A 09/10-28

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 19 May 2010 at 11:00 am

I. Taking of Legislative Council Oath

Hon Alan LEONG Kah-kit-Legislative Council Oath
Hon LEUNG Kwok-hung-Legislative Council Affirmation
Hon Tanya CHAN-Legislative Council Affirmation
Hon Albert CHAN Wai-yip-Legislative Council Oath
Hon WONG Yuk-man-Legislative Council Oath

II. Tabling of Papers

Subsidiary Legislation / InstrumentsL.N. No.
Electronic Transactions (Exclusion) (Amendment) Order 201054/2010

Other Papers

1.No. 94-Report of changes made to the approved Estimates of Expenditure during the fourth quarter of 2009-10
Public Finance Ordinance: Section 8
(to be presented by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury)

2.No. 95-Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation Annual Report 2009
(to be presented by the Financial Secretary)

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

III. Questions

1. Hon Paul CHAN to ask: (Translation)

The Government decided in 1999 to sell part of its shares of the Mass Transit Railway Corporation through an initial public offering. According to the Legislative Council Brief issued then, the public offering would provide a useful boost to Government finance in the medium term. Shares of the MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL") were listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong in 2000. Subsequently, the Corporation and the railway operations of the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation were merged to form MTRCL in 2006. Many members of the public have complained in recent years that transport costs in Hong Kong are very high, while the fare concessions offered by MTRCL to disadvantaged groups and senior citizens are imperfect. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the amounts of dividends the Government received annually since the listing of the shares of MTRCL in 2000; whether it has assessed how those dividends have specifically helped Government's financial situation each year, how far its financial position has been improved as a result, and whether such help is in line with its estimate and expectation at the time when the shares of MTRCL were listed;

    (b)of the names and expenditures of various transport support schemes that the Government implemented in the past five years; and

    (c)whether it has considered allocating the dividends received from MTRCL, or part of the dividends collected, to fund the implementation of schemes which offer appropriate transport support to members of the public in need; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officers to reply:Secretary for Labour and Welfare
Secretary for Transport and Housing

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

The Government put forward its first long term housing strategy in 1987, published the Long Term Housing Strategy Review Consultative Document in 1997, and announced the White Paper on Long Term Housing Strategy in February 1998. Under the strategy, the Government assisted needy people in acquiring their homes through assessing housing demand and implementing the Home Ownership Scheme ("HOS") as well as other housing schemes. Yet, the Secretary for Transport and Housing stated at the meeting of this Council on 21 April this year that encouraging the acquisition of residential properties was not a policy objective of the Government. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it has abolished the long term housing strategy; if so, of the reasons for that, and whether it has conducted any extensive public consultation beforehand in this regard; if it has not abolished the strategy, of the contents of the existing long term housing strategy;

    (b)whether the authorities have conducted any assessment of the demand for private housing since 2003 and planned the land supply on the basis of the assessment outcome; if an assessment had been conducted, of the outcome; if not, the reasons for that, and how land planning work has been undertaken having regard to the supply of residential flats; and

    (c)of the specific timetable and contents of the public consultation on the Government's subsidizing home ownership to be conducted by the authorities in the coming five months?
Public Officers to reply:Secretary for Transport and Housing
Secretary for Development

3. Hon Fred LI to ask: (Translation)

On 24 March this year, after learning that the Health Sciences Authority in Singapore had found two western drugs namely, "phenolphthalein" and "sibutramine", in samples of "Po Chai Pills Capsule Form", the Department of Health ("DH") directed the manufacturer concerned to recall from local retail outlets and consumers this proprietary Chinese medicine ("PCM"), in respect of which an application for registration is being processed. DH announced the results of the tests on that PCM on 29 March that six capsule form samples and five samples from powder for making capsules were found to contain the aforesaid western drugs. The powder was traced to a company called "廣東施健生物科技有限公司" ("Guangdong Shi Jian Biotechnology Company Limited"), but the company is not on the list of Guangdong's drug manufacturers. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether at present it is an offence to sell in Hong Kong PCMs which have not been registered or transitionally registered; if so, why the aforesaid unregistered PCM can be sold in Hong Kong; whether the authorities have formulated guidelines on the recall of PCMs and the refund mechanism;

    (b)of the respective numbers of PCM manufacturers holding a PCM manufacturer licence and a transitional certificate at present; whether the authorities have set a timetable for full compliance with the licensing requirements by PCM manufacturers and of the support measures in place to facilitate PCM manufacturers in meeting the licensing requirements; whether the terms of the PCM manufacturer licence provide for the regulation of the procurement of PCM raw materials; and

    (c)of the current manpower responsible for the registration of PCMs, licensing of PCM manufacturers, inspection of PCM manufacturing plants, testing of PCMs and provision of support for the recall of PCMs respectively?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

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

The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Hong Kong Boundary Crossing Facilities ("HKBCF") will be located at the waters off the north-east of the Airport Island on Lantau, and reclamation works will commence in the third quarter of this year. It was proposed as early as in 2006 that motels, large exhibition venues, large entertainment and shopping facilities, etc. should be developed around HKBCF area to foster a bridgehead economy, increase the traffic flow of the bridge and give an impetus to the economic development of Lantau. The authorities indicated that they would consider the proposal. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it has specific plans to develop in the areas surrounding HKBCF transportation connections and the aforesaid facilities that cater for the needs of vehicles and visitors from the Mainland, so as to foster a bridgehead economy;

    (b)given that I have learnt that at present, certain sites on the Airport Island are still available for new uses and that the construction works of HKBCF are still at the preparatory stage, whether the Government will consider collaborating with the Hong Kong Airport Authority in devising a detailed plan on how to use the sites concerned to develop a bridgehead economy; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c)of the latest progress of the trial scheme on one-off ad hoc quotas for cross-boundary private cars planned to be implemented by the Governments of Hong Kong, the Mainland and Macao, the overall planning and method for allocating quotas; whether the scheme will be implemented in phases according to types of vehicles and vehicle ownership by Government, enterprise and individual?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

5. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)

The Land (Compulsory Sale for Redevelopment) (Specification of Lower Percentage) Notice came into operation on 1 April this year amid controversies. The Secretary for Development has remarked that "owing to the public image of the real estate sector in Hong Kong, both the Government and I might be doing something like sailing a boat against the currents". On the other hand, local and overseas media have reported over the years that the richest tycoons in the territory are all real estate developers; some members of the public consider that the policies of the Government are tilted in favour of real estate developers, and there might be collusion between Government and the business sector as well as transfer of benefits. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council of the following in the past five years:
    (a)whether they had studied and analyzed the reasons why public policies had given people the impression that they were in the favour of real estate developers, and whether real estate developers had hoarded land and residential flats, controlled the completions and supply of residential flats, forged non-bona fide transactions, disseminated confusing information on the sale of properties and provided sales brochures without detailed information; if they had conducted such a study and analysis, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (b)whether they had studied and analyzed the reasons for the insufficient supply of land and medium and small-sized residential flats, soaring property prices and the absence of legislation to regulate the sale of new private residential properties, and whether such situations would give rise to the public perception that the authorities' policies were tilted in favour of real estate developers; if they had conducted such study and analysis, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; in addition to the measures already announced, what other measures the Government will adopt to protect the rights and interests of property buyers and allay the impression of collusion between Government and the business sector; and

    (c)whether they had analyzed, among the 28 functional constituencies of the Legislative Council, the number of functional constituencies, other than the real estate and construction functional constituency, the voters of which had direct or indirect interests associated with real estate developers, and whether this situation had confirmed the comment that public policies were tilted in favour of real estate developers?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

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

Regarding the development of electric vehicles ("EVs"), will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the current number of EVs in Hong Kong; given that the authorities have indicated that they would enhance the necessary ancillary infrastructure to facilitate the introduction of EVs, of the latest progress and expected completion date of such work;

    (b)of the latest progress of the work carried out by the Steering Committee on the Promotion of Electric Vehicles under the leadership of the Financial Secretary; given that the authorities have indicated that the promotion of EVs was not restricted to private cars and they would closely monitor market supply situation and technical development to introduce other types of vehicles (including those heavier ones such as buses), of the latest progress of such studies and their expected completion dates; and

    (c)whether the authorities had conducted any study on the emission of air pollutants from liquefied petroleum gas ("LPG") taxis last year; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; whether they have studied assisting the owners of LPG taxis in replacing their vehicles with EVs; if so, of the content of the study and the estimated costs needed to replace the vehicles as well as its impact on air quality; if not, of the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment

*7. Dr Hon Samson TAM to ask: (Translation)

It has been learnt that with the rapid development of bandwidths for Internet access services ("IAS"), most households in Hong Kong at present subscribe to broadband IAS, but the broadband services using the Fiber-To-The-Home ("FTTH") technology to increase upload and download transmission speeds are still not popular. Some residents of old buildings have relayed to me that they are unable to use broadband services provided via FTTH technology, which has caused much inconvenience to them. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the current penetration rate in Hong Kong of broadband services using FTTH technology, and how it compares with those in the neighbouring regions;

    (b)whether the authorities had, in the past three years, conducted any study on the difficulties encountered in providing households of old buildings with broadband services using FTTH technology; if they had, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c)of the policies and measures put in place by the authorities to expedite the promotion of broadband services using FTTH technology; if such policy and measure are not in place, of the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

*8. Dr Hon LEUNG Ka-lau to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that the debris of the building at Ma Tau Wai Road which collapsed on 29 January this year was suspected to contain asbestos, and demolition of the affected buildings might even spread the asbestos dust from the debris to the residential units nearby, thus exposing the demolition workers and residents in the vicinity to the danger of inhaling asbestos dust. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)given that it has been reported that the Labour Department ("LD") and the Environmental Protection Department ("EPD") had collected air samples for testing from the aforesaid scene of building collapse, so as to ascertain whether workers would have the risk of inhaling asbestos fibres when carrying out the demolition works, of the testing method for the air test, number of samples collected, the locations where samples were collected and number of tests conducted; types of asbestos found in the samples and level of asbestos in the air at the scene of the collapsed building according to the test results, as well as date and time of collecting the air samples concerned; if such information is not available, of the reasons for that;

    (b)whether LD and EPD have provided physical check-up for the personnel who handled the aforesaid building collapse incident and carrying out the demolition works (including firemen, healthcare personnel, police officers and demolition workers, etc.); if they have, of the details; if not, how the authorities ensure that the health of such personnel would not be adversely affected by the aforesaid demolition works;

    (c)whether the aforesaid demolition works were undertaken by registered asbestos contractors; if so, of the details; if not, how the authorities ensure that the workers would not inhale asbestos fibres from the debris when conducting such works; and

    (d)given that at present, quite a number of old buildings in To Kwa Wan need to be demolished or maintained, thus increasing the demand for construction and maintenance workers, whether LD will exercise comprehensive monitoring to ensure that registered asbestos contractors who undertake such works provide each asbestos abatement worker with appropriate training and instructions, and ensure that they are equipped with the skills and knowledge necessary for asbestos abatement; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment

*9. Hon Andrew LEUNG to ask: (Translation)

The Government has implemented measures since April this year to revitalize old industrial buildings by processing centrally applications for redevelopment or conversion of industrial buildings, with a view to injecting new impetus into the development of old industrial areas and the cultural and creative industries of six economic areas where Hong Kong enjoyed clear advantages. It has been reported that at present, some industrial building owners intend to, after submitting applications for revitalizing and converting their old buildings for commercial use, set aside certain units for lease to artists for cultural and creative industries purposes. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it has compiled statistics on the current number of artists whose studios are located in industrial buildings in old industrial areas; whether it has contacted the artists who at present cluster at the industrial buildings in old industrial areas such as Cheung Sha Wan, Kwun Tong, San Po Kong and Fo Tan, etc., so as to gauge the impact of the measures to revitalize old industrial buildings on them; if it has, of the details;

    (b)whether it will assist artists in making contact with the aforesaid owners who intend to set aside some units in their converted industrial buildings for use by cultural and creative industries, so as to assist the artists to move into the revitalized units;

    (c)whether it has planned to implement appropriate measures (e.g. the provision of rates or tax concessions), so as to attract more industrial building owners to lease more converted units to artists for use as studios;

    (d)how the Government's plan to inject $3 billion into the Arts and Sport Development Fund will assist the arts and cultural sector in capitalizing on the development opportunities arising from measures to revitalize old industrial buildings, so as to achieve a win-win situation; and

    (e)whether it will consider relaxing the existing vetting and approval criteria for converting industrial buildings in old industrial areas into venues for arts performances such as music or drama, etc.?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

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

The Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development indicated at the meeting of this Council on 6 January this year that the Administration would speed up the review of the Trade Descriptions Ordinance (Cap. 362) and submit to the relevant Panel of this Council a paper on the proposed legislative amendments to regulate issues such as pre-paid services (including telecommunications service contracts, etc.) and high-pressure marketing practices. Moreover, in order to heighten customer satisfaction levels by improving the provisions used in telecommunications service contracts, the Office of the Telecommunications Authority ("OFTA") issued in February this year a Code of Practice for Communications Service Contracts and invited communications service providers to comply with the Code voluntarily. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the respective numbers of complaints received by the Police and the Consumer Council in each of the past three years about pre-paid services involving beauty care, yoga, fitness and travel club membership and, among them, the number of such cases resolved, together with a breakdown by the type of the cases;

    (b)when the authorities expect to complete the aforesaid work to amend the Trade Descriptions Ordinance, commence public consultation on the proposed amendments and give an account of the work progress to the relevant Panel of this Council;

    (c)whether at present there are communications service providers which voluntarily comply with the aforesaid Code of Practice issued by OFTA; if so, of the list of such companies; if not, what methods the Government will adopt to encourage communications service providers to comply with the Code of Practice; and

    (d)given that OFTA has been implementing a pilot programme for the Customer Complaint Settlement Scheme since September 2008 to provide mediation and adjudication services for disputes relating to telecommunications service contracts, of the total number of cases handled under the pilot programme to date, the respective numbers of those resolved through mediation and adjudication and, among the cases resolved by adjudication, the respective numbers of those in which decisions have ruled in favour of the customers and those in favour of the telecommunications service providers?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

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

Regarding the outstanding leisure and cultural services projects of the former Municipal Councils, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)according to the latest progress of the aforesaid projects, which projects the estimated project costs of which are at variance with the initial estimates, and of the variations;

    (b)of the estimated number of jobs to be created in the construction industry by each of the aforesaid projects yet to be commenced;

    (c)whether there are measures in place at present to expedite the implementation of such projects; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (d)given that the authorities advised in a paper submitted recently that they were further processing 51 of the aforesaid projects, and quite a number of such projects are still under review, whether the authorities have formulated any timetable for the review of such projects; and

    (e)given that as revealed by the information provided by the authorities, Kwai Tsing District Council has supported the deletion of the "Indoor Recreation Centre Area 9H, Kwai Chung" project, and the site is reserved for public housing development by the Hong Kong Housing Authority, of the details of the public housing to be developed at the site, including the estimated project costs, dates of commencement and completion of the works, as well as the number of public housing units to be provided?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

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

The drought which earlier occurred continuously in the south-western part of the Mainland has aroused public concern about the stability of fresh water supply from the Mainland to Hong Kong. There are views that Hong Kong should further promote the concept of water conservation, and the Government itself should take the lead in reducing wastage of fresh water as well as developing new water resources. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)which five government departments had the highest water consumption in the past three years, of their respective water consumption and expenditures on water charges (list out in a table);

    (b)given that at present some tasks of government departments (e.g. watering flowers and washing streets, etc.) which consume relatively large quantity of water use fresh water, whether it will consider using reclaimed water and seawater instead, which has been filtered and purified; if it will, of the specific arrangements; if it will not, the reasons for that;

    (c)whether specific targets will be set for water conservation within the Government; if so, of the details; if not, how it encourages various government departments to reduce the use of fresh water; and

    (d)whether the study currently undertaken by the authorities on lowering the cost of producing reclaimed water will include assessing the implications of the relevant measure for future water charges, and apart from this study, what other measures are in place to develop new water resources?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

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

I have received complaints from quite a number of elderly groups and family members of elderly people that fundings currently provided by the Government for care services for elderly people suffering from dementia and support for these elderly people are far from adequate. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council, with respect to each year from 2004 to 2008:
    (a)of the number of elderly people suffering from dementia in Hong Kong; whether it knows among them, the number of attendances at hospitals or clinics under the Hospital Authority and the Department of Health, as well as the number of elderly people who were waiting for places in subvented care and attention homes or infirmaries through the Standardized Care Need Assessment Mechanism for Elderly Services of the Social Welfare Department (set out in the table below);

    Year Number of elderly people suffering from dementia in Hong Kong Number of elderly people suffering from dementia who are waiting for places in subvented care and attention homes or infirmaries through the Standardized Care Need Assessment Mechanism for Elderly Services of the Social Welfare Department Number of attendances of elderly people suffering from dementia at hospitals or clinics under the Hospital Authority and Department of Health
    2004
    2005
    2006
    2007
    2008

    (b)whether it knows the respective numbers of elderly people suffering from dementia who are residing in various residential care homes for the elderly, receiving home care services in day care centres and receiving home-based community care services (set out in the table below); and

    Year Number of elderly people suffering from dementia
    Residing in various residential care homes for the elderly Receiving home care services in day care centres Receiving home-based community care services
    2004
    2005
    2006
    2007
    2008

    (c)of the amount of designated funding provided by the Government for care services for elderly people suffering from dementia, as well as the number of beneficiary organizations of such services, whether it knows the average enrolment rate, average waiting time and number of beneficiaries (set out in the table below)?

    Year Care services for elderly people suffering from dementia
    Amount of designated funding Number of beneficiary organizations Average enrolment rate Average waiting time Number of beneficiaries
    2004
    2005
    2006
    2007
    2008
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

*14. Dr Hon David LI to ask:

I have received a complaint from a member of the public that recently a government department has refused his request under the Code on Access to Information ("the Code") for a copy of a document in the Government's possession, on grounds that the requested document was covered by copyright. According to section 57 of the Copyright Ordinance (Cap. 528), for a work which has for any purpose in the course of public business been communicated to the Government, the Government may "copy the work, or issue or make available copies of the work to the public without infringing any copyright in the work". Yet, it also states that "this section has effect subject to any agreement to the contrary between the Government and the copyright owner". In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)what constitutes an agreement under the aforesaid section for the purpose of the Code;

    (b)whether, in the event that no agreement exists, it is the Government's normal practice, upon receipt of a request for information over which copyright exists, to write to the copyright owner to seek permission to copy the work under the Code and, if such permission is not granted, to treat such refusal as an agreement not to allow copies to be made; if so, whether it has assessed if such practice is in line with the spirit of the Code; and

    (c)among the requests for information received by the Government last year, of the number of those which were related to work covered by agreements between the Government and the copyright owners and, among them, the number of requests for information which were refused by the Government for reasons of copyright under the Code?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs

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

Recently, I have received complaints from public rental housing ("PRH") tenants that humid weather has caused serious mouldy and wet floor conditions in many PRH estates, and bulges and mould are found on painted walls and ceiling plaster inside household units as well as in the joints or cracks of structures. Residents slipping and falling easily on slippery floors in common areas is a very common phenomenon, especially in PRH estates which were newly completed in recent years (e.g. Un Chau Estate Phases 2 and 4, Fu Cheong Estate, Hoi Lai Estate and Shek Kip Mei Estate, etc.). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of similar complaints received by the authorities in the past two years; whether they have proactively investigated the reasons for the aforesaid mouldy conditions; if they have, of the outcome, whether it is related to the quality and standard of materials (e.g. the absence of anti-mould property in paints, etc.) or the defects in the joints between prefabricated building components resulting in easy seepage of water vapour or rain water, etc.;

    (b)whether the authorities will consider providing assistance to the affected PRH tenants and taking remedial measures (e.g. refurbishing wall paint and plaster, etc. in the case of mouldy indoor conditions; enhancing clean-up work, providing air blowing or dehumidifying facilities and laying non-slip rugs, etc. in the case of slippery floors in common areas, so as to ensure that the floors of corridors and lobbies are dry); and

    (c)whether the authorities will focus on the aforesaid mouldy conditions and setting afresh the standard of materials for PRHs to be built as well as improve the relevant construction procedures and techniques?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

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

It has been learnt that at the meeting between Members of this Council and members of the Tsuen Wan District Council ("DC") held on 29 April this year, some DC members complained that the problem of illegal rooftop structures ("IRSs") on single-staircase buildings in the district was serious, and it had plagued residents for years which was not yet resolved. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the total number of single-staircase buildings in Hong Kong at present, broken down by DC district, and among them, the number of buildings found to have IRSs;

    (b)given that the Buildings Department ("BD") has indicated that according to the requirement of the "Code of Practice for the Provision of Means of Escape in Case of Fire", in the case of a single-staircase building in which the level of the highest floor is more than 13 metres above ground level (i.e. exceeding three storeys in height in general), the staircase should be continued to the roof, which is the fire refuge area for residents, therefore it is BD's target to remove all IRSs on single-staircase buildings exceeding three storeys in height in Hong Kong, whether the authorities will expand the aforesaid target to include removing IRSs on single-staircase buildings not exceeding three storeys in height;

    (c)of the latest progress of BD's operation to remove IRSs on 5 500 single-staircase buildings, and after the removal of IRSs, the total number of such buildings found to have IRSs re-erected; whether there are measures to curb such situations; if there are, whether it has assessed the measures' effectiveness; if not, the reasons for that;

    (d)since the launch of the operation to remove IRSs on single-staircase buildings, of the number of warning notices registered with the Land Registry by the Building Authority ("BA") in respect of the notices BA issued to the owners concerned for the removal of IRSs, and among such structures, the number of those which still have not been removed to date, and of the measures taken by BD to solve this problem;

    (e)apart from the operation to remove IRSs on single-staircase buildings, whether BD had, in the past five years, taken other actions to tackle such IRSs; if it had, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (f)whether there is any existing measure to assist property owners, who are unable to take out third party insurance for their premises due to the existence of illegal structures on rooftops of their buildings, in taking out insurance; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (g)what measures the authorities have in place to assist property owners in removing illegal structures on rooftops which are located in the common areas of their buildings; and

    (h)of the criteria based on which the authorities assess whether illegal structures pose immediate danger, and whether those criteria include the factor of adverse weather?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

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

I have learnt that, in the contracts or agreements signed between the Government or the companies of which the Government is the major shareholder and some private organizations on joint implementation of certain projects or programmes (such as the agreements signed between the MTR Corporation Limited and the Skyrail-ITM (Hong Kong) Limited, as well as that between Hong Kong IEC Limited and its management company, etc.), very often there are confidentiality clauses which allow such private organizations to have priority in receiving their shares of the revenues regardless of whether the joint ventures have incurred losses, and such arrangements involve large amounts of public funds. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)how and when it will release to the public the expenditure involved in the aforesaid contracts or agreements as well as the contents of the clauses; whether the Government has considered how to protect the public's and tax payers' right to know before signing such contracts or agreements with private organizations; if so, of the criteria for consideration; if not, whether it will study introducing such a requirement and the related criteria expeditiously;

    (b)of the total number of contracts or agreements, signed between the Government and private organizations in each of the past three years and were not made public due to confidentiality clauses, which contained the clauses granting the latter priority in receiving their shares of revenues, as well as the public funds involved; and

    (c)of the existing mechanism, measures and procedure for monitoring the contracts or agreements signed between the Government and private organizations which contain confidentiality clauses similar to the above?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

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

It has been reported that in recent months the butterfly assemblages located in the fung shui wood and the adjoining scrubland in the vicinity of the hillside of Lung Kwu Tan Village were sprayed with herbicides, causing the death of Bidens alba and Lantana, which are the main nectar plants for the locally rare Cethosia bildis. The site covers an area of 2 576 square metres, and half of the affected area is government land. According to the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, it is an offence to spray herbicides or carry out illegal excavation on government land. Yet, some experts have pointed out that Lung Kwu Tan has been exposed to damages since five years ago, and the number of butterfly species in the area is decreasing, and some rare species such as Prioneris thestylis and Prioneris philonome also disappeared. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it will conduct a review on how to enhance law enforcement actions, and what specific plans are in place to conserve the rare species of butterfly in Hong Kong?
    Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment

    *19. Hon Paul CHAN to ask:     (Translation)

    Will the Government inform this Council:
      (a)in respect of each of the administrative officers who were at the rank of Administrative Officer Staff Grade B1 or above in 2002 (excluding those who had retired or left the civil service since then), of the duration of each of his different postings since 2002;

      (b)of the relevant policies or factors considered by the Government at present for determining the duration of any particular posting of an administrative officer, as well as the details; if there is no such policy and factor, the reasons for that; and

      (c)whether there is any mechanism in place to assess the impact of the duration of a particular posting of the aforesaid administrative officers on their performance in discharging the duties of the post concerned; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
    Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Civil Service

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

    Regarding the Police's efforts in combating illegal football betting and drink driving during the World Cup 2010, will the Government inform this Council:
      (a)whether the Police will deploy additional manpower to combat illegal football betting and drink driving during the aforesaid period; if they will, of the additional manpower to be deployed, and whether the manpower deployed for other police work will be affected;

      (b)given that while the Police had, during the past World Cup matches, deployed police officers to undertake law enforcement actions against illegal football betting in bars in various districts, and with the advancement of technology, many lawbreakers have switched to the Internet to engage in illegal football betting and receive bets for football betting, whether the Police will change its strategy to combat illegal football betting on the Internet; of their strategy on gathering evidence, and whether there is a need to enhance their computer resources and information technology manpower;

      (c)whether the Police have commenced their actions in combating the aforesaid problems, and whether they have assessed the effectiveness of those actions so far; if assessment has been made, of the results; and

      (d)given that the Police have stated that they will strengthen their liaison with the law enforcement agencies of the Mainland, Macao and Southeast Asian countries and exchange intelligence with them during the World Cup period in order to combat illegal football betting, of the present progress and the number of operations conducted in the past three months?
    Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

    * For written reply

    IV. Members' Motions
    1. Reviewing occupational safety and health and employees' compensation system

      Hon IP Wai-ming to move the following motion: (Translation)

      That, in view of the frequent occurrence of industrial accidents in recent years and a number of fatal industrial accidents that happened recently, which is unfortunate for the families, this Council urges that the Government must:

      (a)comprehensively review the policy on occupational safety and health to reverse the existing policy of relying on the trades to exercise self-regulation on occupational safety and health;

      (b)step up regular monitoring and inspection of industrial establishments, impose severe penalties on law-breaking employers, and make public the items in respect of which prosecutions have been instituted by the Labour Department during inspection;

      (c)enact dedicated legislation to provide for the work procedures, safety measures and criminal liabilities for work-at-height activities, so as to reduce the occurrence of accidents involving fall of persons from height, which cause the largest number of fatal cases in the construction industry;

      (d)motivate employers to faithfully shoulder the responsibility for safeguarding employees' occupational safety and health, allocate resources for employees' training, and provide facilities and a work environment that safeguard employees' occupational safety and health;

      (e)tipulate that in the event of occurrence of accidents and occupational diseases in workplaces, including those involving subcontractors and self-employed persons, employers, contractors or persons in charge of the construction sites, etc. have to report such cases to the Government, so as to improve the reporting system for work injuries and occupational diseases, thereby enabling the authorities to obtain more accurate statistics on work injuries and occupational diseases;

      (f)comprehensively review the Employees' Compensation Ordinance, including the inclusion of mental impairment under the category of injury in Schedule 1 and the classification of repetitive strain injury as a prescribed occupational disease under Schedule 2, so as to provide more comprehensive protection for employees who suffer work-related mental disorders and physical injuries; and apart from providing employees with financial compensation, improve the mechanisms for preventing work injuries and occupational diseases as well as rehabilitation, so as to assist the recovery of injured employees and their reintegration into the society; and

      (g)set up a 'central employees' compensation fund' to centralize the management of work injuries, which is currently undertaken in a fragmented manner, to provide employees with a comprehensive compensation system.

      Amendment to the motion
      Hon LEE Cheuk-yan to move the following amendment:       (Translation)

      To delete "in view of" after "That," and substitute with "given"; to delete "recent years" after "industrial accidents in" and substitute with "Hong Kong over the years"; to add "and amend" after "(a) comprehensively review"; to delete "to reverse the existing policy of relying on the trades to exercise self-regulation on occupational safety and health" after "policy on occupational safety and health" and substitute with ", and the amendments to be made to the relevant policy include increasing the penalties imposed on law-breaking employers, requiring developers to take responsibility for works safety at construction sites, requiring developers to designate a certain percentage of the works cost as the 'works safety cost', tightening the safety standard stipulated in existing relevant legislation, and formulating a comprehensive policy on safety and health education, etc."; to delete "items" after "make public the" and substitute with "list of employers"; to delete "which" after "in respect of" and substitute with "whom"; to add "and those who are convicted" after "during inspection"; to add "a substantial increase of the statutory amount of compensation, a substantial increase of the employees' monthly income for calculating the amount of compensation, which is currently capped at $21,000, the inclusion of self-employed persons and all employees who sustain injuries when travelling to and from work under the coverage of the Ordinance," after "Employees' Compensation Ordinance, including"; to add "back pain and" after "classification of"; to delete "a" after "repetitive strain injury as"; to delete "disease" after "prescribed occupational" and substitute with "diseases"; to add "including the establishment of a 'rehabilitation hospital for injuries and diseases caused by occupational accidents' to provide specialized medical and rehabilitation services to those suffering injuries and diseases caused by occupational accidents," after "rehabilitation,"; to delete "and" after "society;"; and to add "; and (h) designate 28 April as the Work Injury Memorial Day and erect monuments, commemorative installations or plaques at prominent places in urban areas to commemorate the contribution of victims of occupational injuries to the prosperity of Hong Kong" immediately before the full stop.

      Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

    2. Concern about the quality and regulation of proprietary Chinese medicines

      Dr Hon Joseph LEE to move the following motion: (Translation)

      That some proprietary Chinese medicines are recently found to contain ingredients of forbidden drugs and toxic substances, arousing the concern of various sectors and, at the same time, exposing the loopholes in the Government's policy on Chinese medicine as well as the deficiencies of its regulatory system, which have led to problems in the registration system for proprietary Chinese medicines at the present stage and the fact that the quality of proprietary Chinese medicines available on the market cannot be assured, thus posing a threat to the life and health of the public; in view of this, this Council urges that the Government must expeditiously improve the policy on Chinese medicine, strengthen regulation and ensure the quality and safety of proprietary Chinese medicines available on the market, so as to safeguard pubic health.

      Amendments to the motion
      (i)Dr Hon PAN Pey-chyou to move the following amendment: (Translation)

      To add ", given that recently" after "That"; to delete "recently" after "Chinese medicines are"; to add "and hence have to be recalled from the market" after "toxic substances"; to delete "; in view of this" after "the public"; and to add "; and the Government, while exercising regulation, also has the responsibility to provide support for the trade, including considering the establishment of a 'committee on the development of Chinese medicine' to promote long-term development of the Chinese medicine trade in Hong Kong, thereby enabling the trade to upgrade its quality and enhance its self-regulation on the safety of proprietary Chinese medicines" immediately before the full stop.

      (ii)Hon WONG Ting-kwong to move the following amendment: (Translation)

      To add ", the Chinese medicine trade has all along been regarded as an industry with development potential in Hong Kong, but" after "That"; to add "and the licensing system for manufacturers of proprietary Chinese medicines" after "for proprietary Chinese medicines"; to add "and a negative impact on the industrialization of Chinese medicine" after "the public"; to add ", allocate more resources to support the trade in conducting pharmaceutical product testing and research and development, assist local manufacturers of proprietary Chinese medicines in attaining the standard of the 'Good Manufacturing Practice in respect of Proprietary Chinese Medicines' as soon as possible," after "strengthen regulation"; and to add "and promote the development of the proprietary Chinese medicine trade in Hong Kong" immediately before the full stop.

      Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Food and Health

    Clerk to the Legislative Council