A 06/07-37

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 11 July 2007 at 11:00 am

I. Tabling of Papers

Subsidiary Legislation / InstrumentsL.N. No.
1.Building Management (Third Party Risks Insurance) Regulation146/2007
2.Shipping and Port Control (Ferry Terminals) (Amendment: Fee Reduction) Regulation 2007147/2007
3.Merchant Shipping (Local Vessels) (Fees) (Amendment: Fee Reduction) Regulation 2007148/2007
4.Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Air Pollution) Regulation149/2007
5.Road Traffic (Construction and Maintenance of Vehicles) (Amendment: Maximum Permitted Smoke or Visible Vapour Emissions) Regulation 2007150/2007
6.Road Traffic (Construction and Maintenance of Vehicles) (Amendment: Requirements for Speedometers and Speed Display Devices) Regulation 2007151/2007
7.Road Traffic (Construction and Maintenance of Vehicles) (Amendment: Safety Requirements for Passenger Seats in Student Service Vehicles) Regulation 2007152/2007
8.Road Traffic (Traffic Control) (Amendment: Addition of Traffic Signs) Regulation 2007153/2007
9.Solicitors (Professional Indemnity) (Amendment) Rules 2007154/2007

Other Papers

1.No.103-Report by the Commissioner of Correctional Services on the administration of the Prisoners' Welfare Fund for the year ended 31 March 2007
(to be presented by Secretary for Security)

2.No.104-Hong Kong Trade Development Council
Annual Report 2006-2007
(to be presented by Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development)

3.No.105-Hong Kong Export Credit Insurance Corporation
Annual Report 2006-2007
(to be presented by Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development)

4.No.106-Report of the Independent Police Complaints Council 2006
(to be presented by Dr Hon LUI Ming-wah, who will address the Council)

5.No.107-Report of the J.E. Joseph Trust Fund Trustee, and Audited Statement of Accounts and Auditor's Report for the Fund, for the year from 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2007
(to be presented by Secretary for Food and Health)

6.No.108 -Report of the Kadoorie Agricultural Aid Loan Fund Committee, and Audited Statement of Accounts and Auditor's Report for the Fund, for the year from 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2007
(to be presented by Secretary for Food and Health)

7.No.109-Sir David Trench Fund for Recreation Trustee's Report 2006-2007
(to be presented by Secretary for Home Affairs)

8.No.110-Report of the Public Accounts Committee on Report No. 48 of the Director of Audit on the Results of Value for Money Audits and Supplemental Report of the Public Accounts Committee on Report No. 47 of the Director of Audit on the Results of Value for Money Audits
(July 2007 - P.A.C. Report No. 48)
(to be presented by Dr Hon Philip WONG, Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, who will address the Council)

9.Report of the Finance Committee on the examination of the Estimates of Expenditure 2007-2008
(to be presented by Hon Emily LAU, Chairman of the Finance Committee, who will address the Council)

10.Committee on Rules of Procedure of the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ── Progress Report for the 2006-2007 session (13 July 2006 to 11 July 2007)
(to be presented by Hon TSANG Yok-sing, Chairman of the Committee on Rules of Procedure)

11.Report of the Panel on Manpower 2006-2007
(to be presented by Hon LAU Chin-shek, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)

12.Report of the Panel on Commerce and Industry 2006-2007
(to be presented by Hon Vincent FANG Kang, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)

13.Report of the Panel on Public Service 2006-2007
(to be presented by Hon Howard YOUNG, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)

14.Report of the Panel on Administration of Justice and Legal Services 2006-2007
(to be presented by Hon Margaret NG, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)

15.Report of the Panel on Transport 2006-2007
(to be presented by Hon Andrew CHENG, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)

16.Report of the Panel on Housing 2006-2007
(to be presented by Hon LEE Wing-tat, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)

17.Report of the Panel on Security 2006-2007
(to be presented by Hon LAU Kong-wah, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)

18.Report of the Panel on Constitutional Affairs 2006-2007
(to be presented by Dr Hon LUI Ming-wah, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)

19.Report of the Panel on Food Safety and Environmental Hygiene 2006-2007
(to be presented by Hon Tommy CHEUNG, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)

20.Report of the Panel on Education 2006-2007
(to be presented by Hon TSANG Yok-sing, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)

21.Report of the Panel on Planning, Lands and Works 2006-2007
(to be presented by Hon LAU Wong-fat, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)

22.Report of the Panel on Information Technology and Broadcasting 2006-2007
(to be presented by Hon Albert Jinghan CHENG, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)

23.Report of the Panel on Economic Services 2006-2007
(to be presented by Hon Jeffrey LAM Kin-fung, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)

24.Report of the Bills Committee on Hazardous Chemicals Control Bill
(to be presented by Hon CHOY So-yuk, Chairman of the Bills Committee)

II. Questions

1. Hon LAU Chin-shek to ask: (Translation)

Last month, the former Financial Secretary released the Final Report of Public Consultation on Tax Reform, concluding that public awareness on the deficiencies of a narrow tax base had been raised. However, the Report did not put forth any concrete options for broadening the tax base. As many large companies have alloted their shareholders hundreds of millions of dollars of dividends because of favourable results in recent years and that dividends are the main source of income for the major shareholders of many large companies, will the Government inform this Council whether it will consider introducing a tax on dividend income of significant amounts, for example, a hundred million dollars or more, so as to broaden the tax base and generate substantial revenue; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that? Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

2. Hon James TIEN to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that in the middle of last month, four schoolgirls at a secondary school in the North District in the New Territories felt unwell and were taken to hospital after taking drugs supplied by a fellow schoolmate. The principal of the school believed that its students were able to come into contact with soft drugs because the school was near the Mainland. It has also been reported that due to geographical convenience, many youngsters in the North District go north to the Mainland to take drugs and bring drugs back to Hong Kong to sell in schools. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of young drug abusers in the past three years, broken down by the 18 administrative districts in Hong Kong, and whether there is a trend of youngsters abusing drugs at a younger age;

    (b)whether it has studied the situation of youngsters in the North District and other districts along the railway alignments abusing drugs and trafficking drugs in schools; if so, of the details; if not, whether it will conduct such a study; and

    (c)whether it will further enhance the targetted measures at the school level and the co-operation with the authorities concerned on the Mainland (particularly Shenzhen), in order to combat the problem of cross-boundary drug trafficking and drug abuse?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

3. Dr Hon YEUNG Sum to ask: (Translation)

It is learnt when patients undergo Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty (commonly known as "balloon angioplasty") in public hospitals, they have to purchase at their own expenses membrane stent to be implanted into the body. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of balloon angioplasty carried out in public hospitals and the average amount spent by each patient on purchasing the surgical implants in each of the past five years, as well as the factors that should be considered by front-line doctors in deciding whether or not to carry out balloon angioplasty on a patient;

    (b)apart from balloon angioplasty, of the number of patients who received treatment of cardiovascular diseases in public hospitals by drugs and other surgical operations in each of the past five years; and whether these patients were required to purchase at their own expenses the relevant drugs and surgical implants; and

    (c)of the number of cases in which the patient received financial assistance from the Samaritan Fund to purchase surgical implants related to balloon angioplasty, as well as the amount involved, in each of the past five years; the reasons for requiring patients to purchase the relevant medical items at their own expenses; as well as the mechanism and criteria adopted by the Hospital Authority for determining the addition of items to, or removal of items from, the list of medical items to be purchased by patients at their own expenses?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

4. Hon Audrey EU to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that, in a hearing conducted by the Commission of Inquiry on Allegations relating to The Hong Kong Institute of Education, the former Permanent Secretary for Education and Manpower said that the proposal to the University Grants Committee ("UGC") in 2004 to reduce The Hong Kong Institute of Education ("HKIEd")'s places for Certificate of Early Childhood Education from 200 in 2005-2006 school year to 0 in 2007-2008 school year was merely a result of internal communication problems within the Education and Manpower Bureau ("EMB") and had nothing to do with interference in academic autonomy. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the specific procedures and factors for consideration of the authorities concerned in the periodic allocation of student places to local tertiary institutions funded by UGC; and

    (b)regarding the above incident of the reduction of HKIEd's student places, whether the Government has examined the causes of the alleged internal communication problems in EMB and whether it has adopted improvement measures after the incident to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education

5. Hon Mrs Selina CHOW to ask: (Translation)

With effect from October 2003, employers of foreign domestic helpers ("FDHs") in Hong Kong have to pay the Employees Retraining Levy (commonly known as "levy on FDHs") of $400 per month to the Government for the purpose of providing training and retraining to local employees. Subsequently, in view of the application for judicial review against the imposition of the levy lodged by some FDHs, the levy collected has not been utilized so far. However, the FDHs concerned have all along not lodged any appeal with the Court of Final Appeal after the dismissal of their case by the Court of Appeal in July last year, and the time limit for lodging appeals has already expired. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the situation of the collection of the above levy since October 2003 and the amount accumulated so far;

    (b)why it has so far not utilized the levy collected, as well as when and how it intends to utilize that amount of money; and

    (c)whether it has assessed if the amount of levy accumulated so far is sufficient to meet the needs for providing training and retraining to local employees for a certain period of time in the future; if the assessment results are in the affirmative, whether it has plans to reduce or even abolish the levy on FDHs, so as to ease the burden on employers of FDHs?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

6. Hon Jeffrey LAM Kin-fung to ask: (Translation)

Exactly one month has passed since the cabin crash incident of the Ngong Ping Skyrail. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the work progress of the Expert Panel appointed by the Government, including the progress in identifying the causes of the incident and the date to submit the report; as well as the estimated time when the Skyrail service can resume;

    (b)whether it has estimated the losses suffered by the local tourism industry and the commercial tenants of the Ngong Ping Village since the suspension of the Skyrail service; if it has, of the amount of losses; and

    (c)what improvement works have been carried out by the Skyrail operator and what measures the operator has put in place to restore the confidence of the public and tourists in taking the Skyrail?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

*7. Dr Hon Philip WONG to ask: (Translation)

With the business relationship between Hong Kong and the Mainland growing increasingly closer, many members of the public may often have to work outside Hong Kong for a short period of time. On the other hand, in the service-based economy of Hong Kong, quite a number of people have to work on Sundays. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it will introduce new measures (such as advance polling arrangement) in the 2008 Legislative Council Election, to facilitate electors who are not in Hong Kong or cannot find time to cast their votes on the election day in exercising their voting right; if it will, of the relevant details; if not, the reasons for that? Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs

*8. Dr Hon David LI to ask:

Will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the names of the private housing estates in Hong Kong having, within their boundaries, private roads the total length of which exceeds three kilometres, together with the total length of private roads within each of these estates; and

    (b)whether the Police are authorized to enforce the provisions in the Road Traffic Ordinance (Cap. 374) on these roads?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

*9. Hon TAM Yiu-chung to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the civil service disciplinary mechanism and procedures, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether civil servants being alleged of misconduct ("the officers concerned") bear the burden of proving their innocence in formal and informal disciplinary proceedings;

    (b)whether the officers concerned have the right to request the management to let them peruse all information in relation to their alleged misconduct, including letters of complaint with the complainants' names and other personal particulars obliterated, so that they can grasp all the facts relevant to the allegations and make full preparation for their defence; if not, of the justifications;

    (c)whether the management is obliged to disclose to the officers concerned all the evidence relevant to the allegations (including evidence for or against them), and whether the officers concerned are given sufficient opportunities to defend themselves; if not, of the reasons for that; and

    (d)of the criteria adopted by the management for determining whether a particular case should be referred to the Police for criminal investigation?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Civil Service

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

Will the Government provide a breakdown of the cases on which the Securities and Futures Commission ("SFC") completed inquiries or investigations in each of the past five financial years by the following:
    (a)the types of individuals/corporations (eg. various types of intermediaries conducting regulated activities, listed companies, officers-in-charge of listed companies etc.) who/which were the subjects of the inquiries or investigations; and

    (b)the non-statutory requirements or the provisions of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571) concerned in respect of the suspected misconduct under SFC's inquiry or investigation?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

*11. Hon Abraham SHEK to ask:

It has been reported that there was a tremendous increase in the number of cases of pregnancy discrimination in employment last year. Rather than being dismissed, pregnant employees were advised to resign or forced to resign by being transferred to work in a poor environment or given extra workload. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:
    (a)it knows the total number of complaints of alleged pregnancy discrimination received by the authorities concerned from January 2006 to May 2007;

    (b)it will consider raising the penalty for breaching the relevant legislation in order to enhance the deterrent effect against pregnancy discrimination; and

    (c)the authorities concerned will step up public education concerning pregnancy discrimination and alleged discriminatory acts?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs

*12. Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the mental health problems of children and youths ("C&Ys") aged 19 or below, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
    (a)the following in each of the past six years:

    (i)the respective numbers of C&Ys aged five or below, six to 12 and 13 to 19, who sought consultation at the psychiatric specialist out-patient service of public hospitals, and the respective numbers of the C&Ys diagnosed as suffering from mental health problems;

    (ii)the respective numbers of attendances of new cases seeking psychiatric specialist out-patient services for C&Ys in each hospital cluster, the average waiting time and attendances for first appointment and scheduled appointments (including urgent and non-urgent cases), and the percentage of C&Ys who did not turn up for follow-up consultations;

    (iii)the respective numbers of admissions of C&Ys to mental hospitals, half-way houses, supported hostels and long-stay care homes;

    (iv)the respective numbers of doctors and clinical psychologists working in psychiatric out-patient clinics of public hospitals and mental hospitals at the end of the year, and a comparison of the number of cases for treating C&Ys and adults suffering from various mental illnesses;

    (v)the number of cases handled by school social workers involving mental health problems of C&Ys, with a breakdown of the cases by the types of disorder behaviour or illnesses (such as suicide, attempted suicide, depression, phobia, Internet addiction and other types of addictive behaviour, and psychosis); and

    (b)the number of cases handled under the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Community Support Project, the number of psycho-educational activities held and the number of counselling sessions provided, in each of the past two years?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

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

In reply to a Member's question, at the Council meeting on 9 October 2002, on replacement of hollow wooden doors of public rental housing ("PRH") flats, the Government advised that hollow wooden doors used in 380 000 old PRH flats did not comply with the fire resistance requirements for residential flat doors stipulated in the revised Code of Practice for Fire Resisting Construction issued under the Buildings Ordinance in 1996. The Government planned to replace the flat entrance doors for PRH flats mainly located at "dead ends" of fire escape routes in old PRH estates as well as for some flats sold under the Tenants Purchase Scheme with solid-core doors that could resist fire for at least half an hour, and review the effectiveness of the replacement programme in 12 to 18 months' time. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the outcome of the above review; and

    (b)whether the authorities concerned will consider replacing the hollow wooden doors of the remaining PRH flats, so that the flat entrance doors of all PRH flats will have the same level of fire resistance; if not, of the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

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

Regarding the services and operation of the cross-boundary heliport in Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the amount of rental paid by the operator of the above heliport to the Government and the passenger volume of the heliport in each of the past three years, and how such rental level compares with that laid down in the tenancy agreement for the heliport which has come into effect since July this year;

    (b)given that in reply to my question at the Council meeting on 2 May this year regarding the granting of tenancy agreement for operating the above heliport and in the reply dated 5 June this year to my letter, the Government pointed out that the Civil Aviation Department ("CAD") would monitor the operation and charges of the above heliport operator in accordance with the tenancy agreement to ensure fair and equal access to the heliport by all helicopter service operators, and the arrangement for services of the heliport operator must be to the satisfaction of CAD, of the details of the relevant agreement terms, the specific criteria for CAD to measure the degree of its satisfaction, as well as details of the relevant monitoring and complaint mechanism;

    (c)given that the above heliport is currently the only cross-boundary heliport in Hong Kong, of the measures to prevent the single cross-boundary heliport operator from monopolizing the market; and

    (d)given that the above heliport is primarily for use by twin-engine helicopters flying between Hong Kong and Macau, and the site earmarked at the Kai Tak Development for the development of a second cross-boundary heliport is not located in the central business district ("CBD"), whether the Government will identify another site in CBD, for relocating the heliport at Tamar Site which was closed in 2003, to be used by single-engine helicopters, which represent 85% of the total number of helicopters in the world, in order to provide domestic helicopter services within the territory and helicopter services between Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta Region; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

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

I have received complaints from quite a number of prospective buyers and owners of private properties alleging that when property developers and estate agents promote the sale of properties, they often provide information on the sale situation and prices of flats only verbally. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of relevant complaints received by the authorities concerned in the past three years;

    (b)whether it will require representatives of property developers and estate agents to keep audio records of their discussions with prospective buyers, so as to facilitate follow-up action by the authorities concerned on the complaints received; and

    (c)whether it will consider requiring property developers to erect an information board measuring at least five feet tall by five feet wide at a prominent location of their sale sites to display the latest information about the sale situation and prices of flats, and to update such information at hourly intervals?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

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

With the passage of the Housing (Amendment) Bill 2007 by this Council last month, the Hong Kong Housing Authority ("HA") will establish a mechanism which provides for both upward and downward rent adjustments for public rental housing ("PRH"). HA will also reduce the normal PRH rent by 11.6% across the board from next month. The rent after the above reduction will be the starting point for the rent under this new mechanism. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows if the Hong Kong Housing Society will follow HA's move and reduce the rent for the rental units in its housing estates; if the rent will not be reduced, the reasons for that? Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

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

The Registration Committee under the Pharmacy and Poisons Board deregistered 19 generic drugs in January this year on the grounds that the Committee could not contact the three companies holding the registration certificates of these pharmaceutical products. It has been reported that these companies have allegedly infringed the patents held by others. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the measures currently in place to follow up the applications for registration of drugs which might have infringed intellectual property;

    (b)why the Government has not followed the practices of the authorities in United States, Singapore and the Mainland to enact legislation to establish linkage between pharmaceutical patents and drug registration, so as to ensure that approval for registration is granted only to the drugs which do not infringe any patent; and

    (c)of the measures currently in place to check the background and financial position of the companies which lodge applications for drug registration ("the relevant companies") and their persons-in-charge, to ensure that affected patients and medical practitioners may seek compensation for losses from the relevant companies in the event that the drugs are deregistered or recalled, and to ensure companies whose pharmaceutical patent rights have been infringed have the right to demand the relevant companies to recall the drugs concerned?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

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

At present, Comprehensive Social Security Assistance ("CSSA") recipients who wish to apply for grants to cover costs of dental treatment ("dental grants") are required to approach clinics designated by the Social Welfare Department ("SWD") for an estimate of cost at their own expense (the fee being $40 to $120) and then submit the estimate to the SWD Social Security Field Unit in their own district to apply for the grant. The whole process takes four weeks to three months. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the total amount of dental grants disbursed by SWD and the number of beneficiaries in each of the past five years;

    (b)of the reasons for allowing only those CSSA recipients who are old, disabled or in ill health to apply for dental grants;

    (c)of the respective numbers of SWD designated clinics which are operated by non-profit-making organizations and privately-run; and

    (d)given an upward trend in the number of low-income and poor people in recent years, whether it will review the relevant policy and consider providing dental grants to people who are not CSSA recipients; if so, when the review will be conducted?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

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

Recently, quite a number of members of the public have complained to me that the morning assembly broadcast in many schools has caused serious noise nuisance to residents nearby. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of such complaints received in each of the past three years, the noise levels involved in such cases, the names and locations of the schools concerned, and the number of cases in which the nuisance caused by excessively loud broadcast had been ameliorated; and

    (b)whether it will adopt measures to reduce the noise nuisance caused by broadcast from schools to residents nearby; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education

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

It has been reported that in recent years, in order to promote environmental protection and encourage waste recycling, the Government has been leasing vacant government land ("environmental protection land"), on short-term leases and at extremely low rental, to waste collectors for handling wastes. However, because of the lack of monitoring by the Administration, many lessees of such environmental protection land breached the lease agreements. Not only have they altered, without authorization, the types of wastes handled, but they have also sub-leased such land to other waste collectors at high rates for profiteering. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the current number of pieces of such environmental protection land in Hong Kong which have been leased to waste collectors and the average rental per square foot of such land, and in respect of each piece of such land, the location, area, types of recycled materials handled by the lessee concerned, the rental and the lease period;

    (b)of the average number of inspections conducted in each month last year by the Administration to monitor the lessees' compliance with the conditions laid down in the lease agreements of the above environmental protection land; and the number and nature of the breaches found during such inspections, particularly the sub-leasing of the environmental protection land by the lessees to other waste collectors; and how the Administration dealt with such breaches and whether it had penalized the lessees concerned; and

    (c)whether it will step up its monitoring of the lessees of the above environmental protection land; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment

*For written reply.

IIA. Statements

Green Paper on Constitutional Development : Chief Secretary for Administration

III. Bills

First Reading

1. Prevention of Bribery (Amendment) Bill 2007

2. Independent Police Complaints Council Bill

Second Reading (Debates to be adjourned)

1.Prevention of Bribery (Amendment) Bill 2007 :Chief Secretary for Administration

2.Independent Police Complaints Council Bill :Secretary for Security

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

Hazardous Chemicals Control Bill :Secretary for the Environment

IV. Motions

1.Proposed resolution under the Mass Transit Railway Ordinance

Secretary for Transport and Housing to move the following motion:

RESOLVED that the Mass Transit Railway (Amendment) Bylaw 2007, made by the MTR Corporation Limited on 20 June 2007, be approved.

(The Mass Transit Railway (Amendment) Bylaw 2007
was issued on 26 June 2007 under
LC Paper No. CB(3) 735/06-07)

Amendments to motion
(i)Hon James TO:

RESOLVED that the motion to be moved by the Secretary for Transport and Housing under section 34 of the Mass Transit Railway Ordinance (Cap. 556) at the Legislative Council meeting of 11 July 2007 be amended -

(a)by deleting "be approved." and substituting "subject to the following amendments, be approved -";

(b)by adding at the end -

"in section 8(b), by adding -

"(3) Paragraphs (1) and (2) do not apply in case of accident or other emergency.".".

(ii)Hon James TO:

RESOLVED that the motion to be moved by the Secretary for Transport and Housing under section 34 of the Mass Transit Railway Ordinance (Cap. 556) at the Legislative Council meeting of 11 July 2007 be amended -

(a)by deleting "be approved." and substituting "subject to the following amendments, be approved -";

(b)by adding at the end -

"in section 18, in new by-law 32A, by deleting "for the purpose of advertisement or publicity" and substituting "with intent to do so for the purpose of commercial advertisement or commercial publicity".".

(iii)Hon James TO:

RESOLVED that the motion to be moved by the Secretary for Transport and Housing under section 34 of the Mass Transit Railway Ordinance (Cap. 556) at the Legislative Council meeting of 11 July 2007 be amended -

(a)by deleting "be approved." and substituting "subject to the following amendments, be approved -";

(b)by adding at the end -

"by deleting section 21.".

2.Proposed resolution under the Mass Transit Railway Ordinance

Secretary for Transport and Housing to move the following motion:

RESOLVED that the Mass Transit Railway (North-west Railway) Bylaw, made by the MTR Corporation Limited on 20 June 2007, be approved.

(The Mass Transit Railway (North-west Railway) Bylaw
was issued on 26 June 2007 under
LC Paper No. CB(3) 735/06-07)

Amendments to motion
(i)Hon James TO:

RESOLVED that the motion to be moved by the Secretary for Transport and Housing under section 34 of the Mass Transit Railway Ordinance (Cap. 556) at the Legislative Council meeting of 11 July 2007 be amended -

(a)by deleting "be approved." and substituting "subject to the following amendments, be approved -";

(b)by adding at the end -

"in section 18, by adding -

"(1A) The Corporation may, by notice published in the Gazette, declare any notice and indicator that shall be complied with within the railway premises.

(1B) The notice published under subsection (1A) shall specify the date on which a notice or indicator is to take effect.".".

(ii)Hon James TO:

RESOLVED that the motion to be moved by the Secretary for Transport and Housing under section 34 of the Mass Transit Railway Ordinance (Cap. 556) at the Legislative Council meeting of 11 July 2007 be amended -

(a)by deleting "be approved." and substituting "subject to the following amendments, be approved -";

(b)by adding at the end -

"(a)by deleting section 22(1)(a) and substituting -

"(a)behave in a noisy or disorderly manner, or use threatening, abusive or insulting words, with intent to cause a breach of the peace on the railway premises, or whereby a breach of the peace on the railway premises is likely to be caused;";

(b)in section 22, by adding -

"(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 39(4), an official shall have power to detain any person who contravenes subsection (1)(a) until he can be delivered into the custody of a police officer to be dealt with according to law.";

(c)in the Schedule, in the entry relating to section 22, in the first column, by deleting "22" and substituting "22(1)(b), (c), (d) and (e)".".

(iii)Hon James TO:

RESOLVED that the motion to be moved by the Secretary for Transport and Housing under section 34 of the Mass Transit Railway Ordinance (Cap. 556) at the Legislative Council meeting of 11 July 2007 be amended -

(a)by deleting "be approved." and substituting "subject to the following amendments, be approved -";

(b)by adding at the end -

"(a)by deleting section 23 and substituting -

"23. Prohibited persons

An official may refuse the admission into or remove from the railway premises -

(a)any person whom he believes or is given reasonable cause to believe is under the influence of alcohol or drugs or in a state of intoxication resulting from consuming or abusing medicine;

(b)any person whom he believes or is given reasonable cause to believe is suffering from a contagious disease; or

(c)any person whom he believes or is given reasonable cause to believe may prejudice the safety of railway premises.";

(b)in the Schedule, by deleting -

"23 Passengers in unfit or improper condition entering railway premises, etc. $5,000 fine".".

(iv)Hon James TO:

RESOLVED that the motion to be moved by the Secretary for Transport and Housing under section 34 of the Mass Transit Railway Ordinance (Cap. 556) at the Legislative Council meeting of 11 July 2007 be amended -

(a)by deleting "be approved." and substituting "subject to the following amendments, be approved -";

(b)by adding at the end -

"in section 26(b), by deleting "for the purpose of advertisement or publicity" and substituting "with intent to do so for the purpose of commercial advertisement or commercial publicity".".

(v)Hon James TO:

RESOLVED that the motion to be moved by the Secretary for Transport and Housing under section 34 of the Mass Transit Railway Ordinance (Cap. 556) at the Legislative Council meeting of 11 July 2007 be amended -

(a)by deleting "be approved." and substituting "subject to the following amendments, be approved -";

(b)by adding at the end -

"(a)by deleting section 28 and substituting -

"28. Loitering prohibited

An official may request a person to leave, or remove the person from, the railway premises if he believes or is given reasonable cause to believe that the person, while in or upon any part of the railway premises, is -

(a)loitering with intent to commit an arrestable offence;

(b)loitering in any way as to wilfully obstruct any other person using the railway premises; or

(c)loitering, and his presence in the railway premises, either alone or with others, causes any other person reasonably to be concerned for his safety or well-being.";

(b)in the Schedule, by deleting -

"28 Loitering $2,000 fine".".

(vi)Hon James TO:

RESOLVED that the motion to be moved by the Secretary for Transport and Housing under section 34 of the Mass Transit Railway Ordinance (Cap. 556) at the Legislative Council meeting of 11 July 2007 be amended -

(a)by deleting "be approved." and substituting "subject to the following amendments, be approved -";

(b)by adding at the end - "in section 36(1)(b), by deleting "1 month" and substituting "3 months".".

(vii)Hon James TO:

RESOLVED that the motion to be moved by the Secretary for Transport and Housing under section 34 of the Mass Transit Railway Ordinance (Cap. 556) at the Legislative Council meeting of 11 July 2007 be amended -

(a)by deleting "be approved." and substituting "subject to the following amendments, be approved -";

(b)by adding at the end-

"by adding immediately after section 41 -

"42. Cessation of the Bylaw

This Bylaw shall cease to have effect upon the expiry of 15 months immediately following the Merger Date.".".

3.Proposed resolution under the Mass Transit Railway Ordinance

Secretary for Transport and Housing to move the following motion:

RESOLVED that the Mass Transit Railway (Transport Interchange) (Amendment) Bylaw 2007, made by the MTR Corporation Limited on 20 June 2007, be approved.

(The Mass Transit Railway (Transport Interchange) (Amendment)
Bylaw 2007 was issued on 26 June 2007 under
LC Paper No. CB(3) 735/06-07)

4.Proposed resolution under the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation Ordinance

Secretary for Transport and Housing to move the following motion:

RESOLVED that the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (Suspension of Bylaws) Bylaw 2007, made by the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation on 15 June 2007, be approved.

(The Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (Suspension of
Bylaws) Bylaw 2007 was issued on 26 June 2007 under
LC Paper No. CB(3) 735/06-07)

V. Members' Motions

1.Proposed resolution under the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China

Hon TSANG Yok-sing to move the following motion:

RESOLVED that Rule 33 of the Rules of Procedure of the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region be amended -

(a)in subrule (3A), by repealing "When" and substituting "Subject to subrule (3B), when";

(b)by adding -

"(3B) Except in the case of a motion moved by a designated public officer or under Rule 13(1) (The Chief Executive's Policy Address) or Rule 16(4) (Motions for the Adjournment of the Council), the President shall call upon designated public officers attending the debate to speak -

(a)before any Member who indicates his intention to speak is called upon to speak; and

(b)when no more Member indicates his intention to speak or, in the case of a joint debate on the motion and its amendments, after the mover of the motion has been called upon to speak on the amendments and has spoken.".

2.Proposed resolution under the Rules of Procedure of the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

Hon Miriam LAU to move the following motion:

RESOLVED that the amended terms of reference and list of corresponding bureaux/bodies set out in the Schedule, as recommended by the House Committee, be approved in respect of the existing 18 Panels formed by resolutions made and passed by this Council at its meetings of 8 July 1998, 20 December 2000 and 9 October 2002; and that the amendments so approved shall take effect on the day when the 2007-2008 session of the Council begins.

(The aforesaid Schedule was issued on 9 July 2007
under LC Paper No. CB(3)804/06-07)

3.Rights and interests of ethnic minorities

Hon Fred LI: (Translation)

That, as the Administration has failed to provide the necessary support and protection for some 300 000 ethnic minorities in Hong Kong, and many of them have encountered difficulties on various fronts, creating barriers to their development and integration into the Hong Kong community, this Council urges the Administration to adopt measures to protect the rights and interests of ethnic minorities, including:

(a)on the education front, allocating additional resources to increase the number of designated schools in various districts which admit more non-Chinese speaking primary and secondary students and to provide appropriate support to the schools concerned and, at the same time, offering a curriculum and public examination for the subject of Chinese Language which are suitable for students of ethnic minorities, so that such students who are not proficient in Chinese can have equal opportunities to further their studies in schools, especially universities, and in employment;

(b)on the employment front, conducting vocational training courses and trade tests in English or the languages of ethnic minorities according to their needs, relaxing the entry requirement in respect of Chinese proficiency in the recruitment of staff by the Government and public sector organizations, and arranging for suitable posts to be filled by ethnic minorities as far as practicable, and also providing information on job vacancies in both Chinese and English and setting up a dedicated employment counter by the Labour Department to assist ethnic minorities visiting the Department in seeking employment;

(c)on the public services front, providing free interpretation service for ethnic minorities using public services, such as public healthcare, social and employment services, etc;

(d)on the religion and culture fronts, providing venues and other facilities in the districts in which a larger number of ethnic minorities resided in for conducting religious and cultural activities and, at the same time, enhancing civic education to promote public understanding of and respect for the cultures of ethnic minorities;

(e)ensuring, by means of comprehensive legislation and complementary measures, that ethnic minorities are not discriminated against; and

(f)formulating a well-thought out policy to facilitate the integration of ethnic minorities into the Hong Kong community.

Amendment to motion
Hon CHOY So-yuk: (Translation)

To add "(b) in respect of young people of ethnic minorities, allocating additional resources to strengthen social services for young people of ethnic minorities, and assisting those who are beyond school age to complete secondary and vocational education;" after "in schools, especially universities, and in employment;"; to delete the original "(b)" and substitute with "(c)"; to add "and making enquiries about labour laws as well as workers' rights and interests" after "ethnic minorities visiting the Department in seeking employment"; to delete the original "(c)" and substitute with "(d)"; to delete the original "(d)" and substitute with "(e)"; to add "(f) appointing ethnic minorities with ability to public organizations or advisory bodies, such as the Equal Opportunities Commission, so as to reflect the aspirations of ethnic minorities;" after "respect for the cultures of ethnic minorities;"; to delete the original "(e)" and substitute with "(g)"; and to delete the original "(f)" and substitute with "(h) setting up a comprehensive database to collect, in a systematic and focused manner, data relating to ethnic minorities in such areas as employment, education, use of public services, religion and culture, with a view to understanding their needs and thereby".

Public Officer to attend :Secretary for Home Affairs
(in the absence of Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs)

4.Developing co-operative relationship with the Mainland

Hon TSANG Yok-sing: (Translation)

That, as Hong Kong's relationship with the Mainland is increasingly close since its reunification with the motherland, and experience has proved that enhancing co-operation between the two places can bring about a mutually beneficial and win-win effect, this Council urges the Government to continue to develop its co-operative relationship with the Mainland on all fronts, and set up a co-operation mechanism which is permanent and authoritative, covering more areas and levels, to undertake overall planning, co-ordination and policy formulation on important issues concerning co-operative development.

Amendments to motion
(i)Hon Emily LAU: (Translation)

To add ", on the premise of 'one country, two systems and a high degree of autonomy'," after "urges the Government to continue"; and to add "and urges the Central Government to issue Home Visit Permits to those Hong Kong people who cannot return to the Mainland, including Members of the Legislative Council and District Councils who belong to the democratic camp, and communicate with the Legislature and political parties in Hong Kong and develop a normal working relationship to enhance mutual understanding, so that the relationship between the HKSAR and the Mainland can be normalized," after "on all fronts,".

(ii)Hon Audrey EU: (Translation)

To delete "and" after "on all fronts," and substitute with "especially on issues concerning immigration policies, environment, air quality and food safety, and to"; and to delete "authoritative" after "permanent and" and substitute with "efficient".

(iii)Hon Albert HO: (Translation)

To add "promote expeditious development in the country's constitutional democracy with Hong Kong's experience in practising full democracy, and urges the Mainland to draw on Hong Kong's experience in the rule of law to establish a law regime which respects judicial independence and protects the autonomy of the law profession," after "on all fronts,".

Public Officer to attend :Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
(in the absence of Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs)

Clerk to the Legislative Council