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A 07/08-7
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 14 November 2007 at 11:00 am
I. Tabling of Papers
| 1. | No.27 | - | Report on the Administration of the Immigration Service Welfare Fund prepared by the Director of Immigration Incorporated in accordance with Regulation 12(b) of the Immigration Service (Welfare Fund) Regulation
| (to be presented by Secretary for Security)
| | 2. | No.28 | - | Construction Workers Registration Authority
Annual Report 2006-2007
| (to be presented by Secretary for Development)
| | 3. | Report of the Bills Committee on Attachment of Income Order (Application to Government and Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2007
| (to be presented by Hon CHOY So-yuk, Chairman of the Bills Committee)
|
II. Questions
1. Hon Andrew LEUNG Kwan-yuen to ask: (Translation)
About enhancing the business licensing system, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | as it was reported that the report on doing business published recently by the World Bank indicated that to apply for a business license to start a business in Hong Kong, it would take 155 days and 23 procedures to complete the licensing process, whether the authorities will further shorten the relevant licensing process and time required; and
| | (b) | given that to enhance the business licensing system, the Government has launched the "Be the Smart Regulator" Programme to improve the processing of food-related, club and hotel licences and has pledged to develop a model of best practices based on relevant experience that will be replicated across licences and departments, of the latest progress in implementing the Programme?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
2. Hon Jeffrey LAM Kin-fung to ask: (Translation)
In his 2007-2008 Policy Address, the Chief Executive stated that the development of creative industries must accelerate and the authorities would formulate strategies to revitalise Brand Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the new specific plans the authorities have regarding their policies and measures to promote creative industries (e.g. converting vacant industrial buildings into production sites of creative industries, offering more creativity-related courses to train talents, and fostering cooperation among the Government, the business sector and the public in order to build up a creative economy in all echelons of society); and
| | (b) | given that earlier this month, the Police seized some T-shirts and postcards from a store selling household items on the grounds of suspected contravention of the Societies Ordinance, what criteria are adopted by the authorities to safeguard freedom of creativity when enforcing the law, and how they will educate the public to avoid breaking the law while engaging in creative work?
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| Public Officer to reply | : | Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
(in the absence of Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development)
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3. Hon LEE Cheuk-yan to ask: (Translation)
I have received complaints from members of the public that motorcycle parking spaces in many districts are insufficient. In reply to a question raised by a Member of this Council in this regard on 15 June 2005, the former Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works advised that approximately 6 000 additional parking spaces for motorcycles were projected to be provided at roadside, government car parks, short-term tenancy car parks and new developments in the next three years. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the latest demand and supply situation of day-time and night-time motorcycle parking spaces in each local administrative district, and the districts in which motorcycle parking spaces are seriously in short supply;
| | (b) | of the respective numbers of motorcycle parking spaces added and cancelled in each local administrative district over the past two years; and
| | (c) | whether it plans to provide additional motorcycle parking spaces in the next 12 months; if so, of the number of such parking spaces, together with a breakdown by their respective locations?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing
4. Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki to ask: (Translation)
In its population projections for the period between 2007 and 2036, the Census and Statistics Department has assumed that during that period, there will be 30 000 mainland women giving birth in Hong Kong per annum. Among them, 10 000 women are the spouses of permanent residents of Hong Kong, while the rest are not. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it has conducted any detailed study to examine the respective impact on the local community brought about by the aforesaid two categories of mainland women giving birth in Hong Kong; and
| | (b) | as most of the mainland women of these two categories and their spouses have indicated in a survey that they will bring their children back to Hong Kong when or before their children are six years of age, whether the authorities have calculated the additional demand for social services such as housing, education, welfare services, healthcare and employment service arising from members of these two categories of families settling in Hong Kong in the next 10 years, and the number of primary and secondary schools which need to be built as well as the amount of resources required to meet such demands?
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| Public Officers to reply | : | Secretary for Labour and Welfare
Secretary for Education |
5. Hon LEE Wing-tat to ask: (Translation)
The Tenants Purchase Scheme ("TPS") has been ceased since the sale of the TPS Phase 6B in August 2005. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it will reconsider re-launching the TPS; if so, when or the circumstances under which it will be re-launched; if not, the reasons for that;
| | (b) | whether it will consult public housing tenants on re-launching the TPS; and
| | (c) | of the respective numbers of housing estates and flats suitable for inclusion in the TPS at present?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing
6. Dr Hon Joseph LEE Kok-long to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that recently, some illegal entrants ("IEs") have come to Hong Kong to commit crimes so that they can receive free medical and drug treatment in Hong Kong upon being sentenced to imprisonment. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the number of hospital beds in the local institutions of the Correctional Services Department ("CSD") in each of the past three years, the respective occupancy rates of such beds by local and IE inmates, and the common types of illnesses suffered by IE inmates;
| | (b) | whether it will require CSD and the Department of Health to record the medical expenditure incurred by IE inmates in order to assess whether the medical funding allocated to CSD's local institutions is sufficient to meet the demands concerned; and
| | (c) | whether it has considered collecting from the countries to which the IE inmates belong the medical fees incurred by them in Hong Kong, or collecting the relevant fees from such persons (e.g. by deducting such fees from the wages they earn when working in CSD's institutions)?
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| Public Officer to reply | : | Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs
(in the absence of Secretary for Security)
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*7. Hon WONG Ting-kwong to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the cross-boundary ferry services in Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the total number of shipping companies currently providing cross-boundary ferry services between Hong Kong and Macao or the Mainland, and the respective numbers of ferry routes involved;
| | (b) | whether there was an increase in the number of shipping companies applying for the use of the berths of local ferry terminals to provide cross-boundary ferry services last year; if so, of the details;
| | (c) | whether it has received any application from the Las Vegas Sands Corp. for the operation of ferry services from Macao to the Hong Kong International Airport and the Macao Ferry Terminal at the Shun Tak Centre in Sheung Wan; if so, of the outcome of the applications, and whether it has assessed the impact of such ferry services on Hong Kong; and
| | (d) | whether the existing cross-boundary ferry terminals in Hong Kong can provide sufficient berths for such ferries; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing
*8. Hon CHEUNG Hok-ming to ask: (Translation)
Recently, I have received complaints from members of the public, who have expressed their dissatisfaction with several oil companies in Hong Kong, which are "quick-in-raising and slow-in-reducing" when adjusting fuel prices, as well as the high fuel duty in Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it has explored improvement measures to address the above problem of adjusting fuel prices by oil companies; if it has, of the details of the improvement measures; if not, the reasons for that;
| | (b) | in view of the Government's strong financial position at present, whether it has considered lowering fuel duty to bring down fuel prices in Hong Kong so as to alleviate the burden of the public; if not, of the reasons for that; and
| | (c) | given that one of the purposes for the Government to maintain high fuel duty is to curb the increase in vehicles, whether the Government has reviewed if such practice can achieve the anticipated effect; if it has, of the details of the effect; if not, whether it will review if it is necessary to continue such practice or resort to alternative measures?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
*9. Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki to ask: (Translation)
At the meeting of the Panel on Planning, Lands and Works of this Council held on 29 May this year, an official of the Planning Department said that the proposed provision of a helipad north-east of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre was mainly for the use of the Government Flying Service to provide emergency and other government flying services. The helipad could also be used by commercial operators of domestic helicopter services provided that emergency services would not be affected. As the Administration has earmarked a site at the Kai Tak Development for the development of a cross-boundary heliport, the above-mentioned helipad is not supposed to provide cross-boundary helicopter services. However, it has been reported that after a businessman lobbied the Chief Executive directly, the Administration may change in the near future its policy of not providing cross-boundary helicopter services at the helipad. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether the Chief Executive has instructed the relevant bureau to review the aforesaid policy afresh;
| | (b) | whether it will consult this Council, the Wan Chai District Council and the public before making the decision to permit cross-boundary helicopters to use the helipad;
| | (c) | whether it has projected the respective numbers of helicopter movements in different intervals of a day and the numbers of such movements for the provision of domestic helicopter services, as well as whether it has assessed the impact of permitting cross-boundary helicopters to use the helipad on the surrounding environment and tourists; and
| | (d) | whether it will limit the numbers of helicopter movements at the helipad in different intervals of a day?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing
*10. Hon Albert CHAN to ask: (Translation)
Recently, some members of the public have reflected to me that the headlamps of many vehicles have been converted to brighter "HID" lamps (i.e. high intensity gas-discharge headlamps). As such headlamps are twice as bright as the original filament headlamps and emit dazzling light, they blur the vision of pedestrians and other drivers, jeopardizing their safety. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the number of complaints received about vehicles installed with high-powered HID headlamps in each of the past three years;
| | (b) | whether it knows the current number of vehicles installed with high-powered HID headlamps; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
| | (c) | whether it has assessed the impact of such headlamps on other drivers; if so, of the findings; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing
*11. Dr Hon David LI to ask:
In his 2007-2008 Policy Address, the Chief Executive stated that as a member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation, Hong Kong would honour its pledge and seek to achieve a reduction in energy intensity of at least 25% by 2030, and to this end, the Government would introduce energy saving measures at different levels, and consult the public on the proposed mandatory implementation of the Building Energy Codes. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it knows the percentage of electricity consumption for air conditioning in the total electricity consumption in Hong Kong in July and August this year, and the trend of such consumption in the past five years;
| | (b) | given that in countries affected by excessively cold weather in winter, the installation of double-glazed or even triple-glazed windows is mandatory, whether it has assessed if all other factors being equal, mandatory installation of double-glazed windows in newly constructed buildings in Hong Kong will result in a meaningful reduction in the energy required for air conditioning in such buildings, and the number of years it will take for such mandatory installation to result in a 1% reduction in the overall electricity demand compared to a "no-action" scenario; if it has, of the assessment results; and
| | (c) | of the estimated annual energy savings, in terms of overall electricity consumption, that can be achieved by replacing incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs, which will reduce both the heat produced by the light bulbs and the electricity required to power them?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment
*12. Hon SIN Chung-kai to ask: (Translation)
In the Report on Economic Summit on "China's 11th Five-Year Plan and the Development of Hong Kong" published in January this year, the Focus Group on Professional Services, Information & Technology and Tourism put forth the proposal of promoting Hong Kong as the key data centre in the region. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the progress made by the authorities in developing data services in Hong Kong since the publication of the above Report, and apart from further facilitating the outsourcing of more data centres in the Government, whether the authorities have formulated concrete measures to help develop Hong Kong into the key data centre in the region; if they have, of the details and timetable of such measures; if not, the reasons for that;
| | (b) | given that it is mentioned in the above proposal that "Hong Kong should actively promote overseas its numerous advantages that are conducive to the development of data services", whether the authorities have established promotion channels for this purpose; if they have, of the relevant details and timetable; if not, the reasons for that; and
| | (c) | whether the authorities have drawn on the relevant experience of neighbouring regions to devise a set of development strategies taking into account the strengths and weaknesses of Hong Kong, so as to enhance Hong Kong's competitiveness; if they have, of the relevant details; if not, the reasons for that?
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| Public Officer to reply : | Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
(in the absence of Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development)
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*13. Hon Frederick FUNG to ask: (Translation)
In its replies to related questions from Members of this Council last year and this year, the Government indicated that the relevant study on legislating for statutory paternity leave for male employees was underway, and it did not intend to take the lead in providing paid paternity leave for civil servants. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the latest progress of the study, its expected completion date and preliminary results;
| | (b) | of the areas covered by the study, whether it has made reference to the practice of Hong Kong's competitors in the region (e.g. male employees in Taiwan and Singapore are currently entitled to paternity leave of two to three days), and whether it has looked into the positive effects of statutory paternity leave on enhancing Hong Kong's competitiveness and attracting talents to work in the territory; and
| | (c) | given that some local enterprises have recently started to provide paid paternity leave of two to five days for their male employees, whether it will reconsider providing paid paternity leave for all government employees, so as to set an example as a good employer, promote its policy of encouraging enterprises to shoulder social responsibilities, and help to retain talents; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare
*14. Hon LAU Kong-wah to ask: (Translation)
About nurturing gifted children, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it has compiled statistics on the number of gifted children identified in each of the past two years, and of the channels through which the gifted children are identified by the authorities;
| | (b) | of the current number of schools set up for nurturing gifted children and their average tuition fees; whether it has assessed if the number of places offered by such schools can meet the demand, and whether the tuition fees charged by such schools are beyond the affordability of low-income parents; and
| | (c) | whether it has formulated a policy on nurturing gifted children; if not, whether it will assess if there is a need to formulate such a policy?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education
*15. Hon Frederick FUNG to ask: (Translation)
Under the Maternity Protection Convention, 2000 (Convention 183) enacted by the International Labour Organization, female employees shall be entitled to a period of maternity leave of not less than 14 weeks and they should be allowed to take nursing breaks for breast-feeding their babies. Moreover, in some places, supporting measures are provided on various fronts (e.g. parental leave) to facilitate employees who are parents in taking care of their children. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it has reviewed if the existing 10-week period of statutory maternity leave should be extended; if so, of the outcome of the review; if not, the reasons for that; and whether it will extend the duration of statutory maternity leave to 14 weeks in accordance with the provision of the above-mentioned Convention;
| | (b) | of the latest respective percentages of babies who are breast-fed before their discharge from hospitals and those who have been breast-fed continuously for four and six months after their discharge from hospitals; given that the above-mentioned percentages of babies who were breast-fed continuously in 2004 were only 25% and 17% respectively, which were lower than the global averages of 45% and 36% respectively, whether it will study the introduction of nursing breaks for breast-feeding, and require employers to provide the relevant facilities (such as baby-sitting rooms), so as to facilitate female employees in breast-feeding their babies and milking;
| | (c) | whether it has reviewed the supporting measures currently available to working parents, and whether these measures are sufficient in comparison with those in other places; if it has, of the outcome of the review; if it has not, the reasons for that; and whether it will follow the practice of other places to provide working parents with support on various fronts, including the provision of parental leave; and
| | (d) | whether it will consider taking the lead in providing civil servants and non-civil service contract staff with parental leave and 14 weeks of full-pay maternity leave, as well as nursing breaks for breast-feeding and the relevant facilities, so as to promote its policy of encouraging enterprises to adopt family-friendly measures?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare
*16. Hon LAU Kong-wah to ask: (Translation)
Regarding crimes involving automatic teller machine ("ATM") cards and credit cards, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the number of prosecutions instituted in the past two years, in relation to the use of fake ATM cards and credit cards, together with a breakdown, by nationality, of the number of the defendants;
| | (b) | whether it is aware of the places from which the fake ATM cards and credit cards originated, and whether the authorities have liaised with law enforcement agencies in other jurisdictions in combating these crimes;
| | (c) | whether the authorities have detected any cases of fake ATM cards and credit cards forged by lawless elements in Hong Kong over the past three year; and
| | (d) | of the number of fraud cases in the past three years involving the use of information stolen from ATM cards and credit cards and the amount of money involved and, among such cases, the number of those involving credit card transactions on the Internet and the detection rate for the crimes of that nature, as well as whether guidelines will be provided to advise the public on how to reduce the risk of their credit card information being stolen and used for transactions on the Internet?
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| Public Officer to reply | : | Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs
(in the absence of Secretary for Security) |
*17. Hon Audrey EU to ask: (Translation)
In the 2007-2008 Policy Agenda, the Government has stated that it will encourage drivers to use biodiesel as motor vehicle fuel. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it has estimated the consumption of auto-biodiesel in Hong Kong in the coming three years, and the impact of a wider use of such fuel on the environment (particularly on air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions); if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
| | (b) | of the measures, other than the duty-free policy, to encourage drivers to switch to using such fuel;
| | (c) | when it will complete the formulation of the specifications of such fuel; and
| | (d) | what measures it will take to promote the use of such fuel at the retail level?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment
*18. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the installation of seats, for use by passengers awaiting boarding, on platforms of railway stations of the MTR Corporation Limited and the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council whether they know:
| (a) | when the two railway corporations started installing seats on the platforms of their stations, and the numbers and names of the stations in which seats have not yet been installed on the platforms;
| | (b) | the expenses incurred so far by the two railway corporations for installing such seats, and the amount of money required for installing seats on the platforms of all stations; and
| | (c) | if the two railway corporations plan to install seats on the platforms of all stations; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing
*19. Hon Howard YOUNG to ask: (Translation)
Recently, quite a number of members of the public have complained to me that free television programmes cannot be viewed clearly due to blockage of television signals since the completion of some high-rise buildings in the vicinity of their residence. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:
| (a) | the number of complaints received by the Office of the Telecommunications Authority ("OFTA") over the past three years about newly-built high-rise buildings adversely affecting the reception of television signals; whether there is a rising trend for this type of complaints in recent years and how OFTA helped complainants solve the problem;
| | (b) | the total number of existing television signal transposers in the territory; the number and locations of such transposers to be built in the next three years, and the districts in which the residents will be benefited; and
| | (c) | the factors being considered by OFTA at present in deciding whether proposals for building new transposers should be made?
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| Public Officer to reply | : | Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
(in the absence of Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development)
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*20. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)
In July this year, the Finance Committee approved the Administration's proposal to inject $300 million into the Film Development Fund ("FDF") to strengthen support for the local film industry. Nevertheless, I have learnt that junior assistant producers/directors in the film industry generally earn low salaries, work exceptionally long hours and lack medical protection. For example, while a television broadcasting company offers monthly salaries between $9,000 to $13,000 to newly recruited assistant producers/directors who are university degree holders, the salaries for equivalent positions in the film industry are far lower. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
| (a) | whether they are aware of the low starting salaries of graduates from tertiary institutions entering the film industry, and whether they have examined if such a situation, in the long run, is not conducive to the recruitment of new blood by the film industry and has negative impact on the healthy development of the industry; and
| | (b) | whether they will specify in the FDF's funding conditions that successful applicants will be required to:
| | (i) | offer a certain number of trainee positions to students or graduates of film-related courses at tertiary institutions;
| | (ii) | submit a report on their work on nurturing talents upon the completion of film production; and
| | (iii) | offer salaries to junior level staff or new entrants at levels not lower than those for similar positions in television stations;
| | if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
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| Public Officer to reply | : | Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
(in the absence of Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development) |
*For written reply.
III. Bills
Second Reading (Debate to resume), Committee Stage and Third Reading
| Attachment of Income Order (Application to Government and Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2007 | : | Secretary for Home Affairs |
IV. Motions
Proposed resolution under the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance
Secretary for the Environment to move the motion in the Appendix.
V. Members' Motions
- Rates relief
Hon CHEUNG Hok-ming: (Translation)
That, as the government revenue of the current year is far better than expected, this Council urges the Government to provide rates relief to return wealth to the people, including waiving the rates for the whole year of 2008-2009 and reducing the rates percentage charge from the existing 5% to 3%.
| Amendments to motion
| | (i) | Hon Frederick FUNG: (Translation)
To delete "as the government revenue of the current year is far better than expected" after "That," and substitute with "although Hong Kong's economy has recorded continuous growth, the public at large are still unable to share the fruits of economic success, and as the fiscal surplus of the current year is expected to far exceed the Government's original estimates"; to add "and ease the pressure of inflation" after "to return wealth to the people"; to add ", subject to a ceiling of $5,000 per quarter per household, and introducing a progressive rates system under which different levels of rates percentage charges are set according to the rateable values, with lower percentages for smaller rateable values," after "2008-2009"; to add "of the lowest level" after "reducing the rates percentage charge"; and to delete "3%" after "5% to" and substitute with "2%".
| | (ii) | Hon SIN Chung-kai: (Translation)
To delete ", as the government revenue of the current year is far better than expected" after "That" and substitute with "the Financial Secretary advised in mid-October this year that the fiscal surplus of the current year would amount to $50 billion, far exceeding the estimate of $25.4 billion; in view of this"; and to delete "provide rates relief to return wealth to the people, including waiving the rates for the whole year of 2008-2009 and reducing the rates percentage charge from the existing 5% to 3%" after "this Council urges the Government to" and substitute with "introduce three-tier progressive rates under which the rates percentage charge of properties with a monthly rateable value below $7,500 will be reduced from the existing 5% to 3.5% and the rates percentage charge of properties with a monthly rateable value between $7,500 and $30,000 will be reduced from the existing 5% to 4%, while the rates percentage charge of other properties will be reduced from the existing 5% to 4.5%, so as to alleviate the tax burden on the public and return wealth to the people".
| | (iii) | Hon Jeffrey LAM Kin-fung: (Translation)
To add "the rentals of different types of properties have been rising in recent years and" after "That, as"; to add "also" after "the current year is"; to add ", subject to a ceiling of $5,000 per quarter," after "2008-2009"; and to delete "3%" after "5% to" and substitute with "4.5%, which will not only alleviate the burden on the public and the businesses, but can also avoid creating long-term pressure on government revenue".
Amendment to Hon Jeffrey LAM Kin-fung's amendment
Hon Miriam LAU: (Translation)
To delete "4.5%" after "5% to" and substitute with "below 5%".
| | (iv) | Hon Ronny TONG Ka-wah: (Translation)
To delete "provide" after "this Council urges the Government to" and substitute with ", on the premise that the aspirations of the grassroots community for fair allocation of resources are taken into account, consider providing".
| | (v) | Hon CHAN Kam-lam: (Translation)
To add ", subject to a ceiling of $5,000 per quarter," after "the rates for the whole year of 2008-2009"
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Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
- Developing diversified hawking and bazaar economic activities
Hon WONG Kwok-hing: (Translation)
That, in order to fully utilize human and land resources, develop diversified hawking and bazaar economic activities to enhance the attractiveness of tourism in Hong Kong, as well as to further revitalize on-street economy and diversified economic activities in remote new towns, this Council urges the Government to:
| (a) | preserve existing bazaars which have local economic, cultural and native characteristics, and assist in the sustainable development of such bazaars;
| | (b) | establish and develop new marketplaces with various characteristics, such as creativity bazaars and marketplaces for organic fishery and agricultural produce;
| | (c) | set up designated zones for street art performance, arts fairs and the like in order to encourage and promote the culture of street art performance, preserve collective memories, and maintain, discover and nurture the culture and talents of folk art performance;
| | (d) | set up various types of dawn markets and night markets at suitable locations so that those running small businesses who are self-reliant and self-supporting can have a way out;
| | (e) | explore the setting up of on-street cooked food designated zones featuring specialty food and drinks;
| | (f) | expeditiously conduct a comprehensive review on the policies for hawker licensing and management to tie in with the objective of promoting diversified hawking and bazaar economic activities; and
| | (g) | proactively explore with various District Councils to implement the above measures and means for revitalizing the diversified economy and culture in the districts,
| so as to provide the grass-roots with opportunities for starting up small businesses and employment.
Amendments to motion
| | (i) | Hon Vincent FANG Kang: (Translation)
To add "as open-air bazaars not only feature local characteristics, which are one of Hong Kong's tourist attractions, their operations are also diversified and have a low threshold of entry, hence conducive to encouraging start-up businesses, and" after "That,"; to add "and revitalize" after "(a) preserve"; to delete "assist in" after "native characteristics, and" and substitute with "launch beautification works, enhance management and promotion, so as to foster the viability and promote"; to add ", and handle licence renewal applications with flexibility" after "licensing and management"; and to delete "objective of" after "to tie in with the" and substitute with "objectives of increasing employment,".
| | (ii) | Hon Audrey EU: (Translation)
To add ", particularly those under the threat of urban renewal" after "such bazaars"; to delete "establish and develop new" after "(b)" and substitute with "assist in the development of"; to delete "such as creativity bazaars and marketplaces for organic fishery and agricultural produce" after "various characteristics," and substitute with "commend bazaars and marketplaces with creativity in various districts and promote them to overseas tourists"; to delete "set up designated zones" after "(c)" and substitute with "relax street control and management, remove unnecessary regulations and restrictions, designate permitted areas"; to add ", and reduce intervention by law enforcement officers in street art activities in such areas," after "art fairs and the like"; to delete "set up various types of" after "(d)" and substitute with "designate permitted areas for"; to delete "at suitable locations" after "night markets" and substitute with ", provide regular cleaning service, traffic control, electricity supply and storage space,"; to delete "setting up" after "(e) explore the" and substitute with "designation in various districts"; to delete "designated zones" after "on-street cooked food" and substitute with "permitted areas"; and to add "and resume licensing for hawkers" after "licensing and management".
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Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Home Affairs
Clerk to the Legislative Council
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