A 06/07-20

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 7 March 2007 at 11:00 am

I. Tabling of Papers

Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments L.N. No.
1.Public Revenue Protection (Revenue) Order 200732/2007
2.Rating (Exemption) Order 200733/2007
3.Dutiable Commodities (Exempted Quantities) (Amendment) Notice 200734/2007
4.Tax Reserve Certificates (Rate of Interest) (No. 2) Notice 200735/2007

Other Papers

1.No.73-Report by the Commissioner of Correctional Services of Hong Kong Incorporated on the Administration of the Correctional Services Department Welfare Fund for the year ended 31 March 2006
(to be presented by Secretary for Security)

2.No.74-Audited Financial Statements and Report on Activities of the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority for the year ending 31 August 2006
(to be presented by Secretary for Education and Manpower)

3.No.75-Consolidated Summary of Estimates and Revenue Analysis by Head,
General Revenue Account,
Estimates for the year ending 31 March 2008
(to be presented by Financial Secretary)

II. Questions

1. Hon Abraham SHEK to ask:

It is learnt that in its report submitted to the Chief Executive in January this year, the Focus Group on Trade and Business of the Economic Summit on "China's 11th Five-Year Plan and the Development of Hong Kong" proposed that in order to attract more non-local students to study in the universities in Hong Kong, more hostel facilities should be constructed. Regarding the supply and demand of student hostel places at various universities, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it has assessed the feasibility of the aforesaid proposal put forward by the Focus Group;

    (b)given that funding has already been earmarked for the hostel construction projects of the University of Hong Kong, the City University of Hong Kong and the Chinese University of Hong Kong, of the timetable for the implementation of such projects; and

    (c)of the specific plan to meet the additional demand for hostel places arising from the increase in the number of university students after the implementation of the four-year undergraduate curriculum from the 2012-2013 academic year onwards?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

2. Hon James TIEN to ask: (Translation)

In May 2002, the Government raised the Business Registration Certificate ("BRC") levy rate from $250 per annum to $600 per annum, in order to address the financial difficulties of the Protection of Wages on Insolvency Fund ("the Fund"). The then Commissioner for Labour ("C for L") advised at that time that the Labour Advisory Board ("LAB") would review in one year's time whether the financial position of the Fund permitted the lowering of the BRC levy rate. C for L further advised that the financial position of the Fund would be considered healthy if its reserves reached a level of $200 million, less all expenses to be paid. It is learnt that the accumulated surplus and reserves of the Fund exceeded $400 million in total by the end of March last year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether LAB conducted the review in 2003 as scheduled; if it did, of the outcome, and why the BRC levy rate has so far not been lowered; if it did not, the reasons for that; and

    (b)of the projected financial position of the Fund for the next few years, and whether it will consider restoring the BRC levy rate to the level of $250 per annum; if not, of the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Development and Labour

3.For Hon CHAN Kam-lam,
Hon WONG Ting-kwong to ask:(Translation)

At present, people who, through travel agents, only book air tickets or overseas accommodation are not covered by the Travel Industry Compensation Fund ("TICF"). As it often happens that travel agents are closed down after a festival, will the Government inform this Council whether it will consider establishing a mechanism similar to that of the TICF to protect the interests of these people?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Development and Labour

4. Hon Vincent FANG Kang to ask: (Translation)

Most of the cities in the world have bazaars with special characteristics which can offer various types of jobs and boost spending of tourists and local residents. However, the open-air bazaars in Hong Kong have incessantly been affected by town planning and have to be relocated, reduced in area or even scrapped. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it has formulated any long-term policy on the retention or otherwise of open-air bazaars; of the numbers of existing open-air bazaars and shop operators and hawkers involved, as well as the estimated number of employees working in these bazaars;

    (b) whether it knows if the authorities concerned, apart from relocating some of the stall hawkers in the open-air bazaars in Tai Yuen Street and Cross Street of Wan Chai this year, have any similar relocation plans in the future; if they have, of the bazaars involved and the details of such relocation plans; and

    (c) given that the reasons for relocating some stall hawkers in the open-air bazaars in Tai Yuen Street and Cross Street are to enable refuse collection vehicles to access the Urban Renewal Authority's new development project in that area to collect refuse and to solve the problem of increased traffic brought by that development project, whether the Government will consider following the arrangement in Tai Yuen Street (south), and shorten the duration during which Cross Street (east) is designated as pedestrian zone to between 10 am and 6 pm daily, thereby allowing refuse collection vehicles and other vehicles to use Cross Street (east) during other time of the day and at the same time completely retaining the open-air bazaars in Tai Yuen Street and Cross Street?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

5. Hon LEE Cheuk-yan to ask: (Translation)

Under the Employment Ordinance, an employee shall be entitled to employment benefits such as rest days, paid statutory holidays, paid annual leave, paid maternity leave, paid sickness days, severance payment and long service payment only if he or she is employed under a continuous contract (i.e. he or she has been employed under a contract of employment for four or more weeks and has worked for 18 hours or more in each week). The court in the United Kingdom ("UK") has ruled, in the case of Regina v. Secretary of State for Employment ex parte Equal Opportunities Commission and another, that some legal provisions in UK, which are similar to those relating to the above requirement for employment under a continuous contract, discriminate against women, on the ground that most of the part-time employees who work lesser hours weekly are female. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of employees in each of the past three years, broken down by gender, who had worked less than 18 hours within seven days before data collection due to reasons other than slack work or their being on leave;

    (b) whether it has studied if the ruling on the above UK case and its ground are applicable to Hong Kong; and

    (c) whether it will amend the provisions relating to employment under a continuous contract in the Employment Ordinance to safeguard the rights and interests of part-time employees?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Development and Labour

6. Hon Andrew CHENG to ask: (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)in each of the past three years, of the respective numbers of criminal cases and requests for assistance received by the Police involving taxis and red public light buses ("RMBs"), the number of relevant cases solved and the number of persons prosecuted, broken down by offences (including robbing, assaulting and intimidating drivers as well as damaging vehicles) and whether triad activities were involved in such cases, and whether the Government has measures to ensure the personal safety of drivers of taxis and RMBs; if it has, of the details of such measures; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (b) in each of the past three years, of the number of complaints, received by the Police, involving triad activities at the taxi stands in the Hong Kong International Airport and the number of persons prosecuted as a result, broken down by offences or misbehaviour involved (such as intimidating drivers, cutting in line (commonly known as "queue jumping") and extorting money from taxis waiting in line, etc), and whether there are measures to punish those taxi drivers engaging in the above misbehaviour (such as queue jumping)(including adopting a similar measure implemented in the former Kai Tak Airport to put such drivers on a "list of undesirable drivers", and prohibiting them from entering the Airport's taxi stands); if so, of the details of such measures; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officers to reply: Secretary for Security
Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

*7. Prof Hon Patrick LAU Sau-shing to ask: (Translation)

Given the recent complaints lodged by a number of residents about the nuisance caused by the fibre-optic external walls of a newly completed residential development, and there is no legislation controlling the various types of light pollution (such as light trespass and glare, etc), will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of complaints about light pollution received by government departments in each of the past five years, broken down by sources of pollution (such as advertisement signboards, street lamps and vessels, etc); and

    (b) whether it plans to review and amend the relevant legislation to subject light pollution to statutory control; if so, of the details of such plans; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

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

The original intention of constructing the Airport Express is to provide direct and efficient transport services for people travelling to and from the airport. However, since the opening of the AsiaWorld-Expo adjacent to the airport, the patronage of the Airport Express has increased, especially when exhibitions or other activities are held in the AsiaWorld-Expo. As the Airport Express trains are often already fully packed with passengers when they leave the AsiaWorld-Expo Station, this causes inconvenience to people who intend to leave the airport by Airport Express trains at the next station (i.e. the Airport Station). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows if the MTR Corporation Limited has any measures to ensure providing adequate Airport Express train services for the priority use of people travelling to and from the airport? Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

*9. Hon CHEUNG Man-kwong to ask: (Translation)

The Hong Kong Institute of Education Ordinance (Cap. 444) stipulates that the composition of the Council of the Hong Kong Institute of Education ("HKIEd") shall include at least one but not more than three public officers appointed by the Chief Executive. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the reasons for enacting the aforesaid provision, and whether it has assessed if the provision contravenes the principle of autonomy of tertiary institutions;

    (b) in the form of a table, whether there are similar provisions in the relevant legislation of other tertiary institutions and whether public officers have in fact been appointed to the Council concerned; if the Government has allowed any of the Council seats of other institutions for public officers to be left vacant, of the reasons for the inconsistent practice in respect of HKIEd and other institutions, and whether it has assessed if this practice constitutes discrimination against HKIEd; and

    (c) whether it will repeal the aforesaid provision by way of legislation or cease to make such appointment; if it will, when it will be implemented; if not, of the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

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

Regarding the Airport Authority Hong Kong ("AA")'s proposal to build a permanent aviation fuel facility ("AFF") in Tuen Mun, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the respective maximum permissible and current average numbers of flights taking off and landing at the Hong Kong International Airport each hour;

    (b) whether it knows:

    (i)the total capacity of the existing AFF, as well as the storage level of aviation fuel at the AFF at the end of each month and its consumption level of that month since January 2003;

    (ii)the AA's specific justifications for the conclusion that the existing AFF will only be able to support the demand for aviation fuel to 2009; and

    (iii)if there have been cases of the supply of aviation fuel falling short of its demand since January 2003; if so, of the details; if not, of the AA's justifications for its view that there is an urgent need to build a new AFF;

    (c) given that a report submitted to the Court of Final Appeal last year points out that in case of a catastrophic incident occurring at the new AFF, the lives of the more than 200 staff in the steel mill adjacent to the new AFF will be in jeopardy, how the Government ensures the safety of these staff;

    (d) given that high temperature and combustion work processes (such as cutting disused tyres) will be carried out in the EcoPark next to the new AFF, how the Government can ensure that the safety of the staff in the EcoPark will not be threatened as a result of a incident occurring at the new AFF; and

    (e) given that the relevant Environmental Impact Assessment Report acknowledges that lightning is a relatively common ignition source for tank fires and a tanker was struck by lightning after unloading at Tsing Yi Island in 1997, and that a large amount of steel which can conduct electricity is stored in the steel mill adjacent to the new AFF, whether the Government has information on the average frequency of lightning occurring in each month in New Territories West, and whether it has assessed the risks posed by lightning to the new AFF?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Development and Labour

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

With regard to the support provided for patients with glaucoma, will the Government inform this Council of:
    (a)the existing number of patients with glaucoma;

    (b) the respective numbers of patients diagnosed with glaucoma, diagnosed with glaucoma and cataract at the same time, and those who turned blind as a result of glaucoma-induced disorders in each of the past five years, with a breakdown by gender, age and district of residence;

    (c) the medical, financial and daily living support currently provided by the Government and the Hospital Authority for patients with glaucoma, whether more proactive types of support such as psychological counselling, low-vision training and medical subsidy will be provided to such patients; and

    (d) the respective amounts of funds spent by the Government and the Hospital Authority on the prevention, early diagnosis and treatment of glaucoma in each of the past three years, as well as the details of the work in this regard?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

*12. Hon James TO to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the problem of Hong Kong children and youth taking or trafficking drugs in the Mainland, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it knows the number and age distribution of Hong Kong children and youth under the age of 18 who were convicted in the Mainland in each of the past three years of taking and trafficking drugs, together with a breakdown by gender and the penalties imposed on them;

    (b) whether the relevant Mainland departments have notified the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ("HKSAR Government") of information on the above cases involving Hong Kong children and youth being sentenced in the Mainland; if so, whether the Government has followed up such cases; if the HKSAR Government has not been notified, whether the Government will consider requesting the setting up of a notification mechanism with the relevant Mainland government departments to facilitate follow-up actions;

    (c) whether it knows the current number of Hong Kong organizations providing counselling services targeted at children and youth taking drugs in places of entertainment in the Mainland, and the types of services provided by such organizations; and

    (d) whether exchange activities have been organized with the Mainland enforcement departments or organizations providing counselling services for drug-addicted children and youth, with a view to ameliorating the situation of Hong Kong children and youth taking drugs in the Mainland?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

*13. Hon TSANG Yok-sing to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that some local enterprises intend to outsource information technology jobs to low-cost places, which may involve the transfer of personal data of Hong Kong people to such places. Moreover, section 33 of the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486) regarding "prohibition against transfer of personal data to place outside Hong Kong except in specified circumstances" is not yet in operation. According to the information from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data ("PCO"), one of the reasons for not putting the provision into operation was to prepare and issue a suitable model contract and relevant guidelines, and it was expected that the relevant provision would come into operation soon after the issuance of the model contract. The PCO had prepared a reference model contract in 1997 and submitted to the Home Affairs Bureau, in June 2005, the investigation report on trans-border dataflow practices in the banking sector in Hong Kong with a range of policy options. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it knows the number of model contracts entered into by data users and data transferees in Hong Kong in the past three years, broken down by the trades of the data transferees;

    (b) of the reasons why the above provision is not yet in operation and the estimated timing of its coming into operation;

    (c) whether the Home Affairs Bureau has discussed with PCO the various options relating to section 33 in the above investigation report;

    (d) of the measures the authorities have in place to prevent the transfer of personal data of Hong Kong people to places outside Hong Kong before the above provision coming into operation, and how they can ensure the protection of personal data of Hong Kong people in places outside Hong Kong (other than encouraging data users and data transferees to enter into the model contracts); and

    (e) whether it has studied the legal provisions concerning the protection of personal data in places (e.g. India and the Mainland) where contractors of outsourced information technology jobs operate?
Public Officer to reply:Secretary for the Civil Service
(in the absence of Secretary for Home Affairs)

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

Will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the respective numbers, in each of the past five years, of prosecutions instituted against, convictions handed down against, acquittals won by and appeals against conviction lodged by each of the local newspapers and magazines over alleged contraventions of the Control of Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance (Cap. 390) and the Undesirable Medical Advertisements Ordinance (Cap. 231) respectively;

    (b) of the grounds usually cited by the court for acquitting the newspapers and magazines concerned in the aforesaid cases; and

    (c) how the authorities ensure that press freedom will not be undermined when deciding whether prosecution should be instituted?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology

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

Among the 25 incumbent members of the Council of the Hong Kong Institute of Education ("HKIEd"), there are a total of seven "staff/student members": three were nominated by the Academic Board from among its number and appointed by the Council, three were elected from among their number by full-time teaching staff and administrative staff of equivalent rank or grade, and the remaining one is a full-time student of the HKIEd appointed by the Council. Under the Hong Kong Institute of Education Ordinance (Cap. 444), the HKIEd's appointment or dismissal of the President or a Vice President shall be effected by a resolution passed by not less than 2/3 of the members of the Council who are present at a meeting of the Council and competent to vote on the matter, and staff/student members shall not participate in any deliberation or vote on such matters. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
    (a)whether the Ordinance will be amended to:

    (i)avoid the situation where a candidate for the office of the President or a Vice President who is supported by a majority of the staff and students is not appointed because a few Council members from outside the HKIEd do not support that candidate;

    (ii)increase the number of Council members who are not appointed by the Chief Executive, so as to enhance the independence of the Council and improve the current situation that the majority of the Council members are appointed by the Chief Executive; and

    (iii)allow staff/student members to participate in deliberation or vote on matters related to the appointment or dismissal of the President or a Vice President, or require the Council to take staff/student members' views into account when making a decision in this regard; and

    (b)whether they will consider requiring the Council of the HKIEd to set more objective criteria for the appointment or dismissal of the President or a Vice President?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

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

The Air Pollution Control (Petrol Filling Stations) (Vapour Recovery) Regulation (Cap 311S) requires petrol filling stations ("PFSs") in existence on 31 March 2005 to install, by 31 March 2008, vapour recovery systems ("recovery systems") in their petrol dispensers (including modifying the nozzles) to recover the petrol vapour displaced from the fuel tanks of vehicles when they are being refuelled and return it to the petrol storage tanks in the stations, so as to reduce the release of volatile organic compounds and carcinogenic benzene into the environment. The Government has recently requested the oil companies to accelerate the installation of the aforesaid recovery systems as far as possible. However, it has been reported that while one-third of the 189 private PFSs have completed the installation works, only about 10% of the 85 government PFSs have done so. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the respective progress targets for installing the recovery systems in private and government PFSs, and whether there is any difference between the two; if so, of the reasons for that; if not, why the installation progress of government PFSs has lagged behind that of private PFSs;

    (b) whether it will speed up the pace of the installation projects in government PFSs; if so, of the relevant details and timetable; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c) as it has been reported that the modified nozzles mentioned above are incompatible with the design of the fuel tanks of some old-model "parallel-imported" vehicles, whether the authorities will provide support to the vehicle owners concerned, such as providing guidelines on modification of fuel tanks; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

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

Given that a trade union has recently raised concerns about the impact of a system employing radio frequency identification technology on human health, will the Government inform this Council whether:
    (a)individual government departments and public organizations have assessed the possible impact on human health of various systems which employ electromagnetic radiation such as the e-Passport system, X-ray vehicle scanning systems before introducing such systems; if they have, of the assessment standards adopted; if they have not, the reasons for that;

    (b) safety standards or best practices have been formulated in respect of the working environment for systems which employ electromagnetic radiation to safeguard the health of workers; if so, of the relevant details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c) employers are required to provide sufficient training and issue working guidelines to the employees to ensure that they operate systems which employ electromagnetic radiation in a proper and safe manner; if so, of the relevant details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology

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

Regarding the obstetrics and gynaecology ("O&G") services in public hospitals in Tseung Kwan O, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
    (a)the respective numbers, in each of the past three years, of babies born in Hong Kong whose parents' residential addresses were in Tseung Kwan O or other parts of Sai Kung;

    (b) which of the public hospitals in other districts are required to undertake extra work in providing O&G services for women residing in Tseung Kwan O, and the workload involved;

    (c) how the Hospital Authority assesses the need for additional O&G services in Tseung Kwan O, and the assessment criteria adopted; and

    (d) the costs of providing additional O&G services in Tseung Kwan O?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

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

Recently, a member of the public told me that while on a business trip in Pakistan holding a British National (Overseas) passport ("BN(O) passport"), he was treated with violence and kidnapped by the local police. After several failed attempts to seek help from the local Chinese diplomatic and consular mission ("CDCM"), he sought help from the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ("HKSAR"). However, the HKSAR Government only referred his case back to that CDCM, and no assistance was offered to him in the end. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)given that in her reply to a Member's question at the Council meeting on 25 October 2000, the then Secretary for Security said that Hong Kong residents of Chinese nationality holding BN(O) passports might approach the local CDCMs for assistance if they needed help when travelling abroad, and if the Immigration Department of the HKSAR received any request for assistance from BN(O) passport holders when travelling abroad or from their relatives in Hong Kong, the Immigration Department of the HKSAR would immediately liaise with the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China in the HKSAR and the local CDCM for assistance, whether these arrangements still apply at present; if not, how the HKSAR Government will assist those Hong Kong permanent residents holding BN(O) passports who seek its help while they are abroad; and

    (b) how the HKSAR Government will assist Hong Kong permanent residents holding BN(O) passports who get into trouble when travelling abroad for pleasure or business, but are denied assistance by the CDCMs there?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

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

Regarding the employment situation of women in Hong Kong and the assistance provided to them by the Government, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the respective current average monthly and hourly wages for male and female employees, the number of women who have not taken up employment due to childbirth or the need to take care of their children and the percentage of the female workforce that number equals to, the number of full-time or part-time female employees in managerial positions and its percentage in the total number of managerial employees, the trades and industries in which the jobs are mostly taken up by men, the number of female employees in such trades and industries and its percentage in the total number of employees therein;

    (b)given that in its research report published last year, the Women and Work Commission in the United Kingdom ("UK") pointed out that helping women participate in the labour market could bring an additional ?15 billion to ?23 billion a year to the UK economy, and the report also pointed out that unequal treatment for men and women continued to exist at work and analyzed the reasons behind that, whether the Government has conducted a similar research; if so, of the details and findings of the research (including the economic benefits for Hong Kong of helping women participate in the labour market); if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c)given that in response to the above research report, the UK Government has implemented a number of measures, such as providing women with job sharing information through on-line registers, recruiting women for managerial positions through mentoring schemes, offering female apprenticeship schemes in engineering and construction industries, establishing a fund to help employers recruit consultants to create more senior part-time posts for women, as well as allocating funds to train women for jobs traditionally undertaken by men, whether the Government will follow the UK's example by launching similar measures to encourage women who are willing to take up employment after childbirth to return to the labour market, taking the lead in recruiting women for managerial positions and creating more part-time senior posts for women, as well as encouraging and assisting women to join those trades and industries which are currently dominated by men (for example, by requesting the Vocational Training Council or the Employees Retraining Board to organize apprenticeship programmes or retraining courses tailor-made for women in these sectors and trades); if it will, of the details of the relevant measures?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Development and Labour

*For written reply.

III. Bills

First Reading

Mainland Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) Bill

Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)

Mainland Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) Bill : Secretary for Justice

IV. Motions

  1. Proposed resolution under the Public Finance Ordinance

    Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury to move the motion in the Appendix.

  2. Proposed resolution under the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance

    Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food to move the following motion:

    RESOLVED that the following Regulations, made by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board on 9 February 2007, be approved -

    (a)the Pharmacy and Poisons (Amendment) Regulation 2007; and

    (b) the Poisons List (Amendment) Regulation 2007.

    (The two Regulations were issued on 13 February 2007
    under LC Paper No. CB(3) 368/06-07)
V. Members' Motions

  1. Proposed resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance

    Hon WONG Kwok-hing to move the following motion:

    RESOLVED that in relation to the Road Traffic (Traffic Control) (Amendment) Regulation 2007, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 16 of 2007 and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 7 February 2007, the period for amending subsidiary legislation referred to in section 34(2) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1) be extended under section 34(4) of that Ordinance to the meeting of 28 March 2007.

  2. Creating job opportunities and improving the income of elementary workers

    Hon CHAN Yuen-han: (Translation)

    That, despite the revival of Hong Kong's economy for a considerable period of time, the job market still suffers from serious structural imbalance and, without minimum wage protection, the income of workers is polarized, which has led to the widening of the disparity between the rich and the poor and the worsening of inter-generational poverty, this Council urges the Government to develop a diversified economy, such as promoting local community culture and creative industries, etc; at the same time, the Government should make changes to the relevant policies to facilitate the promotion of social enterprises, thereby increasing job opportunities and easing the oversupply of workers in the elementary labour market; in addition, the Government should provide more training opportunities to working youths and middle-aged people to enhance their competitiveness.

    Amendments to motion
    (i)Hon Andrew CHENG: (Translation)

    To delete "despite the revival of" after "That," and substitute with "given the recession in Hong Kong over the past few years, although"; to add "has revived" after "Hong Kong's economy"; to add "speed up the implementation of infrastructural facilities," after "this Council urges the Government to"; to add ", including promoting the overall development of the film industry and the recycling industry as well as increasing the number of places in residential care homes" after "creative industries"; and to add "encouraging workers to take up employment," after "promotion of social enterprises, thereby".

    (ii)Hon Alan LEONG Kah-kit: (Translation)

    To add "and the great improvement in government revenue" after "revival of Hong Kong's economy for a considerable period of time"; to delete "and" after "promoting local community culture" and substitute with ","; to add "and environmental protection industry" after "creative industries"; to add "and to create more infrastructural development jobs which are conducive to good planning and heritage conservation" after ", etc"; and to add "expeditiously improve elementary and tertiary education in Hong Kong and" after "in addition, the Government should".

    (iii)Hon Andrew LEUNG Kwan-yuen:(Translation)

    To delete "the job market still suffers from serious structural imbalance and, without minimum wage protection, the income of workers is polarized, which has led to the widening of" after "revival of Hong Kong's economy for a considerable period of time," and substitute with "the decline in the unemployment rate from the peak of 8.5% in 2003 to 4.4% and that employers are finding it more difficult in recruiting workers than before, the living conditions of the low-income group,"; to delete "the worsening of" after "the disparity between the rich and the poor and" and substitute with "the problem of"; to add "have yet to be ameliorated" after "inter-generational poverty"; to delete "develop a diversified economy, such as" after "this Council urges the Government to" and substitute with "adopt diversified measures, such as abolishing unnecessary regulations and restrictions, promoting investment, assisting small and medium-sized enterprises,"; to add ", to boost the economy, thereby generating more job opportunities" after "creative industries, etc"; to add "and provide incentives such as tax concession" after "make changes to the relevant policies"; to delete "and easing the oversupply of workers in the elementary labour market" after "thereby increasing job opportunities" and substitute with "for the disadvantaged"; and to delete "provide more training opportunities to working youths and middle-aged people to enhance their competitiveness" after "in addition, the Government should" and substitute with "review the training effectiveness of various existing organizations which provide on-the-job training and retraining services and strive to make them more effective, so as to train more human resources that meet the market needs".

    Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Economic Development and Labour

  3. Strengthening the supervision of railway safety

    Hon Andrew CHENG: (Translation)

    That, as the railway network in Hong Kong is continuously expanding with part of the railway systems starting to age, and in view of the recent serious West Rail incident as well as the incidents and delays involving the railway systems that occurred from time to time in the past few years, which have aroused public concern about the safety of railway operations, this Council urges the Government to strengthen its supervision of the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation and the MTR Corporation Limited ("railway corporations") and to adopt the following measures, in order to safeguard the safety of the public and ensure that the railway systems are capable of providing efficient, effective and safe services:

    (a)creating the post of Commissioner for Railway Safety with the responsibilities to advise, conduct studies, make assessments and propose improvement measures on the various safety issues of the railway systems (including daily maintenance, system safety, train operations, etc), as well as to lead the work of the Railway Inspectorate;

    (b)expanding the current staff establishment and powers of the Railway Inspectorate to assist the Commissioner for Railway Safety in discharging his duties;

    (c)introducing a demerit points system for situations such as disruptions, delays and system failures in train services, and setting objective and clear standards for the service performance of the railway corporations;

    (d)including the number of hours of service disruptions or delays resulting from railway incidents, the number of affected passengers and the number of the resultant casualties as factors to be considered when assessing annually whether the services of the railway corporations have attained the required standards;

    (e)reviewing and improving the existing maintenance work of the railway systems, and requesting the railway corporations to allocate additional resources to their maintenance departments;

    (f)reviewing and improving the current feeder service arrangements and the contingency procedures in the event of train service disruptions or delays owing to incidents, so as to strengthen the capability of the railway corporations to cope with emergencies;

    (g)reviewing and upgrading the fire service equipment and means of escape provided along all the railways and inside the train cars;

    (h)requesting the railway corporations to give more training and support to the frontline maintenance staff, and requiring them to provide sufficient rest breaks for the staff, so as to enhance their morale and service quality;

    (i)requiring the railway corporations to provide radio reception services along all the railways (including the tunnels), so as to ensure that the public can obtain information on railway incidents and emergency arrangements more promptly; and

    (j)requesting the railway corporations to install screen doors or automated gates at the platforms of all railway stations so as to ensure the safety of passengers.

    Amendments to motion
    (i)Hon WONG Kwok-hing: (Translation)

    To add "(a) raising the existing standards for safety inspections and tests to ensure that all trains must pass the relevant inspections and tests before the commencement of their daily operation; (b) additionally installing a separate safety alarm system in each train to enable train operators to, in the event of accidents, immediately find out where the failures occur and what the situation is; (c) setting up a direct communication system between train operators, so that in the event of accidents the train operator can immediately coordinate with the operators of the trains in front and behind; (d) including an independent person as monitor in the process of regular railway safety drills, so as to enable a more comprehensive and objective evaluation of the feasibility of the relevant measures;" after "safe services:"; to delete the original "(a)" and substitute with "(e)"; to delete the original "(b)" and substitute with "(f)"; to delete the original "(c)" and substitute with "(g)"; to delete the original "(d)" and substitute with "(h)"; to delete the original "(e)" and substitute with "(i)"; to delete "and" after "maintenance work of the railway systems,"; to add ", and comprehensively reviewing the impact of outsourcing maintenance work on the train services" after "maintenance departments"; to delete the original "(f)" and substitute with "(j)"; to delete the original "(g)" and substitute with "(k)"; to delete the original "(h)" and substitute with "(l)"; to delete "maintenance" after "frontline"; to delete the original "(i)" and substitute with "(m)"; and to delete the original "(j)" and substitute with "(n)".

    (ii)Hon LI Kwok-ying: (Translation)

    To delete "creating the post of Commissioner for Railway Safety with the responsibilities to advise, conduct studies, make assessments and propose improvement measures on" after "(a)" and substitute with "urging the railway corporations to expeditiously review and improve"; to delete ", as well as to lead the work of the Railway Inspectorate" after "train operations, etc)"; to delete "to assist the Commissioner for Railway Safety in discharging his duties" after "powers of the Railway Inspectorate"; to add "studying the feasibility of" after "(c)"; to delete "for" after "a demerit points system" and substitute with "or other measures regarding the service performance of the railway corporations, including"; to delete "and setting objective and clear standards for the service performance of the railway corporations" after "system failures in train services," and substitute with "as well as their impacts on the public; (d) strictly enforcing the relevant penalties as a warning when the railway corporations have breached the relevant provisions relating to railway safety in the pertinent ordinances or operating agreements"; to delete the original "(d)" and substitute with "(e)"; to delete the original "(e)" and substitute with "(f)"; to delete the original "(f)" and substitute with "(g)"; to delete the original "(g)" and substitute with "(h)"; to delete the original "(h)" and substitute with "(i)"; to delete the original "(i)" and substitute with "(j)"; to delete "and" after "more promptly"; to delete the original "(j)" and substitute with "(k)"; and to add "; and (l) stepping up efforts to publicize information on emergency escape for passengers in case of a railway accident, and organizing more railway incident drills with the participation of the general public, so as to enhance the public's ability to cope with emergencies in the event of accidents" immediately before the full stop.

    Public Officer to attend : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works
Clerk to the Legislative Council