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A 10/11-8
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 24 November 2010 at 11:00 am
I. Tabling of Papers
| Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments | L.N. No.
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|---|
| 1. | Census and Statistics (2011 Population Census) Order | 152/2010
| | 2. | Hong Kong Airport (Control of Obstructions) (Exemption) (Amendment) Order 2010 | 153/2010
| | 3. | Certification for Employee Benefits (Chinese Medicine) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Ordinance 2006 (Commencement) Notice 2010 | 154/2010
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Other Papers
| 1. | No. 34 | - | Estate Agents Authority Annual Report 2009/10
| (to be presented by the Secretary for Transport and Housing)
| | 2. | No. 35 | - | Annual Report 2009 to the Chief Executive by The Commissioner on Interception of Communications and Surveillance (together with a statement under section 49(4) of the Interception of Communications and Surveillance Ordinance)
| (to be presented by the Secretary for Security)
| | 3. | No. 36 | - | Ocean Park Corporation Annual Report 2009-2010
| (to be presented by Prof Hon Patrick LAU, who will address the Council)
| | 4. | Report No. 5/10-11 of the House Committee on Consideration of Subsidiary Legislation and Other Instruments
| (to be presented by Hon Miriam LAU, Chairman of the House Committee)
| | 5. | Report of the Bills Committee on Buildings Energy Efficiency Bill
| (to be presented by Hon Audrey EU, Chairman of the Bills Committee)
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II. Questions
Question permitted by the President under Rule 24(4) of the Rules of Procedure
Hon LEUNG Kwok-hung to ask: (Translation)
On 19 November this year, the Government once again sent officials to carry out land resumption at Choi Yuen Tsuen, causing a certain degree of nuisance; the operation was also obstructed by petitioners and could not be carried out. On the same day, the Government immediately issued a press release saying that it had decided to suspend that day's operation so as to prevent accidents which might cause injuries to the protesters and site workers, and it would extend the grace period to the end of November. The villagers have indicated that if the Government carries out land resumption by force, they will "defend their village with their lives" and fight till the end. The Government has also stated repeatedly that the clearance of Choi Yuen Tsuen would be "handled in a humane manner". In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | given that the residents of Choi Yuen Tsuen have vowed to "defend their village with their lives" and fight against land resumption by the Government till the end, what measures the Government has to avoid confrontation with the residents so as to prevent accidents and avoid people from being injured when it resumes land resumption after the expiry of the grace period; of the specific meaning of "handled in a humane manner", given that the Government has undertaken that the clearance of Choi Yuen Tsuen would be "handled in a humane manner";
| | (b) | given that the Government has stated that land resumption and clearance operation at the village will be carried out in phases, and such work is expected to continue over a period of time, how the Government will meet with the residents as soon as possible to discuss the timetable of the clearance operation, so as to alleviate their concerns and worries, and of the timetable for the Government's meeting with the residents as well as details of the clearance operation; and
| | (c) | given that at present, the Government has not finished calculating the amount of crop ex-gratia allowances for the residents of the village and the specific arrangements for relocation, whether it can postpone land resumption by six months to give the residents sufficient time for preparation; if not, of the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing
1. Dr Hon LAM Tai-fai to ask: (Translation)
The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury ("SFST") indicated in February this year that a review of the implementation of section 39E of the Inland Revenue Ordinance ("section 39E") would be conducted through the Joint Liaison Committee on Taxation ("JLCT"). It has been learnt that JLCT had completed the review months ago and submitted its review report and recommendations to the Bureau, but time and again in his replies to the questions raised by Members of this Council, SFST only indicated that the authorities would complete the study as soon as practicable. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the exact date of receipt of the aforesaid JLCT report by the authorities, the reasons for not disclosing the receipt of the report and not publicizing its contents all along, and when they will publicize the contents of the report to the public;
| | (b) | of the meaning of the word "practicable" used by SFST as referred above; and
| | (c) | whether it has assessed the negative impact on the commerce and industry sector if there is delay in or mishandling of the review of section 39E, and how SFST, as a principal official under the accountability system, should be held responsible; if it has, of the details; if it has not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
2. Hon WONG Kwok-kin to ask: (Translation)
Over the past few years, the various sectors in the community have all along been concerned about the permissible limit of absence from Hong Kong ("absence limit") for Old Age Allowance ("OAA"). Meanwhile, the Chief Executive announced in his Policy Address delivered on 13 October 2010 that the absence limit for OAA recipients under the Social Security Allowance Scheme would be relaxed so that the minimum residence period in Hong Kong would be reduced from 90 to 60 days. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether the authorities have statistics on how many, on average, of those elderly who move from Hong Kong to reside on the Mainland each year at present are eligible for OAA and, among them, how many of them have applied for OAA;
| | (b) | given that the authorities have indicated that as a judicial review of the existing policy is underway, they will consider whether to remove the absence limit for OAA recipients when the situation becomes clearer, whether the authorities have planned when they will announce whether or not to remove the absence limit after the judicial review case is closed; and
| | (c) | whether the Social Welfare Department ("SWD") had received requests for assistance in the past three years from Hong Kong residents residing on the Mainland that they had no place to live when they returned to Hong Kong to apply for OAA, and how SWD will help the elderly persons who encounter such difficulties in the coming year?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare
3. Hon LAU Kong-wah to ask: (Translation)
It has been learnt that The Link Real Estate Investment Trust ("The Link"), after taking over the 180 properties (including shopping centres, fresh markets and carpark facilities) from the Hong Kong Housing Authority in 2005, has vigorously renovated its facilities to increase their rental value, but has not actively dealt with the problem of insufficient barrier-free facilities in its properties for the convenience of people with disabilities ("PWDs") and the elderly. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it has compiled statistics on the number of properties of The Link (including shopping centres, fresh markets and carpark facilities, etc.) which do not have up-to-standard barrier-free facilities; if it has, whether it knows the percentage of the number of such properties in the total number of properties under The Link and where such properties are mainly located;
| | (b) | whether it knows, among the properties in (a) which have substandard barrier-free facilities, the number of properties for which The Link has completed or commenced improvement works; whether improvement will also be made to the remaining properties; the specific plan, timetable and latest progress of such improvement works; and whether The Link will reduce rents for those properties for which it has no plan for implementing improvement works; and
| | (c) | whether it knows that there are barriers for PWDs in the barrier-free facilities in some of The Link's properties, e.g., some toilets for the wheelchair-bound can only be accessed via staircases, and to use elevators, users must first push open smoke doors, etc.; whether the authorities will urge The Link to re-examine and improve all the facilities in its properties from the perspective of users and create a genuine barrier-free environment so as to fulfill its corporate social responsibility?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing
4. Hon Fred LI to ask: (Translation)
Recently, it has been widely reported by the media that a large fast food chain restaurant in Hong Kong cancelled paid meal break for its staff using the reason that it was gearing up for the Minimum Wage Ordinance that uses the actual hours worked as a basis for calculating wages, which in the end might result in a reduction of wages for its staff. This incident was subsequently settled when the employer was willing to make concessions. However, it has been learnt that the contracts signed between the service contractors of the Government and their employees have also stipulated that meal breaks are not included in calculating wages. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether the Government has assessed if its practice of allowing its service contractors to stipulate in their employment contracts the exclusion of meal breaks in calculating wages will set an example for other employers in Hong Kong; if it has, of the results of the assessment; if not, the reasons for that;
| | (b) | whether the Government will consider requesting its service contractors to include employees' meal breaks as paid time so as to safeguard labour interests; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
| | (c) | given that it has been reported that the incident of the cancellation of staff's paid meal breaks by the aforesaid fast food chain restaurant has led to serious repercussions in the community, whether the Government will reconsider stipulating in the Employment Ordinance and the Minimum Wage Ordinance that employees' meal breaks be included as paid time; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare
5. Hon IP Kwok-him to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that a video clip and some photos of a female member of the national diving team taken clandestinely with an infrared night-vision mode camcorder have recently been circulated on the Internet, which was a serious affront to the individual concerned and gave rise to the community's concern about the invasion of privacy by using camcorders and cameras with infrared recording function as well as other high-technology devices. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it has imposed effective control of the sale, adaptation and use of high-technology devices such as infrared camcorders and cameras with "see-through" function; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
| | (b) | whether it has considered introducing legislation to combat the use of high-technology devices such as camcorders and cameras with infrared recording function to film images of another individual's body clandestinely and invade other people's privacy; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
| | (c) | given that major incidents involving invasion of other people's privacy occurred time and again on the Internet, whether the Government had assessed in the past three years if the measures in place to monitor the unlawful acts of privacy invasion on the Internet were sufficient to deter similar offences?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs
6. Hon LEE Wing-tat to ask: (Translation)
With the appreciation of Renminbi, the low interest rates maintained by the Federal Reserve of the United States and its implementation of the second round of quantitative easing monetary measures, the market expects that these factors will trigger a massive inflow of hot money into Hong Kong, which will be invested in the residential property market and fuelled property speculation further. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | how the authorities will quantify the impact of the aforesaid situation on Hong Kong's residential property market;
| | (b) | whether the authorities will adopt the following measures to combat residential property speculation:
| | (i) | requiring banks to progressively scale down the loan-to-value ratio for the second or more residential flats purchased by property owners, or to progressively scale up the lending rates for these owners; and
| | (ii) | conducting studies on measures taken by other countries to restrict non-citizens from purchasing local residential properties; and
| | (c) | given that as at the end of last month, the authorities have already completed the examination of 3 600 suspected property speculation cases, how many of these cases involve property sales by individuals and companies respectively; and among such cases, the respective number of those which involve property sales by overseas individuals or overseas registered companies; how the authorities will levy taxes on profits generated from property speculation through overseas transactions or changes in shareholdings by these individuals or companies; and when the authorities will complete the examination of the remaining 700 suspected property speculation cases?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing
*7. Hon Ronny TONG to ask: (Translation)
I have recently received complaints one after another from parents of athletes that because a training system for local athletes is lacking in Hong Kong, athletes with potential can only try to achieve outstanding results in various international competitions in the capacity of amateur participants using their own financial resources and efforts, in order to obtain qualification granted by the Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China to represent Hong Kong. In addition, these parents have also indicated that although their children have met the requirements for participating in a number of international competitions, they, being locally trained athletes, are unable to represent Hong Kong to take part in international competitions because the system for selecting athletes for the Hong Kong delegation lacks transparency and criteria or due to personal connections. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | what mechanism and criteria are in place at present for the authorities to monitor the procedures adopted by various national sports associations ("NSAs") for selecting representatives of Hong Kong for international competitions, and what appeal or review mechanism is in place to deal with complaints lodged by athletes; whether it knows the number of athletes selected by various NSAs and their affiliates to participate in international competitions and the sports items participated in each of the past five years, and of the details of the complaints or appeals the authorities received from athletes;
| | (b) | given that some athletes have indicated that the Government's present policy for sports development relies on NSAs and their affiliates to identify and train local elite athletes, and the Government merely provides financial support, whether the Government will review the effectiveness of such policy; if it will, when and how it will conduct the review; if not, of the reasons for that; and
| | (c) | whether the authorities will consider formulating a set of comprehensive and long-term sports development policy, under which the Government will play the role of training and selecting local athletes, so as to safeguard the status of local athletes, as well as provide financial, livelihood and health protection for elite athletes who want to devote to development in sports; if they will, of the implementation timetable; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs
*8. Hon CHAN Kin-por to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that the Government and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority are examining the feasibility of introducing a positive credit information database on mortgage loans ("the database"), so as to prevent members of the public from being exposed to the risks arising from over-borrowing to purchase properties, and given that there is no sharing of such information among banks at present which is a loophole, they consider that the database should be established as a matter of urgency, hopefully by early next year. Yet, a spokesman of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data ("PCPD") told the media earlier that if credit data on mortgage loans are to be shared among banks and financial institutions, it is necessary to revise the Code of Practice on Consumer Credit Data ("the Code"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | why the database which has been studied for a long time has still not yet been established, as well as what difficulties have been encountered;
| | (b) | whether there is any specific timetable and proposal for establishing the database; and
| | (c) | whether the introduction of the database has to be delayed for a long time because the Code has to be revised first; and whether it knows if PCPD has started revising the Code?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
*9. Hon LAU Wong-fat to ask: (Translation)
It has been learnt that there is a growing number of organizations which are offering children interest classes in multi-storey commercial buildings. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | given that children, especially young ones, have to be assisted or even be carried by adults when escaping from a fire, whether the Government will review the existing legislation to tighten the regulation of fire services installations and means of escape for the venues of children interest classes in multi-storey commercial buildings; and
| | (b) | whether the Government will consider restricting children interest classes to be held only in units on or below a particular floor of a building to avoid heavy casualties in case of a fire because many young children cannot escape in time?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education
*10. Hon IP Wai-ming to ask: (Translation)
In his policy address delivered in October 2009, the Chief Executive announced the development of six industries where Hong Kong enjoys clear advantages, including testing and certification, medical services, innovation and technology, cultural and creative industries, environmental industries and education services, in order to create more quality jobs. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the respective percentages of the value of production of the private enterprises in the six priority industries in the overall Gross Domestic Product as at the end of 2009;
| | (b) | whether it knows the overall number of persons currently employed in each of the priority industries, and the distribution of education levels, age groups as well as the number of posts involved of such persons;
| | (c) | whether it knows if the current number of employees in each of the priority industries has increased, compared with relevant figures as at the end of 2008; if so, of the number of newly created jobs in each of the priority industries; of the changes in the age groups, education levels and salaries of the employees taking up such jobs; whether the number of such newly created jobs and the job types meet the Government's expectations of the quality jobs to be brought by the priority industries; if the number of employees has not increased, of the reasons for that; and
| | (d) | whether the Government has assessed the effectiveness of promoting the development of the six priority industries last year and public reaction to the implementation of the policy; if an assessment has been conducted, of the outcome; whether the Government has any specific new measure to step up promotion of the various priority industries in the coming year; if so, of the content and implementation timetable of such new measures; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : The Financial Secretary
*11. Hon Mrs Regina IP to ask: (Translation)
I have received complaints from a flat owner in a Home Ownership Scheme ("HOS") court that his flat has been plagued by problems such as water seepage through ceilings and backflow of water from water pipes in the bathroom, etc. over an extended period of time. Yet, the Structural Safety Guarantee currently provided by the Housing Department ("HD") to owners of HOS flats does not cover defects that are not related to the structural stability and integrity of the building. The flat owner in question has repeatedly requested the Owners' Corporation ("OC") of his building and the property management company ("PMC") appointed by the OC to follow up the problems, but to no avail. This flat owner can only stoically put up with the situation because he cannot afford to move and there is no avenue to lodge complaint. He criticized that the property management of and the complaints mechanism for HOS courts have failed to fully take into account the needs of HOS households and need to be improved. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the number of complaints received by the authorities in the past five years from HOS flat owners concerning property management and problems about the interior and exterior structures of the flats which are not covered by the Structural Safety Guarantee; and among them, the number of complaints involving HOS flats not being up to the handover standards; of the specific long-term measures the authorities have to deal with these complaints and to rectify the problems;
| | (b) | given that HD encourages HOS flat owners to form OCs within the first year of occupation, in respect of HOS courts which are fully qualified to form OCs (e.g. most units in the courts have been occupied), of HD's specific measures in place at present to encourage owners to form OCs;
| | (c) | given that before the formal formation of OCs, HD would appoint qualified PMCs to manage HOS courts on behalf of the owners and assist them in monitoring the performance of the PMCs, of the criteria adopted by HD for selecting PMCs and the details of its mechanism for monitoring the performance of the PMCs concerned, and how HD handles complaints from owners concerning property management;
| | (d) | given that the OCs of HOS courts, upon their formation, will replace HD in appointing their PMCs, whether HD had dealt with complaints in the past five years from individual owners of these HOS courts that their reasonable complaints about property management and suggestions for improvement had not been handled by the OCs concerned, and whether HD had assumed a supervisory role over the OCs and/or PMCs concerned; if not, of the reasons for that; and
| | (e) | given that some HOS flat owners have relayed to me that HOS flat owners, who are generally not well-off, may not have the ability to resort to legal means when their disputes over property management with the PMCs or OCs concerned have not been dealt with by OCs or HD, whether the authorities had, in the past five years, provided assistance to HOS flat owners who had lodged reasonable complaints in respect of such situation; if they had, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing
*12. Hon James TO to ask: (Translation)
The Land (Compulsory Sale for Redevelopment) (Specification of Lower Percentage) Notice ("the Notice") came into effect on 1 April 2010. At the briefing on the 2010-2011 Policy Address, the Secretary for Development said that Hong Kong Housing Society ("HKHS") was currently providing free information service on the compulsory sale process under the Land (Compulsory Sale for Redevelopment) Ordinance (Cap. 545) ("the Ordinance"), while the Government would engage on a pilot basis a social welfare agency to provide out-reach services for elderly owners of old buildings and later this year launch a video documentary on the Ordinance. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it knows, when members of the public ask HKHS if the buildings they are residing in fall within the scope of the Notice, whether HKHS would assist the enquirers in understanding the specific situations of their buildings (including the building's specific distribution of property ownership), and inform them if the buildings they are residing in fall within the scope of the Notice; if HKHS will not do so, of the reasons for that;
| | (b) | whether it knows the respective numbers of requests for assistance and enquiries received by HKHS to date (with a breakdown by District Council district), the contents and types of such cases, and the number of cases referred by HKHS to the Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors as well as the contents and types of these cases;
| | (c) | of the progress of the engagement of a social welfare agency by the Government to provide out-reach services for elderly owners of old buildings, when the services will commence, whether the scope of such services will include assisting the clients to ascertain if the buildings they are residing in (particularly those old buildings that have no owners' incorporations) fall within the scope of the Notice;
| | (d) | in launching the video documentary on the Ordinance, whether the Government will step up public education to help the public distinguish if the buildings they are residing in fall within the scope of the Notice, and understand which government departments they can approach for assistance on this matter; and
(e) whether it knows, after the Notice has come into effect, if there are cases in which the developers or the companies concerned, having acquired almost 80% of individual old buildings' property ownerships, have delayed the maintenance and repair works for such buildings; whether HKHS and the authorities have measures targeted to assist the maintenance and repair works of these buildings to avoid the living environment and safety of the residents of these buildings being affected as a result of water leakage or dilapidation of the buildings?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development
*13. Hon Audrey EU to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that the Government has been administering free 7-valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine ("PCV7") to eligible children since September 2009, yet PCV7 cannot confer protection against 49% of the serotypes of bacteria infecting children, including 3, 6A, 19A, 7F, 1 and 5, and the 10-valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine ("PCV10") introduced as replacement since October this year merely confers protection against three more serotypes of bacteria (including 1, 5 and 7F). Given that there has been a five-fold surge in the number of cases of serotype 19A pneumococcal infections in the neighbouring regions such as Taiwan, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the types and doses of pneumococcal vaccines procured by the Government and the expenditure involved in the past three years;
| | (b) | given that there have been comments that the monitoring of pneumococcal infectious diseases in Hong Kong mainly relies on voluntary reporting by family doctors, and it is difficult for the Government to monitor the situation of serotype 19A pneumococcal infections effectively, whether the Government will consider following the practice of Taiwan by classifying pneumococcal infections as notifiable infectious diseases and requiring various healthcare institutions to notify the Government of such cases; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
| | (c) | given that it has been reported that the PCV10 introduced by the Government this year cannot provide protection against all types of pneumococci effectively, especially against the more life-threatening serotype 19A pneumococcus, and that the Government has switched to PCV10 because it is cheaper than PCV7, whether the Government will consider making better use of public money by abandoning the use of PCV10, which is used in Canada only, and procuring the more immunogenic 13-valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine instead, which is extensively used in the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia and various countries in Europe, so as to make up for the inadequacy in the monitoring system; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health
*14. Hon Albert CHAN to ask: (Translation)
I understand that at present, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ("HKSAR") Government has set up a number of offices on the Mainland and in various places in the world, and that, by virtue of agreements signed with some of these countries or places or orders promulgated by the governments of the countries or places concerned, these overseas offices set up by the HKSAR Government enjoy certain privileges or immunities. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | at present, which countries or places have signed agreements with the HKSAR Government or promulgated orders to grant certain privileges or immunities to the HKSAR offices set up in those countries or places; of the contents of such agreements or orders;
| | (b) | whether the authorities had exercised the aforesaid privileges or immunities in the past five years; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
| | (c) | whether the aforesaid privileges or immunities have any impact on the rights and interests of the local residents who work in these offices outside HKSAR; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
| | (d) | of the decision-making procedure for exercising the aforesaid privileges or immunities, and who makes the final decision?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
*15. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)
According to the recruitment procedures of the disciplined services concerned (Fire Services Department ("FSD"), Hong Kong Police Force ("HKPF"), Customs and Excise Department ("C&ED"), Immigration Department ("ImmD") and Correctional Services Department ("CSD")), applicants need to pass a physical fitness test but the requirements of different disciplined services are not quite the same. Some of the disciplined services require applicants of both genders to pass physical fitness tests with the same criteria for both genders, regardless of the fact that both genders are born with different physical conditions. In this connection, will the executive authorities inform this Council:
| (a) | given that information indicates that different standards are prescribed for male and female candidates in the physical fitness tests of HKPF and CSD, of the respective numbers of male and female candidates who failed such physical fitness tests in each of the past three years, as well as their respective percentages in the total number of candidates taking the tests concerned;
| | (b) | given that information indicates that candidates of both genders are required to attain the same physical fitness levels in the physical fitness tests of FSD, C&ED and ImmD, of the respective numbers of male and female candidates who failed such tests in each of the past three years, as well as their respective percentages in the total number of candidates taking the tests concerned; and
| | (c) | given that the information provided by the authorities in response to my question in 2005 indicates that under the circumstances that candidates of both genders need to pass physical fitness tests with the same criteria, there was an extremely serious imbalance between the respective passing rates of the male and female candidates of the disciplined services concerned, whether the authorities will review and revamp the requirements of physical fitness tests, so as to strike a balance between meeting the requirements according to job nature and promoting fair competition between male and female candidates?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security
*16. Hon LEUNG Kwok-hung to ask: (Translation)
I have received complaints from some Eastern District residents that the residents in the district suffer from noise nuisance because the helicopter rescue service is mainly carried out at Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital ("PYNEH"). They have pointed out that helipads are at present provided at PYNEH and Tuen Mun Hospital ("TMH") for emergency casualty evacuation. According to the view of the Government Flying Service ("GFS"), landing at TMH is restricted due to safety considerations, hence under normal circumstances, emergency patients and casualties are mainly transferred to PYNEH which provides 24-hour emergency services; yet, the noise generated by such rescue helicopters is not subject to regulation, and while the residents understand the importance of rescue operations and have no intention of raising objection, they hope that the authorities will help them solve the noise problem. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the number of landings made by rescue helicopters at various public hospitals in the past five years;
| | (b) | apart from the measures mentioned by GFS and the Civil Aviation Department to members of the Eastern District Council on 18 March this year, what other specific measures the authorities have to mitigate the aforesaid noise problem in Eastern District, and whether they will allocate additional resources to assist residents in installing noise mitigation facilities; and whether they know if the Hospital Authority ("HA") will divert such service to other hospitals in the long run; and
| | (c) | given that there are over 20 days in a year on which helicopter operations at PYNEH are precluded by adverse weather conditions, making it impossible to carry out emergency casualty evacuation within the shortest possible time, whether it knows if HA will consider constructing additional helipads at suitable public hospitals throughout Hong Kong; if HA will, when the helipads will be constructed; if not, of the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health
*17. Hon Frederick FUNG to ask: (Translation)
Given that in early November this year, the Federal Reserve of the United States ("the Federal Reserve") implemented the second-round quantitative easing monetary policy ("QE2") by buying US$900 billion Treasury bonds to support the sluggish economy of the United States ("US") and alleviate the high unemployment rate. The Chairman of the Federal Reserve even said that where appropriate, policy instruments could be used to support economic recovery, suggesting that there is a possibility of further extending the scale of the aforesaid policy. Various sectors have anticipated that hot money will continue to flow into Hong Kong, and will further push up asset prices. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it has assessed the latest impact of the Federal Reserve's QE2 on Hong Kong's economy, including the overall economic conditions, capital flows, asset prices and inflation, etc.; if an assessment has been made, of the results;
| | (b) | apart from continuing to make verbal appeals to alert the public that as they are making investments at their own risks, they should do so according to their abilities and should not engage in too much speculative buying, what concrete and effective new measures the authorities have to prevent the inflow of hot money from forming asset-price bubbles that may lead to enormous market fluctuations; and
| | (c) | whether the authorities have new measures to address the serious impact of the aforesaid surge in asset prices on people's livelihood; in respect of housing, whether they will yield to the wish of the public and consider afresh re-launching the Home Ownership Scheme, so as to prevent high property prices and property market fluctuations from creating housing problems and people's basic housing needs cannot be satisfied; regarding inflation, with the devaluation of Hong Kong dollar along with the US dollar and the continuous rise in inflation on the Mainland, the livelihood of the middle and lower classes has been affected as they rely mainly on cheaper food and daily necessities imported from the Mainland to maintain their quality of life, whether the authorities will implement new alleviating measures to help them face the pressure of rising prices; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : The Financial Secretary
*18. Hon WONG Sing-chi to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that a motor trading company wishes to introduce a type of taxi called "London taxis" to Hong Kong; such type of vehicle features a spacious body which is wheelchair accessible, and thus facilitates the use by people with disabilities ("PWDs"). Yet, the motor trading company has criticized that even though it has applied to the Transport Department ("TD") to introduce "London taxis" for several months, TD has not yet given any positive response with regard to relevant formalities and field testing procedures, etc., hence, "London taxis" can only be used as private cars in Hong Kong at the moment and cannot become a legitimate type of taxi in Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it knows in the past three years the concessions and facilities provided by the various public transport operators in Hong Kong for PWDs, the resources injected, as well as the utilization by PWDs, together with a breakdown by name of the operator;
| | (b) | of the current application procedures for a certain type of vehicles to be the legitimate type of taxis in Hong Kong; the time usually taken by TD to process applications from motor trading companies for introducing new types of taxis and conducting field testing procedures, etc.; the progress of TD in processing the aforesaid application for the introduction of "London taxis";
| | (c) | given that the Government has indicated that it supports the introduction of wheelchair accessible taxis, and that it will liaise with the taxi trade to help the trade find suitable types of vehicles and understand the established standards and procedures, of the details of the Government's liaison with the taxi trade regarding the introduction of wheelchair accessible taxis in the past three years, as well as details of the Government's work in assisting the trade in finding suitable types of vehicles and understand the established standards and procedures; and
| | (d) | whether there is any plan at present for the Government to introduce "London taxis" to assist PWDs in using taxi service; if so, of the details and timetable; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing
*19. Hon Abraham SHEK to ask: (Translation)
It has been learnt that there is an increasing number of charitable fund-raising activities on the streets in Hong Kong in recent years, particularly in commercial areas such as Central, and this has caused inconvenience and nuisance to members of the public. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the number of applications received by the authorities for organizing charitable fund-raising activities on the streets, the number of such applications approved and the details (including the types and purposes of such fund-raising activities, the names of the organizations which submitted the applications, and the locations permitted for such fund-raising activities), with a breakdown by District Council district, in each of the past five years;
| | (b) | whether the authorities had uncovered any unauthorized charitable fund-raising activities on the streets in the past five years; if they had, of the number of such cases and the details (including the types and purposes of such fund-raising activities, the amount of money involved and the numbers of prosecutions and convictions);
| | (c) | whether the authorities had received any complaint in the past five years on charitable fund-raising activities on the streets; if they had, of the number of such complaints and the details (including the nature of the complaints, the number of substantiated cases, the follow-up actions taken by the authorities and the locations concerned), with a breakdown by District Council district;
| | (d) | given that the Government had indicated at the Legislative Council meeting on 12 May 2010 that the sub-committee of the Law Reform Commission (tasked to review the legal and regulatory framework relating to charities in Hong Kong) was expected to release a public consultation paper on its findings within this year, whether the review conducted by this sub-committee covers the regulation of charitable fund-raising activities on the streets; if so, of the progress of such work; and
| | (e) | whether the authorities will consider stepping up the regulation of charitable fund-raising activities on the streets before the review and consultation in (d) have been completed; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare
*20. Hon CHEUNG Kwok-che to ask: (Translation)
Since its inception in 2000, Project Yi Jin ("PYJ") has been providing Secondary Five school leavers and adult learners with opportunities for continuing education. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the number of PYJ graduates each year since 2001;
| | (b) | of the respective numbers and ratios of PYJ graduates who took up employment and those who pursued further studies each year since 2001; and
| | (c) | of the respective numbers of PYJ graduates who were employed by the Government to fill civil service posts and non-civil service posts each year since 2001, with a breakdown by government department?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education
* For written reply
III. Bills
Second Reading (Debate to resume), Committee Stage and Third Reading
Buildings Energy Efficiency Bill : Secretary for the Environment
| (i) | Secretary for the Environment to move Committee stage amendments
| (The amendments were issued on 16 November 2010
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 182/10-11)
| | (ii) | Hon KAM Nai-wai, Hon Cyd HO and Hon Audrey EU to move Committee stage amendments
| (The amendments were issued on 18 November 2010
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 207/10-11)
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IV. Members' Bills
First Reading
University of Hong Kong (Amendment) Bill 2010
Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)
University of Hong Kong (Amendment) Bill 2010 : Dr Hon David LI
V. Members' Motions
- Proposed resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance
Hon Cyd HO to move the following motion:
Resolved that in relation to the -
| (a) | Human Organ Transplant (Amendment) Regulation 2010, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 143 of 2010; and
| | (b) | Human Organ Transplant (Appeal Board) Regulation, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 144 of 2010,
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and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 3 November 2010, 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 5 January 2011.
- Promoting the waste recycling industries
Hon Vincent FANG to move the following motion: (Translation)
That, over 90% of the recyclable waste currently recovered in Hong Kong is exported to other countries or places for recycling, yet owing to developed countries' gradual tightening of their policies on waste import, the number of countries permitting waste import will decrease in the future; in order to resolve the problem of waste accumulation in Hong Kong in the long run, it is of utmost importance to extend the categories and proportion of recyclable waste recovery and expedite the development of Hong Kong's environmental and recycling industries; in this connection, this Council proposes that:
| (a) | the Government should conceive an overall waste policy on the 3R concept (i.e. reduce, reuse and recycle), so as to formulate a follow-through policy on reducing, recovering and recycling waste, implementing and promoting it in a well-planned manner, with a view to resolving the problem of waste accumulation in Hong Kong, encouraging the development of environment-related new industries, promoting sustainable economic development and creating more employment opportunities;
| | (b) | since waste recycling industries require considerable investments but yield relatively low returns, the Government should therefore, by making reference to the policies of developed countries on promoting environmental and waste recycling industries, formulate local preferential policies, including providing land and tax concessions, technology support, etc., so as to encourage the commercial sector to invest in waste recovery and recycling industries; and
| | (c) | while broadening the scope of product eco-responsibility, present efforts in recovering recyclable waste should be extended, and the use of green products by society should be encouraged; the Government should avoid making environmental levies prevalent in Hong Kong or charging to another kind of consumption tax, so as not to turn Hong Kong into a 'taxes and levies capital', tarnish Hong Kong's reputation as a shoppers' paradise, affecting people's daily habits and boosting inflation.
| | Amendments to the motion
| | (i) | Hon IP Wai-ming to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add ", although the recovery rate of municipal solid waste in Hong Kong has risen to 49%" after "That"; to delete "in Hong Kong" after "recyclable waste currently recovered"; to delete "yet" after "places for recycling," and substitute with "and"; to add "(a) the various policies and measures put forward in 'A Policy Framework for the Management of Municipal Solid Waste (2005-2014)' should be expeditiously fulfilled and implemented, so as to achieve the various targets proposed in the Policy Framework by 2014;" after "this Council proposes that:"; to delete the original "(a)" and substitute with "(b)"; to delete "sustainable economic development" after "new industries, promoting" and substitute with "a 'circular economy' capable of sustainable development"; to delete the original "(b)" and substitute with "(c)"; to delete "formulate local" after "environmental and waste recycling industries," and substitute with "and having regard to the requirements and uniqueness of different recyclable products, formulate various"; to add "for developing local recycling industries" after "preferential policies"; to add "and operational" after "tax concessions, technology"; to delete "and" after "waste recovery and recycling industries;"; to delete the original "(c)" and substitute with "(d)"; to delete "and the use of" after "should be extended," and substitute with "including implementing non-punitive measures to encourage members of the public to increase their awareness of waste recovery and expanding community waste recovery networks, and a more extensive use of various"; and to delete "the Government should avoid making environmental levies prevalent in Hong Kong or charging to another kind of consumption tax, so as not to turn Hong Kong into a 'taxes and levies capital', tarnish Hong Kong's reputation as a shoppers' paradise, affecting people's daily habits and boosting inflation" immediately before the full stop and substitute with "(e) while developing recycling industries, the Government must also assist the industries concerned in integrating into the communities, and through various support measures ranging from community planning, improving recovery venue designs, improving transport networks to environmental hygiene, etc., enable recycling industries to have the acceptance and support of residents, thereby expanding community waste recovery networks; and (f) prohibition orders on landfill disposal should be made, and the separation and recovery of solid waste should be promoted, so as to reduce the disposal of recyclable materials at landfills, increase the volumes of waste recovery and prolong the lifespan of landfills; at the same time, for those landfills that are near the residential areas and close to saturation, timetables for their closure should be drawn up, so as to avoid the authorities lessening their efforts to develop recycling industries and related measures due to the reliance on landfills expansion to tackle the problem of solid waste".
| | (ii) | Hon KAM Nai-wai to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add "whereas" after "That,"; to delete "and" after "waste recovery and recycling industries;"; to delete "while broadening" after "(c)" and substitute with "producer responsibility should be promoted, and producer responsibility schemes for waste electrical and electronic products should be expeditiously implemented;"; to delete "," after "product eco-responsibility" and substitute with "and"; and to delete "the Government should avoid making environmental levies prevalent in Hong Kong or charging to another kind of consumption tax, so as not to turn Hong Kong into a 'taxes and levies capital', tarnish Hong Kong's reputation as a shoppers' paradise, affecting people's daily habits and boosting inflation" immediately before the full stop and substitute with "under the 'polluter pays' principle, the Government should actively study various financial means, such as the provision of financial incentives or the imposition of levies, etc., to encourage and motivate the public to more proactively practise waste reduction at source, waste separation and recycling in their daily life; (d) studies should be conducted on the establishment of a licensing system for waste recovery operators and the allocation of space in some existing refuse collection points for use by waste recovery operators, so as to reduce nuisance to local communities; (e) studies should be actively conducted on the designation of test points in various districts and the provision of land and financial incentives to people and organizations of local communities and social enterprises, so as to encourage residents in various districts to participate in the development of waste recovery and recycling industries; (f) the development of the EcoPark should be expedited to provide waste recovery and recycling operators with supporting infrastructure facilities, so as to attract more interested operators to participate; and (g) the relevant publicity and public education work should be strengthened to increase the public awareness and understanding of the advantages and importance of waste reduction at source and the recovery, separation and recycling of waste".
| | (iii) | Hon Tanya CHAN to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add "as waste recycling is an important segment of the solid waste management policy, the SAR Government must formulate a comprehensive solid waste management policy;" after "That,"; to delete "and" after "waste recovery and recycling industries;"; and to delete "the Government should avoid making environmental levies prevalent in Hong Kong or charging to another kind of consumption tax, so as not to turn Hong Kong into a 'taxes and levies capital', tarnish Hong Kong's reputation as a shoppers' paradise, affecting people's daily habits and boosting inflation" immediately before the full stop and substitute with "(d) the Government should allocate the proceeds from implementing the producer responsibility system to establish a special fund to support the development of the recycling industry and other environmental industries on a 'dedicated-fund-for-dedicated-use' basis; (e) studies should be conducted on the introduction of a licensing and certification system to strengthen the regulation of waste recovery operators, and consideration should be given to establishing a platform for assisting recognized waste recovery operators to liaise with potential clients, so as to upgrade the effectiveness of waste recovery services; (f) studies should be conducted on the establishment of a certification system for manufacturers of environmental products to ensure that the raw materials and manufacturing procedures of the products concerned meet certain environmental standards, with a view to enhancing the recognition of environmental products, and the Government should consider taking the lead to fully use environmental products that meet certain environmental standards; (g) the Government should review its existing policy on the provision of recycling bins, including providing recycling bins in all government buildings, hospitals and schools, and it should also consider installing a greater number of rubbish bins equipped with recycling bins to replace the existing ones on the street, so as to enhance the efficiency of waste recovery and separation; and (h) public education on waste separation at source and waste recycling should be stepped up, and studies should be conducted on whether there is a need to provide financial incentives or legislate for mandatory enforcement in the future, so as to promote waste recovery more effectively".
| | (iv) | Hon CHAN Hak-kan to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add "in the face of the danger of over-saturated landfills, the community has long since reached a consensus on actively promoting waste reduction and recycling as the ultimate solution, but" after "That,"; to delete "sustainable economic development" after "new industries, promoting" and substitute with "the sustainable development of a 'circular economy'"; to delete "and" after "waste recovery and recycling industries;"; to delete "while broadening" after "(c)" and substitute with "the Government should, taking into consideration principles such as the environmental harms of products and their impact on waste-generation volumes, broaden"; to add "; at the same time" after "of product eco-responsibility"; to add "a system of green products certification and labelling should be formulated; and the Government should take the lead in stepping up green procurement, so as to encourage" after "recyclable waste should be extended, and"; to delete "should be encouraged" after "green products by society"; to add "(d) the Government should, under the 'polluter pays' principle and on the premise of not seriously affecting people's livelihood expenditure, conceive other feasible financial incentives and measures to encourage the society to reduce waste and step up waste separation and recovery, but" before "the Government should avoid"; to add "that constitutes a source of government revenue" after "consumption tax"; and to add "; and (e) since 40% of the municipal solid waste at present is perishable waste such as food waste, the Government should devise an effective mechanism for the massive recovery of food waste, construct additional food waste recycling facilities, and encourage private organizations to engage in the food waste recovery and recycling industry" immediately before the full stop.
| | (v) | Hon Jeffrey LAM to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add "the overall recovery rate of municipal solid waste in Hong Kong already rose to 49% in 2009, and quite a number of countries and cities have made determined efforts to turn waste into energy in recent years; waste is no longer treated as worthless garbage but as recyclable materials and a source of energy; yet," after "That,"; to delete "currently" after "over 90% of the recyclable waste"; to delete "in Hong Kong" after "recovered"; to delete ", yet owing to" after "places for recycling" and substitute with "; with"; to delete "since waste recycling industries require considerable investments but yield relatively low returns," after "(b)" and substitute with "policies should be formulated to promote the upgrading of the recycling industries in Hong Kong, such as the production of biodiesel, the upgrading of waste for recycling, etc., and"; to delete "therefore" after "the Government should"; to delete "and" after "waste recovery and recycling industries;"; and to add "; and (d) the Government should assist small and medium enterprises in applying for various types of environmental certification, so as to facilitate the development of environmental industries" immediately before the full stop.
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Public Officer to attend : Secretary for the Environment
- Alleviating the disparity between the rich and the poor
Hon Frederick FUNG to move the following motion: (Translation)
That over the years, the seriously tilted social and economic policies of the Government, coupled with factors such as economic restructuring, have led to the deterioration of the disparity between the rich and the poor, the continuous increase in the poverty population and the gradual intensification of class conflicts in society; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to establish a high-level committee to comprehensively review and study in-depth various aspects ranging from the Government's concepts and principles of governance to the formulation of policies and implementation of measures, to formulate, through public engagement and consultation, comprehensive and sustainable social and economic development strategies that give consideration to all social strata, effectively allocate social resources and narrow the disparity between the rich and the poor, and at the same time implement appropriate poverty alleviation measures, so as to enable all social strata to truly share the fruit of economic success and promote the harmonious development of society.
| Amendments to the motion
| | (i) | Hon CHAN Kin-por to move the following amendment:
(Translation)
To delete "over the years, the seriously tilted social and economic policies of the Government" after "That" and substitute with ", as the Government has for a long time over-emphasized individual industries and there is a lack of comprehensive and balanced development strategy"; and to add "in particular issues such as the population policy causing a substantial increase in the demand for low-skill and low-qualification jobs and ways of creating large numbers of elementary posts," after "implementation of measures,".
| | (ii) | Hon WONG Kwok-hing to move the following amendment:
(Translation)
To delete "over the years," after "That" and substitute with "in the face of economic globalization,"; to delete "social and economic" after "the seriously tilted" and substitute with "overall"; to add ", with the economy still over-relying on the real estate industry and the financial industry, disregarding the development of an employment-oriented economic strategy and failing to fully capitalize on the advantages brought about by the rapid development on the Mainland" after "policies of the Government"; to delete "economic restructuring" after "such as" and substitute with "the transformation of economic structure and uneven distribution of social resources"; to add "and cross-strata" after "high-level"; to add "mooting and" after "principles of governance to the"; to add ", fairly and impartially" after "effectively"; to add "and set targets on eradicating poverty" after "poverty alleviation measures"; and to add ", especially the socially disadvantaged," after "enable all social strata".
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Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Labour and Welfare
Clerk to the Legislative Council
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