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A 06/07-15
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 17 January 2007 at 11:00 am
I. Tabling of Papers| Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments | L.N. No.
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| 1. | Designation of Museums (Amendment) Order 2007 | 5/2007
| | 2. | Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Civic Centres) (Amendment of Thirteenth Schedule) Order 2007 | 6/2007 |
Other Papers| 1. No.57 | - | Equal Opportunities Commission
Annual Report 2005-2006
| (to be presented by Secretary for Home Affairs)
| | 2. No.58 | - | Hong Kong Arts Development Council
Annual Report 2005-2006
| (to be presented by Secretary for Home Affairs)
| | 3. No.59 | - | Legal Aid Services Council
Annual Report 2005-2006
| | (to be presented by Chief Secretary for Administration)
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II. Questions
1. Hon Howard YOUNG to ask: (Translation)
The Government consulted the public in March last year on the proposal to establish a unified regulator, i.e. the Communications Authority ("CA"), to replace the Telecommunications Authority and the Broadcasting Authority. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:
| (a) | the results of the analysis on the views collected in the public consultation exercise;
| | (b) | the anticipated impact of the establishment of the new regulator on the industries and the public; and
| | (c) | the latest details of the plan and the legislative timetable for establishing CA?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology
2. Hon Alan LEONG Kah-kit to ask: (Translation)
In reply to my question at the Council meeting on 11 January 2006, the Government advised that the Buildings Department ("BD") would carry out extensive consultation in 2006 on the proposed amendments arising from the review of the Building (Standards of Sanitary Fitments, Plumbing, Drainage Works and Latrines) Regulations ("the Regulations"). Prior to this, BD had issued a new Practice Note in May 2005 to revise the ratio for assessing the number of male to female in shopping arcades, cinemas and places of public entertainment from 1:1 to 1:1.25, in order to alleviate the inadequacy of sanitary fitments in female lavatories in the premises concerned. The authorities indicated that it hoped to see the consultation results in 2006 or early 2007 and then present the relevant proposed amendments to the Legislative Council ("LegCo"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it has assessed if the improvement guidelines stipulated in the above Practice Note can effectively alleviate the inadequacy of sanitary fitments in female lavatories in the premises concerned; if it has, of the method and outcome of such assessment;
| | (b) | of the total number of organizations consulted by the authorities on the proposed amendments to the Regulations so far, the number of women's groups among them, the progress of consultation, and when the authorities plan to present the proposed amendments to LegCo; and
| | (c) | whether the authorities will, after completing the consultation exercise, revise the improvement guidelines in the Practice Note, such as raising the male to female ratio of 1:1.25, and implement other measures to alleviate the inadequacy of sanitary fitments in female lavatories in the premises concerned?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands
3. Hon CHAN Yuen-han to ask: (Translation)
During cold spells, people in need, especially the elderly, may call the 24-hour hotline of the Social Welfare Department ("SWD") for assistance. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the number of such calls received in the past five years by the SWD hotline and the assistance offered to the callers by SWD;
| | (b) | whether the Integrated Family Service Centres in various districts keep stocks of blankets and warm clothing so that they can be readily distributed to the people in need; and
| | (c) | given that during cold spells there are always cases in which people are hospitalized because of illnesses triggered by low temperature and some may even die consequently, whether SWD will draw up improvement measures to reduce the number of such cases; if it will, whether such measures include distributing warmer quilts in place of blankets, or allowing the people in need to take more than one blanket; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
4. Hon Martin LEE to ask: (Translation)
The Financial Times of the United Kingdom published a report on 29 November 2006 alleging that the Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council intervened in PCCW Limited's sale of its assets to two foreign companies, and that the Director had made it clear that he did not want Hong Kong's largest fixed-line and broadband telecommunications networks to fall into foreign hands. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | as it is provided in Article 22 of the Basic Law that "no department of the Central People's Government...... may interfere in the affairs which the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region administers on its own in accordance with this Law", and in Article 105 that "the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall, in accordance with law, protect the right of individuals and legal persons to the......disposal......of property" and "the ownership of enterprises and the investments from outside the Region shall be protected by law", whether the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has, in order to discharge the above duties provided in the Basic Law, looked into and followed up the above incident, including approaching the Mainland government departments and officials; if it has, of the details, and in what capacity did the Director and other officials of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office intervene in the above commercial transaction, which is protected by the Basic Law; and
| | (b) | whether it has assessed if the above intervention has breached the provisions of Articles 6, 22, 105, 109 and 115 of the Basic Law; if it has, of the assessment results?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology
5. Hon Albert HO to ask: (Translation)
Concerning avoidance of conflict of interests by principal officials, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | as it is stipulated in paragraph 5.4 of the Code for Principal Officials under the Accountability System ("the Code") that "Principal officials shall report to the Chief Executive any private interests that might influence, or appear to influence, their judgement in the performance of their duties", of the cumulative number of such reports made by various principal officials to the Chief Executive since the implementation of the Code, as well as the details of such reports;
| | (b) | taking a principal official jointly buying a race horse with someone from the business sector as an example, whether the Government has assessed if such an act may give rise to potential conflict of interests despite that it falls outside the realm of public affairs, and thus should be declared or prohibited; if an assessment has been made, of the results of the assessment; and
| | (c) | whether it will consider amending the Code to stipulate more clearly that principal officials should keep, in their private association, suitable distance from stakeholders in the relevant sectors under their respective portfolios, for instance, to provide that principal officials should avoid undertaking any joint dealings with such persons, such as buying horses, or participating in any socializing activities which may help promote personal friendship, so as to avoid the public forming an impression of possible transfer of interests; if it will, of the details; if it will not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Constitutional Affairs
6. Hon Andrew LEUNG Kwan-yuen to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that although the atmosphere of the labour market keeps improving, the unemployment rate of young people aged 15 to 24 remains as high as 10.7%. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the total number of participants of the Youth Work Experience and Training Scheme offered by the Labour Department since its launch in 2002 until the end of 2006; the percentage of trainees who have succeeded in securing employment upon completion of the training programmes of the Scheme, and whether it knows the way out for those who cannot secure employment; and
| | (b) | whether it has considered introducing new measures or schemes to further assist young people in finding suitable jobs, so as to boost the employment rate of young people?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Development and Labour
*7. Hon LAU Wong-fat to ask: (Translation)
As agriculture in the New Territories falls into decline, abandoned agricultural land has been converted to other uses without planning or co-ordination. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the respective total areas of lands in each of the District Council districts in the New Territories which are currently zoned for "agricultural use" in the relevant Outline Zoning Plans, and their percentage in the total areas of the districts concerned;
| | (b) | whether it has any plans to rezone such agricultural land and enhance its usability for the purpose of regulating land uses; if so, of the specific details of the plan; if not, the reasons for that; and
| | (c) | whether it has considered rezoning such agricultural land as recreation area or rural development area, and the specific considerations involved?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands
*8. Hon MA Lik to ask: (Translation)
The Hong Kong Housing Authority ("HA") is putting up surplus Home Ownership Scheme ("HOS") flats for sale in phases, and the 2007 Phase 1 flats are available for application by public rental housing tenants and other eligible persons between 2 and 15 January this year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
| (a) | the details of various expenses incurred by HA in marketing the HOS flats under the said phase, including the costs of advertising and refurbishing the show flats;
| | (b) | how the expenses in item (a) compare to the corresponding expenses incurred in the previous sales of HOS flats; and
| | (c) | the principles and objectives on the basis of which HA determined the above marketing expenses?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands
*9. Hon WONG Ting-kwong to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the inflow of counterfeit Renminbi ("RMB") banknotes into Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the total number of counterfeit RMB banknotes seized by the Police last year, the major denominations of such notes, and how such data compare to the relevant data of the year before;
| | (b) | of the measures taken by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority to eradicate the inflow of counterfeit RMB banknotes into Hong Kong, in addition to helping practitioners in the relevant industries to learn how to differentiate between genuine and counterfeit RMB banknotes through its web site, training programmes and seminars;
| | (c) | of the measures taken by the Police to combat activities of counterfeiting RMB banknotes; and whether it has assessed the effectiveness of its joint efforts with the Guangdong Public Security Bureau to combat such activities; if it has, of the assessment results; and
| | (d) | whether the authorities have compared the present situation with the past in terms of the techniques employed by criminal syndicates to print counterfeit RMB banknotes and the degree of resemblance of such notes to genuine ones; if they have, of the comparison results?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security
*10. Hon LEUNG Yiu-chung to ask: (Translation)
At present, most public swimming pools are temporarily closed during the winter months from November to March of the following year. For the rest of the pools, only the main pools with warm water, which are deeper than the secondary and training pools, will remain open. Some members of the public complained that such an arrangement causes inconvenience to people who are not good at swimming and those who are learning swimming in the secondary or training pools. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it will consider improving the facilities at public swimming pools, such as providing warm water in secondary and training pools and installing temporary floor slabs in the main pools during the winter months to reduce the water depth in them, thereby allowing more non-proficient swimmers, especially the elderly, to go swimming in winter; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs
*11. Hon TSANG Yok-sing to ask: (Translation)
In order to reduce the harmful effect on young people caused by obscene and indecent information on the Internet, the Government provided funding of 1.2 million dollars in May 2003 to commission the Hong Kong Internet Service Providers Association to implement the Internet Content Rating System ("ICRS") for 12 months. The content providers which voluntarily joined ICRS could conduct self-assessment on the contents at their web sites, and attach content labels to the web pages of their web sites. Internet surfers could then use free filter software to select web sites accessible by their computers according to their preferences and the criteria set in the labels. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the effectiveness of ICRS and whether its objectives had been achieved;
| | (b) | why it did not continue to provide funding for ICRS, and whether it has considered or implemented the observations and recommendations on ICRS made by the Director of Audit in his Report No. 42 published in March 2004;
| | (c) | whether it will follow up the situation that content labels are still being displayed on the web pages of some local web sites; and
| | (d) | of the alternative plans being implemented, and how the new plans compare to ICRS in terms of resource requirement and effectiveness?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology
*12. Hon Fred LI to ask: (Translation)
According to the latest information provided by the Government to this Council, the import unit values of motor spirit and ultra low sulphur diesel in November last year dropped by 23% and 18.9% respectively compared to those in June last year, while the relevant retail prices in the same period fell only slightly by 5.9% and 3.3% respectively. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it has assessed if local oil companies should reduce the retail prices of motor fuels; if so, of the criteria adopted for the assessment; if the assessment result is in the affirmative, of any alternative ways to urge local oil companies to reduce the prices immediately, apart from making verbal appeals; and
| | (b) | given that the papers provided by the Government periodically to this Council have set out the average retail prices of unleaded petrol in which "certain price concessions were incorporated", and it has been reported that ExxonMobil, the largest motor spirit retailer in Hong Kong, has indicated that its concessions currently offered to customers have not been reflected in the Government's figures, whether it has assessed if the company's claim contradicts the papers provided by the Government, and if it is appropriate to use the Government's figures provided to this Council as the basis for monitoring oil prices, and whether the Government will revise the relevant figures?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Development and Labour
*13. Hon LI Kwok-ying to ask: (Translation)
The Housing Authority ("HA") endorsed in 2005 the implementation of a number of measures to reduce the rent arrears rate among public rental housing ("PRH") tenants. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the average rent arrears rate among PRH tenants, the number of PRH tenants with rent arrears, the number of notices-to-quit issued to tenants on grounds of rent arrears and the number of PRH units recovered since the implementation of the above measures, together with a breakdown of such figures by tenants on Comprehensive Social Security Assistance ("CSSA tenants") and non-CSSA tenants;
| | (b) | given that the authorities have introduced, since the end of last year, a revised arrangement for CSSA tenants to pay their rents whereby the rents of those CSSA tenants receiving full rent allowance are paid directly to the Housing Department through the Social Welfare Department, and HA has set the target of reducing rent arrears from 4% to below 3.5% for the year 2007-2008, whether the authorities have assessed how such an arrangement and target will improve the situation of rent arrears among PRH tenants, and whether it will make further efforts to reduce the rent arrears rate; and
| | (c) | whether it will consider enhancing the existing measures to reduce rent arrears among PRH tenants; if it will, of the details?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands
*14. Hon CHOY So-yuk to ask: (Translation)
Will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it has formulated any guidelines requiring government departments to stop sending paper Christmas cards and send electronic ones instead; if so, why the Chief Executive still sent paper Christmas cards to Members of this Council recently; if not, the reasons for that; and
| | (b) | of the number of government departments which sent out paper greeting cards in each of the past two years and the number of greeting cards involved?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works
*15. Hon CHEUNG Hok-ming to ask: (Translation)
It was reported that the land managers of Wu Kwai Sha Youth Village and Leung King Estate in Tuen Mun were suspected of having breached the tree preservation clauses in the relevant land leases by pruning trees extensively on the land concerned without the consent of the Lands Department. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:
| (a) | the circumstances under which tree preservation clauses are stipulated in the leases of private lands when they are granted, and the liabilities and penalties for breaching these clauses;
| | (b) | the circumstances, as are generally provided for in such clauses, under which the grantees of private lands are required to obtain prior consent from the Lands Department before pruning trees on the lands concerned, the relevant application procedures and the conditions that the Lands Department will impose when giving consent; and
| | (c) | the mechanism put in place by the Lands Department (such as whether staff members are deployed to conduct regular inspections) to ensure compliance with such clauses by the grantees of private lands and the actions which will be taken in the event of non-compliance?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands
*16. Dr Hon Joseph LEE Kok-long to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the manpower of nursing staff in public hospitals, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
| (a) | the number of nursing staff at all ranks in various hospital clusters of the Hospital Authority ("HA") who departed in the past six months and their respective percentages in the total numbers of nursing staff concerned, with a breakdown by hospital departments;
| | (b) | the number of nursing staff employed by the above hospital clusters in the past six months to fill the relevant vacancies; and
| | (c) | the total outstanding time-off hours so far accumulated by the nursing staff in each hospital cluster and HA's solution to the problem of accumulation of outstanding time-off hours resulting from the shortage of nursing staff?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
*17. Hon Albert CHAN to ask: (Translation)
Recently, I received complaints that the Chemical Waste Treatment Centre ("CWTC") in Tsing Yi emits large quantities of toxic chemicals, which not only cause serious air pollution, but also pose a serious health hazard to residents nearby. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the number of relevant complaints received by the Government in each of the past five years;
| | (b) | of the quantities of various gases emitted by CWTC each month in the past five years; and
| | (c) | whether it will adopt measures to ensure that the emissions from CWTC will not harm the health of residents in Tsing Yi; if it will, of the details; if it will not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works
*18. Hon Frederick FUNG to ask: (Translation)
In its Report on Working Poverty published in February last year, the Subcommittee to Study the Subject of Combating Poverty of the Legislative Council recommended the provision of financial assistance to the working-poor households, such as tax credits or rental and travelling subsidies. In response to these recommendations, the Commission on Poverty discussed at its meeting in March last year the provision of long-term travel support to the low-income earners who live in remote areas and need to commute to work across districts. Before the Appropriation Bill 2006 was put to vote in March last year, the Financial Secretary had promised a number of Members of this Council that a trial scheme would be launched in 2006-2007 for the implementation of this idea. Nevertheless, as indicated in a discussion paper provided to the Commission on Poverty by the Administration in this month, the target of the trial scheme has become unemployed persons, rather than low-income persons as originally proposed. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the current statistics of unemployed and low-income persons in Hong Kong, including their numbers, and a breakdown of them by age group, sex, household size, family income group, for how long they have been unemployed or have become low-income earners, and the districts in which they live, the percentage of those receiving the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance ("CSSA") payments in the total number of these persons, as well as a breakdown of low-income persons by occupation and income level;
| | (b) | of the reasons for changing the target of the trial scheme from low-income persons to unemployed persons, and whether it has assessed how the failure to provide travel support to low-income persons may affect the effectiveness of the efforts in alleviating poverty;
| | (c) | whether it will launch a separate long-term transport support scheme for low-income persons; if so, of the implementation date, the latest progress of work in this regard, the relevant work plan and timetable; and
| | (d) | of the new measures in place to provide financial assistance to low-income households which are not receiving CSSA payments, so as to give them more incentives to work and encourage them to stay in work?
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Public Officer to reply : Financial Secretary
*19. Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki to ask: (Translation)
I have received complaints that the Hospital Authority ("HA"), without thoroughly consulting the staff who will be affected or increasing resources and manpower, plans to extend the service hours of its general outpatient clinics to Saturdays and Sundays. The complainants have pointed out that in addition to making the staff feel that they are not respected, such an arrangement will also deprive them of the opportunity to stay with their families on Saturdays and Sundays. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it knows how HA, in drawing up the above plan, consulted the staff who will be affected, including the number of staff consulted and percentage of such staff members in all the affected staff;
| | (b) | as the Government's objectives of implementing a five-day work week are to increase the time for its employees to stay with their families and to relieve their work pressure, whether the Government has studied if the HA's plan to extend the service hours runs counter to such objectives; and
| | (c) | whether it has planned to allocate more resources to HA in the 2007-2008 financial year so as to increase HA's manpower in order to extend the service hours of its general outpatient clinics?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
*20. Hon LAU Kong-wah to ask: (Translation)
Will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the number of complaints about village vehicles received by the relevant authorities over the past two years, the contents of such complaints, and how they were handled;
| | (b) | of the number of traffic accidents involving village vehicles in the past two years;
| | (c) | whether it will consider stepping up regulation on the driving of village vehicles, and drawing up specific measures to improve the driving attitudes and behaviour of the drivers; and
| | (d) | whether it has reviewed the environmental pollution problem caused by village vehicles?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works
*For written reply.
III. Bills
Second Reading (Debate to resume), Committee Stage and Third Reading
| District Councils (Amendment) Bill 2006 | : | Secretary for Constitutional Affairs
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IV. Motions
Proposed resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance
Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works to move the following motion:
Resolved that the Air Pollution Control (Volatile Organic Compounds) Regulation, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 258 of 2006 and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 29 November 2006, be repealed.
V. Members' Motions
- Policy on conservation of monuments
Hon Audrey EU: (Translation)
That, as the demolition of the Central Star Ferry Pier by the Government has aroused wide concern in the community, which reflects an increasing public awareness of and participation in the conservation of monuments, preservation of cultural environment and good town planning, this Council urges the Government to:
| (a) | establish a monuments conservation fund to enhance the conservation of monuments;
| | (b) | formulate codes for the evaluation of social benefits and proper consultation procedures setting out in detail the cost-effectiveness of various options and their impact on monuments, having regard to the preservation of collective memories; and
| | (c) | enhance the participation of such concern groups as District Councils, professional bodies and resident groups in the decision-making process of town planning.
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Amendments to motion
| (i) | Hon WONG Kwok-hing: (Translation)
To add "policies and laws on the protection and conservation of antiquities and monuments in Hong Kong are imperfect, and the" after "That, as the"; to add "antiquities and" after "public awareness of and participation in the conservation of"; to add "(a) reform the policies and laws on the protection and conservation of antiquities and monuments on the basis of comprehensive consultation, and formulate a timetable for legislative amendments;" after "this Council urges the Government to:"; to delete the original "(a)" and substitute with "(b)"; to delete "monuments conservation" after "establish a"; to add "on protection and conservation of antiquities and monuments" after "fund"; to add "protection and" after "to enhance the"; to add "antiquities and" after "conservation of"; to add ", as well as for repair, education and promotion work" after "monuments"; to delete the original "(b)" and substitute with "(c)"; to add "antiquities and" after "various options and their impact on"; to delete ", having regard to the preservation of collective memories; and" after "monuments" and substitute with "(d) formulate criteria for the preservation of collective memories, community sights and regional cultural characteristics;"; to delete the original "(c) enhance" and substitute with "(e) establish a mechanism for"; to add "as well as the public" after "professional bodies and resident groups"; and to add "and community redevelopment; (f) consider adopting such means as land exchange and transfer of plot ratios to preserve more privately-owned monuments and prevent them from being demolished; (g) make reference to the sponsorship policies on antiquities and monuments, including sponsorship by individuals, enterprises and communities, etc, which have been implemented for many years in such countries as the UK, the USA and France, so as to pave a new way for the protection and conservation of antiquities and monuments in Hong Kong; and (h) draw from the successful experience in revitalizing antique buildings, such as the derelict industrial park on Vancouver's Granville Island, Japan's Otaru warehouses and the Taipei Story House, to promote multi-faceted development in humanities, history education, art, creative industries, tourism and community involvement, etc, thereby creating more employment opportunities" immediately before the full stop.
Amendment to Hon WONG Kwok-hing's amendment
Hon Howard YOUNG: (Translation)
To add "providing economic incentives to private property owners, including" after "(f) consider"; to add "acquisition," after "adopting such means as"; and to add "," after "land exchange and transfer of plot ratios".
| | (ii) | Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki: (Translation)
To add "upcoming demolition of the Queen's Pier by the Government is controversial and the" after "That, as the"; to delete "by the Government" after "demolition of the Central Star Ferry Pier"; to delete "and" after "preservation of collective memories;"; and to add "; and (d) through reforming the Town Planning Board and relevant legislation, make the protection of monuments and preservation of cultural environment, etc the overriding principle in town planning in Hong Kong" immediately before the full stop.
Amendment to Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki's amendment
Hon Albert HO: (Translation)
To add "one of" after "protection of monuments and preservation of cultural environment, etc"; and to delete "principle" after "the overriding" and substitute with "principles".
| | (iii) | Hon CHOY So-yuk: (Translation)
To add "and the current policy on built heritage conservation is too passive and rigid, lacking a direction for long term development," after "preservation of cultural environment and good town planning,"; to add "(a) conduct a comprehensive and extensive consultation on the built heritage conservation policy and expeditiously formulate a proper built heritage conservation policy, with the aim of striking a balance between heritage conservation and urban development, so as to facilitate a sustainable and balanced development of the community;" after "this Council urges the Government to:"; to delete the original "(a)" and substitute with "(b)"; to add "and built heritage" after "establish a monuments"; to add "and built heritage" after "enhance the conservation of monuments"; to delete the original "(b)" and substitute with "(c)"; to add "defining and" after "having regard to"; and to delete the original "(c)" and substitute with "(d)".
| | (iv) | Dr Hon YEUNG Sum: (Translation)
To delete "and" after "preservation of collective memories;"; and to add "; and (d) apart from the existing Antiquities Advisory Board, set up a statutory body on antiquities protection to take charge of related consultation and protection work (including compensation, land acquisition and conservation, etc), and allow the statutory body to directly acquire and operate any public or private monument items" immediately before the full stop.
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Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Home Affairs
- Retaining and supporting the development of commercial districts and bazaars with local characteristics
Hon Vincent FANG Kang: (Translation)
That, as a number of Hong Kong's commercial districts and bazaars with local characteristics have been relocated due to the redevelopment of old areas and hence have fallen into decline, and the existence and development of many other similar commercial districts and bazaars are also facing the same threats, this Council urges the Government to:
| (a) | retain the existing commercial districts and bazaars with local characteristics at the town planning stage;
| | (b) | formulate special management rules and regulations to balance the need to retain such commercial districts and bazaars and that for urban development and environmental hygiene; and
| | (c) | make reference to the practices of major cities in the Mainland and overseas, such as Singapore's Chinatown, London's Covent Garden and Shunde's Old Town district, and provide support and assistance through various policy bureaux for the development of such distinctive commercial districts and bazaars, so as to enhance their vitality, promote the local business economy and ensure that local characteristics are passed on.
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Amendments to motion
| (i) | Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki: (Translation)
To add "or cleared in recent years" after "have been relocated"; and to add ", with their integrity and in situ development as principles, and involve the participation of local residents and small traders in deciding the development or renewal plans, so as to facilitate sustainable development of the economy of the community" after "town planning stage".
Amendment to Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki's amendment
Hon Albert HO: (Translation)
To delete ", and involve the participation of" after "principles" and substitute with "as far as possible, and allow"; to delete "small" after "local residents and" and substitute with "affected"; and to delete "in deciding" after "traders" and substitute with "to participate in".
| | (ii) | Dr Hon YEUNG Sum: (Translation)
To add "enhance public consultation to allow greater public participation at the town planning stage, so as to" after "(a)"; and to delete "at the town planning stage" after "existing commercial districts and bazaars with local characteristics".
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Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands
Clerk to the Legislative Council
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