A 06/07-32

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 13 June 2007 at 11:00 am

I. Tabling of Papers

Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments L.N. No.
1.Building Management (Fee Revision) Regulation 2007106/2007
2.Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation (Revision of Licence Fees) Regulation 2007107/2007
3.Unsolicited Electronic Messages Regulation108/2007
4.Statutes of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Amendment) (No. 2) Statute 2007109/2007
5.Mass Transit Railway (Amendment) Regulation 2007110/2007
6.Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (Suspension) Regulation111/2007
7.Mass Transit Railway (Transport Interchange) (Amendment) Regulation 2007112/2007
8.Kowloon-Canton Railway (Restricted Area) (No. 2) Notice 1997 (Amendment) Notice 2007113/2007

Other Papers

1.No.95-Report by the Trustee of the Correctional Services Children's Education Trust for the period from 1 September 2005 to 31 August 2006
(to be presented by Secretary for Security)

2.Report of the Bills Committee on Housing (Amendment) Bill 2007
(to be presented by Hon Mrs Selina CHOW, Chairman of the Bills Committee)

3.Report of the Bills Committee on Revenue Bill 2007
(to be presented by Hon CHAN Kam-lam, Chairman of the Bills Committee)

4.Report of the Bills Committee on City University of Hong Kong (Amendment) Bill 2006
(to be presented by Hon Emily LAU, Chairman of the Bills Committee)

II. Questions

1. Hon Albert CHAN to ask: (Translation)

Recently, quite a number of members of the public have complained to me about the long waiting time for the specialist out-patient ("SOP") services at public hospitals. For example, a resident of Tung Chung has to wait for three years for a consultation appointment. Many people have told me that their clinical conditions have worsened due to the lack of timely treatment over a prolonged period. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the average waiting time for each SOP service last year, together with a breakdown of the cases by the waiting time (i.e. less than one year, one to less than two years, two to less than three years and three years or above) as at the end of last year;

    (b)of the longest waiting time among the present cases for each SOP service; and

    (c)whether it will take measures to alleviate the problem of excessively long waiting time for SOP services; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

2. Hon LAU Wong-fat to ask: (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the current average queuing time for consultation in the Accident and Emergency ("A&E") departments of public hospitals for patients of categories 4 and 5 under the triage system, whose conditions are not considered urgent, broken down by hospital clusters of the Hospital Authority ("HA");

    (b)of the respective unit costs of treating patients in the A&E departments of public hospitals and clinics under HA; and

    (c)whether it will consider setting up 24-hour clinics operated by private practitioners adjacent to the A&E departments of public hospitals, so as to reduce the number of patients seeking A&E services and save medical expenditure for HA?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

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

It is learnt that styrofoam and plastic materials are often used by funeral practitioners for making sacrificial offerings. Toxic gases such as dioxins emitted by burning such offerings not only cause serious environmental pollution but also pose health hazards to the staff in the funeral trade and nearby residents. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it will:
    (a)stipulate that funeral practitioners may only use, for making sacrificial offerings, those materials which will not emit toxic gases when being burnt; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (b)use instruments to regularly monitor if toxic gases are found in the air in the vicinity of funeral parlours or crematoriums; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c)take initiatives to encourage funeral practitioners and the public to be more concerned about environment protection during funeral rituals?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

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

It has been reported that due to shortage in resources, the Kwai Chung Hospital under the Hospital Authority has ceased to provide medical examination and early treatment services to young people abusing psychoactive drugs in recent months. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether the past three years saw an upward trend in the number of young people abusing drugs (including early-stage drug abusers), please illustrate with specific figures;

    (b)of the number of young people served in the three years before the cessation of the service and the effectiveness of such service; and

    (c)of the measures it has adopted to assist young people in need of the such service after cessation of the service?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

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

It is reported that some Mandatory Provident Fund ("MPF") trustees charge MPF fund management fees up to 2% to 3% a year, thus substantially reducing the accrued benefits receivable by employees upon retirement. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it will consider amending the relevant legislation to enable employees to choose MPF trustees on their own, so as to lower MPF fund management fees by means of market forces; if it will, of the details and timetable of such amendments; if not, the reasons for that;

    (b)given that the annual management fees of quite a number of investment funds in foreign countries are only within the range of 0.4% to 0.6%, whether it has explored which of the experience of foreign countries may be drawn on by Hong Kong to lower MPF fund management fees; and

    (c)whether it will regulate the levels of fund management fees charged by MPF trustees?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

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

It has been reported that, after consolidating the statistics from 1983 to 2005 on mortality rate, temperature, humidity, wind speed and the heat of the sun, the Hong Kong Observatory ("HKO") has found that whenever the heat stress index ("HSI") moved up one level in summer, the mortality rate would increase by twofold, and in winter, whenever the HSI moved down one level, mortality rate would increase by 130%. As such, HKO is considering announcing the HSI on a daily basis from 2009 onwards. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the details of the HSI from 1983 to 2005; and

    (b)whether it will, besides alerting the public by announcing the HSI when it reaches a dangerous level, consider putting in place complementary measures with binding effect to safeguard public health; if it will, of the details?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Development and Labour

*7. Hon KWONG Chi-kin to ask: (Translation)

It is learnt that cases in which civil servants were incompetent to perform the duties of their original posts after work-related injuries have been increasing in recent years and the Civil Service Bureau ("CSB") has not formulated any employment rehabilitation support programme so far. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of employees in various government departments who were injured at work or suffered from occupational diseases in each of the past three years, and details of the existing measures to assist them in returning to work; and

    (b)whether CSB will formulate, next year or in the near future, policies, pledges and administrative guidelines to assist civil servants in returning to work after recovery from injuries; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Civil Service

*8. Hon Abraham SHEK to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that an incident of suspected leak of a public examination question occurred in the current school year. Despite repeated assurances by the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority ("HKEAA") that the processes of design, review, printing, packing and distribution of public examination papers are all tightly controlled, the occurrence of incidents of suspected leak of examination questions is still common. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it knows the measures taken by HKEAA to prevent the leak of public examination questions; and

    (b)given that there have been incidents of suspected leak of public examination questions over the years, and a number of tutorial schools have even made promotional claims that their tutors have correctly guessed questions of public examinations, whether it knows if HKEAA will learn from experience, and comprehensively review and reform the processes involved in public examinations in Hong Kong, in particular those in respect of the design and review of examination questions, so as to dispel the doubts of candidates, enhance the authoritativeness and credibility of such examinations, and ensure that all candidates will obtain the results they deserve in examinations conducted in a more fair and open manner?
Public Officer to reply :Secretary for the Civil Service
(in the absence of Secretary for Education and Manpower)

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

The Finance Committee ("FC") of this Council approved on 2 July 2004 the Administration's funding proposal for making ex-gratia payments to live poultry retailers who surrender their tenancies of public markets under the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department or fresh provision shop licences with endorsement to sell live poultry, and for providing one-off grants to live poultry retail workers ("affected workers") so as to alleviate the impact on them as a result of the retailers concerned ceasing operation. Recently, I have received requests for assistance from some of these affected workers who pointed out that their applications for grants had been rejected on the grounds that they had not been directly employed by the retailers concerned. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the up-to-date number of affected workers to whom grants have been awarded, the total amount of money disbursed and its percentage in the relevant commitment, and the number of applications rejected on the grounds mentioned above;

    (b)as the relevant papers submitted to FC (FCR(2004-05)25 and FCR(2005-06)28) did not stipulate that affected workers not directly employed by the retailers concerned were ineligible for the grants, of the reasons for rejecting their applications and the total amount of money involved; and whether it will reconsider such applications; and

    (c)whether it has assessed if the Government should submit a supplementary paper to FC to seek its approval for not following the relevant FC papers and introducing an additional condition in vetting applications; if it has and the assessment outcome is in the negative, of the justifications for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

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

Some civil servants have told me that, despite having been awarded compensation for work injuries, the Administration still required them, under Civil Service Regulation ("CSR") 1291, to attend specified government clinics or clinics of the Hospital Authority when they wish to take sick leave, and the sick leave certificates issued by other medical practitioners are not accepted. They have also pointed out that at present the Government does not provide any channel for appeal against the imposition of the above restriction, which is unfair to the affected civil servants. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of civil servants on whom the above restriction under CSR 1291 was imposed last year;

    (b)whether it has assessed if the above restriction can effectively prevent abuse of sick leave by civil servants, and whether it is reasonable to impose such a restriction on civil servants; and

    (c)whether it will formulate clear guidelines regarding the application and enforcement of the above provision for management staff to follow, and establish an appeal channel for the affected civil servants to seek redress; if not, of the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Civil Service

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

Since April this year, the Government and community groups have been organizing different activities in various districts in Hong Kong to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Given that some celebration activities held outdoors may cause nuisance and inconvenience to residents in the neighbourhood, will the Government inform this Council of the number of the above activities organized by the Government and community groups since April this year that were held outdoors, and whether the Government has received complaints about such activities; if it has, of the major subject matters of the complaints and the measures the Government will take to reduce the number of similar complaints as far as possible, so as to enable the remainder of the celebration activities to be held smoothly without affecting residents in the neighbourhood?
Public Officer to reply :Secretary for the Civil Service
(in the absence of Secretary for Home Affairs)

*12. Hon LI Fung-ying to ask: (Translation)

Some containers were toppled by strong gales on the 18th of last month, injuring 4 people. Regarding work safety at yards for loading, unloading and storage of containers ("container yards"), will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the respective numbers of inspections and prosecutions made by the government departments concerned in relation to the above matter in each of the past three years, broken down by the offences involved, and among such prosecutions, the number of convicted cases and the penalties imposed; and

    (b)as the typhoon season is drawing near, whether the Government has measures to prevent the recurrence of similar accidents; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Development and Labour

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

It is learnt that the number of complaints about telecommunications or subscription television services received by the Office of the Telecommunications Authority ("OFTA") and the Consumer Council ("CC") in recent years has increased substantially. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)since the selling of telecommunications and subscription television services is often conducted by phone, whether the authorities will stipulate that a service contract will take effect only after a complete copy of the relevant contract has been provided by the service operator to the customer, so as to protect the interests of both parties;

    (b)whether it will amend the Telecommunications Ordinance (Cap. 106) to empower OFTA to vet the service contracts prepared by telecommunications service operators and strike out any unreasonable terms and conditions contained therein (for example, the terms on automatic renewal of services upon the expiry of the contract period); if not, how the authorities protect consumers against losses arising from such unreasonable terms and conditions;

    (c)of the details of the Consumer Dispute Adjudication Scheme being considered by CC and OFTA recently, and since the scheme is of a voluntary nature, how the authorities will handle complaints involving telecommunications and subscription television service operators who have not joined the scheme; and

    (d)whether it has studied the stipulation that a cooling-off period shall be included in such service contracts to allow for unconditional termination of such contracts by consumers during the period; if not, of the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology

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

It has been reported that some groups have asked the Government to strive, on behalf of Hong Kong people, for the channels of the China Central Television ("CCTV") on the Mainland to be relayed by ground stations in Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of CCTV channels that can be received in Hong Kong at present; and

    (b)why more CCTV channels cannot be relayed by ground stations in Hong Kong; whether the Government has plans to discuss with the relevant Mainland authorities how to follow up the matter; if it has, of the details of such plans; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology

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

About the problem of wall effect brought about by buildings, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)as I was informed at a meeting with the Planning Department in November 2005 that the department would request the Lands Department ("LD") to include a condition relating to allocation of non-building areas in the Conditions of Sale for a site at Hoi Fai Road in Tai Kok Tsui (Kowloon Inland Lot No. 11146) in order to ensure that space would be reserved between the buildings to be constructed on the site and the existing buildings, so as to improve air ventilation and reduce wall effect; however, such condition was not included in the Conditions of Sale published by LD recently, of the reasons for LD not including the condition;

    (b)as the current guidelines on air ventilation are not legally binding, whether the Government will consider ensuring developers' compliance with such guidelines by introducing legislation or developing interim mandatory air ventilation assessment criteria;

    (c)as the Government has advised that the railway companies would take into account the government guidelines on air ventilation in the planning and design of the projects, whether the Government will exercise its influence on the boards of directors of the two railway companies in order to ensure that such guidelines will not be disobeyed by the railway companies for commercial reasons; and

    (d)whether it will study the impact on the surrounding environment caused by projects which are currently alleged to be buildings creating the wall effect, and whether it will identify the government lands pending for sale which may potentially be developed into buildings creating the wall effect; if it will not, the reasons for that, and how the Government helps the public to understand the impact on the surrounding environment caused by developments creating the wall effect?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands

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

According to a document issued by the Government to Legislative Council Members on 5 May this year, the starting salaries for certain grades in the civil service would be raised by one to five points. As the salary structure of the staff in the Hospital Authority ("HA") has been delinked from the pay scales of the civil service, the Government, therefore, has not undertaken to raise the starting salary of HA doctors accordingly. In 2000, due to a fiscal deficit in the Government, HA lowered the starting salary of doctors by five points, and their maximum pay points by eight points, both of which have not yet returned to the pre-2000 level. Earlier, a group of representatives for front-line doctors openly demanded that the HA raise the starting salary and maximum pay by five and eight points respectively to boost the persistently low morale and retain the talents among its doctors. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it will allocate additional resources to HA so that it can raise the salaries of its doctors, thus bringing their salaries in line with those of the corresponding grades in the civil service? Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

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

Regarding the requests for assistance made by Hong Kong residents to the Beijing Office ("BJO") of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government in the past four years, will the Government inform this Council of the respective annual numbers of cases in respect of which BJO:
    (a)contacted the mainland authorities to assist the assistance seekers in following up the cases, with a breakdown by the mainland authorities involved and the nature of requests; and

    (b)suggested the assistance seekers to lodge a complaint directly to the mainland authorities, with a breakdown by the nature of requests?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Constitutional Affairs

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

Recently, several serious traffic accidents involving bicycles have occurred successively in Tseung Kwan O, arousing public concern. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of traffic accidents involving bicycles which took place in Tseung Kwan O in each of the past three years, together with a breakdown by the locations at which such accidents occurred and the casualties involved;

    (b)of the measures to improve the situation that the cycling tracks in the district are not connected; whether they will consider, by drawing reference from the design of the cycling tracks in Sha Tin, linking up various cycling tracks in the district by constructing footbridges and subways with cycling tracks, so that members of the public do not need to cycle on carriageways, thereby reducing the danger to which they are exposed; and

    (c)given that currently, members of the public travel to and from different housing estates in the district mainly by cycling, whether the authorities will enhance the public transport services in the district, such as by providing additional circular bus routes?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

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

Regarding efforts to combat the sale of duty-not-paid cigarettes (commonly known as "illicit cigarettes"), will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the quantity of illicit cigarettes seized by the authorities in the past two years, the means through which the cigarettes were seized and the relevant details, together with a breakdown of the quantities of illicit cigarettes seized in various public housing estates by the names of the estates;

    (b)whether it has discovered any cases in which illicit cigarettes were found being stored in public housing units or private premises; if so, of the public and private housing estates involved; and

    (c)whether it has assessed the effectiveness of current measures in combating such crimes, and of the new measures in place to step up the efforts to crack down on the sale of illicit cigarettes?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

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

It has been reported that many trustees of the Mandatory Provident Fund ("MPF") charge high fund management fees, resulting in the employees' accrued benefits being eroded by as much as 40% upon their retirement. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the highest, lowest and average fund management fees charged by the trustees in each of the past five years;

    (b)of the ratio of the employees' accrued benefits upon their retirement to the total amount of management fees throughout the contribution period as calculated according to the current average fund management fees; and

    (c)whether it knows if the Mandatory Provident Fund Authority:

    (i)has put in place measures to prevent trustees from charging excessive fund management fees; if it has, of these measures, and if it has assessed whether these measures are effective; if no such measures are in place, the reasons for that;

    (ii)has studied in the past the levels of fund management fees charged by the trustees and compared them with the corresponding figures of foreign countries; if it has, of the results; if it has not, the reasons for that;

    (iii)is aware of the existing criteria adopted by the trustees for determining the levels of management fees charged for MPF funds of different risk categories;

    (iv)has assessed if the trustees' practice of charging the same percentage rate of management fees for MPF funds of different risk categories is fair; if it has; of the results; if it has not, the reasons for that; and

    (v)has studied any proposals to lower the levels of fund management fees; if it has, of the contents of the proposals concerned, and whether such proposals include a study on greater involvement of employees in the decision-making process for the selection of the trustees; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

*For written reply.

III. Bills

First Reading

Supplementary Appropriation (2006-2007) Bill

Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)

Supplementary Appropriation (2006-2007) Bill :Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

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

1.Housing (Amendment) Bill 2007 :Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands

2.Revenue Bill 2007 :Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

IV. Motions

1.Proposed resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance

Secretary for Constitutional Affairs to move the motion

(Contents of the motion are contained in the paper issued on
25 May 2007 under LC Paper No. CB(3)610/06-07)

Amendments to motion
(i)Hon SIN Chung-kai:

RESOLVED that the motion to be moved by the Secretary for Constitutional Affairs under section 54A of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1) at the Legislative Council meeting of 13 June 2007 be amended -

(a)in paragraph (2) -

(i)by deleting "Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development" wherever it appears and substituting "Secretary for Commerce, Industry, Technology and Economy";

(ii)in subparagraph (h) (ii), in the English text, by deleting "商務及經濟發展局局長" and substituting "工商科技經濟局局長";

(b)in paragraph (3), by deleting "Permanent Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development (Communications and Technology)" wherever it appears and substituting "Permanent Secretary for Commerce, Industry, Technology and Economy (Communications and Technology)";

(c)in paragraph (4) -

(i)by deleting "Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development" wherever it appears and substituting "Secretary for Commerce, Industry, Technology and Economy";

(ii)in subparagraph (j)(ii), by deleting "Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development" and substituting "Secretary for Commerce, Industry, Technology and Economy"。

(ii)Hon Audrey EU:

RESOLVED that the motion to be moved by the Secretary for Constitutional Affairs under section 54A of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1) at the Legislative Council meeting of 13 June 2007 be amended -

(a)in paragraph (8),

(i)by deleting "Secretary for Development" wherever it appears and substituting "Secretary for Sustainable Development";

(ii)in subparagraph (b)(ii), by deleting "Secretary for Development" and substituting "Secretary for Sustainable Development"；

(b)in paragraph (10), by deleting "Secretary for Development" wherever it appears and substituting "Secretary for Sustainable Development";

(c)in paragraph (11), by deleting "Secretary for Development" wherever it appears and substituting "Secretary for Sustainable Development".

2.Proposed resolution under the Bankruptcy Ordinance

Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury to move the following motion:

RESOLVED that the Bankruptcy (Amendment) Rules 2007, made by the Chief Justice on 18 May 2007, be approved.

(The Bankruptcy (Amendment) Rules 2007 were issued on
25 May 2007 under LC Paper No. CB(3)612/06-07)

3.Proposed resolution under the Bankruptcy Ordinance

Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury to move the following motion:

RESOLVED that the Bankruptcy (Forms) (Amendment) Rules 2007, made by the Chief Justice on 18 May 2007, be approved.

(The Bankruptcy (Forms) (Amendment) Rules 2007 were issued on
25 May 2007 under LC Paper No. CB(3)612/06-07)

4.Proposed resolution under the Bankruptcy Ordinance

Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury to move the following motion:

RESOLVED that the Bankruptcy (Fees and Percentages) (Amendment) Order 2007, made by the Chief Justice on 18 May 2007, be approved.

(The Bankruptcy (Fees and Percentages) (Amendment) Order 2007
was issued on 25 May 2007
under LC Paper No. CB(3)612/06-07)

5.Proposed resolution under the Bankruptcy Ordinance

Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury to move the following motion:

RESOLVED that the Proof of Debts (Amendment) Rules 2007, made by the Chief Justice on 18 May 2007, be approved.

(The Proof of Debts (Amendment) Rules 2007 were issued on
25 May 2007 under LC Paper No. CB(3)612/06-07)

V. Members' Bills

First Reading

The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Declaration of Morningside College and S. H. Ho College as Constituent Colleges) Bill

Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)

The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Declaration of Morningside College and S. H. Ho College as Constituent Colleges) Bill :Hon CHEUNG Man-kwong

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

City University of Hong Kong (Amendment) Bill 2006 :Ir Dr Hon HO Chung-tai

VI. Members' Motions

  1. Transforming Radio Television Hong Kong to become the Hong Kong Public Broadcasting Corporation

    Hon LEE Wing-tat: (Translation)

    That, as the review report published by the Committee on Review of Public Service Broadcasting recommends the formation of a public broadcaster independent of the government structure, this Council urges the Government to expeditiously review the future role, positioning and development direction of Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK), actively study the feasibility of transforming RTHK to become the Hong Kong Public Broadcasting Corporation, and conduct public consultation on the results of the review and the study.

    Amendment to motion
    Hon TSANG Yok-sing:     (Translation)

    To delete "the review report published by" after "That, as"; to add "has submitted to the Government the review report which" after "Committee on Review of Public Service Broadcasting"; to add ", among other things," after "recommends"; to delete "review" after "urges the Government to expeditiously" and substitute with "conduct a study on issues such as the policy, governance structure, accountability, financing, programme scheduling and performance evaluation of public service broadcasting, to consider at the same time"; to delete "actively study" after "(RTHK)," and substitute with "including"; to add "to" after "Hong Kong Public Broadcasting Corporation, and"; to add "the study and" after "the results of"; and to delete "and the study" immediately before the full stop.

    Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology

  2. Promoting the sustainable development of the local agriculture and fisheries industries

    Hon WONG Yung-kan: (Translation)

    That, as Hong Kong people are showing increasing enthusiasm for nature in their living and dietary habits, and have become more concerned about the safety and supply of food, which should have brought about opportunities for developing modern agriculture and fisheries industries in Hong Kong, yet in recent years the Government's policies have adversely affected the local agriculture and fisheries industries, particularly the development of livestock farms, thereby posing a threat to the industries' development, this Council urges that the Government should have regard to the prevailing circumstances and formulate a policy for promoting the sustainable development of the agriculture and fisheries industries, with measures targeted at various sectors of the industries to upgrade their quality, assist in their transformation and perfect the regulatory system, including:

    (a)in collaboration with the Mainland, actively promoting an "agricultural test base" scheme to be modelled on the "accredited farm" system, and allowing farmers who have voluntarily surrendered their livestock farming licences to continue their operations in the Mainland, and export their produce to Hong Kong under the Hong Kong quota at a quantity determined according to their previous farming capacity in Hong Kong, so as to maintain a stable supply of live and fresh food to the territory;

    (b)actively promoting the development of off-shore capture fishery through financial and policy support, conserving in-shore ecological resources, and assisting in-shore fishermen in transforming their operations, so as to improve their livelihood;

    (c)further developing the local quality aquaculture industry, and studying the development of Hong Kong into a distribution centre for aquatic products, so as to keep in tune with the global development trend of the aquaculture industry;

    (d)expediting the implementation of the Organic Farming Conversion Scheme, establishing a regulatory labelling system for organic produce and opening up sales and marketing channels, so as to promote the development of organic farming in Hong Kong;

    (e)perfecting the regulatory system for the local agriculture and fisheries industries to ensure that local agricultural and fishery products are of high quality and safe; and

    (f)stepping up efforts to promote the development of the agriculture and fisheries industries in the direction of integrating with leisure and recreation, so as to meet the needs of the public.

    Amendments to motion
    (i)Hon Tommy CHEUNG: (Translation)

    To add "recently laboratory tests on food in Hong Kong have successively detected the presence of harmful substances, and furthermore," after "That, as"; and to add "further promoting the concept of organic food," after "(d)".

    (ii)Hon Fred LI: (Translation)

    To add "getting more health conscious and" after "Hong Kong people are"; to delete "in collaboration with the Mainland, actively promoting an 'agricultural test base' scheme to be modelled on the 'accredited farm' system, and" after "(a)" and substitute with "studying whether a monopoly currently exists in the supply of livestock imported from the Mainland, discussing with the Mainland authorities how to safeguard the interests of consumers in Hong Kong by opening up the market, and considering"; and to delete "under the Hong Kong quota at a quantity determined according to their previous farming capacity in Hong Kong" after "export their produce to Hong Kong".

    Amendment to Hon Fred LI's amendment
    Hon Vincent FANG Kang:     (Translation)

    To add "after comprehensively consulting the relevant industries," after "the supply of livestock imported from the Mainland,".

    (iii)Hon WONG Kwok-hing: (Translation)

    To add ", and improving the sales channels" after "high quality and safe"; to delete "and" before "(f)"; to add "tourism and vacation," after "leisure and recreation,"; to delete "meet" after "so as to" and substitute with "cater for"; and to delete "public" after "the needs of the" and substitute with "market; (g) taking vigorous actions to conserve the territory's precious marine ecological resources, such as the waters around the Soko Islands (i.e. Tai A Chau and Siu A Chau) where there are rich marine ecological resources and habitats of Chinese white dolphins and finless porpoises, so as to ensure the sustainable development of the fisheries industry; and (h) enhancing retraining to assist employees in various sectors of the agriculture and fisheries industries, such as production, transport, slaughtering, wholesale and retail, etc, and allocating additional resources to assist them in resolving problems in starting businesses or securing employment during the course of transformation".

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

Clerk to the Legislative Council