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A 06/07-9
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 29 November 2006 at 11:00 am
I. Tabling of Papers
Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments | L.N. No.
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1. | Air Pollution Control (Volatile Organic Compounds) Regulation | 258/2006
| 2. | Public Health and Municipal Services (Designation of Public Markets) Order 2006 | 259/2006
| 3. | Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Amendment of Tenth Schedule) (No.2) Order 2006 | 260/2006
| Other Papers
1. | No.28 | - | Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation Annual Report 2005/2006
| (to be presented by Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology)
| 2. | No.29 | - | Hong Kong Productivity Council
Annual Report 2005/2006
| (to be presented by Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology)
| 3. | No.30 | - | Report of changes to the approved Estimates of Expenditure approved during the second quarter of 2006-07 (Public Finance Ordinance : Section 8)
| (to be presented by Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury)
| 4. | No.31 | - | Ocean Park Corporation
Annual Report 2005-2006
| (to be presented by Prof Hon Patrick LAU Sau-shing, who will address the Council)
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II. Questions
1. Hon Ronny TONG Ka-wah to ask: (Translation)
Since 1 April this year, the Chief Executive ("CE") has made a number of public speeches through Radio Television Hong Kong ("RTHK"): five times on the programme "Hong Kong Letter" on Radio One and twice on the programme "Letter to Hong Kong" on Radio Three. This is far more frequent than that of the former CE. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) | among these seven public speeches, of the respective numbers of speeches made at the request of the Chief Executive's Office ("CE's Office") and at the invitation of RTHK; as well as the respective reasons for CE's Office and RTHK making such requests and invitations;
| (b) | of the respective numbers of invitations, with a breakdown by channels, which RTHK has made, since 1 January this year, to CE, the Secretaries and Directors of Bureaux inviting them to be the host or guest speaker of its programmes; and
| (c) | of the criteria adopted by RTHK for inviting CE, the Secretaries and Directors of Bureaux to be the host or guest speaker of its programmes?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology
2. Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG to ask: (Translation)
In July this year, the Office of the Telecommunications Authority ("OFTA") released a consultation paper which, among other things, recommended the removal of the existing requirement for mobile network operators to pay interconnection charges to fixed network operators for incoming and outgoing calls. There have been comments that the implementation of this proposal will reduce the revenue of the fixed network operators, and they may replace the existing flat-rate charging mode for fixed telephone services by one based on usage. On the other hand, when OFTA consulted the public on the charging mode of fixed telephone services in May 1996, the public generally considered that the status quo should be maintained at that time. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) | of the arguments put forth in 1996 in support of maintaining the flat-rate charging mode and against the usage-based charging mode, and whether such arguments still stand; whether it will consider consulting the public again on the charging mode concerned;
| (b) | as OFTA had, following the public consultation exercise in 1996, decided not to change the flat-rate charging mode for fixed telephone services, why OFTA stated in the consultation paper released in July this year that it "is not in a position to influence" the charging mode; and
| (c) | whether, in deciding on the charging mode for fixed telephone services, it will take into account the special needs of the elderly people and other socially disadvantaged groups to use the telephone for social contacts and seeking help, and the affordability of non-profit-making organizations which operate telephone hotlines?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology
3. Hon Frederick FUNG to ask: (Translation)
At its meeting held in March this year, the Commission on Poverty discussed the provision of long-term travel support to the low-income earners who live in remote areas and need to commute to work across districts, and the Commission hoped that the Government would launch a trial scheme in this regard in the 2006-2007 financial year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) | of the latest work progress in the provision of the long-term travel support, and the details of the trial scheme, including the implementation date, target recipients, whether there will be restrictions on the means of transportation taken by the recipients, whether there will be a maximum period for receiving the travel support, the implementation mechanism, the government department(s) responsible for administering the scheme, the anticipated amount of public expenditure to be incurred and the number of recipients each year, and the anticipated effect of the scheme towards alleviating poverty;
| (b) | of the measures to prevent employers from reducing accordingly the wages of their employees while the latter are receiving the travel support, and whether it has assessed if the implementation of a statutory minimum wage system is one of the feasible measures; and
| (c) | as the Government has not yet launched the trial scheme, and the term of office of members of the Commission on Poverty will expire in January next year, whether the Government will consider reorganizing the Commission and the Chief Secretary for Administration taking over its chairmanship, so as to enhance its powers and functions and hence enable it to take forward the work on alleviating poverty at the policy level?
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Public Officer to reply : Financial Secretary
4. | For Hon Audrey EU, Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG to ask: (Translation)
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In his Policy Address delivered in January, 2005, the former Chief Executive indicated that government departments would adopt a green procurement policy to help create a market for environmentally-friendly products. However, the authorities advised afterwards that the majority of environmentally-friendly products procured by government departments were drawn from the unallocated stock held by the Government Logistics Department ("GLD") and from the bulk contracts arranged by GLD, and that individual government departments did not record the value of procurement of environmentally-friendly products separately. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) | of the specific contents of the green procurement policy of individual government departments;
| (b) | whether it will require individual government departments to keep a record of the environmentally-friendly products they procure and regularly announce the progress of implementing their green procurement policy, to enable the public to assess the effectiveness of the policy; and
| (c) | whether it will require public bodies, Government-funded organizations and contractors of Government works projects to formulate a green procurement policy, to further create a market for environmentally-friendly products?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
5. Hon TAM Heung-man to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the nine enhanced measures proposed at the end of July this year by the Environmental Protection Department to mitigate road traffic noise, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) | of the latest situation and the work targets of the implementation of the above measures;
| (b) | as the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines stipulate that Hong Kong's current road traffic noise limit is 70 A-weighted decibel level, whether the authorities will consider reviewing the above limit in the light of the changes in population and residential density in Hong Kong; and
| (c) | given that currently about 1.1 million people in Hong Kong are still exposed to traffic noise levels that exceed the limit, whether the authorities have any work plans, including reviewing how environmental assessment can be enhanced and what measures developers are required to take in planning lands for residential uses, in addition to the existing measures and the above enhanced measures, to ensure that traffic noise will not exceed the limit, so as to protect these people from such exposure?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works
6. Hon James TO to ask: (Translation)
According to the existing housing policy, public housing applicants should not own or co-own any domestic property. In case of divorce, neither party is eligible to apply for public housing if either of them does not wish to pursue the process of transferring the title of their property which has been registered as co-owned property in the Land Registry. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) | of the assistance provided by the Social Welfare Department ("SWD") to such divorced couples in finding accommodation to live separately; the respective numbers of cases in the past three years in which SWD has succeeded in helping such persons to find accommodation and those in which it has failed to do so; and among the latter cases, of the number of those in which domestic disputes and violence have taken place;
| (b) | whether the Director of Housing ("D of H") can exercise discretion to allow divorced persons who fail to resolve the problem of property ownership to apply for or be accommodated in public housing; if he can, of the respective numbers of cases in the past three years in which D of H has exercised his discretion to allow such persons to lease public housing units on normal tenancy terms or on conditional terms, or to apply for public housing; and the respective numbers of cases in which such persons were not allowed to lease public housing units on normal tenancy terms or on conditional terms, or to apply for public housing; and
| (c) | whether the Housing Department will consider amending the eligibility criteria for applying for public housing to allow divorced persons who cannot obtain the title to the properties concerned under court decrees to apply for public housing even if the transfer of title is still in progress, so as to help divorced persons who have not sought assistance from SWD to resolve their accommodation problems if they are to live separately from their spouses, so as to prevent serious domestic disputes or violence?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands
*7. Hon Daniel LAM Wai-keung to ask: (Translation)
It is learnt that many villages in the New Territories ("NT") are not provided with proper leisure and cultural services ("LCS") facilities. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) | in each of the past four years, of the budget for and the actual expenditure on implementing LCS projects by the authorities for residents in the rural areas, the number of LCS projects initiated and implemented by government departments for the villages in NT, the costs involved and the present status of these projects, and the number of applications received from residents in rural areas for the implementation of LCS projects, the respective numbers of such applications approved and rejected as well as the reasons for rejecting the applications;
| (b) | of the current number of approved rural LCS projects which have not yet commenced (please provide a breakdown by the waiting time for the commencement of the projects), the reasons for the difference in the waiting time, as well as the total number and proportion of those LCS projects which have been given approval for more than four years but have not yet commenced, together with the reasons for the delay in their commencement, and whether there are approved projects which have been cancelled due to excessive waiting time for commencement;
| (c) | whether it will consider implementing special measures to shorten rural LCS projects' waiting time for commencement; and
| (d) | whether it will, for the purpose of taking care of the needs of the disadvantaged and people in remote areas, earmark provisions to expedite those LCS projects which are small in scale but urgently needed by residents in the rural areas?
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Public Officer to reply : | Secretary for the Civil Service
(in the absence of Secretary for Home Affairs)
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*8. Hon Howard YOUNG to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that due to the implementation of air traffic flow control by the airport authorities in Guangzhou and Huangzhou on the 25th day of last month, a number of flights from Hong Kong overflying the Mainland were delayed in taking off. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) | of the number of flights from Hong Kong which were delayed in taking off in the past three years due to the implementation of air traffic flow control by the Mainland authorities; and the percentage of this number among all the flights which were delayed in taking off in the period;
| (b) | whether it has projected the number of flights overflying the Mainland which will take off or land in Hong Kong in the coming five years and, among them, the number of flights which will experience delay in taking off or landing caused by air traffic flow control by the Mainland authorities; if it has, of the projected figures; and
| (c) | of the measures to reduce the delay in taking off or landing of flights caused by air traffic flow control by the Mainland authorities, including whether it has discussed with the Mainland authorities ways to enhance the co-ordination of air traffic management; if it has, of the details?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Development and Labour
*9. Hon TSANG Yok-sing to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that the contents of television programmes broadcast on mobile phones and other mobile communication devices are not subject to the regulation of the Generic Code of Practice on Television Programme Standards issued by the Broadcasting Authority. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it plans to step up the regulation of such contents; if so, of the details of its plans; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology
*10. Hon WONG Ting-kwong to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that the Singaporean Government will allocate S$13.55 billion (approximately HK$67.7 billion) to promote research and development ("R&D") in science and technology in the coming five years, and young people from around the world are welcome to pursue postgraduate studies, teach or conduct research in the universities of Singapore. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) | whether it has studied if Singapore's plan to nurture scientific and technological research talents will pose competition to Hong Kong; if it has, of the study findings;
| (b) | of the long-term plan for nurturing scientific and technological research talents in Hong Kong; and
| (c) | of the amount of the authorities' expenditure on nurturing scientific and technological research talents and conducting R&D activities in each of the past three years, together with the rate of increase in such expenditure, as well as the number of local institutes or enterprises engaging in R&D activities which were set up in each year of the same period, together with the rate of increase in the number of such institutes or enterprises?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology
*11. Hon LEE Wing-tat to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the reduction of discarded plastic bags, their disposal as well as the study on levying a tax on plastic bags, will the Government inform this Council of:
(a) | the number of plastic bags disposed of and the costs incurred in the disposal of these bags, and whether it knows the respective numbers of plastic bags distributed by supermarket chains, retail outlet chains, major fast food chains, catering groups and convenience stores, in each of the past three years;
| (b) | the effectiveness of the "voluntary agreements on plastic bag reduction" signed between the Government and major retail outlet chains; and
| (c) | the details of the study on levying a tax on plastic bags, including how the tax will be levied, the rate and the scope of the tax, the use of the revenue collected and the implementation timetable, etc?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works
*12. Hon Albert HO to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the development and financial position of the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation ("KCRC"), will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
(a) | the number and names of properties along the railway routes developed by KCRC, since its corporatization in the 80's, in partnership with the private sector;
| (b) | the KCRC's net profits from the sale of properties along East Rail ("ER"), Light Rail Transit ("LRT") and West Rail ("WR") (please provide the relevant details using the table below);
Name of property | Location (along ER/ LRT/ WR) | Net Profit (HK$) |
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| (c) | the respective amounts of net profits made by KCRC from property management, leasing of shops, offices and residential units, commercial businesses in stations and other businesses in each of the past three years (please provide the relevant details using the table below);
Name of property/title of project | Location (along ER/ LRT/WR) | Type of business (property management/ leasing of shops/leasing of offices/leasing of residential units/ commercial businesses in railway stations/ other businesses) | Net Profit (HK$) |
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| (d) | the capital costs for constructing LRT (including all the extensions), and whether the profits made by KCRC from developing properties along LRT are adequate for offsetting such costs; and
| (e) | LRT's income from train fares, as well as expenditure on interest on capital and loans and depreciation charges in each of the past three years, and whether LRT was still operating at a loss if such expenditure was not deducted from the income in each year of the same period?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
*13. Hon CHOY So-yuk to ask: (Translation)
Although the local passenger service of the Kowloon-Canton Railway East Rail ("ER") has become fully electrified since 1983, many diesel locomotives are still running on the tracks of ER every day hauling freight and engineering trains. Some residents living in areas along ER have complained about the excessive noise and pungent black smoke emitted from such diesel locomotives. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) | of the total number of the relevant complaints received by the authorities concerned in the past three years, with a breakdown by the contents of complaints;
| (b) | whether it knows the average daily number of trips made by diesel locomotives on ER tracks at present;
| (c) | whether there are provisions on the permitted noise and emission levels of such diesel locomotives; if there are, of the details, and whether the compliance with such provisions is monitored regularly by the Environmental Protection Department; if it is monitored, of the results; if there are no such provisions, of the reasons for that; and
| (d) | whether it will strengthen the control on noise and emissions from diesel locomotives; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works
*14. Hon LI Kwok-ying to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that some eggs from the provinces of Hebei and Hubei in the Mainland have been found to contain the carcinogenic Sudan IV, a dye for industrial uses, and it is suspected that these eggs are also on sale in Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) | of the immediate and long-term measures to prevent the importation of eggs containing carcinogenic substances into Hong Kong;
| (b) | whether currently there is legislation to regulate the eggs imported into Hong Kong for human consumption; if so, of the details; if not, whether it will consider introducing legislation for that purpose; and whether there is an inspection system for imported eggs; if so, of the details; if not, whether it will consider establishing such an inspection system to regulate the quality of imported eggs; and
| (c) | how the mechanism for notification between the inspection and quarantine authorities in Hong Kong and the Mainland has operated during the above incident, and whether they have evaluated the operation of the mechanism to ascertain if it needs improvement; if they have, of the evaluation results?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
*15. Hon LEUNG Yiu-chung to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the early diagnosis of breast cancer and cervical cancer, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) | of the respective numbers of women who were diagnosed as having breast cancer and cervical cancer and those who died of these two types of cancers in each of the past three years, together with a breakdown by their age profile (in age groups each covering five years);
| (b) | of the respective numbers of women who received screening for early diagnosis of the two types of cancers in each of the past three years;
| (c) | whether it will provide such screening services free of charge for women who are economically deprived but not receiving Comprehensive Social Security Assistance; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
| (d) | whether it plans to launch new publicity and educational programmes to encourage more women to receive the screening concerned?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
*16. Hon Albert CHAN to ask: (Translation)
In January 2005, the Hong Kong Committee on Children's Rights, a community-based organization, submitted jointly with 19 non-government organizations a report to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child regarding the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The report considers that there is an urgent need for Hong Kong to formulate a child policy and set up an independent Commission on Children responsible for implementing the policy. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) | why the Government has not yet set up an independent Commission on Children, and whether it will accept the above recommendations of the report; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
| (b) | as the authorities are considering the establishment of a Family Commission, whether it plans to include children affairs within the purview of that Commission, instead of setting up an independent Commission on Children; if so, of the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : | Secretary for the Civil Service
(in the absence of Secretary for Home Affairs)
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*17. Hon CHEUNG Hok-ming to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that a member of the Eastern District Council suggested that the Government should explore the feasibility of demolishing the section of Island Eastern Corridor ("IEC") between Watson Road and Tin Chiu Street in North Point and replacing it with a tunnel, so as to ameliorate the problems of noise nuisance and obstruction of harbour view caused by this section of IEC, which is very close to residential developments. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) | whether it will consider conducting a feasibility study on the above suggestion; if it will, of the timetable and scope of the study; if not, the reasons for that;
| (b) | whether it has assessed the impact of demolishing the above IEC section on the already very heavy traffic there; and whether it has considered adopting measures to divert the traffic when the relevant works are in progress; and
| (c) | whether it has assessed the costs of and time required for the relevant projects to demolish the above IEC section and construct in its place a tunnel connecting Central-Wan Chai Bypass and the section of IEC along Taikoo Shing?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works
*18. Dr Hon Joseph LEE Kok-long to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the boards and councils responsible for the registration of health care professionals, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) | given that 14 out of the 15 current members of the Nursing Council of Hong Kong ("NCHK") were appointed by the Chief Executive, whether the Government has any plans to allow members of the profession to elect their own representatives on NCHK; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
| (b) | whether it has any plans to review the composition of the boards and councils responsible for the registration of other health care professionals, to allow members of the professions to take up the chairmanships of the respective boards and councils, or increase the ratio of members from the professions on these boards and councils so as to achieve professional autonomy; if it has, of the details, if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
*19. Hon SIN Chung-kai to ask: (Translation)
In regard to helping the disadvantaged groups to overcome the digital divide so as to integrate into an information society, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) | of the operation of the Digital Solidarity Fund since its establishment at the end of 2004, including the respective numbers of funding applications received and approved each year;
| (b) | whether the Government will further inject funds into the Fund; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
| (c) | as it is very common for modern city dwellers to make use of the Internet for searching information and mobile phones for contacting one another, whether the authorities will specify the basic monthly charges of Internet access services and mobile phone services as items of basic living expenses under the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance Scheme; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology
*20. Hon LAU Kong-wah to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the elderly people waiting for subsidized places in residential care homes for the elderly ("RCHEs"), will the Government inform this Council:
(a) | of the respective numbers of elderly persons on the waiting list for such places and those with placements arranged in each of the past three years, the average waiting time for those with placements arranged, as well as the measures to shorten the waiting time;
| (b) | whether the authorities will discuss with the Mainland authorities ways to enhance the standards of the facilities and services of those RCHEs on the Mainland for elderly persons from Hong Kong, in order to encourage them to live there; and
| (c) | whether the authorities will consider providing support for the elderly persons from Hong Kong who live in RCHEs on the Mainland?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
*For written reply.
III. Motions
- Proposed resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance
Secretary for Economic Development and Labour to move the motion in Appendix I.
- Proposed resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance
Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works to move the following motion:
RESOLVED that -
(a) | the Waterworks Ordinance (Cap. 102) be amended -
| | (i) | in section 30(4) by repealing "of $20,000" and substituting "at level 5";
| | (ii) | in section 32 by repealing "of $5,000" and substituting "at level 4";
| | (iii) | in section 35(1) by repealing "of $5,000" and substituting "at level 4";
| | (iv) | in section 35(2) by repealing "$200 for every day" and substituting "$1,000 for every day";
| | (v) | in section 37(2) by repealing "of $4,000" and substituting "at level 3";
| (b) | the Waterworks Regulations (Cap. 102 sub. leg. A) be amended -
| | (i) | in regulation 44 by repealing "of $4,000" and substituting "at level 3";
| | (ii) | in regulation 51(2) by repealing "of $4,000" and substituting "at level 3".
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- Proposed resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance
Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury to move the motion in Appendix II.
- Proposed resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance
Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury to move the motion in Appendix III.
IV. Members' Motions
- Proposed resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance
Hon Albert HO to move the following motion:
RESOLVED that in relation to the-
(a) | Protection of Children and Juveniles (Places of Refuge) (Amendment) Order 2006, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 237 of 2006;
| (b) | Places of Detention (Juvenile Offenders) Appointment (Consolidation) (Amendment) Order 2006, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 238 of 2006;
| (c) | Probation of Offenders (Approved Institution) (Consolidation) (Amendment) Order 2006, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 239 of 2006;
| (d) | Reformatory School (Establishment) (Consolidation) (Amendment) Order 2006, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 240 of 2006;
| (e) | Immigration (Places of Detention) (Amendment) Order 2006, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 241 of 2006; and
| (f) | Remand Home (Amendment) Rules 2006, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 242 of 2006,
| and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 1 November 2006, 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 20 December 2006.
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- Electing the Legislative Council by universal suffrage
Hon LEE Cheuk-yan: (Translation)
That this Council considers the year 2012 or before appropriate for electing all Members of the Legislative Council by universal suffrage.
Amendment to motion
Hon Albert CHAN: (Translation)
To delete "2012 or before" after "the year" and substitute with "2008".
Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Constitutional Affairs
- Relief measures and compensation policies for the live poultry trades
Hon Tommy CHEUNG: (Translation)
That, as the Government is determined to implement central slaughtering of live poultry, which will permanently damage the live poultry trades, this Council urges the Government to expeditiously discuss with the trades to formulate a scheme that enables exit from the trades with reasonable compensation, having regard to the circumstances of live poultry farmers, wholesalers, retailers, transporters and workers; furthermore, prior to the implementation of central slaughtering of live poultry, if there is a need to suspend the import of live poultry and birds from the Mainland in the event of an outbreak of avian influenza there, in order to prevent the trades from being severely hit, this Council urges the Government to introduce the following relief measures:
(a) | setting up an emergency relief fund to provide assistance or low interest loans to the trades, so as to tide them over the difficult times;
| (b) | granting a rent waiver to tenants of the Government's wholesale and retail markets; and
| (c) | providing emergency financial assistance to workers who are not employed on a long-term basis.
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Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
Clerk to the Legislative Council
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