A 08/09-25

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 29 April 2009 at 11:00 am

I. Tabling of Papers

Subsidiary Legislation / InstrumentsL.N. No.
1.Fixed Penalty (Smoking Offences) Regulation66/2009
2.Fixed Penalty (Smoking Offences) (Specification of Authorities and Public Officers) Notice67/2009
3.Import and Export (General) Regulations (Amendment of Fourth and Fifth Schedules) Order 200968/2009
4.Prevention and Control of Disease (Amendment) Regulation 200971/2009
5.Prevention and Control of Disease Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule 1) (No. 2) Notice 200972/2009

Other Papers

1.No. 86-Annual Report and Financial Report 2007/08 of the Vocational Training Council
(to be presented by the Secretary for Education)

2.No. 87-HKSAR Government Scholarship Fund
Audited Financial Statements together with the Report of the Director of Audit for the period from 3 March 2008 (date of establishment of the Fund) to 31 August 2008
(to be presented by the Secretary for Education)

3.No. 88-Language Fund
Audited Statement of Accounts together with the Report of the Director of Audit for the year ended 31 August 2008
(to be presented by the Secretary for Education)

4.Report of the Bills Committee on Adaptation of Laws Bill 2009
(to be presented by Hon WONG Ting-kwong, Chairman of the Bills Committee)

5.Report of the Bills Committee on Public Health and Municipal Services (Amendment) Bill 2008
(to be presented by Hon Fred LI, Chairman of the Bills Committee)

II. Questions

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

Since I raised on 17 December last year a written question in this Council on the problems caused by wild pigs, a spate of incidents which involved wild pigs intruding into villages and urban areas have occurred again. On the 7th of this month, a wild pig even intruded into Ying Pun Ha Village in Tai Po, attacking and injuring a villager by biting him. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether the government departments concerned have considered adopting new measures to solve the aforesaid problems, which are getting increasingly serious?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment

2. Hon Cyd HO to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the military sites in Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it knows, as at 30 June 1997, the respective numbers of Gurkhas serving in the British Garrison in Hong Kong and their family dependents, together with a breakdown by the military sites at which they were stationed or accommodated at that time, as well as indicating on a map which military sites were used for defence purposes and which were for accommodating family dependents;

    (b)whether it knows the total number of members of the People's Liberation Army Hong Kong Garrison ("PLA Garrison") and their family dependents; whether each member of the PLA Garrison may bring along family dependents to Hong Kong; if not, which ranks of members may bring along family dependents; the number of sites which were used for accommodating family dependents of the British Garrison are now within the purview of the PLA Garrison, and whether such sites are currently used for defence purposes; given the keen demand for land in the process of urban development, whether the authorities have considered negotiating with the departments concerned under the Central People's Government the handing over of vacant military sites to the Government of the Special Administrative Region; if they have considered, of the relevant details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c)given that the Exchange of Notes between the Chinese Government and the British Government on the arrangements for the future use of the military sites in Hong Kong in 1994 contains the following statement by the Chinese Government that "if a site used by the Garrison is no longer needed for defence purposes, it shall be handed over, without compensation, to the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for disposal", how and by which side the procedure for handover of military sites can be activated; of the number of military sites handed over through this procedure hitherto?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

3. Dr Hon Margaret NG to ask: (Translation)

It was uncovered recently that an Under Secretary only submitted his business card bearing his office title when he was required by the Immigration Department ("ImmD") to provide the proof of his financial position in respect of the application for his foreign domestic helper ("FDH") to continue to work in Hong Kong, and ImmD subsequently approved the application. The incident has aroused the public's grave concern about the conduct of that official and ImmD's way of handling the application. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:
    (a)the employer of a FDH must submit the proof of his financial position to ImmD before ImmD approves the application for his FDH to continue to work in Hong Kong; if not, of the reasons for that, and the channels through which ImmD verifies whether the employer's financial position meets the application requirements; and

    (b)ImmD will accept the business card of the employer of a FDH as the sole proof of his financial position; if so, how ImmD verifies the information of the employer as stated on the business card?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

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

Some members of the social welfare sector have relayed to me that the appointment of some members of the Elderly Commission ("EC") is the result of political deals, that the EC Vice-chairman has served on EC for almost 10 years, which is against the rule that, in general, a non-official member of an advisory or statutory body should not serve in that capacity for more than six years, and that some EC members have calculatedly steered the elderly policy in such a way as to transfer benefits to the private homes for the elderly under the Enhanced Bought Place Scheme, which are not well received by the elderly, thus benefiting some of the EC members who run such homes. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of criteria adopted by the Government for selecting EC members, and whether it will consider the comments of the public and the sector on the performance of the prospective appointees in public offices and consult the Hong Kong Council of Social Service or various elderly services agencies before making the appointment; how the background and qualifications of the various serving EC members meet these criteria; of the reasons for not re-appointing the two members whose appointments ended in July and August last year and when their vacancies will be filled;

    (b)whether it will immediately terminate the appointments of the EC Vice-chairman and those EC members who run private homes for the elderly; if so, when their appointments will be terminated; if not, of the reasons for that; and

    (c)what measures the Government will adopt to address public concerns about the use of EC members' appointment as a bargaining chip for political deals and transferring benefits and to enhance EC's credibility; whether the Government will consider appointing, as ex-officio EC members, members of the Panel on Welfare Services of this Council, the elderly, as well as representatives from the Legal Aid Department, Hong Kong Police Force, Hong Kong Council of Social Service, Hong Kong Medical Association, Pharmaceutical Society of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Occupational Therapy Association, Association of Hong Kong Nursing Staff, Hong Kong Psychogeriatric Association, Hong Kong Dental Association Limited, Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union, Agency for Volunteer Service, Guardianship Board and elderly bodies, so that they may assist the Government in formulating elderly policies from a professional point of view and reflect public opinion; if it will, when these people will be appointed; if not, of the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

5. Hon CHAN Kam-lam to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported in the press that water in the Shenzhen Reservoir, which stores potable water for supply to Hong Kong, was found in recent months to have been seriously contaminated by the waste materials from waste collection stations and residents' domestic waste water in the vicinity. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether the authorities:
    (a)have stepped up the sample tests conducted on the quality of potable water supplied to Hong Kong after they learnt of the aforesaid press report; if they have, of the results of the sample tests;

    (b)will adopt new measures to ensure that the quality of potable water supplied to Hong Kong meets the quality standard for drinking water; if they will, of the details of the new measures; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c)will send staff to discuss with the Shenzhen authorities to ensure that the Shenzhen Reservoir will not be contaminated again; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

6. Hon Vincent FANG to ask: (Translation)

I have received requests for assistance from the commercial tenants in the Mongkok Flower Market ("MFM"), pointing out that since October 2008, staff of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department have frequently prosecuted tenants for placing flowers in public areas. The tenants have indicated that as many people go to MFM to buy and watch flowers during public holidays, the roads are narrow and parking spaces are insufficient in the vicinity of MFM, and MFM is the major flower trading centre, the situation is often difficult to control. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)given that MFM has become a flora market and tourist attraction with native characteristics where many tourists and local people visit and go shopping, whether the Government will study ways to assist the development of MFM, including the provision of space for business tenants to display flowers and potted plants on the premise that pedestrian safety is not compromised and, especially, enforcing the law with more flexibility during holidays;

    (b)given that obstruction is often caused by goods vehicles loading and unloading goods because the roads are narrow and parking spaces in the vicinity of MFM are insufficient, and the only parking lot in Mongkok Stadium near MFM will be closed temporarily whenever football matches are held in the stadium, plus the fact that the parking lot will be closed during the two-year conversion works of Mongkok Stadium which will commence in the middle of this year, whether the Government has planned to designate an area in the vicinity of MFM for loading and unloading goods, as well as to provide additional parking lots and to take measures to cope with the demand for parking spaces during the period of the conversion works; and

    (c)whether it will re-plan the land uses in the vicinity of MFM, so as to enlarge the area of MFM in the long run; whether it has planned to set up another wholesale and retail flower market, with a view to solving the aforesaid problems?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

*7. Hon WONG Yuk-man to ask: (Translation)

Recently, some elderly people and people with disabilities who receive only old age allowance or disability allowance but not Comprehensive Social Security Assistance have relayed to me that the non-governmental organizations ("NGOs") which operate short-term food assistance service projects had refused to provide food assistance to them. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether the Social Welfare Department has stipulated that the NGOs concerned may not provide food assistance to those people; if it has not, whether it knows the reasons for those people being refused assistance; if it has, of the justifications and whether it will abolish the stipulation immediately?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

*8. Hon CHAN Kin-por to ask: (Translation)

It is learnt that the Government is now conducting a study on the establishment of an Insurance Authority ("IA") independent from the government structure to replace the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance ("OCI"). On the other hand, the workload of OCI in monitoring the insurance industry is increasingly heavy under the impact of the financial tsunami. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)when the insurance sector is expected to be consulted on establishing IA, as well as the specific timetable for establishing IA;

    (b)whether it will freeze the manpower and resources of OCI as it is about to be reformed; and

    (c)how the Government ensures that, before IA is established, OCI has sufficient manpower and resources to cope with the increasingly heavy workload in monitoring the insurance industry, so as to avoid the quality of service from being affected?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

*9. Dr Hon Joseph LEE to ask: (Translation)

It is learnt that adverse reactions of the body to medicines may not be noticed immediately, and certain types of patients (such as elderly patients or patients who are taking various medicines at the same time) may have unexpected reactions to medicines. Furthermore, adverse reactions to medicines may not be discovered during clinical trials and, therefore, certain risks exist in taking medicines newly introduced to the market. In view of the aforesaid situation, quite a number of countries and places have already formulated a clear regulatory system on medicines. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it knows the number of patients who received treatment in public hospitals due to adverse reactions to medicines in each of the past five years; if such figures are not available, whether it will consider compiling the relevant statistics as soon as possible; and

    (b)whether last year, it had considered formulating a clear and comprehensive regulatory system on medicines (including proactively monitoring the medicines on sale in the market and strengthening the notification mechanism on adverse reactions to medicines); if it had, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

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

It is learnt that around 20% of the private development projects in Hong Kong have been shelved since the onset of the financial tsunami in September last year, resulting in a large number of construction workers losing employment. The latest seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate of the construction industry has reached a 33-month high of 11.2%. Moreover, as there is still some time before the construction works of various major infrastructure projects commence, such projects cannot provide immediate relief to the serious unemployment problem in the construction industry. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it has compiled statistics on the number of Hong Kong residents who used to work in the construction sector in other places such as Macao, the Middle East and Dubai and have returned to reside in Hong Kong after losing their jobs, since September last year; if so, of the number of such people; if not, the reasons for that;

    (b)what medium-term measures the Government will introduce to lower the continuously increasing unemployment rate of the construction industry;

    (c)as some members of the construction industry have pointed out that the major infrastructure projects do not have high demand for workers of certain trades in the industry, such as steel bending and fitting-out, while nearly 20% of the Hong Kong workers who were dismissed due to the suspension of the casino projects in Macao are engaged in these trades, what corresponding measures the Government will introduce to assist such workers; whether the authorities will consider providing training and subsidies to assist them in switching occupation; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (d)whether it knows the progress of the various building maintenance support schemes launched respectively by the Urban Renewal Authority and the Hong Kong Housing Society; what new measures will be introduced to expedite and facilitate the implementation of building maintenance works so as to create more job opportunities for construction workers?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

*11. Hon Tanya CHAN to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that the voluntary agency Mother's Choice received, in the first 11 months of the 2008-2009 year, 207 cases of unwed pregnant women seeking assistance, with more than 30% of these cases involving underage girls below 17, some of whom even had several abortions. Some members of the public put the blame for this situation on the outdated sex education curriculum at present and its failure to instil holistic sex knowledge and a proper attitude towards gender relationship among young people. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it has compiled annual statistics on underage unwed pregnant girls; if it has, of the figures for the past five years; if not, whether the Government will consider compiling statistics so that the community will have a clearer picture about the situation of underage unwed pregnant girls;

    (b)when the existing sex education curriculum was drawn up; whether its contents have been reviewed regularly; if so, of the details, including the review schedule and the outcome of the last review; if not, of the circumstances under which the Government will conduct a review;

    (c)of the lowest grade at which the sex education and gender relationship curriculum are taught in school at present; whether arrangements will be made to teach the curriculum at a lower grade; if not, of the reasons; of the contents of the curriculum for each grade; and as the Government indicated that it would review and update the sex education curriculum for primary schools, of the relevant details;

    (d)whether the sex education and gender relationship curriculum is at present compulsory in primary and secondary schools; if not, whether the Government will consider making it compulsory; if not, of the reasons for that;

    (e)apart from implementing sex education in schools, whether the Government has formulated other measures to help children and young people develop a better understanding of and a proper attitude towards sex and gender relationship; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (f)whether the Government will consider providing social service agencies with more resources to help them launch sex education projects which are more comprehensive and provide enhanced counselling and support services to children and young people, especially underage unwed pregnant girls, their partners and families; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education

*12. Dr Hon David LI to ask:

As part of the Government's pedestrianisation efforts, the northern footpath along the section of Queen's Road Central between Pedder Street and Pottinger Street has been "temporarily widened since April 2003", according to the Transport Department web site. The temporary character of the works is reinforced by the materials used in constructing the footpath and its finish i.e. only concrete was used and the pavement is on different levels. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it has assessed the impact of widening the section of the footpath on the vehicular traffic there; if it has, of the assessment outcome;

    (b)why the Government has left the temporary works in place for six years without any attempt at improvement or beautification; and

    (c)whether it will consider taking action forthwith to upgrade the footpath to a standard befitting of a major metropolitan city centre?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

*13. Hon Paul TSE to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Australian Government issued earlier on its web site a travel advice regarding the air pollution situation in Hong Kong, indicating that air pollution in Hong Kong has aroused international concern. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether in the past three years, it had assessed the negative impact of the air pollution situation in Hong Kong on the tourism industry; if it had, of the results; if not, whether it will consider expeditiously conducting the relevant assessment;

    (b)whether in the past three years, it had regularly conducted surveys on the views of tourists about air quality in Hong Kong, and used survey results as one of the indicators for appraising the work of improving air quality in Hong Kong; if so, of the details; if not, whether it will conduct the surveys concerned; and

    (c)of the Government's concrete measures to alleviate the air pollution problem expeditiously, as well as how it assesses the effectiveness of such measures?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment

*14. Hon WONG Sing-chi to ask: (Translation)

The Employees Retraining Board ("ERB") indicates that its placement-tied courses are offered in response to the needs of the market. Yet, it has been reported that some training bodies have referred graduated trainees to take up jobs which are not related to the courses that they have attended, and as the contents of some courses are impractical, it is doubtful if it is true that the average placement rate of graduated trainees from such courses is about 80%, as claimed by ERB. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
    (a)how ERB calculates that the average placement rate of graduated trainees from placement-tied courses is as high as 80%; whether graduated trainees referred to take up temporary work for one day only are considered placed; whether ERB has assessed if the method used to calculate the placement rate can reflect the actual employment situation of graduated trainees;

    (b)given that, in order to make its courses better meet market needs, ERB has set up a number of trade advisory groups and course advisory groups with the participation of industry players, and regularly met with people from various sectors including employers, trade associations, trade unions, professional organizations and training bodies, etc., so as to understand the market and develop courses, but the contents of some courses are still criticized as impractical, what improvement measures ERB have put in place and their details;

    (c)of the placement rates of graduated trainees from placement-tied courses who took up jobs in the past five years which were related to the courses they had attended; if no information on the placement rates concerned is available, of the reasons for that; and

    (d)as it has been reported that ERB has commissioned a research company to conduct, by random sampling, half-yearly studies on the placement rates of graduated trainees, of the relevant details and their results?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

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

In reply to my question at the Council meeting on 16 April 2008, the Government indicated that the Civil Aviation Department had, since October 1998, implemented a series of aircraft noise mitigating measures to minimize the impact of aircraft noise on the communities near the flight paths (e.g. to avoid aircraft overflying densely populated areas in the early hours, arrangements were made for flights departing Hong Kong between 11:00 pm and 7:00 am to use the southbound route via the West Lamma Channel as far as possible, while flights arriving in Hong Kong between midnight and 7:00 am were directed to land from the waters southwest of the airport). However, I have learnt that up till now aircraft noise during the above hours still often causes nuisance to residents of many housing estates, making it difficult for them to fall asleep. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the data, recorded by various noise monitoring terminals last year, on aircraft noise levels which reached 70 to 74, 75 to 79, and up to or over 80 decibels ("dB") during the above hours;

    (b)of the types of aircraft the noise levels of which reached 80 dB or above last year and their operating airline companies; and

    (c)whether the existing aircraft noise mitigating measures will be enhanced further to reduce the nuisance caused to residents; if so, of the details?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

*16. Dr Hon Priscilla LEUNG to ask: (Translation)

The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department ("FEHD") announced on 3 April this year that the full-year Rodent Infestation Rate ("RIR") of 2008 was 6.3%, which is a record high in recent years. Among the 19 environmental hygiene districts, rodent infestation in districts such as Sham Shui Po, Tsuen Wan, Tai Po and North District in the second half of 2008 was more serious than that in the first half of the year, with RIRs for some districts exceeding 10%. Given that the full-year RIR of the period was still the highest in recent years even though FEHD had carried out publicity and anti-rodent operations in 2008, it is doubtful if the anti-rodent measures are effective. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)what existing and new specific measures the authorities had taken last year to alleviate rodent infestation in urban areas;

    (b)of the mechanism adopted by FEHD for assessing if the existing anti-rodent measures are effective;

    (c)whether it has found out the causes for the sharp rise in RIRs for the second half of 2008 in some districts and the substantial drop in RIRs in some districts, as compared with those in the first half of the year; whether the anti-rodent work currently undertaken by FEHD in various districts is of the same frequencies and methods;

    (d)given that it is not until about three months after the end of every half-year period that FEHD announces RIRs for that half year, and such outdated figures cannot assist FEHD in taking anti-rodent measures according to the actual rodent infestation situation, whether the authorities will consider switching to making quarterly or monthly RIR announcements, as well as making such announcements within one month after the end of the periods concerned; and

    (e)whether the authorities had conducted exchanges with the Mainland or overseas anti-rodent experts in the past five years, and made reference to the anti-rodent methods introduced by them; if they had, of the details; if not, whether they will consider conducting regular exchanges with such anti-rodent experts?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

*17. Hon CHEUNG Kwok-che to ask: (Translation)

I have received complaints from staff of non-governmental organizations ("NGOs") within the purview of the Social Welfare Department ("SWD") that some staff in their organizations had been injured in work accidents because of insufficient manpower and had to take sick leave. As the organizations concerned did not hire replacement workers, other staff had to share out the work, work accidents are more prone to occur. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of reports of occupational injuries and deaths involving NGO staff received by SWD in each of the past three years;

    (b)how the authorities monitor the establishments of nursing and supporting staff in residential homes operated by NGOs; whether the authorities had investigated in the past three years if these two categories of staff in the relevant homes were sufficient; if they had, of the number of the relevant investigations; and

    (c)whether the authorities have requested NGOs to hire replacement workers when their staff are taking sick leave due to work injuries, so as to ensure that there is sufficient manpower to provide services?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

*18. Hon Starry LEE to ask: (Translation)

A performance report of the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited revealed that 4 231 new callable bull/bear contracts ("CBBCs") were listed last year, representing an almost ten-fold year-on-year increase, and the average daily turnover of these investment products increased from under $100 million in the first 12 months after their launch in June 2006 to $4.24 billion last year, accounting for about 5.9% of the total market turnover in the Cash Market. According to the survey results published by a political party in March this year, 60% of those who had invested in CBBCs indicated that the actual risks were higher than those they originally expected, and 66% considered that the quotes provided by the CBBC liquidity providers did not follow closely the price movements of the underlying assets as publicized, reflecting that the advertisements on CBBCs may mislead investors into thinking that CBBCs are simple investment products with low risks and high returns. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of relevant complaints received by the regulatory authorities each year since the launch of CBBCs; the nature of these complaints, the investigation outcome and the follow-up actions of the regulatory authorities;

    (b)whether the regulatory authorities will step up the monitoring of the quotes provided by CBBC liquidity providers to ensure that they fulfill their obligations; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c)whether the regulatory authorities will enhance their efforts to educate investors, so that investors will fully understand the risks involved in CBBCs before making such investments; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

*19. Hon CHAN Hak-kan to ask: (Translation)

In reply to my question on the Estimates of Expenditure 2009-2010, the Administration revealed that the turnover rates of some grades of healthcare staff in the Hospital Authority ("HA") are on the high side. For example, the projected turnover rates of senior medical officers/associate consultants and medical officers/residents (specialist) in obstetrics and gynaecology departments in 2008-2009 are as high as 19.1% and 31.0% respectively. On the other hand, at its meeting held early this month, the Task Force on Economic Challenges agreed to study how to develop six economic areas with high potential in Hong Kong, which included medical services. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it knows:

    (i)if HA has ascertained the reasons for the departure of its healthcare staff other than those who left because they had reached the retirement age; if so, of the results; if not, the reasons for that;

    (ii)how HA assesses the turnover of its healthcare staff for the next five years, and of the specific assessment method used; and

    (iii)apart from improving pay and conditions of service, if HA will implement other staff retaining measures focusing on the specialties with a high turnover of healthcare staff;

    (b)whether it has assessed if the employment of additional staff by private medical institutions as a result of the development of the medical services industry will aggravate the turnover of HA's healthcare staff; and

    (c)whether it will conduct a large-scale study to assess the healthcare staff requirements of both public and private medical sectors in the next five years; if so, of the details, and how it deals with the problem of shortage of healthcare staff; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

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

The Government obtained funding approval from the Finance Committee of this Council on 22 June 2007 for establishing five public Chinese medicine clinics ("CMCs"), and expected that the relevant works will be completed in phases before the end of March 2009. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:
    (a)it knows the current progress of the above works, and when all the five CMCs are expected to come into operation;

    (b)it knows the number of attendances at and the usage rate of each public CMC now in operation in each of the past five years;

    (c)it has any further plan to establish CMCs, with a view to achieving the original target of setting up 18 public CMCs; if so, of the sites chosen for the new clinics and other information; and

    (d)it will consider establishing CMCs in all public out-patient clinics?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

* For written reply

III. Bills

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

1.Adaptation of Laws Bill 2009:Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs

2.Public Health and Municipal Services (Amendment) Bill 2008:Secretary for Food and Health

Secretary for Food and Health to move Committee Stage amendments
(Contents of the amendments are contained in
LC Paper No. CB(3) 516/08-09 issued on 22 April 2009)

IV. Motions
  1. Proposed resolution under the Judicial Officers Recommendation Commission Ordinance

    The Chief Secretary for Administration to move the following motion:

    RESOLVED that Schedule 1 to the Judicial Officers Recommendation Commission Ordinance (Cap. 92) be amended by adding under "Chief District Judge" -

      "Principal Family Court Judge".

  2. Proposed resolution under the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance

    Secretary for Food and Health to move the following motion:

    RESOLVED that the following Regulations, made by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board on 6 April 2009, be approved -

    (a)the Pharmacy and Poisons (Amendment) Regulation 2009; and

    (b)the Poisons List (Amendment) Regulation 2009.

    (The two Regulations were issued on 15 April 2009
    under LC Paper No. CB(3) 489/08-09)

V. Members' Motions
  1. Proposed resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance

    Hon Miriam LAU to move the following motion:

    RESOLVED that in relation to the Building (Minor Works) Regulation, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 51 of 2009 and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 1 April 2009, 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 May 2009.

  2. Motion for the adjournment of the Council

    Hon CHAN Hak-kan: (Translation)

    That this Council do now adjourn for the purpose of debating how to counteract the spread of the A/H1N1 swine influenza viruses and properly carry out preventive work against the threat posed by the viruses to Hong Kong.

    Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Food and Health

  3. Developing new economic strategies to meet economic challenges

    Hon Mrs Regina IP: (Translation)

    That, as Hong Kong's short-term and long-term economic development will face enormous challenges, with short-term challenges arising from the global financial tsunami and the economy entering recession; while in the long term, with the industries in the Pearl River Delta gradually transforming and upgrading, the enterprises in Hong Kong are facing big challenges and the risk of being hollowed out, coupled with the fact that the State Council has decided to develop Shanghai into an international financial centre, the competitive edge of Hong Kong's traditional economic pillars, including finance, trading and logistics, tourism as well as the related service sectors, etc, is on the wane, Hong Kong must therefore promote new economic strategies which can create higher economic value, and the Task Force on Economic Challenges headed by the Chief Executive also announced earlier its decision to develop industries including those based on innovation and technology as well as cultural and creative industries; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to adopt the following measures to develop these new industries:

    (a)formulating long-term and practicable development strategies for the new industries and implementing them in a down-to-earth manner to ensure that the new industries will not become 'empty talks';

    (b)drawing reference from the successful experience of countries such as the United Kingdom, Korea and Australia, etc, for example, setting up a policy bureau to promote innovation and technology as well as cultural and creative industries, fully co-ordinate work in these areas and restructure the organization of the various policy bureaux to achieve a more rational distribution of work among them;

    (c)making good use of the land available for development in the Lok Ma Chau Loop and the North East New Territories, putting emphasis on supporting the development of innovation and technology as well as cultural and creative industries, and utilizing the geographical advantage to complement the development of the Pearl River Delta so as to achieve synergy; and

    (d)recruiting talents from the private sector, making good use of society's resources and introducing new ideas to ensure that the new industries will not lose vitality due to the Government's bureaucratic way of doing things.

    Amendments to the motion
    (i)Hon Audrey EU: (Translation)

    To delete ", as" after "That" and substitute with "the economy of Hong Kong lacks diversification in recent years, which aggravates the disparity between the rich and the poor as well as undermines social mobility, and"; to add "China and ASEAN will form a free trade area and" after "coupled with the fact that"; to add "and benefit various social strata" after "higher economic value"; to delete "setting up a policy bureau to promote" after "for example," and substitute with "assigning the work relating to the promotion of"; to delete ", fully co-ordinate work in these areas and restructure" after "innovation and technology as well as cultural and creative industries" and substitute with "to suitable policy bureaux or assigning the work to a higher-level body for overall co-ordination and setting up new policy bureaux in respect of individual areas of the innovative industry or cultural industry as necessary, as well as restructuring"; to delete "and" after "synergy;"; and to add "; (e) studying the impact of the establishment of China-ASEAN Free Trade Area on Hong Kong, and formulating corresponding strategies; (f) while developing new industries, exploring the creation of more jobs that are related to the new industries for non-skilled workers, so that sufficient employment opportunities are available to such workers; and (g) improving the education and training systems to provide more talents for the new industries, and promoting a social climate that respects talents engaging in scientific and technological research and creative work, so as to attract the young generation to join the new industries" immediately before the full stop.

    (ii)Hon LEE Wing-tat: (Translation)

    To delete ", as" after "That" and substitute with "the community is increasingly concerned about how to develop local culture and arts, and"; to delete "and" after "synergy;"; and to add "; (e) reviewing the current subsidies on cultural arts provided by the Government so as to nurture budding performing arts groups and, apart from subsidizing performing arts, extending the scope of subsidies to other forms of arts such as literature or installation arts, etc, thereby enabling arts development in Hong Kong to be more diversified and fostering a social culture which is conducive to promoting the development of the creative industry; (f) increasing the opportunities for local artists to display their works, including improving the management and operation mode of cultural venues as well as the operation of their supporting facilities, and providing more exhibition space to enable artists to have more opportunities to display their works to the public, thereby enhancing their popularity and augmenting the economic contributions of the cultural and creative industries; (g) promoting public art and increasing the display of art works in public space or at venues other than museums and art galleries to enable the community and the public to enjoy more local art works, so that cultural arts can integrate into the community to nurture the local audience, thereby boosting the development of cultural and creative industries; and (h) opening up public service broadcasting to promote and encourage public participation in the diversified broadcasting businesses, and setting up radio and television channels for use by the public, so as to boost the creative industry through broadcasting businesses" immediately before the full stop.

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

    To delete "," after "That" and substitute with "the 2009 Blue Book on Urban Competitiveness released recently by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences points out that Hong Kong ranked first in terms of overall competitiveness among the 294 cities at prefecture level or above in China, but its competitiveness in certain aspects has declined, and"; to add ", including examining the provision of tax concession and land assistance as well as how to make good use of vacant factory buildings, constructing infrastructural facilities, opening up areas for research and development, as well as nurturing relevant talents, etc;" after " 'empty talks' "; to add "providing one-stop support services to centrally process all applications relating to the creative industry, including those for licences required for setting up business, government subsidy and tax concession, etc; (d)" after "(c)"; and to delete the original "(d)" and substitute with "(e)".

    (iv)Hon Miriam LAU: (Translation)

    To delete ", as Hong Kong's short-term and long-term economic development will face" after "That" and substitute with "the economy of Hong Kong is facing"; to delete "promote new economic strategies which can create" after "Hong Kong must therefore" and substitute with "devise novel means to strengthen and consolidate the development of the four traditional pillar industries and actively develop new industries, so as to formulate new economic strategies which can promote economic development and create employment as well as"; to delete "these new industries" after "the following measures to develop" and substitute with "new economic strategies"; to add "the pillar industries and" after "practicable development strategies for"; to add "the pillar industries can further develop and" after "in a down-to-earth manner to ensure that"; to delete "countries such as the United Kingdom, Korea and Australia, etc, for example, setting up a policy bureau to promote innovation and technology as well as cultural and creative industries, fully co-ordinate work in these areas and" after "successful experience of" and substitute with "overseas countries, and examining ways to strengthen the co-operation among various administrative departments so as to solve problems such as fragmented administration and unclear delineation of powers and responsibilities, etc, and when necessary,"; and to delete ", putting emphasis on supporting the development of innovation and technology as well as cultural and creative industries" after "North East New Territories" and substitute with "to complement the implementation of new economic strategies".

    (v)Hon Cyd HO: (Translation)

    To add "while the original way of living of the residents must be protected during the development process" after "North East New Territories"; and to delete ", making" after "(d) recruiting talents from the private sector" and substitute with "to set up a steering committee to monitor whether the authorities are making".

    Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

  4. Concern about the youth drug problem

    Dr Hon Joseph LEE: (Translation)

    That, the recent incidents such as secondary students taking drugs on campus and young singers being arrested in Japan for suspected possession of drugs which occurred successively have once again aroused the concern about the youth drug problem; yet, the Government's concern about the deteriorating youth drug problem has all along been inadequate and the progress of its anti-drug work is slow; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to expeditiously formulate a comprehensive anti-drug policy to address the increasingly serious youth drug problem.

    Amendments to the motion
    (i)Hon WONG Sing-chi: (Translation)

    To add "the youth drug problem has been plaguing the Hong Kong community for a long time," after "That,"; and to add ", which includes providing additional resources and complementary measures to tie in with the voluntary school-based drug testing programme to help drug-abusing students and curb the spread of the menace of drugs in schools, so as" after "anti-drug policy".

    (ii)Hon CHAN Kin-por: (Translation)

    To delete "secondary" after "such as"; to delete "on campus" after "taking drugs"; to delete "yet" after "the youth drug problem;" and substitute with "however"; to delete "a comprehensive" after "formulate" and substitute with "an"; to add "for the youth that combines, with equal weight, publicity and education, law enforcement and treatment, and includes measures providing support to parents, families and schools as well as allocating additional resources to social workers, particularly school and outreaching social workers," after "anti-drug policy"; and to add "and rebuild a healthy atmosphere in schools" immediately before the full stop.

    Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Security
Clerk to the Legislative Council