A 06/07-19
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 28 February 2007 at 11:00 am
I. Tabling of Papers
| Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments | L.N. No.
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| 1. | Air Pollution Control (Volatile Organic Compounds) Regulation | 20/2007
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| 2. | Companies (Revision of Accounts and Reports) Regulation | 24/2007
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| 3. | Import and Export (Fees)(Amendment) Regulation 2007 | 25/2007
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| 4. | Companies (Amendment) Ordinance 2004 (Commencement) Notice 2007 | 26/2007
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| 5. | Financial Reporting Council Ordinance (Commencement) Notice 2007 | 27/2007
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| 6. | Legal Practitioners (Risk Management Education) (Amendment) Rules 2006 (Commencement) Notice | 28/2007
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| 7. | Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters (Poland) Order (Commencement) Notice | 29/2007
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| 8. | Specification of Public Office Notice 2007 | 30/2007
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| 9. | Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel Ordinance (Commencement) Notice | 31/2007
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Other Papers| 1. | No.67 | - | Annual Report of The Standing Committee on Legal Education and Training for the period from 1 September 2005 to 31 August 2006
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(to be presented by Secretary for Justice)
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| 2. | No.68 | - | The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts
Annual Report 2005-2006
and the Financial Statements and Auditor's Report for the year ended 30 June 2006
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(to be presented by Secretary for Home Affairs)
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| 3. | No.69 | - | Li Po Chun Charitable Trust Fund
Annual Report for the period
from 1 September 2005 to 31 August 2006
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(to be presented by Secretary for Home Affairs)
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| 4. | No.70 | - | Audited Statement of Accounts together with the Director of Audit's Report and Trustee's Report on the Administration of the Education Scholarships Fund for the year ending 31 August 2006
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(to be presented by Secretary for Education and Manpower)
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| 5. | No.71 | - | Estimates
for the year ending 31 March 2008
Volume IA - General Revenue Account
Volume IB - General Revenue Account
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(to be presented by Financial Secretary)
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| 6. | No.72 | - | Estimates
for the year ending 31 March 2008
Volume II - Fund Accounts
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| (to be presented by Financial Secretary)
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II. Questions for Written Replies
1. Hon Alan LEONG Kah-kit to ask: (Translation)
A survey conducted by a green group at the end of last year found that among the 138 private residential developments completed in the recent decade, 104 were classified as screen-like buildings. Moreover, all the nine forthcoming projects above railway stations include high-density screen-like buildings of 50 storeys or more. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it has conducted studies over the past three years on the adverse impact caused by the layout of buildings on the air ventilation and environmental hygiene of the neighbouring areas; if it has, of the results and improvement proposals; if not, the reasons for that; and
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| (b) | whether it will adopt specific measures for districts with a high density of screen-like buildings to prevent the wall effect from worsening, such as revising the relevant Outline Zoning Plans or imposing appropriate lease conditions when granting land in those districts; if it will, of the details of such measures; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply
: Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands
2. Hon Miriam LAU to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the Driver Improvement Scheme ("DIS") implemented by the Transport Department, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the respective numbers of participants, in each of the past three years, who attended driving improvement courses voluntarily and those who were directed to attend such courses by the court, who had three driving-offence points deducted from their total driving-offence points already incurred upon completion of the courses, and who had incurred driving-offence points within six months, one year and two years after completing the courses (with a breakdown by whether or not they had been disqualified from driving after having incurred 15 or more driving-offence points for committing driving offences during those periods); and
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| (b) | whether it will consider including a road test in the above courses, so as to enhance the effectiveness of DIS; if it will, of the specific contents of the test; if not, how the authorities ensure that the objective of DIS can be achieved?
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Public Officer to reply
: Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works
3. Prof Hon Patrick LAU Sau-shing to ask: (Translation)
The recent earthquake in Taiwan had caused damages to buildings and underground pipelines there. Residents in Hong Kong also felt that earthquake and have expressed concern about the safety of local buildings and underground pipelines. It is learnt that the existing Buildings Ordinance (Cap. 123) does not require private buildings in Hong Kong to possess seismic resisting designs, but only requires them to withstand wind gusts of 250 kilometres per hour. It has been reported that old buildings constructed before the fifties in the last century do not even possess any wind resisting designs. It has also been reported that the new code of practice ("CoP") issued by the Buildings Department in December 2006 requires new buildings to be added with seismic resisting designs. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the respective numbers of buildings which do not have seismic resisting capability, or the wind resisting capability as prescribed by law, broken down by the 18 local administrative districts;
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| (b) | of the earthquake intensity that new buildings are able to withstand as required under the above CoP issued by the Buildings Department; and
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| (c) | whether it has assessed the seismic resisting capability of underground pipelines (in particular gas pipes), and drawn up contingency measures to deal with any major incidents arising from large-scale gas leakages caused by earthquakes; and whether the authorities have any plans to train qualified personnel capable of carrying out inspections on the gas leakage sites concerned?
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Public Officer to reply
: Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands
4. Hon Abraham SHEK to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that there were 1 297, 1 240 and 1 362 secondary school drop-outs in the past three school years respectively and, among such students, 10% were from secondary schools whose intakes comprise mainly band one students under the Secondary School Places Allocation System, and some were even elite schools students or gifted students. Despite having outstanding performance in primary schools, they could not adapt to secondary education for various reasons and eventually dropped out. It has also been reported that there is a higher risk for students to become hermit youths when they start secondary schooling, and the longer they discontinue schooling, the more likely they may become hermit youths. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it has assessed the effectiveness of the support provided for school drop-outs by the Education and Manpower Bureau and government-aided non-profit-making organizations and whether such support is adequate; if it has, of the assessment results; and
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| (b) | whether the authorities will consider allocating additional resources to assist secondary schools in Hong Kong in ascertaining at the earliest stage the reasons for students' absence from school, identifying students with learning difficulties, providing additional counselling services for such students, educating parents and teachers on the proper ways of handling the problems concerned, as well as encouraging parents to seek assistance, so as to avoid the problems faced by students from being aggravated due to delay in addressing them, and in the end resulting in the students discontinuing schooling and becoming hermit youths?
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Public Officer to reply
: Secretary for Education and Manpower
5. Hon WONG Kwok-hing to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the employment opportunities provided by large-scale facilities (such as Ngong Ping 360 ("NP360"), Hong Kong Disneyland ("HKD") and Hong Kong International Airport ("HKIA")), and the employment situation in the areas where these facilities are located and the remote areas in the vicinity (such as Tung Chung, Tsuen Wan and Kwai Tsing), will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
| (a) | the respective numbers of jobs created so far for Hong Kong by each of the above facilities since their construction;
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| (b) | the following employment data of residents in Tung Chung, Tsuen Wan and Kwai Tsing; and
| Residents in Tung Chung
| Residents in Tsuen Wan
| Residents in Kwai Tsing
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| 2005
| 2006
| 2005
| 2006
| 2005
| 2006
| 2005
| 2006
| | Number of employed persons
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| | Number of unemployed persons
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| | Unemployment rate
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| | Number of CSSA recipients who are unemployed and in the low income group
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| Number
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| | Number of persons employed to work in NP360
| Percentage in total number of employed persons in the three districts
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| Number
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| | Number of persons employed to work in HKD
| Percentage in total number of employed persons in the three districts
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| Number
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| | Number of persons employed to work in HKIA
| Percentage in total number of employed persons in the three districts
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| | Number of employed persons who were not employed to work in the above facilities
| Percentage in total number of employed persons in the three districts
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| (c) | apart from constructing large-scale facilities, whether the Government has other projects or measures to assist residents in remote areas in securing employment; if it has, of the details of the projects or measures; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply
: Secretary for Economic Development and Labour
6. Hon CHAN Kam-lam to ask: (Translation)
At present, inert construction and demolition ("C&D") materials produced in Hong Kong are delivered to the reception point at Guanghaiwan of Taishan, which is 160 kilometres from Hong Kong, for disposal and then for reclamation. Given that there will be many reclamation works along the coastal areas of the Pearl River Delta, will the Government inform this Council whether it will continue its negotiation with the mainland authorities to identify other feasible locations as reception points for C&D materials?
Public Officer to reply
: Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works
7. Hon Howard YOUNG to ask: (Translation)
In view of the continuous increase in the number of visitors to Hong Kong in recent years, will the Government inform this Council of:
| (a) | the respective average waiting time for visitors to Hong Kong to complete entry/exit formalities at each immigration control point; and
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| (b) | the measures to shorten the waiting time?
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Public Officer to reply
: Secretary for Security
8. Hon CHEUNG Man-kwong to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the tertiary institutions funded by the University Grants Committee, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the institutions whose relevant legislation or statutes expressly prohibit Council members who are teaching staff, administrative staff or students of the institution concerned from participating in the appointment and removal of the Vice-Chancellor/President or Pro-Vice-Chancellor/Vice President, and the reasons for making such provisions;
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| (b) | whether it has assessed if such provisions contravene the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance (Cap. 383) and if they constitute discrimination; and
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| (c) | whether it will amend such provisions; if it will, how and when amendments will be proposed; if not, of the reasons for that, and how it ensures equality before the law?
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Public Officer to reply
: Secretary for Education and Manpower
9. Hon CHAN Yuen-han to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the qualifying examinations and licensing of estate agents and salespersons, which fall within the purview of the Estate Agents Authority ("EAA"), will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
| (a) | the current numbers of licensed estate agents and salespersons who have not completed Form 5 of secondary education or its equivalent; and
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| (b) | since the introduction of the qualifying examinations for estate agents and salespersons, the respective numbers of persons who have passed the qualifying examinations but have so far not been granted the relevant licences because they fail to meet the academic requirements, and whether EAA will help them obtain the relevant licences?
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Public Officer to reply
: Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands
10. Hon LI Fung-ying to ask: (Translation)
In view of the successive incidents involving broken window glasses of franchised buses in recent months, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the number of incidents involving broken window glasses of franchised buses while in service and the resultant casualties in each of the past three years, with a detailed breakdown of the particulars of the bus involved in each of the incidents, including the bus company it belonged to, its model, age and the route(s) served as well as the position(s) of the broken window glass(es) and the cause(s) of the incident;
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| (b) | given that the franchised bus companies, after conducting tests on the upper deck toughened glass windscreens of franchised buses in conjunction with the authorities, have agreed to carry out modification works on such windscreens of all buses or replace them with laminated glass by mid-2008, whether the relevant franchised bus companies will carry out such works by phases; if they will, of the details, timetable and the costs of the works of various phases; and
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| (c) | whether the authorities and the franchised bus companies will, apart from carrying out the above tests and modification works, take any other follow-up actions and measures in response to the above incidents, in order to prevent recurrence of similar incidents; if they will, of the details of the measures and the implementation timetable?
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Public Officer to reply
: Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works
11. Hon LEUNG Kwok-hung to ask: (Translation)
Will the Government provide, in the form of the following table, details of each of the existing outsourced service contracts which were awarded by the Housing Authority, Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, Social Welfare Department, Leisure and Cultural Services Department or The Link Management Limited?
| Institution awarding the contract
| Location where the outsourced service is provided and name of contractor
| Estimated value of service as set out in the tender document (in million dollars)
| Approved value of contract
(please indicate whether this is the lowest bid price) (in million dollars)
| Number of staff required and terms of remuneration for cleaning workers and security staff as set out in the tender document
| Number of staff employed by contractor and their remuneration
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Public Officer to reply
: Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands
12. Hon LEE Wing-tat to ask: (Translation)
I have received complaints from many members of the public that tutorial services provided via the Internet or by phone are not subject to regulation by the Education Ordinance (Cap. 279), and hence there are tutorial centres providing poor tutorial services through such means. Moreover, it has been reported that some tutorial centres provide tutorial services to students in different rooms by the same teacher through the use of audio-visual equipment, in order to circumvent the restriction that not more than 45 pupils shall be taught at one time by one teacher. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether at present, it has plans to review and amend the Education Ordinance in the light of the social changes and advances in technologies in recent years, so as to regulate the quality of the services provided by tutorial centres (including those providing tutorial services via the Internet and by phone); if not, of the reasons for that; and
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| (b) | whether it is currently collaborating with conventional schools or non-government organizations in providing non-profit-making tutorial services to meet students' needs; if not, whether it will plan to provide such services?
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Public Officer to reply
: Secretary for Education and Manpower
13. Hon LEUNG Yiu-chung to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the provision of facilities, such as tactile guide paths, Braille signs, entrances/exits and accesses allowing the passage of wheelchairs, ramps, toilets for the disabled and lifts serving all floors ("facilities for the disabled"), at various government buildings and cultural and recreational facilities managed by the Government ("government venues") in order to facilitate the access to such venues and use of the services therein by the elderly with mobility problems and the disabled, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it has assessed if the design and facilities of various government venues are in compliance with the various design requirements set out in the Design Manual Barrier Free Access 1997; if it has, of the assessment results; if not, the reasons for that;
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| (b) | of the respective numbers of government venues in various districts in which certain facilities for the disabled are still lacking; and the name and address of each of these venues, as well as the facilities that are lacking;
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| (c) | whether it has plans to undertake works to retrofit facilities for the disabled at the government venues referred to in item (b) above; if it has, of the details of the plans; if not, the reasons for that; and
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| (d) | whether it has plans to conduct consultation forums in various districts throughout the territory in order to gauge the public's views on which government venues are in need of facilities for the disabled; if it has, of the details of the plan; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply
: Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
14. Hon Bernard CHAN to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that there are currently about 10 000 children suffering from autism in Hong Kong but the Government has not set up specialized schools for autistic children. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it has assessed how children with autism studying in normal or special schools are learning and adapting, and whether they have encountered any special difficulties;
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| (b) | of the reasons for the Government not setting up specialized schools for autistic children, and whether it has assessed the need in this regard;
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| (c) | whether it will consider setting up, or encouraging school sponsoring bodies to set up, specialized schools for autistic children, to cater for the special needs of such children; and
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| (d) | of the long-term measures to help autistic children as well as their parents and teachers, so that autistic children will be provided with suitable education?
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Public Officer to reply
: Secretary for Education and Manpower
15. Hon LI Kwok-ying to ask: (Translation)
At present, under the Rabies Ordinance (Cap. 421) and its subsidiary legislation, all dogs over the age of five months must be licensed, microchipped and vaccinated against rabies; and a person who contravenes any one of these requirements is liable to a fine of $10,000. Moreover, a person who imports animals into Hong Kong without a valid permit is liable to a fine of $50,000 and to imprisonment for one year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | in each of the past three years, of the respective numbers of cases in which fines were imposed by the Court on persons who contravened the above requirements on licensing, implantation of microchips and vaccination, as well as the number of convictions for importing dogs and cats into Hong Kong without permits, and the number of dogs and cats involved; and
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| (b) | how the law enforcement agencies such as the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, the Customs and Excise Department and the Hong Kong Police Force have cooperated to combat the smuggling of dogs and cats, and what actions have been taken in this regard; whether such actions include regular inspection of the pet shops in Hong Kong to ascertain if there were dogs and cats in those shops which had been illegally imported into Hong Kong; if regular inspections had been conducted, of the inspection results in the past three years; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply
: Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
16. Hon TSANG Yok-sing to ask: (Translation)
It is learnt that a scientific working group of the International Agency for Research on Cancer under the World Health Organization has classified extremely low frequency magnetic fields in environmental exposure as "possibly carcinogenic to humans". In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the existing legal provisions on various apparatus in respect of magnetic field formation, including the safety standards to be complied with, the safety inspections to be passed and the certificates on product safety to be obtained;
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| (b) | whether it will strengthen the aforesaid regulation to safeguard public health; and
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| (c) | whether it will follow the practices of some overseas countries by prescribing a safety level of magnetic fields applicable to indoor environment, and treat the level of electromagnetic radiation pollution as one of the factors for determining indoor environmental quality?
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Public Officer to reply
: Secretary for Economic Development and Labour
17. Hon Fred LI to ask: (Translation)
Officials of the Health, Welfare and Food Bureau visited Japan in November last year to study the introduction of corrugated cardboard coffins into Hong Kong, with a view to reducing the amount of emissions from cremation and shortening the cremation time. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | how the retail prices of paper coffins compare with those of the traditional wooden coffins;
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| (b) | of the effectiveness of promoting the use of paper coffins in Japan, including the current market share of paper coffins;
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| (c) | whether it has sought the views of members of the funeral trade as well as the public on the use of paper coffins; if so, of the details;
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| (d) | of the anticipated reduction in the waiting time for cremation following the introduction of paper coffins into Hong Kong; and
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| (e) | whether it has plans to promote the use of paper coffins; if so, of the details?
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Public Officer to reply
: Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
18. Dr Hon Joseph LEE Kok-long to ask: (Translation)
In connection with the plans of the Hospital Authority ("HA") to redevelop its hospitals, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
| (a) | the redevelopment plans for the hospitals in various hospital clusters over the past five years and in the next ten years, details of the plans and the estimated expenditures;
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| (b) | how the aforesaid redevelopment plans will tie in with the overall development of the hospital clusters, as well as the staffing and services arrangements; and
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| (c) | if HA will review its redevelopment plans to ensure that there will be no duplication of services or resources, or wastage of resources?
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Public Officer to reply
: Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
19. Hon CHOY So-yuk to ask: (Translation)
The Government has indicated that landscaping works will be carried out in conjunction with slope stabilization works. However, I am aware that when stabilization works were carried out for three slopes by the Government recently, no tree was replanted in-situ after the removal of the original ones, and only concrete spraying was employed as finish for one of the slopes. One of them is situated at Old Peak Road (of slope number: 11SW-A/C211), and the other two are at Magazine Gap Road (the slope number of one of them is 11SW-D/CR1180 while the other is adjacent to Grenville House). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the department responsible for the stabilization works for the aforesaid slopes;
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| (b) | whether tree-planting or other greening works will be carried out at such slopes; if such works will be carried out, of the details and timetable; if not, the reasons for that; and
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| (c) | of the number of slopes for which stabilization works were carried out by the Government last year and, among such slopes, the number of those at which greening works were not carried out and only concrete spraying was employed as finish, and the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply
: Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works
20. Hon Albert CHAN to ask: (Translation)
At present, government departments often use black plastic bags for collecting garbage, broken branches and fallen leaves, and for carrying recovered waste. Some members of the public have reflected to me that the use of large quantities of black plastic bags by the Government has not only produced adverse visual impact, but has also increased plastic waste. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the respective quantities of plastic bags used by various government departments in each of the past three years, and among such bags, the quantity of those which are non-biodegradable; and
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| (b) | whether there are measures to reduce the quantities of plastic bags used by government departments; if so, of the details of such measures; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply
: Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works
III. Bills
First Reading
Appropriation Bill 2007
Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)
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| Appropriation Bill 2007 | : | Financial Secretary
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Clerk to the Legislative Council
