election of the Chief Executive in 2007 be doubled to 1 600, with all the elected and appointed District Council ("DC") members included. As it is stipulated in Annex I to the Basic Law that for the Election Committee, "the delimitation of the various sectors......shall be prescribed by an electoral law enacted by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in accordance with the principles of democracy and openness", will the Government inform this Council whether it has assessed if, in the course of enacting the electoral law, the inclusion of appointed DC members in the Election Committee will contravene the aforesaid principles; if it has made an assessment, of the conclusion and details of the legal basis for that conclusion?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Constitutional Affairs

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

Regarding the prevention and control of avian influenza, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the total amount of expenditures on preventing and controlling avian influenza this year and in the past three years, including recurrent, non-recurrent and one-off lump sum funds committed or estimated for this financial year; as well as the details concerning the relevant purposes and amounts of the allocations;

    (b)of the current disposable balance of the Research Fund for the Control of Infectious Diseases ("RFCID") which was established with Government funding of $500 million; institutions receiving allocations from RFCID for research studies on preventing and controlling avian influenza and the relevant amounts; as well as the number of research projects involved, their subject areas, details and findings;

    (c)whether action plans have been formulated for preventing and controlling avian influenza; whether the authorities will, in addition to proposing amendments to the Prevention of the Spread of Infectious Diseases Regulations, proceed with enacting emergency legislation and examine other relevant existing legislation to ascertain the necessary amendments and the timing for the commencement of the amendments, with a view to tackling the crisis and preventing the spread of the epidemic in the community; and

    (d)whether it will consider allocating additional funds and earmarking resources for setting up a contingency fund for stockpiling sufficient supplies for disease prevention, such as vaccines, medication, masks and face shields, conducting risk assessments and formulating guidelines and allocation principles; as well as the details of the specific fallback scheme for replenishment to cope with any possible shortage of medical supplies, thereby strengthening the capacity of the authorities for handling an avian influenza epidemic that may occur at any time?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

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

Regarding the plan to reprovision the Central Government Offices, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the current numbers of policy bureaux and departments whose offices are in the Main, East and West Wings of the Central Government Offices, and the difference between the space provision for the relevant civil servants and the space standards specified by the Government for the grades and ranks to which they belong;

    (b)of the respective numbers of civil servants that the proposed new Central Government Offices on the Tamar site can, and are planned to, accommodate as well as whether their space provision is calculated on the basis of the space standards specified by the Government; and

    (c)whether it has plans to relocate civil servants currently working at locations other than the Main, East and West Wings of the Central Government Offices to the new Central Government Offices on the Tamar site; if so, of the numbers of civil servants involved and the locations of their present offices?
Public Officer to reply : Chief Secretary for Administration

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

Some members of the public have complained to me that since the Social Welfare Department ("SWD") introduced competitive bidding for the delivery of welfare services, there have been cases of contracts being awarded to the lowest tender and pledges made by the bidding organizations far exceeding the specifications set out in the tender documents. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of contracts awarded by SWD through competitive bidding in the past five years broken down by types of services, together with the differences between the costs of services pledged by the successful bidders in their tenders and those set out in the relevant tender documents, as well as the number of contracts awarded to the lowest tenders;

    (b)whether SWD will change its existing practice of not making public the details of the successful bidders' tenders, the reasons for awarding the contracts to the organizations concerned and the vetting criteria involved; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c)whether SWD will review its existing competitive bidding scheme and seek the views of social welfare organizations, with a view to enhancing the transparency and fairness of the scheme?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

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

Will the Government inform this Council of the following in each of the past two years:
    (a)the number of crimes attributable to gambling debts and its percentage in the total number of crimes;

    (b)the details of the initiatives financed by the Ping Wo Fund, including researches and studies into the issues and problems relating to gambling, public education and other measures to prevent or alleviate problems relating to gambling, as well as the expenditure on the provision of counselling, treatment and other support services for problem and pathological gamblers and those affected by them;

    (c)the sources of income of the Fund (including the donations from the Hong Kong Jockey Club, the Government and the public, etc) and the respective amounts of funds contributed by these sources; and

    (d)the number of cases in which the authorities have utilized the resources from sources other than the Fund to provide social services (including family counselling, childminding and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance, etc) for problem and pathological gamblers and those affected by them, together with the expenditure involved in such cases?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

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

Regarding the industrial safety for prisoners, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the total number of prisoners who were injured while at work in the past three years and, among them, the number of those who have been compensated by the Administration for their injuries as well as the average amount of compensation;

    (b)how the Administration ensures that prisoners will be compensated for injuries sustained while at work; whether it has taken out employees' compensation insurance for them; if not, of the reasons for that;

    (c)whether it has provided training for prisoners to enhance their awareness of industrial safety; if so, of the contents of the training; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (d)whether it will review the industrial safety issues relating to prisoners; if not, of the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

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

It has been reported that an academy of agricultural sciences in the Mainland has used hypericin extracted from Chinese herbs to cure chickens which have been artificially infected with H5N1 avian influenza virus and is conducting researches on the possibility of using this medicine on human beings. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it has approached the relevant Mainland organizations for the details of the above researches, and whether it has collaborated with Mainland organizations in conducting researches on the use of Chinese medicines to treat human beings infected with avian influenza;

    (b)whether it has conducted researches on the concurrent use of Chinese and Western medicines to treat human beings infected with avian influenza; if so, of the progress of the researches; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c)given that avian influenza viruses can quickly develop resistance to Western medicines through gene mutations, whether it has studied if Chinese medicines have longer curative effect on this disease?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

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

Regarding promoting the prevention of AIDS and sex education, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)given that promoting the use of condoms has always been an integral part of the Department of Health's HIV prevention activities, but some overseas researches have nevertheless indicated that the use of condoms can only reduce the risk of AIDS infection by about 69%, whether the authorities have assessed if the Department of Health's promotional strategy is effective or has misled the public into believing that the use of condoms is 100% effective in preventing AIDS infection; if they have, of the assessment results; and whether the authorities will consider adopting other strategies in promoting AIDS prevention;

    (b)as it has been reported that the HIV infection rate in Uganda has dropped from 18% in the early 1990s to 6% at present, indicating that its AIDS prevention strategies have been more effective vis-a-vis those adopted by other countries, and the Government of Uganda has controlled the spread of HIV by emphasizing the importance of changing individual behaviour (especially among the young people), advocating a healthy life style and high moral integrity, encouraging young people to abstain from pre-marital sex and be faithful to one's spouse after marriage, promoting the proper use of condoms, etc, whether the authorities will consider following the practice of Uganda in the promotion of AIDS prevention and sex education, as well as promoting the relevant concepts and ideas, so as to tie in with the notion advocated by the Chief Executive in his policy address delivered in October that cherishing the family forms a core value of the community of Hong Kong; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c)whether the authorities have collected statistics on HIV infections through pre-marital sex, extra-marital affairs and having sex without the use of condoms; if not, whether they will collect the relevant information in order to know more about the living styles and patterns of HIV-infected people in the territory, for the purpose of formulating corresponding measures?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

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

Late last year, the Administration referred to the Labour Advisory Board ("LAB") for examination the subject on implementing the statutory minimum wage and standard working hours in Hong Kong, and indicated that, based on the outcome of the LAB's discussion, the subject would then be referred to the Economic and Employment Council ("EEC"), which is led by the Financial Secretary, for further deliberation. On the other hand, the Chief Executive stated in the middle of this month that consideration would be given to referring the subject to the Commission on Strategic Development ("the Commission") for discussion if the LAB could not reach any consensus on this subject by the middle of next year. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
    (a)as the Labour Department is inviting the public to express views on this subject through its web-site, of the channels provided for the public to understand the background to the above subject and the relevant arguments; and

    (b)whether the functions of the EEC has been taken over by the Commission; if so, of the reasons; if not, why the subject would be referred to the Commission?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Development and Labour

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

It is learnt that as a result of heavy rainfall in Summer this year, a number of reservoirs are overflowing, necessitating the discharge of water into the sea. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:
    (a)the monthly quantities of water discharged into the sea since May this year, the value of such water as calculated by the current unit price of water supplied to Hong Kong, and how these figures compare to those of the past two years; and

    (b)the progress of its negotiations with the Guangdong provincial authorities on the new water supply agreement, and whether the negotiations cover the issue of flexibility in the supply of water?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

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

Many residents in the New Territories have reflected to me that it is extremely difficult for them to get the Government to install street lamps, and they often fail to achieve any fruitful outcome after waiting for four to five years. The lack of street lamps has caused inconvenience to their daily life and aroused safety concerns. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of applications received for the installation of street lamps in areas in the New Territories other than new towns in each of the past three years, and the respective numbers of such applications accepted and rejected;

    (b)of the amount of expenditure spent on the installation of street lamps, as well as the respective numbers of installation works completed and expected to be completed this year and in each of the past three years, and the average cost of each item of works completed;

    (c)of the respective percentages of street lamp installation works completed after waiting for not more than one year, two years or three years in the total number of such works completed in each of the past three years; as well as the reasons for the difference in the waiting time;

    (d)of the percentage of approved applications in which the street lamp installation works is still outstanding after a lapse of over four years in the total number of applications received so far, and the reasons for not yet carrying out such installation works; and

    (e)whether it will consider implementing measures to shorten the waiting time of applications for the installation of street lamps?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

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

Regarding monitoring and combating gambling activities and assisting pathological gamblers, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)as it has been over two years since the regulation of soccer betting, whether there are data indicating the prevailing situation of gambling and illegal soccer betting in Hong Kong, including the participation of adolescents under the age of 18 in soccer betting activities; whether the situation is worse or better than that two years ago; if the situation is worse, of the measures to tackle it and the enforcement actions taken by the authorities;

    (b)of the total number of requests for assistance so far received by the counselling and treatment centres set up for assisting pathological gamblers and, among them, the number of cases which required face-to-face counselling and long-term follow-up; and whether such centres have analyzed the causes of pathological gambling and the behaviour of pathological gamblers;

    (c)of the modes of operation of local illegal soccer betting activities and how they attract gamblers; and

    (d)of the measures to be taken by the authorities to combat illegal soccer betting activities during the World Cup Soccer Championships next year?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

*For written reply.

IV. Bills

First Reading

St. Stephen's College Incorporation (Change of Name of the Council of St. Stephen's College and General Amendments) Bill 2005

Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)

St. Stephen's College Incorporation (Change of Name of the Council of St. Stephen's College and General Amendments) Bill 2005 :Secretary for Education and Manpower


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

Merchant Shipping (Local Vessels and Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2005 :Secretary for Economic Development and Labour

V. Members' Motions

  1. Conducting a referendum on the full implementation of elections by universal suffrage in 2007 and 2008

    Hon LEUNG Kwok-hung: (Translation)

    That this Council requests the Central Government to arrange for all Members of the Legislative Council to visit Beijing so that Members can truly reflect to it the public opinions in Hong Kong on the dual elections by universal suffrage, and urges the Hong Kong SAR Government to conduct a referendum on the selection of the Chief Executive and the election of the Legislative Council by universal suffrage in 2007 and 2008 respectively; furthermore, this Council appeals to all the people of Hong Kong to stand out against the Fifth Report of the Constitutional Development Task Force on 4 December this year, so as to demonstrate once again their determination to fight for elections by universal suffrage.

    Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Constitutional Affairs

  2. Preventing avian influenza

    Hon Fred LI: (Translation)

    That, as cases of avian influenza have successively occurred in many countries, in order to guard against the recurrence of an avian influenza outbreak in Hong Kong and prevent human infections of avian influenza, this Council urges the Government to consider establishing, as early as possible, a steering group led by the Chief Executive to combat the pandemic, to set up a fund to defray the expenditure in this regard, to enhance the preventive efforts by strengthening influenza vaccination and public education on influenza prevention, etc, to expeditiously introduce a trial scheme on regional slaughtering after putting in place proper arrangements for compensating the live poultry trade and assisting affected trade operators to switch their business or jobs, and to further improve the sanitary conditions in farms as well as live poultry and birds wholesale and retail outlets.

    Amendments to motion
    (i)Hon WONG Yung-kan: (Translation)

    To delete "consider establishing, as early as possible," after "this Council urges the Government to" and substitute with ": (a) closely monitor the avian influenza developments in and outside Hong Kong, including the routes of migratory birds and the means of virus transmission by such birds, and to assess the risks of a pandemic outbreak and conduct drills on contingency measures, so as to ensure that"; to delete ", to" after "combat the pandemic" and substitute with "can be set up immediately in the event of a drastic change in the pandemic situation; (b)"; to add "with a proper monitoring mechanism" after "set up a fund"; to delete ", to" after "in this regard" and substitute with "; (c)"; to delete ", to expeditiously introduce a trial scheme on regional slaughtering after putting in place proper arrangements for compensating the live poultry trade and assisting affected trade operators to switch their business or jobs, and to further improve" after "influenza prevention, etc" and substitute with "; (d) vigorously bring into play the strength of the whole medical and health care sector, including the Chinese medicine sector, to make cooperative efforts on all fronts from the prevention of a pandemic outbreak to clinical treatment, so as to achieve better preventive and curative effects; (e) further improve the environmental hygiene in Hong Kong and organize territory-wide cleansing days on a regular basis; (f) enhance the efforts in intercepting smuggled food products, so as to prevent the smuggling of poultry and bird products into Hong Kong from infected areas and the resultant risks of pandemic transmission; and (g) actively cooperate with the live poultry trade in further improving"; and to add ", and to strengthen quarantine and disease prevention of live poultry as well as the work of segregating humans from live poultry" after "retail outlets".

    (ii)Hon Vincent FANG Kang: (Translation)

    To delete "set up a fund" after "combat the pandemic, to" and substitute with "set aside sufficient funds"; to add "and procure health care equipment" after "in this regard"; to delete "and to further improve" after "their business or jobs," and substitute with "prohibit individuals from rearing poultry and strictly implement the policy of a fifty-fifty supply of imported and local live poultry, with a view to further improving"; and to add "; the Government should also step up efforts in monitoring the movements of migratory birds in the territory" after "retail outlets".

    Amendment to Hon Vincent FANG Kang's amendment
    Hon Andrew CHENG:     (Translation)

    To add ", on condition that a proper monitoring mechanism has been put in place," after "set aside sufficient funds"; to add ", ensure that the government officials responsible for coordinating the work of combating the pandemic can flexibly deploy the resources" after "in this regard"; and to add "according to the exigencies of the work" after "health care equipment".

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

Clerk to the Legislative Council