A 09/10-5

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 4 November 2009 at 11:00 am

I. Tabling of Papers

Subsidiary Legislation / InstrumentsL.N. No.
1.Dumping at Sea (Exemption) (Amendment) Order 2009203/2009
2.Energy Efficiency (Labelling of Products) Ordinance (Amendment of Schedules) Order 2009204/2009
3.Market (Cessation of Application of the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance) Declaration 2009205/2009
4.Public Health and Municipal Services (Cessation of Designation as Public Market) Order 2009206/2009
5.Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Amendment of Tenth Schedule) Order 2009207/2009
6.Electoral Affairs Commission (Electoral Procedure) (Legislative Council) (Amendment) Regulation 2009 (Commencement) Notice208/2009
7.Electoral Affairs Commission (Electoral Procedure) (District Councils) (Amendment) Regulation 2009 (Commencement) Notice209/2009
8.Electoral Affairs Commission (Electoral Procedure) (Election Committee) (Amendment) Regulation 2009 (Commencement) Notice210/2009
9.Electoral Procedure (Chief Executive Election) (Amendment) Regulation 2009 (Commencement) Notice211/2009
10.Electoral Procedure (Village Representative Election) (Amendment) Regulation 2009 (Commencement) Notice212/2009
11.Electoral Affairs Commission (Registration of Electors) (Legislative Council Geographical Constituencies) (District Council Constituencies) (Amendment) Regulation 2009 (Commencement) Notice213/2009
12.Electoral Affairs Commission (Registration) (Electors for Legislative Council Functional Constituencies) (Voters for Election Committee Subsectors) (Members of Election Committee) (Amendment) Regulation 2009 (Commencement) Notice214/2009
13.Electoral Affairs Commission (Registration of Electors) (Village Representative Election) (Amendment) Regulation 2009 (Commencement) Notice215/2009
14.Voting by Imprisoned Persons Ordinance (Commencement) (No. 2) Notice 2009 216/2009


II. Questions

1. Dr Hon LAM Tai-fai to ask: (Translation)

At the meeting of this Council on 21 October 2009, I raised a question regarding the initial allowances and annual allowances ("depreciation allowances") on machinery and plants. In connection with the reply given by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury to this question, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)given that section 39E of the Inland Revenue Ordinance ("section 39E") aims at limiting tax avoidance opportunities in various forms of machinery or plant leasing arrangements, and the Government also agrees that under the import processing arrangement, Hong Kong enterprises may make their machinery or plants (mainly moulds) available for use by mainland enterprises free of charge for manufacturing goods which these Hong Kong enterprises will buy from the mainland enterprises, and not for the purpose of "tax avoidance", why the Government still considers such arrangements as leasing arrangements and applies section 39E to restrict the granting of depreciation allowances to Hong Kong enterprises to which they are entitled in respect of these machinery and plants;

    (b)given that the Government has indicated that the practice notes of the Inland Revenue Ordinance have no legal binding force and can never change the legislative intent of the relevant provisions, why the authorities needed to amend the original practice notes in 2006 and extended the retrospective period of the amended notes to the previous years of assessment; how the Government fulfils the assurance it made upon the enactment of section 39E in 1986 that the provision only targeted at the two leasing arrangements of "sale and leaseback" and "leveraged leasing"; and

    (c)given that the Government has indicated that there are practical difficulties in relaxing the relevant restriction in (a), including the difficulties in confirming if the machinery or plant was solely used on the Mainland for manufacturing goods sold to the Hong Kong enterprise concerned, if the machinery or plant has been sold and if the depreciation allowances concerned have been claimed by others, whereas there are provisions in the Inland Revenue Ordinance stipulating that under certain circumstances the burden of proof shall rest on the taxpayers, whether the Government will allow taxpayers to provide evidence in this respect to address such difficulties, so that the legislative intent of section 39E will not be violated when this section is enforced?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

2. Hon Tanya CHAN to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the Phase 3 development plan ("the development plan") of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre ("HKCEC"), will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)given that the former Secretary for Trade and Industry had indicated at the Council meeting on 5 January 2000 that the Hong Kong Trade Development Council ("TDC") had sought legal advice on the management contract signed with Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (Management) Limited, and the advice was that if TDC granted the management right of any extension of HKCEC to another company while the contract was in force, it might face legal challenge, whether the relevant provision of the contract is applicable to the proposed Phase 3 extension, and whether the Government cannot award the management contract for that part through open tender because of that provision; if it is not applicable, of the reasons for that;

    (b)whether the Government has made an undertaking to a private exhibition organizer and a convention and exhibition facility operator respectively that before the completion of AsiaWorld-Expo's Phase 2 project, it will not implement other plans to expand convention and exhibition facilities; if it has made such an undertaking, of the details, the legal risks or other impact of the undertaking on the development plan and the follow-up actions to be taken by the Government, as well as whether it will defer or shelve public consultation on the development plan; if it will not, of the reasons for that; if such an undertaking does not have any impact on the development plan, the reasons for that; and

    (c)given that TDC, being the principal body to promote the development of the convention and exhibition industry in Hong Kong, is also the largest market participant in the industry, and that it not only enjoys a substantially higher market share than others in the industry, but also owns HKCEC, whether the Government will still proceed to entrust TDC with the development plan; if it will, of the details; if not, how it will implement the plan; as well as whether it will conduct a review on the functions and roles of TDC in the convention and exhibition industry; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

3. Hon Paul TSE to ask: (Translation)

It is learnt that Air France ("AF") and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines ("KLM") have since 1 October 2009 reduced the commission paid to travel agents in Hong Kong in respect of air tickets sold from 5% to 3%, and plan to reduce such commission further to zero starting from 1 April 2010. According to the respective Air Services Agreements between the HKSAR Government and the French and Dutch Governments, airlines' tariffs (including airfares and commissions paid by airlines to the agents selling air tickets for them) are subject to the approval of the Civil Aviation Department ("CAD") of Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether CAD has received, vetted and approved applications from AF and KLM for the aforesaid reduction in commission paid in respect of air tickets sold or for the relevant airfare adjustment; if it has, of the reasons for CAD to approve the applications concerned by AF and KLM; in the course of vetting and approving applications, whether it has considered that the reduction in commission paid in respect of air tickets sold would deal a heavy blow to registered travel agents in Hong Kong and that consumers may need to pay additional service charges to travel agents as a result; if it has not received the applications concerned, whether CAD will take the initiative to request AF and KLM to submit applications, in order that the reasonable returns of travel agents and consumers' interests are protected;

    (b)whether CAD has formulated policies, procedures and measures in respect of vetting and approving applications concerning airlines' tariffs, and whether it has set up any redress mechanism, so as to enable travel agents to lodge complaints about the commission paid in respect of air tickets sold; if it has, of the specific handling procedure and steps; if not, whether it can set up such a mechanism expeditiously; and

    (c)whether it has assessed the specific impact of the reduction in commission by AF and KLM and other airlines following suit in the future on the travel agent sector and consumers in Hong Kong; if it has, of the relevant impact; if it has not, whether it will conduct such an assessment immediately?
Public Officers to reply:Secretary for Transport and Housing
Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

4. Dr Hon PAN Pey-chyou to ask: (Translation)

It was reported that a few months ago, a staff member, who had been employed by Radio Television Hong Kong on non-civil service contract for 21 years, died at work. Although the work of the staff member concerned in the past 21 years was no different from that of his civil servant colleagues, his dependents have not been granted gratuity equivalent to that under civil service employment terms. Regarding the provision of protection to non-civil service contract staff, will the Government inform this Council whether it will:
    (a)consider providing death gratuity for non-civil service contract staff;

    (b)widen the scope of application of the Employment Ordinance and the Labour Tribunal Ordinance to cover non-civil service contract staff; and

    (c)in the long run, abolish the appointment system for non-civil service contract staff, and employ the staff concerned on civil service terms of employment?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Civil Service

5. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)

In 2006, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women ("the Committee") conducted a hearing on the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and put forward comments and recommendations, including concern at the low prosecution rate of domestic violence, recommendation for improving gender-sensitivity training for judicial and law enforcement officials, and concern at the low level of representation of women in the functional constituencies of the Legislative Council, which may constitute indirect discrimination against women. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
    (a)of the respective numbers of cases seeking assistance, which involved domestic violence, received by the Social Welfare Department and the Integrated Family Service Centres of non-governmental organizations, as well as the respective numbers of reports received and prosecutions instituted by the Police, which involved domestic violence, in the past three years; whether they have studied the reasons for the differences between the figures; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (b)whether they have provided gender-sensitivity training for judicial and law enforcement officials since 2006; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c)given the Committee's comment that "the electoral system of functional constituencies may constitute indirect discrimination against women", what improvement measures the Government had taken to address this concern?
Public Officers to reply:Secretary for Labour and Welfare
Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs

6. Hon James TO to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that the issue of floor numbering of buildings has earlier aroused public concern because of the floor numbering arrangement of a first-sale property, whereby not only the numbers of those floors generally considered to be inauspicious (for example the fourth, 13th, 14th, 24th and 34th floors) are omitted, the floor numbers also jump from 39th to 60th immediately, and from 68th to 88th. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether, in vetting and approving the building plans for buildings, the Buildings Department will consider if the floor numbers provided by the developers are arranged in a logical sequence; and in the event that the arrangement concerned deviates significantly from the common practice (e.g. the second floor is numbered as the 288th floor), whether it will advise the developer to revise the arrangement;

    (b)whether, in vetting and approving the pre-sale of uncompleted flats, the Lands Department will consider if the floor numbering of the buildings concerned will easily give rise to misunderstanding among the public (e.g. misleading them into thinking that a building is 88-storey high when it is in fact only 46-storey high); and

    (c)whether the floor numbering of buildings has any implication for the provision of emergency rescue services by the Government?
Public Officers to reply:Secretary for Development
Secretary for Transport and Housing

*7. Hon Tommy CHEUNG to ask: (Translation)

Recently, I have received complaints from many members of the trade, pointing out that the requirements for vetting and approving new applications for liquor licences and applications for renewal of liquor licences (including restrictions on the operation conditions) by the Liquor Licensing Board ("LLB") were more stringent than those in the past. Quite a number of applicants lodged appeals with the Municipal Services Appeals Board ("the Board") after they were informed of LLB's decisions, and the waiting time for hearings to be held on the relevant appeal cases increased substantially, and in some cases as long as several months, with the result that hearings were not even scheduled upon the expiry of the appellants' liquor licences. Members of the trade have pointed out that the appeal mechanism concerned serves no real purpose, which causes operators to suffer losses and also adversely affects the business environment of the catering industry. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of appeals received by the Board regarding applications for liquor licences each year from January 2006 to June this year, as well as the average waiting time for hearings to be held on such cases;

    (b)of the existing manpower of the Board for handling such appeal cases, and whether it has assessed if the existing manpower is sufficient, so as to ensure that the relevant appeal cases can be completed within a reasonable period of time; and

    (c)whether the Board will formulate a performance pledge for the waiting time for hearings to be held on the appeal cases concerned; if not, of the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : The Chief Secretary for Administration

*8. Hon Cyd HO to ask: (Translation)

Governments around the world are committed to developing policies to address climate change, and the United Nations will convene the 15th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ("Copenhagen Conference") in Copenhagen from 7 to 18 December this year to discuss details of the agreement on reducing global greenhouse gas emissions after 2012. As the Convention has been extended to Hong Kong through the Central People's Government since 2003, Hong Kong is obliged to keep pace with the international community in striving for emission reduction so as to mitigate climate change. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)given that the Inter-departmental Working Group on Climate Change ("Working Group") under the lead of the Environmental Protection Department ("EPD") started an 18-month consultancy study on climate change at the end of March 2008, when the authorities will release the findings of the study and conduct public consultation;

    (b)given that the mitigation of climate change involves many policy areas, including environment, development, economy and social welfare, etc., whether the authorities will upgrade the Working Group to a strategic group and place it under the lead of the Chief Secretary for Administration instead, so as to better coordinate the related work of the various bureaux and government departments;

    (c)given that the Central People's Government promulgated the China National Plan for Coping with Climate Change as early as 2007, and the various provinces on the Mainland also rolled out provincial-level plans in 2008, when the authorities will develop and introduce comprehensive policies to address climate change, and of the relevant details;

    (d)given that the information provided by EPD indicates that the total emissions and per capita emissions of carbon dioxide in Hong Kong have been on the rise since 1999, whether the authorities have evaluated whether their targets set earlier to achieve a reduction in energy intensity of at least 25% by 2030 from the 2005 level are able to reflect the actual situation; whether they will set targets that are more meaningful and actually reflect the emissions reduced;

    (e)given that the data from the Hong Kong Observatory indicate that the annual mean temperature in Hong Kong has been rising, with the temperature in urban areas rising at a rate far greater than that in the rural areas, and that the annual mean temperature is estimated to rise by 4.8oC by the end of this century, what measures the authorities will introduce to reduce the annual mean temperature in urban areas by 2oC; and

    (f)given the importance of the Copenhagen Conference in mitigating climate change, whether the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government will delegate senior officials to attend the Conference and report the preparatory work and the outcome to this Council before and after the Conference?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment

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

Recently, it has been reported that the Vegetable Marketing Organization ("VMO") discards on average more than one tonne of unsold vegetables every day. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the existing mechanism for disposing of unsold vegetables by VMO;

    (b)whether VMO will take the initiative to contact food banks and the other relevant charitable organizations to arrange for donation of unsold vegetables; and

    (c)how VMO determines the vegetable throughput to be sold in its wholesale markets, and whether it has made timely adjustment to the vegetable throughput according to market demand, so as to reduce wastage?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

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

Regarding the arrangements for disregarded earnings ("DE") under the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance ("CSSA") Scheme, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
    (a)of the respective numbers of CSSA recipients benefiting from monthly DE arrangement and their average amounts of monthly DE in the whole of last year and in the period from January to September this year;

    (b)of the respective numbers of CSSA recipients with a monthly earning of $800 or below, $801 to $4,200 and over $4,200 in the past five years;

    (c)whether it will collect statistics on the number of CSSA cases in which recipients had benefited from DE and subsequently left the CSSA net; if it will, when the annual numbers of such cases in the past five years can be provided; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (d)given that the authorities stated in its reply to a question raised by a Member of this Council on 16 January last year that "we will review the DE arrangement again after this new arrangement has been in operation for a period of time", whether they have set a specific timetable for such a review; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

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

Under the existing policy, the tenants affected by the redevelopment projects of the Urban Renewal Authority ("URA") are entitled to ex-gratia payments or ex-gratia allowances, and eligible domestic tenants are entitled to rehousing units offered by the Hong Kong Housing Authority or the Hong Kong Housing Society. However, I have learnt that some owners had terminated the tenancies of their tenants immediately after the announcement of the redevelopment projects, resulting in the affected tenants not being able to receive any compensation or rehousing offer. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council if it knows:
    (a)the measures implemented by URA to safeguard the right to compensation or rehousing of those tenants who are affected by its redevelopment projects and who have been occupying the premises concerned before the relevant Freezing Survey commences, and whether such measures include streamlining the procedures to confirm as early as possible the affected tenants' eligibility for compensation or rehousing, and narrowing the difference in amount between the compensation for owner-occupiers and that for non-owner-occupiers, etc.;

    (b)in respect of each URA's redevelopment project in the past 10 years, the number of affected tenants at the time when the relevant Freezing Survey was conducted; how the number compares with that of the tenants who ultimately received ex-gratia compensation or rehousing; and the reasons for the discrepancy between the two numbers; and

    (c)focusing on the recent situation where some tenants were evicted by the property owners concerned after the announcement of a URA's redevelopment project in Sham Shui Po, how URA assists the tenants who are affected by the project and who have been occupying the premises concerned before the relevant Freezing Survey commenced, so that they will be compensated or rehoused?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

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

Members of the public have reflected that for various reasons, the opening hours of ball game pitches/courts under the Leisure and Cultural Services Department ("LCSD") are not the same, thus rendering the residents nearby unable to use such facilities for physical fitness exercises. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether the lack of a floodlight system is the reason why the Bowen Road Tennis Court in Wan Chai is not open to the public at night; if so, why it is not fitted with such a system; if not, of the reasons for not opening the tennis court at night;

    (b)of the other ball game pitches/courts under LCSD in which the situation is similar, the distribution of the location of such pitches/courts, and whether there is any plan to improve the situation; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c)whether, in the past three years, statistics had been collected on the utilization rates of ball game pitches/courts under LCSD and improvements had been made to the utilization; if such statistics had been collected and improvement had been made, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

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

Regarding the meteorological services provided by the Hong Kong Observatory ("HKO"), will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)given that HKO has adopted a new set of reference for the issue of Tropical Cyclone Warning Signals No. 3 and No. 8 since 2007 by expanding the reference from the Victoria Harbour to a network of eight reference anemometers covering the whole of Hong Kong, and No. 3 or No. 8 Signal, as the case may be, will be issued when half or more anemometers in the reference network have registered or are expected to register sustained strong winds or gale/storm force winds and the wind condition is expected to persist, of the statistical and analytical information of the new reference since 2007, including the number of warnings issued by HKO even though the tropical cyclones did not meet the relevant reference, and the number of contrary cases; whether it has assessed the reasons behind and whether this reflects that the new reference is unable to cover all the determining factors; whether the authorities have conducted any preliminary or detailed evaluation and review on the new reference; if they have, of the outcome; if not, the reasons for that, and when the authorities will conduct such evaluation and review; and

    (b)given that, in accordance with the information provided on the HKO web site, the issue of fire danger warnings are based on weather conditions favouring the occurrence and spread of fires, such as low humidity and high wind speed, as well as the information on the dryness of vegetation supplied by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, but some members of the public have queried that Yellow or higher level of fire danger warnings are always issued on and around festivals such as the Ching Ming Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival and Chung Yeung Festival, and factors such as humidity are disregarded, of the humidity, wind speed and other determining factors when fire danger warnings were issued on and around these festivals in the past three years; whether the authorities will draw up a clearer scientific definition of the Yellow and Red Fire Danger Warnings and list out specifically all the determining factors and reference?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

*14. Hon KAM Nai-wai to ask: (Translation)

Members of the public have expressed grave concern about the wall effect created by development projects in recent years. Recently, the development project at King Wah Road, North Point, has aroused objection from quite a number of residents and organizations in North Point district due to its possible wall effect. Moreover, urban development density, the opinions provided by the Planning Department ("PlanD") to the Town Planning Board ("TPB") and the various assessment reports submitted by the developers concerned in respect of their planning applications have also caused considerable repercussions among members of the public. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)given that I have proposed that the Government should study the option of transfer of plot ratio, whereby developers are allowed to transfer their approved gross floor areas to be developed in urban areas to other relatively remote areas, so as to balance development densities, whether the Government has studied such an option; if so, of the study result; if not, whether it will consider conducting the study;

    (b)whether PlanD had, in the past five years, provided opinions concerning planning applications for development projects to TPB in accordance with the guideline in the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guideline ("HKPSG") that "taller buildings should be located inland, with lower developments on the waterfront, to avoid dominating the harbour and increase permeability to the waterbody", and whether it had requested TPB to follow that guideline; if not, whether it had assessed if HKPSG would be degraded to a "window-dressing policy"; and

    (c)whether the Government will consider providing financial support to the organizations concerned for conducting traffic impact assessments and air flow assessments in respect of development projects, with a view to obtaining clearer and more impartial assessment results?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

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

Recently, members of the public have relayed to me that quite a number of children and young people born on the Mainland, whose father or mother is a Hong Kong resident, have not been issued One-way Permits because they have no household registration on the Mainland. Although subsequent to their illegal entry into Hong Kong they have lived in Hong Kong for seven consecutive years and have also been allowed to receive education here, they are not granted the right of abode in Hong Kong, leaving them unsure of what to do. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the current number of the aforesaid children and young people in Hong Kong;

    (b)of the reasons why the authorities refuse to issue Hong Kong identity cards to these children and young people; and

    (c)whether the authorities will consider afresh issuing Hong Kong identity cards to these children and young people and granting them the right of abode in Hong Kong so that they can live normally and grow up healthily in Hong Kong; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

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

It has been reported that through cyber patrols, the Police combatted prostitution activities on the Internet under the name of making friends and "compensated dating". At present, the authorities apply various ordinances (including the Control of Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance (Cap. 390), the Crimes Ordinance (Cap. 200) and the Prevention of Child Pornography Ordinance (Cap. 579)) to combat illegal activities relating to prostitution as well as publication of obscene and indecent articles on the Internet. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of law enforcement actions carried out by the Police through cyber patrols last year to combat prostitution activities on the Internet, and the details of the actions concerned;

    (b)of the respective numbers of persons, who were involved in the aforesaid illegal activities, arrested by the Police under the above ordinances in each of the past three years and, among them, the respective numbers of persons being prosecuted and convicted, the penalties imposed on them, as well as the respective numbers of females and crime syndicates involved in "compensated dating" activities; and

    (c)whether the Police had, in the past three years, assessed if the actions against such prostitution activities on the Internet were effective, and whether prostitution activities in chat rooms or discussion forums on the various web sites had decreased?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

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

On 11 February this year, I asked a question on the project of retrofitting noise barriers along the Tsing Yi section of the Airport Railway ("the Tsing Yi section"), and the Government replied that the project would be completed in the first half of this year. Yet, recently from time to time I still received complaints from residents about the noise generated by trains running along the said section. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it knows if the aforesaid project of retrofitting noise barriers has been completed; whether it has monitored the improvement in the noise level in the residential areas nearby; if it has, of the details;

    (b)of the number of complaints received by the Environmental Protection Department ("EPD") in the past six months about the noise generated by trains running along the said section and, among such complaints, the number of substantiated cases as well as the follow-up actions taken by EPD and the other relevant government departments; and

    (c)whether it has discussed with the MTR Corporation Limited the consideration of retrofitting noise barriers along all the portions of the Tsing Yi section which are close to the residential areas; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment

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

It has been reported that some companies sent out chargeable short messages ("SMS") to the subscribers of mobile phone numbers, and most of those chargeable SMS were sent with a sender code using "50" as the first two digits, and requested the subscribers concerned to enter letters or numbers in order to start using the services described therein. Yet, the SMS did not indicate in advance that fees would be charged for the relevant services, resulting in many old people, women and children having to pay additional service charges without being aware of it. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of complaints received from members of the public about chargeable SMS and the amount involved in each of the past three years; and

    (b)whether the authorities will consider regulating the aforesaid chargeable SMS; if they will not, of the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

*19. Hon CHEUNG Hok-ming to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that recently incidents of explosion in manholes occurred one after another, which has aroused public concern about the safety of manholes, and the Highways Department is conducting an inspection of all the manholes in Hong Kong. It has also been reported that the risk level of explosion in manholes depends mainly on the amount of explosive gases accumulated as well as the types of pipes used in manholes. Among such risks, the highest is that of explosive gas entering manholes for telecommunication facilities, and the risk of explosion in Towngas manholes is also relatively high. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)when the Highways Department is expected to complete the inspection of all the manholes in Hong Kong; among the manholes of which inspection has been completed so far, of the number of those with very high risk of explosion, as well as the districts in which they are located;

    (b)whether it has considered further enhancing the safety equipment provided to persons entering and working in manholes, with a view to reducing the chances of accidents;

    (c)of the details of the current safety standards stipulated for the materials for various types of pipes to be used in manholes; and whether it will focus on manholes with relatively high risk of gas explosion, and examine upgrading the safety standards of the materials for the pipes used in such manholes; if it will not, of the reason for that;

    (d)what new measures are in place to reduce the accumulation of explosive gases, such as methane, in manholes; and

    (e)whether it will consider formulating an explosion risk classification table for all the manholes in Hong Kong and making it available for public inspection?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

*20. Hon Mrs Regina IP to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that due to a continuous inflow of hot money into Hong Kong from various places in recent months, the Aggregate Balance of the Hong Kong banking system as at 15 September this year rose to about HK$230 billion, while the Monetary Base in Hong Kong as at the end of August this year rose to about HK$790 billion. Moreover, with the support of mainland buyers, the Hong Kong real estate market (especially the luxury real estate market) has continued to rise in recent months, arousing market concerns that there would be a bubble-burst of the real estate market. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)if it has looked into whether the recent continuous rise in property prices in Hong Kong is caused by the persistent inflows of hot money into the Hong Kong market from various places, and whether the Government intends to adopt measures to prevent the occurrence of "overheating" in the entire real estate market;

    (b)given that the Hong Kong Monetary Authority ("HKMA") has to inject funds into the market to buy US dollars when the exchange rate of Hong Kong dollar against the US dollar touches the strong-side Convertibility Undertaking, which stands at HK$7.75, according to the requirement of the operational mechanism of the Currency Board system, whether it has assessed if the measure of increasing the supply of Hong Kong dollars persistently by HKMA will trigger off rises in consumer prices; if the assessment outcome is in the affirmative, how HKMA curbs such rises in consumer prices;

    (c)whether the authorities will consider widening the floating range of Hong Kong dollar's exchange rate against the US dollar to foster the long-term development in Hong Kong's macro-economy and maintain the stability of the financial system; and

    (d)given that Hong Kong's economy is increasingly close to the Mainland, and China and the United States are for a long time at different economic cycles, whether the Government will consider linking the Hong Kong dollar to Renminbi in the future?
Public Officer to reply : The Financial Secretary

* For written reply

III. Motions

Proposed resolution under the Disability Discrimination Ordinance

Secretary for Labour and Welfare to move the following motion:

RESOLVED that the Disability Discrimination Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule 5) Notice 2009, made by the Chief Executive in Council on 6 October 2009, be approved.

(The Notice was issued on 15 October 2009
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 41/09-10)

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

    Hon CHAN Kin-por to move the following motion:

    RESOLVED that in relation to the Building (Minor Works) (Fees) Regulation, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 178 of 2009 and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 14 October 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 2 December 2009.

  2. Proposed resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance

    Dr Hon Margaret NG to move the following motion:

    RESOLVED that in relation to the Rules of the High Court (Amendment) Rules 2009, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 186 of 2009 and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 14 October 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 2 December 2009.

  3. Alleviating the burden of travelling expenses

    Hon CHEUNG Hok-ming to move the following motion: (Translation)

    That, as the people of Hong Kong are still under the impact of the financial tsunami, many of them face difficulties in life and bear a heavy burden of travelling expenses, this Council urges the Government to discuss with various public transport operators and adopt effective measures to alleviate the burden of travelling expenses on the public, which include:

    (a)to provide subsidies to the MTR Corporation Limited, bus companies, green minibus and ferry operators so that they will offer half-fare concessions to passengers on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, thereby enabling the public to have more opportunities to get together with their families and friends on those days;

    (b)to extend the deadline for submitting applications under the Transport Support Scheme, further relax the eligibility criteria and the subsidy period under the Scheme and expand it to cover all districts in the territory;

    (c)to discuss with various public transport operators to offer the Free-ride Day for the elderly on public holidays and specified days of each week on a permanent basis, formulate an implementation timetable for the provision of half-fare concessions to people with disabilities, and study the feasibility of introducing daily, weekly and monthly travel passes that are valid among various public transport operators;

    (d)to discuss with the MTR Corporation Limited to continue extending its fare-freeze period, re-launch the 'Ride 10 Get One Free' Promotion, set up more MTR Fare Savers according to the requests of the residents and by using more consistent standards, and explore further extension of the existing monthly and daily ticket schemes, including introducing monthly tickets for short-haul trips and making it a permanent arrangement, etc;

    (e)to rationalize the fare structure of the MTR Corporation Limited, including rectifying the unreasonable and chaotic situation of 'fares for short-haul trips being more expensive than long-haul trips', adjusting downwards the fares of the Kowloon Southern Link to a reasonable level, and enabling the passengers to travel to Hung Hom Station using Tuen Mun-Nam Cheong Monthly Pass at the original price; as well as resume the service of the free bus route number K16;

    (f)to discuss with the franchised bus companies to re-launch same day return fare concessions, improve their existing fare structures, expeditiously revise the scale of fares under the Public Bus Services Ordinance as well as the route groupings under the scale, re-formulate the existing guidelines on the setting of fares to provide comprehensive sectional fares and bus-bus interchange concessions, including discounts for interchange among buses of different companies, provide half-fare concessions to all full-time students, as well as introduce daily and monthly ticket schemes for buses; and

    (g)targeting at the problem of high fares of outlying island ferry services, to actively study various suitable options, including substantially increasing the non-fare box revenue of ferry operators or the Government directly operating the services, etc; allocate resources to alleviate the burden of ferry service expenses on outlying island residents; and offer half-fare concessions on ferry services to students of outlying islands.

    Amendments to the motion
    (i)Hon Andrew CHENG to move the following amendment: (Translation)

    To add "and the fare concessions offered to the elderly by local franchised bus companies and the MTR Corporation Limited will also expire early next year;" after "heavy burden of travelling expenses,"; to add "extend the existing fare concessions for the elderly and" after "public transport operators to"; to delete "study the feasibility of introducing" after "people with disabilities, and" and substitute with "expeditiously introduce"; to delete "explore further extension of" after "consistent standards, and" and substitute with "further extend"; and to add "as soon as possible" after "monthly and daily ticket schemes".

    (ii)Hon LEUNG Kwok-hung to move the following amendment: (Translation)

    To delete "and" after "ticket schemes for buses;"; and to add "; (h) to progressively let the public sector operate the major transport facilities and services, so as to provide inexpensive, suitable and convenient public transport services to people and prevent large consortia from profiteering; and (i) to halt the construction of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link, and make use of the funds earmarked for constructing the Rail Link to repurchase the Eastern Harbour Crossing, Western Harbour Crossing and the privately-owned shares of the MTR Corporation Limited, thereby reducing tunnel tolls and the fares of the MTR Corporation Limited" immediately before the full stop.

    Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Transport and Housing

  4. Increasing the supply of medium and small-sized residential flats

    Hon LEE Wing-tat to move the following motion: (Translation)

    That this Council urges the Government to resume the sale of land by public auction, build Home Ownership Scheme flats and re-launch the 'Tenants Purchase Scheme', so as to increase the supply of medium and small-sized residential flats to stabilize the property market, help the public purchase flats which are affordable to them and address the demand for housing.

    Amendments to the motion
    (i)Hon WONG Kwok-hing to move the following amendment: (Translation)

    To add ", in view of the recent abnormal speculation and soaring prices in the property market of Hong Kong, which have affected local residents in acquiring their homes," after "That"; to delete "to resume" after "the Government" and substitute with ", on the basis of ensuring that the supply of land for building public rental housing will not be reduced and the waiting time for public rental housing will be shortened, to take proactive and effective countermeasures, which include: (a) to immediately improve the Application List System by lowering the threshold for applying for the sale of sites and increasing the land supply in the Application List; (b) to proactively consider resuming"; to delete ", build Home Ownership Scheme flats and re-launch" after "auction" and substitute with "; (c) whichever land sale measures mentioned above are to be adopted, the Government should give priority to exploring ways to increase the supply of land resources for building properties that meet the needs of the local sandwich class and grassroots to buy properties for self-occupation; (d) to resume building an appropriate number of Home Ownership Scheme ('HOS') flats; (e) to adopt proactive measures to revitalize the HOS secondary market; and (f) to re-launch"; and to add "so that public housing tenants can acquire their own homes;" after " 'Tenants Purchase Scheme', ".

    Amendment to Hon WONG Kwok-hing's amendment
    Hon James TO to move the following amendment:     (Translation)

    To delete "consider resuming" after "(b) to proactively" and substitute with "arrange for resumption of".

    (ii)Hon CHAN Kam-lam to move the following amendment: (Translation)

    To add ", to ensure steady development of the property market," after "That"; to delete "resume the sale of land" after "Government to" and substitute with "adopt the following measures: (a) to put up land for sale"; and to delete ", build" after "auction" and substitute with "at irregular intervals; (b) to improve the policy of sale of sites by application and lowering the reserved prices of the sites in the Application List; (c) in response to the aspiration of local residents, to relax the threshold for auction under the Land (Compulsory Sale for Redevelopment) Ordinance to speed up the redevelopment of old districts; and (d) to build an appropriate number of ".

    (iii)Hon Vincent FANG to move the following amendment: (Translation)

    To add ", in view of the sharp surge of local property prices in recent months, which has aroused grave concern among the public," after "That"; to delete "to resume the sale of land by public auction, build Home Ownership Scheme flats and re-launch the 'Tenants Purchase Scheme' " after "the Government" and substitute with "to expeditiously improve the Application List System, sell land flexibly, and speed up the pace of selling surplus Home Ownership Scheme flats"; to delete ", help" after "market" and substitute with "; and while helping"; to delete "and" after "them" and substitute with "to"; and to add ", avoid damaging the overall economy" immediately before the full stop.

    Public Officers to attend:Secretary for Development
    Secretary for Transport and Housing

Clerk to the Legislative Council