A 09/10-23

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 21 April 2010 at 11:00 am

I. Tabling of Papers

Subsidiary Legislation / InstrumentsL.N. No.
1.Prisons (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 201038/2010
2.Public Health and Municipal Services (Setting Aside Places and Cessation of Setting Aside Places for Use as Public Pleasure Grounds) Order 201039/2010
3.Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Amendment of Fourth Schedule) Order 201040/2010

Other Papers

1.No. 88-Report No. 54 of the Director of Audit on the results of value for money audits - March 2010
(to be presented by the President of the Legislative Council)

2.Report No. 8/09-10 of the House Committee on Consideration of Subsidiary Legislation and Other Instruments
(to be presented by Hon Miriam LAU, Chairman of the House Committee)

II. Questions for Written Replies

1. Hon Paul CHAN to ask: (Translation)

The Lotteries Fund ("the Fund") was established on 30 June 1965 for the purpose of financing social welfare services by grants, loans and advances. Over the years, allocations from the Fund have all along been charged to Head 341 - Non-recurrent Grants. Apart from various charitable organizations, quite a number of government departments (such as Architectural Services Department, Department of Health, Housing Department and Social Welfare Department, etc.) have also been granted allocations from the Fund. In handling the accounts on allocations from the Fund, the Government would usually include the relevant accounts in capital spending, which is paid by capital revenue. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the organizations which had been granted funding from the Fund consecutively in the past five years; of the 20 beneficiary organizations (including government departments) which had been granted the highest total amount of funding from the Fund in the past seven years, together with a breakdown of allocations to each of such organizations and government departments each year by the nature of the project financed; whether it has assessed if the allocations met the funding purposes which was laid down when the Fund was established;

    (b)instead of financing charitable organizations only, why the Fund has made allocations to government departments; why the authorities do not list the items of expenditure of government departments which were financed by the Fund in the Estimates under the relevant Heads of Expenditure, in order that the Legislative Council can consider more comprehensively when vetting and approving estimates of expenditure of the relevant departments, but instead include such items of expenditure in the estimates of expenditure of the Fund; and

    (c)whether it has assessed if the aforesaid allocation arrangements will result in the Fund failing to comprehensively and effectively finance charitable organizations, thus rendering them not being able to explore and introduce additional services more efficiently and effectively in response to the continuous changing needs of the community?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

2. Dr Hon Priscilla LEUNG to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the accident which happened on 29 January this year at Ma Tau Wai Road in which an entire old building which was over 50 years old collapsed and the plan to redevelop old districts, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it is the current practice of the Buildings Department to inspect the exterior conditions of buildings by "naked eyes" only, and whether staff of the Department will enter the premises for a detailed inspection; after the aforesaid tragic collapse of the building, whether the authorities have assessed if the current inspection practice will give rise to an "oversight" situations;

    (b)apart from the redevelopment projects which had not been completed by the then Land Development Corporation, of the number of redevelopment projects in old districts which have been implemented by the Urban Renewal Authority ("URA") since its establishment in 2001, together with a list of the respective amounts of profit made and loss incurred by these redevelopment projects; and

    (c)after the tragic collapse of the building at Ma Tau Wai Road, whether the authorities have assessed if its previous injection of $10 billion into URA is sufficient to support the speeding up of urban redevelopment plans; if they have, whether the authorities have planned to inject additional capital into URA or change URA's mode of operation from self-financing to receiving subsidy from the Government by annual allocation, so as to increase the pace of redevelopment?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

3. Hon LEE Cheuk-yan to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the employment statistics for 2009 compiled by the Census and Statistics Department, will the Government set out in the table below the statistics on employed persons for that year (excluding unpaid family workers, foreign domestic helpers and employed persons who worked less than 35 hours during the seven days before enumeration due to vacation)?

GenderHours of work during the seven days before enumeration
(hours)		Monthly employment earnings (HK$)
Less than 3,0003,000 to 4,9995,000 to 7,4997,500 to 9,99910,000 or aboveTotal
FemaleLess than 35





35 to 49





50 to 59





60 or above





Sub-total





MaleLess than 35





35 to 49





50 to 59





60 or above





Sub-total





Female and MaleLess than 35





35 to 49





50 to 59





60 or above





Total






Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

4. Hon Ronny TONG to ask: (Translation)

Some members of the industry have indicated that seafarers are required to complete designated courses in Hong Kong before the expiry of their licences or certificates in order to obtain the necessary practising qualification. Currently, the Maritime Services Training Institute ("MSTI") under the Vocational Training Council ("VTC") is the only provider of such training courses in Hong Kong. In the event that there are not enough courses (e.g. there is currently a serious shortage of courses for seafarer (seagoing and river trade) licence and STCW95 licence), seafarers will be forced out of employment because they cannot obtain the necessary qualification, or alternatively will have to complete such courses overseas at high costs. Some members of the industry have also indicated that at present, there is also a shortage of courses in Hong Kong for certain minor licences (such as radar licence) in the industry, and that some shipping companies have resorted to importing labour on grounds of inadequate supply of local qualified personnel, thus aggravating the unemployment problem in Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of STCW95 licences issued by the authorities each year from 2005 to 2009, as well as whether it knows the total number of courses run by VTC for such licences and radar licences etc. during the period;

    (b)given that some members of the industry have pointed out that MSTI is at present the sole institution approved by the authorities to provide various specific maritime courses as required by the relevant ordinances and regulations, but some of its courses overlap with those offered by the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education, which is another member institution under the VTC Group, or other institutions, yet there is a shortage of courses for seafarer (seagoing and river trade) licence, which are more professional in nature, whether it knows what mechanism VTC has put in place to maintain the development of professional courses offered by its member institutions and to avoid overlapping of courses, so as to ensure a more efficient use of its resources;

    (c)whether it knows if MSTI has reduced the number of maritime training courses it offered in recent years because of the Government's intention to scale down the seafaring industry, or to replace local workers with imported labour; and

    (d)regarding seafarers who are not able to enrol in the relevant courses due to a shortage of such courses, and hence fail to have the necessary licences or certificates renewed, what measures the Government has put in place to help them obtain the relevant qualification again or seek employment in the related industries?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

5. Hon Jeffrey LAM to ask: (Translation)

In its reply to my question raised in the examination of the Estimates of Expenditure 2010-2011, the Highways Department indicated on 18 March this year that the Department was conducting trial schemes for Light Emitting Diode ("LED") road lights, and had installed LED road lights in Selkirk Road and Moray Road in Kowloon Tong. It had also planned to install about 100 LED road lights in different districts this year at an estimated cost of around one million dollars. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)why the cost of installing 100 LED road lights amounts to one million dollars (i.e. an average of $10,000 for each road light);

    (b)how the prevailing high pressure sodium lamps used for road lighting compare with LED lights in terms of light output, luminous efficacy and electricity consumption;

    (c)of the respective electricity expenditure on footpath lighting and street lamps in each of the past three years; of the ways to reduce the electricity expenditure at present, so as to achieve higher standards of energy efficiency;

    (d)whether time or ambient lighting level is used to decide the switching on or off of footpath lighting and street lamps at present; how it can avoid having footpath lighting and street lamps switched on even when the lighting level is sufficient;

    (e)of the numbers and main locations of the footpath lighting and street lamps installed with photo-sensors for automatic control at present; whether it had, in the past three years, assessed the effectiveness and benefits of such devices in terms of energy efficiency and reduction in electricity expenditure; if it had, of the outcome; and

    (f)whether it had, in the past three years, studied installing lighting facilities with photo-sensors for automatic control at rear staircases of buildings and using government buildings as trial spots, so as to save energy; if it had, of the outcome, and how it ensures that such devices will not cause fire safety and security problems?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

6. Hon James TO to ask: (Translation)

In his 2008-2009 Policy Address, the Chief Executive stated that the Government would "take forward pedestrian schemes to minimize vehicle-pedestrian conflicts and improve roadside air quality" and also plan to extend the footbridge system in Mong Kok to cover central Mong Kok and the Tai Kok Tsui area. The Government anticipated that the technical feasibility study on the extension of the footbridge system would be completed in early 2010. Meanwhile, it has been reported that in respect of the re-provisioning of the government facilities at Sai Yee Street to dovetail with the extension works of the footbridge system, the Secretary for Development has indicated recently the plan to relocate the offices of the Water Supplies Department ("WSD") at Sai Yee Street to a factory building, so as to vacate the site for commercial and public transport interchange purposes, etc. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the latest progress of the above feasibility study; when it anticipates to complete the study as well as draw up the design of the plan and the construction schedule;

    (b)of the progress of relocating the offices of WSD, and when it anticipates to formally implement the relocation plan; as the representatives of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department ("FEHD") indicated earlier at a meeting of the Yau Tsim Mong District Council that a suitable location had been identified for re-provisioning the facility of FEHD adjacent to the offices of WSD, whether the Government anticipates that the relocation timetable for the facilities of the two departments can dovetail with each other, so as to vacate the two sites for combined development;

    (c)given that the extension works of the Mong Kok Road footbridge system across Nathan Road were originally scheduled to commence in 2007, and have so far been delayed for quite some time, and that the Government has indicated recently that the works can commence in the fourth quarter of this year, of the reasons for repeated delays in commencing the works, the latest progress, whether the works can commence as scheduled, and when they are expected to complete; and

    (d)apart from the above plan, whether the Government currently has other plans to minimize vehicle-pedestrian conflicts in the Mong Kok district, so as to improve pedestrian environment and safety; if so, of the details?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

7. Hon Frederick FUNG to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported recently that there is widespread news about the expected appreciation of Renminbi ("RMB"), pointing out that the mainland government will adopt a more flexible exchange rate policy by way of widening daily trading range for the exchange rate of RMB to allow gradual appreciation of RMB; and the mid-rate of RMB's exchange rate against the United States ("US") dollar has repeatedly reached record high since last year, and the three-month and one year Non-deliverable Forwards on the exchange rate of RMB against the US dollar had for one time increased by 1% and 3% respectively. There have even been comments that RMB is expected to appreciate by 3% to 4% and by a total of 5% within a year. Focusing on the aforesaid reports and the exchange rate situation of RMB, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether the authorities have communicated with the relevant mainland departments and studied its exchange rate policy on RMB; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (b)whether it has assessed the impact of RMB's appreciation on the Hong Kong economy (including the overall economic situation, the flow of money, asset price, the Linked Exchange Rate system and inflation, etc.); if an assessment has been conducted, of the outcome; whether the authorities will consider revising upward the forecast on the average underlying inflation rate of 1.5% for this year as a whole; and

    (c)given that members of the public from the lower and middle classes mainly rely on cheaper food items and daily necessities imported from the Mainland to maintain their living standard, whether the authorities have assessed the impact of RMB's appreciation at different rates on their livelihood; whether the authorities have formulated any new measures, so as to assist them in coping with the pressure of rising prices of goods; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : The Financial Secretary

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

The Administration submitted the "Progress Report on the Government's Efforts in Strengthening Support for Tin Shui Wai" to the Panel on Welfare Services of this Council in January 2008, with a view to following up the suggestions raised by Members of this Council on the motion "strengthening support for Tin Shui Wai" passed on 7 November 2007. Regarding the progress of various measures taken to improve the employment situation in Tin Shui Wai ("TSW"), will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether measures are currently in place to consolidate and enhance tourist attractions in TSW and the neighbouring areas, and whether it has any plan to provide additional tourist attractions within the district, so as to increase employment opportunities within the district; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (b)of the authorities new measures to encourage the business sector to set up businesses in TSW, and whether they have assessed the effectiveness of such measures; if an assessment has been conducted, of the outcome; apart from the Telebet Centre cum Volunteer and Training Centre set up by the Hong Kong Jockey Club in Tin Heng Estate in TSW, whether it knows the total number of institutions which have set up offices and set up businesses in TSW since January 2008, as well as the respective numbers of full-time and part-time jobs created;

    (c)since the Training Centre under the Construction Industry Council Training Academy in TSW and the Youth College under the Vocational Training Council in TSW came into operation in 2009 respectively, whether it has assessed the effectiveness of the training courses offered; if an assessment has been conducted, of the outcome; whether it knows the age and sex distribution of the trainees enrolled in such courses, and among them, the number of those who had secured appointment within three months after completing the training courses; as well as the age groups of persons of the district who have not yet been offered training opportunities;

    (d)of the total number of residents of the district who were offered jobs through job fairs organized by the Labour Department and other organizations last year, together with a breakdown by industry sector, work location and income distribution; whether the authorities have assessed the effectiveness of such job fairs; if they have, of the details;

    (e)when the authorities will complete the review on the Transport Support Scheme; how they will continue to provide travel subsidies for persons living in remote areas, so as to enhance their incentive to work;

    (f)given that the authorities indicated in the aforesaid progress report that it would continue to identify large commercial corporations to partner with non-governmental organizations in launching social enterprise projects that suit the local needs of TSW, so as to increase employment opportunities, whether they have assessed the effectiveness of such projects since 2008; if they have, of the outcome; and

    (g)given that the authorities indicated in the aforesaid progress report that the Development Bureau and the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau were jointly exploring the initiative to move government facilities to TSW, of the latest progress of the initiative, as well as details of the sites chosen and the implementation timetable?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

9. Hon Fred LI to ask: (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the current number of registered veterinary surgeons and, among them, the number of those employed in government departments and responsible for studying animal diseases and food safety;

    (b)of the vacancy situation and turnover rate of the Veterinary Officer grade in the Government in each of the past five years; and

    (c)whether the authorities had, in the past three years, planned to recruit additional Veterinary Officers in view of the problems of food safety and infectious diseases caused by animals; if they had plans, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

10. Hon Paul TSE to ask: (Translation)

Both Chile and Taiwan, which have recently been hit by serious earthquakes, are not included in the list of 60 "countries" covered by the "Outbound Travel Alert System" ("OTAS") of the Security Bureau, and Taiwan in particular is a popular tourist destination for Hong Kong people. Some members of the public in Hong Kong who have joined package tours to Taiwan have relayed to me that they approached the travel agents to request for withdrawal from the tours after the earthquake, but encountered various hindrances; later these people sought assistance from the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong and the Security Bureau but to no avail, as they both shirked their responsibilities. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the criteria based on which the Security Bureau determines the coverage of OTAS;

    (b)of the reasons for not including Chile and Taiwan in the coverage of OTAS; and when these two popular tourist destinations for Hong Kong people will be included; and

    (c)whether it will expeditiously review OTAS again and include in the system as far as practicable all tourist "destinations" and "countries" which Hong Kong people may visit?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

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

It has been reported that a former Director of the Hong Kong Observatory ("HKO") said earlier that certain "powerful persons" were found to have pressed the Government to designate Long Valley as a "Comprehensive Development and Nature Conservation Enhancement Area" ("CDNCEA"), which included granting permission to landowners to build houses within the area. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it has looked into who the "powerful persons" referred to by the former Director of HKO are; if it has, of the details and how the Government responded to the planning request of such persons in respect of Long Valley; if not, the reasons for that;

    (b)given that the Planning Department ("PlanD") proposed in the North East New Territories New Development Areas Planning and Engineering Study to designate Long Valley, which covers 84 hectares ("ha") of land, as CDNCEA, and that 26 ha within this area is proposed to be designated as "core zone", which is the feeding place and habitat for a high diversity of bird species, of the criteria based on which the authorities have designated the "core zone";

    (c)given that the Environmental Protection Department rejected in 2000 the report of an Environmental Impact Assessment conducted by the then Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation ("KCRC") for its proposal to construct the Sheung Shui to Lok Ma Chau Spur Line (the total length of which was 7.4 km, including 700 metres over Long Valley), on grounds that Long Valley was an area of extremely high ecological value, and KCRC subsequently changed its option to a bored tunnel; yet, PlanD is now considering granting permission to landowners to build houses in the area under the concept of CDNCEA, whether the Government has an unified standard to handle the future development of Long Valley; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (d)whether it has any clear definition for the concept of CDNCEA; if so, of the details?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

12. Hon Frederick FUNG to ask: (Translation)

In recent months, the south-western part of the Mainland, including Yunnan Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, etc., has been hit by a once-in-a-century severe drought, and the number of drought victims has exceeded 60 million. Some mainland meteorologists have assessed that, against the background of global warming and the El Nino phenomenon, the severe drought is mainly attributed to the persistent weather of high temperature and low rainfall in the south-western part of China. There have been comments that although the drought has not created immediate impact on the water source of the rivers in the Guangdong region, it has reflected the increasingly pronounced impact of climate change on human lives, which may exert pressure on local water resources in the long-term. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it had, in the past five years, studied the possible impact of climate change and some medium to long-term climate phenomena, such as the El Nino phenomenon, on the water source of Dongjiang on the Mainland and the rainfall in Hong Kong, and formulated strategies in response to possible reduction in water resources in the future; if it had, of the outcome; if not, whether the authorities will conduct the study concerned;

    (b)given that some 70% of the fresh water supply in Hong Kong relies on Dongjiang water at present and the remaining supply of some 20% mainly comes from surface water collected from local water gathering grounds, and although the current agreement for supply of Dongjiang water has ensured a reliable supply of fresh water in Hong Kong, there have been comments that under the impact of growing water demand created by rapid economic development on the Mainland and global warming, shortage in water resources is inevitable in the long-term, of the specific strategies of the authorities on water conservation, determination of water charges and development of new water resources; and

    (c)given that the authorities have conducted studies on seawater desalination using reverse osmosis technology, and have confirmed the feasibility of adopting such technology locally, whether the authorities will make reference to the successful experience of Singapore and Australia and consider constructing desalination facilities using such technology in the medium to long-term, so as to provide more supply channels for water resources in the future and mitigate the risk of serious water shortage?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

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

Since 15 December 2008, the Trade and Industry Department ("TID") has implemented the Special Loan Guarantee Scheme ("the Scheme"), which aims to help enterprises tide over their liquidity problems, and the application period of the Scheme will expire on 30 June this year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of applications received by TID and the amount of loans concerned approved by lending institutions each month since the implementation of the Scheme;

    (b)whether it had, in the past 12 months, assessed the overall effectiveness of the Scheme; if it had, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (c)whether it had, in the past six months, assessed the pace of economic recovery in Hong Kong in the second half of this year and when the credit market will resume normal operation, so as to decide whether the application period of the Scheme should be extended; if it had, of the details;

    (d)whether it had, in the past six months, assessed the impact of factors of global economic uncertainties on small and medium enterprises ("SMEs") in Hong Kong in respect of its financing in the second half of this year; if it had, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (e)since the Government's announcement of the extension of the application period of the Scheme for the second time at the end of last year, whether the authorities have compiled statistics on the total number of views received which requested for the application period of the Scheme to be extended again; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (f)whether it will consider extending the application period of the Scheme to the end of this year; if it will, when it will announce the arrangement concerned; if not, of the reasons for that; and

    (g)whether it had, in the past 12 months, assessed the impact of terminating the Scheme on SMEs in respect of their financing; if it had, of the details; if not, the reasons for that, and whether it will, upon the expiry of the Scheme, consider further enhancing the SME Loan Guarantee Scheme, including raising the maximum percentage of the Government's loan guarantee ratio as a guarantor of the approved loans, as well as increasing the maximum amount of loan guarantee for each SME?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

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

Regarding the development in using renewable energy to generate electricity, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it knows the progress of the development of using wind power to generate electricity by the two power companies, of the numbers and locations of the wind power generation facilities of the two power companies as well as their construction costs and serviceable life spans, the percentage of wind power-generated electricity in the total amount of electricity generated in Hong Kong, and the impact of using wind power to generate electricity on electricity generation costs and electricity tariffs;

    (b)given that in the First Sustainable Development Strategy for Hong Kong released in 2005, the Government set the target of having between 1% and 2% of Hong Kong's total electricity supply met by power generated from renewable sources by the year 2012, of the latest progress in meeting the target; if the progress is satisfactory, whether it will consider setting a higher target; if the progress is unsatisfactory, whether it will lower the target;

    (c)apart from developing wind power to generate electricity, whether it had, in the past three years, further studied the development of other renewable energy sources and implemented development plans; if it had, of the details and the relevant progress;

    (d)whether it will bear the costs for the construction of wind power generation facilities; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (e)whether it has ascertained if the two power companies will use the construction of wind power generation facilities as a justification for adjusting electricity tariffs; if electricity tariffs will rise as a result, what the Government's solution is?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment

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

Will the Government inform this Council of the latest development of Hong Kong's existing subsidy policy on social work sub-degree and undergraduate degree programmes; and the respective numbers of subsidized places in social work sub-degree and undergraduate degree programmes provided by each University Grants Committee-funded institution in each of the past three years, as well as the respective estimated numbers of such places to be provided in each of the next five years?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education

16. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)

The Government stresses that importance should be attached to family values, and it has undertaken to deepen various family-friendly measures and is committed to including family as a factor to consider in its policy-making process. For years, the Democratic Party and various women's groups have been asking the Government to legislate on the provision of paid paternity leave by employers to male employees, and have pointed out that the provision of paternity leave not only helps relieve the stress of the women who have given birth and their family, facilitates men to assume the role of family carer and shoulder their responsibilities, but also helps promote gender equality and family harmony. Yet, the Government has to date not provided a direct response. It has been reported that the Chairperson of the Equal Opportunities Commission has also pointed out earlier that Hong Kong lags behind other places in terms of paternity/maternity leave benefits, and he considers that it would be more advantageous to the overall economy of Hong Kong if men are entitled to paternity leave. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
    (a)given that as early as 2006, the authorities advised that they had been conducting a study on whether or not legislation should be enacted for providing paternity leave to male employees, of the latest progress and outcome of the study; the anticipated time to announce such outcome and draft the relevant bill;

    (b)which countries have paternity leave at present; of the details concerned; and those arrangements of these countries to which Hong Kong may make reference; and

    (c)whether they will consult community groups, the Women's Commission and the public on legislation for the provision of paternity leave; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

17. Hon Mrs Regina IP to ask: (Translation)

The leaflet of "Maintain Your Air-conditioner to Prevent Nuisances and Related Diseases" on the web site of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department ("FEHD") points out that under the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Cap. 132), a person shall be guilty of an offence if he allows his ventilating system to emit hot air or to discharge water in such a manner as to be a nuisance. The penalty is $10,000 and a daily fine of $200. As stipulated in section 12(1)(g) of Cap. 132, the emission of air either above or below the temperature of the external air from the ventilating system in any premises in such a manner as to be a nuisance shall be a nuisance which may be dealt with summarily. Some members of the public have told me that they had complained to FEHD about nuisances caused by hot air emitted from air-conditioners. However, its staff pointed out that FEHD would request the persons concerned to abate the nuisances only when the temperature of the hot air emitted from the air-conditioners was higher than that of the external air by more than two degrees Celsius ("2°C"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the criteria based on which the authorities use the 2°C temperature difference as the yardstick for determining whether or not the air emitted from ventilating systems constitutes a harmful nuisance;

    (b)given that some members of the public who are affected by such nuisances have pointed out that the minimum temperature difference which can be read by the detection devices used by frontline government departments is only 0.5°C, how such departments deal with cases of the temperature difference being slightly higher than 2°C (such as 2.2°C) but less than 2.5°C;

    (c)whether such departments have issued guidelines requiring their staff to conduct examinations only after the air-conditioners suspected to be the source of nuisances have been turned on for some time so that the level of nuisances can be determined more accurately, and whether they have provided guidelines on the location for measuring the level of nuisances; and

    (d)given that some members of the public have pointed out that at present, when FEHD handles complaints about water dripping from air-conditioners, so long as water is found to have dripped or to be dripping from the air-conditioners concerned, it will follow up with the owners or tenants concerned in accordance with Cap. 132 regardless of the quantity of water dripping, of the reasons and justifications for handling complaints about emission of hot air and dripping water from air-conditioners in different manners?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

18. Hon Paul CHAN to ask: (Translation)

Both the 2008/09 Survey of Drug Use among Students conducted by the Narcotics Division of the Security Bureau and the Central Registry of Drug Abuse Fifty-eighth Report have uncovered that Internet computer services centres (commonly known as "Internet cafes") are the hotbeds of substance abuse and even drug taking of young people aged under 21, and there is a trend for the problem to aggravate. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether law enforcement agencies had conducted inspections of Internet cafes in the past three years to combat drug trafficking and drug taking; if not, of the reasons for that; if so, of an annual breakdown of the number of inspections conducted, the number of persons arrested who were alleged to have trafficked drugs and taken drugs, their age, the types of pharmaceutical substances or drugs involved, and among the persons arrested, the respective numbers of those who were prosecuted and convicted, as well as the details of penalties imposed on them;

    (b)whether the authorities had, in the past three years, studied how Internet cafes should be regulated, so as to combat substance abuse and drug taking; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c)whether the authorities will consider regulating Internet cafes through a licensing system to target at the aforesaid problem?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

19. Dr Hon Priscilla LEUNG to ask: (Translation)

The Christian Zheng Sheng Association has earlier written to the Panel on Education of this Council to seek members' assistance for the early relocation of the Christian Zheng Sheng College to the former site of the New Territories Heung Yee Kuk Southern District Secondary School in Mui Wo on Lantau Island, so that the College will not be disallowed to operate classes under the New Senior Secondary Academic Structure ("the 334 structure") for its students to take due to inadequate school facilities. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)given that it has been reported that the Independent Commission Against Corruption has not found any suspicion of corruption or malpractice on the part of the Zheng Sheng Association and has thus terminated the relevant investigation, whether the Government has correspondingly changed its present stance on the relocation of the Zheng Sheng College; if it has, whether at present the Government still considers the former site of the Southern District Secondary School the most suitable for the relocation of the Zheng Sheng College, and when the College can be relocated the earliest;

    (b)given that it has been reported that the Zheng Sheng College is required to improve the quality of its facilities and environment before the expiry of the allowed eight-year grace period by the end of this year in order to meet the licensing requirements under the Drug Dependent Persons Treatment and Rehabilitation Centres (Licensing) Ordinance (Cap. 566), or else its services may be terminated, whether the Government will consider exercising discretion to extend the grace period until the relocation problem of the College is resolved;

    (c)as the Zheng Sheng College cannot be relocated shortly, whether the Education Bureau and the government departments concerned will offer assistance to the College and its students, including providing assistance for the College's operation, repairing the existing school premises before the onset of the rainy season, stabilizing the slopes around the school premises and exercising discretion to permit the College to operate classes under the 334 structure even if the school facilities are inadequate, so as to enable the students to continue with their studies;

    (d)given that some of the residents in Mui Wo have opposed to the relocation of the Zheng Sheng College to the former site of the Southern District Secondary School and criticized the insufficient provision of school places in the district, and yet the Zheng Sheng College has requested to move to Mui Wo, what measures the Government will adopt to balance the interests of both sides;

    (e)with regard to the existing process for the Zheng Sheng College to be registered as a formal school, of the procedures yet to be completed, requirements to be fulfilled and necessary documents to be submitted by the College; and

    (f)of the number and proportion of rehabilitated students at Secondary 5 or below levels who could return to mainstream schools to continue their studies after receiving drug addiction treatment in addiction treatment centres in the past five years; whether the Government has planned to promote in Hong Kong the education model of drug rehabilitation school similar to the Zheng Sheng College and encourage more non-profit-making organizations to operate schools of similar nature, so as to cope with the situation that a large number of young people may need to receive drug addiction treatment in the future?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

20. Hon Paul TSE to ask: (Translation)

There have been comments that in the recent incident of the flights of Viva Macau being delayed or cancelled due to its financial crisis, the Tourism Crisis Management Office under the Macao Special Administrative Region Government had played an important emergency management role, whereas Hong Kong lacks a proper mechanism for handling unforeseen tourism incidents. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council, given that various government departments and the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong are responsible for tourism matters at present, and they have often been criticized by people for lacking coordination, whether it has studied the deployment of staff and resources from these departments to immediately set up a unit similar to the Tourism Crisis Management Office for handling unforeseen tourism incidents in Hong Kong or overseas; if it has, of the outcome; if not, whether it will conduct such a study expeditiously?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

III. Bills

First Reading

Deposit Protection Scheme (Amendment) Bill 2010

Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)

Deposit Protection Scheme (Amendment) Bill 2010：Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

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

Appropriation Bill 2010：The Financial Secretary

Other Public Officers to attend the Second Reading debate：The Chief Secretary for Administration
Secretary for Labour and Welfare
Secretary for Transport and Housing
    Proposed resolutions under Rule 69(3) of the Rules of Procedure of the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

    (i)Hon Audrey EU to move the following motion:

    RESOLVED that head 70 be reduced by $5,940,000 in respect of subhead 000.

    Other Public Officer to attend：Secretary for Security

    (ii)Hon Albert HO to move the following motion:

    RESOLVED that head 122 be reduced by $44,920,000 in respect of subhead 000.

    Other Public Officer to attend：Secretary for Security

    (iii)Hon Albert HO to move the following motion:

    RESOLVED that head 122 be reduced by $14,798,400 in respect of subhead 000.

    Other Public Officer to attend：Secretary for Security

    (iv)Hon Albert HO to move the following motion:

    RESOLVED that head 122 be reduced by $80,000,000 in respect of subhead 103.

    Other Public Officer to attend：Secretary for Security

    (v)Hon LEE Cheuk-yan to move the following motion:

    RESOLVED that head 141 be reduced by $281,666 in respect of subhead 000.

    Other Public Officers to attend：Secretary for Labour and Welfare
    Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

    (vi)Hon Audrey EU to move the following motion:

    RESOLVED that head 144 be reduced by $281,666 in respect of subhead 000.

    Other Public Officers to attend：Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs
    Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

    (vii)Hon Cyd HO to move the following motion:

    RESOLVED that head 156 be reduced by $281,666 in respect of subhead 000.

    Other Public Officers to attend：Secretary for Education
    Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

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

    RESOLVED that head 158 be reduced by $281,666 in respect of subhead 000.

    Other Public Officers to attend：Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
    Secretary for Transport and Housing

    (ix)Hon WONG Kwok-hing to move the following motion:

    RESOLVED that head 163 be reduced by $147,000,000 in respect of subhead 000.

    Other Public Officer to attend：Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs
IV. Members' Motions

Motion under Rule 49E(2) of the Rules of Procedure

Hon Miriam LAU to move the following motion:

That this Council takes note of Report No. 8/09-10 of the House Committee laid on the Table of the Council on 21 April 2010 in relation to the subsidiary legislation and instrument(s) as listed below:

Item Number

Title of Subsidiary Legislation or Instrument

(1)

Designation of Libraries Order 2010
(L.N. 22/2010).

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Home Affairs

Clerk to the Legislative Council