 |
A 10/11-10
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 8 December 2010 at 11:00 am
I. Tabling of Papers
| Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments | L.N. No.
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|---|
| 1. | Companies Ordinance (Exemption of Companies and Prospectuses from Compliance with Provisions) (Amendment) Notice 2010 | 158/2010
| | 2. | District Councils Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule 3) Order 2010 (Commencement) Notice | 159/2010
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Other Papers
| 1. | No. 38 | - | Emergency Relief Fund
Annual Report by the Trustee for the year ending 31 March 2010
| (to be presented by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare)
| | 2. | No. 39 | - | The Government Minute in response to the 22nd Annual Report of The Ombudsman 2010
| (to be presented by the Chief Secretary for Administration, who will address the Council)
| | 3. | Report No. 7/10-11 of the House Committee on Consideration of Subsidiary Legislation and Other Instruments
| (to be presented by Hon Miriam LAU, Chairman of the House Committee)
| | 4. | Report of the Bills Committee on Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2010
| (to be presented by Hon Miriam LAU, Chairman of the Bills Committee)
| | 5. | Report of the Legislative Council Select Committee to Inquire into Matters Relating to the Post-service Work of Mr LEUNG Chin-man
| (to be presented by Hon LI Fung-ying, Chairman of the Select Committee, who will address the Council)
|
II. Questions
1. Dr Hon PAN Pey-chyou to ask: (Translation)
Under the existing Employees' Compensation Ordinance ("the Ordinance"), an employer is liable to pay compensation in respect of injuries sustained by his employees as a result of accidents arising out of and in the course of employment; or in respect of occupational diseases suffered by his employees, which are covered by the Ordinance, and have resulted in incapacity or death. However, the protection provided by the Ordinance does not cover mental illnesses directly caused by employment or mental impairment directly caused by an accident in the course of employment, making it difficult for the affected employees to obtain compensation. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it knows, in the past three years, among the new psychiatric cases handled by the Hospital Authority ("HA"), the number of cases in which the patients' mental illnesses had been caused by the injuries of the patients sustained in the course of employment; whether HA, the Labour Department or other government departments have offered assistance to such employees suffering from mental impairment (e.g. providing continued care and rehabilitation services, and assisting them in seeking re-employment, etc.); if so, of the details, and the number of such cases handled by the authorities in the past three years;
| | (b) | in the past three years, among the employees' work injury cases assessed by the Occupational Medicine Unit of the Labour Department, of the number of cases which did not involve any physical injuries but only mental impairment; of the results of assessment of work injuries for such cases; whether the authorities will clearly define "mental impairment" and issue guidelines in this respect, so as to state clearly that in case an employee suffers from a certain type or certain degree of mental impairment arising out of employment, the employer must report the case as work injury and offer compensation to the employee concerned; if the authorities will not do so, of the reasons for that; and
| | (c) | given that post-traumatic stress disorder has been included by the International Labour Organization ("ILO") in its 2010 updated list of occupational diseases, whether the authorities will follow such standard set by ILO and expeditiously amend the relevant provisions in the Ordinance by including in the list of occupational diseases mental impairment directly caused by an accident in the course of employment and mental impairment and illnesses directly arising out of employment, so that employees suffering from such illnesses can receive compensation; if so, of the timetable for introducing the relevant amendments; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare
2. Dr Hon Joseph LEE to ask: (Translation)
It has been learnt that the Landlord and Tenant (Consolidation) (Amendment) Ordinance 2004 ("the Amendment Ordinance"), which came into effect in 2004, has strengthened protection to landlords against "rogue tenants", thereby boosting landlords' confidence in the rental market. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the decrease in the number of complaints about "rogue tenants" received by the authorities in each of the past five years, compared with the number before the implementation of the Amendment Ordinance; whether the authorities have assessed if the implementation of the Amendment Ordinance can effectively alleviate the problem of "rogue tenants"; apart from the Amendment Ordinance, what other measures the authorities have taken to prevent the problem of "rogue tenants";
| | (b) | whether the authorities have received any complaint about eviction of tenants after the implementation of the Amendment Ordinance; if so, of the number of such complaints received so far and the reasons for the evictions; among such complaints, of the number of those involving unreasonable evictions; what measures the authorities have taken to help those tenants facing eviction, and the number of tenants having received help, with a breakdown by type of help given; whether the authorities have assessed if the support at present provided for tenants facing eviction is adequate; if they have assessed, of the details; if not, whether they will consider conducting such an assessment; and
| | (c) | whether the authorities have assessed if the provisions in the Amendment Ordinance can adequately protect both landlords and tenants, and avoid tilting in favour of one side; if they have assessed, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing
3. Hon TAM Yiu-chung to ask: (Translation)
In recent years, the local broadcasting rights of a number of large scale major international and regional sports competitions, such as the Guangzhou Asian Games, the South Africa World Cup and the London Olympic Games to be held in 2012, were awarded exclusively to a local pay television broadcaster, making it difficult for the general public to watch various sports events. Moreover, there were disputes between the pay television broadcaster which was awarded the exclusive broadcasting right of the South Africa World Cup and the two major free television broadcasters in Hong Kong over the broadcasting arrangements for four core matches (including the opening match, the matches between the final four and the final match) of the World Cup as laid down by the Federation Internationale de Football Association. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it knows the existing differences in broadcasting coverage and number of viewers, etc. between the two major free television broadcasters in Hong Kong and the aforesaid pay television broadcaster which was awarded the exclusive broadcasting rights of the World Cup, the Olympic Games and the Asian Games, and how many members of the public were/will be unable to watch the aforesaid international sports events as indicated by such differences;
| | (b) | whether the Hong Kong SAR Government has examined the feasibility and the costs involved in bidding for the broadcasting rights of international sports events (such as the World Cup, the Olympic Games and the Asian Games, etc.) and distributing the television broadcasting rights of such events in a fair manner among the media organizations such as the free and pay television broadcasters, Internet service providers and radio stations, etc. in Hong Kong; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
| | (c) | given that the Chief Executive had, in his response to a question raised by a Member of this Council at the Question and Answer Session in July this year, indicated that the SAR Government would consider how to enable all the people in Hong Kong to watch the final or semi-final matches of the World Cup free of charge in the future, of the outcome of its consideration and whether the SAR Government will bid for the broadcasting rights of the aforesaid international sports events; if it will not, what measures the SAR Government will take to ensure that the majority of the general public in Hong Kong will be able to watch international sports events such as the World Cup, the Olympic Games and the Asian Games, etc.?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
4. Hon Albert HO to ask: (Translation)
Last month, there was a report that in awarding the tender on a heritage tourism development at the site of the former Marine Police Headquarters in Tsim Sha Tsui, the Government had forgone public money of more than $1.5 billion because of the discrepancy in the calculation of the gross floor area ("GFA") done at different time as well as the market value used in the calculation of the premium payable for the additional GFA. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | when it commissioned a consultant to conduct the "Study on the Development Opportunities of the Former Marine Police Headquarters Site in Tsim Sha Tsui", invited tenders, awarded the project to the successful tenderer, signed agreement with it, carried out on-site measurement of GFA and amended the agreement; of the respective GFA of the buildings known to it at each of these stages; whether the authorities had, after knowing the exact GFA, amended the content of the agreement, including GFA and the project value; why they had not requested on-site survey when commissioning the consultant to conduct the study, and whether it is a common practice for not doing so; whether any mistake was made during the entire process, what lessons the authorities had learnt and what price they had paid; and whether there was any dereliction of duty on the part of anyone;
| | (b) | given that the GFA of the historic compound in the project was estimated at 4 300 sq m and 5 610 sq m respectively, of the impact of such discrepancy on the tender price or project value when the tenderers bid and the authorities approved the tender for the project, and why additional premium was not levied; whether there are any other example in this regard; if so, of the number of cases in the past five years involving technical amendments but additional premium was not levied, the respective discrepancies in GFA surveyed in each of these cases, and the number of tenders which only and roughly listed the GFA of the buildings concerned in their planning briefs that was subject to detailed survey; and the respective actual discrepancies in the GFA, and whether or not additional premium had been levied; and
| | (c) | given that the GFA of the project had increased from 7 213 sq m to 7 413 sq m, how the authorities calculated the market value of the additional 200 sq m GFA, resulting in the Government being able to collect an additional premium of $94,530,000 only?
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| Public Officer to reply | : | Secretary for Development
Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
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5. Hon Vincent FANG to ask: (Translation)
The quantitative easing monetary policy of the United States ("US") has led to a massive inflow of capital into Hong Kong's investment markets and intensifies the risk of an asset bubble, the Financial Secretary therefore introduced further measures to curb property speculation on 19 November 2010. There have been comments that these measures mainly target at the luxury property market, in which prices have recently surged more sharply. As for commercial and industrial properties, particularly shops, the measures are less severe and there is no corresponding measure for medium and small-sized residential flats at all. In addition, the continuous depreciation of the Hong Kong dollar under the linked exchange rate with the US dollar has resulted in an aggravating inflation trend, and capital will also shift to seek other avenues. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the performance of the property market since the introduction of the aforesaid measures to curb property speculation on 19 November this year; whether the Government's expected targets have been met; whether capital in the market has shifted from the luxury property market to the markets of commercial and industrial properties, shops and small-sized residential flats; how the Government is going to cope with the formation of asset bubbles in these markets;
| | (b) | given that the Financial Secretary has earlier adjusted upwards the annual inflation rate by only 0.2 percentage point to 1.7% while Asian countries (including those which are less vulnerable to the impact of prices in other countries) have all adjusted upwards their annual inflation rates to 4% or 5%, and the prices of major daily necessities and food in Hong Kong have experienced high double-digit increases in recent months, whether it has assessed if Hong Kong has underestimated the actual inflation and its impact; in view of the continuous weakening of the Hong Kong dollar, whether the current method of calculating inflation will be modified to reflect the actual situation; and
| | (c) | given that the Financial Secretary has expected that hot money will continue to flow into the Hong Kong market and that the interest rates in the US will remain low, but he also anticipates an eventual bounce-back of interest rates, whether the Government has made any projections as to how Hong Kong's economic activities will be affected, how volatile the investment markets (including the banking sector) will become and how much loss these markets will incur when the interest rates go up and capital is withdrawn from Hong Kong?
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| Public Officer to reply | : | The Financial Secretary
Secretary for Transport and Housing
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6. Hon Frederick FUNG to ask: (Translation)
The Census and Statistics Department announced that the year-on-year increase in the Composite Consumer Price Index in October this year was 2.3%, which was the highest in 19 months. Such increase included a 5.7% rise in food prices, excluding prices for meals out. It has been reported that as food accounts for a relatively high proportion in the overall daily expenditure of the middle and lower classes, the increase in inflation has obviously exerted greater pressure on their livelihood. Moreover, with the devaluation of Hong Kong dollar along with the United States dollar and the continuous rise in prices on the Mainland, many basic foodstuffs have been hoarded for speculation. Even the prices of garlic, chili and ginger have surged. This has caused additional hardship to the middle and lower classes, who rely mainly on the cheap food imported from the Mainland to maintain their quality of living. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether the authorities have conducted any study on the impact of the recent surge in food prices on the livelihood of the middle and lower classes; whether they have tried to find out the situation of speculation in basic foodstuffs on the Mainland, the corresponding actions taken by the authorities concerned, the impact of such speculation on the Mainland on the prices of food imported to Hong Kong, and whether such speculation has spread to Hong Kong and even resulted in hoarding to jack up prices; if they have, of the details;
| | (b) | given that it was reported earlier that the retail prices of Chinese rice in supermarkets had not reduced correspondingly with import prices, the price difference between the two had widened to 16%, which is far bigger than that with Thai rice, whether it has tried to find out why the retail prices of Chinese rice have not dropped along with the reduction in import prices but have gone up instead; if it has, of the details; whether it has uncovered any wholesalers or retailers jacking up prices indiscriminately for profiteering; whether it has assessed if such situation is a reflection of inadequate competition in the Mainland rice market; what counter measures the authorities have to make retailers correspondingly reduce prices of rice imported from the Mainland as quickly as possible so that the general public need not suffer from the impact of high rice prices amidst escalating inflation; and
| | (c) | of the changes in the difference between the wholesale/import prices and retail prices of fresh pork and chilled pork imported from the Mainland in the past 12 months; whether the difference in such prices is widening; whether it had uncovered situations in which market practitioners jacked up the prices; what measures the authorities have at present to prevent market practitioners from profiteering through jacking up prices, so as to enable the public to buy pork at a reasonable price that reflects the cost?
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| Public Officer to reply | : | Secretary for Food and Health
Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
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*7. Dr Hon LEUNG Ka-lau to ask: (Translation)
In the Healthcare Reform Second Stage Consultation Document ("the consultation document"), the Food and Health Bureau proposes a voluntary Health Protection Scheme for the supplementary financing of Hong Kong's healthcare system. According to the relevant actuarial data, the parties concerned have preliminarily calculated the indicative premiums for all age groups under the Standard Health Insurance Plans ("Standard Plans") based on the charges for median-priced private hospital services, as well as the administrative expenses and profit margins comparable to market figures. Regarding the "pricing methodology" on page 71 of the consultation document, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the data used by the Government in calculating the premiums in the Indicative Premium Schedule of Standard Plans on page 70 of the consultation document, and set out the information according to the table below; and
| Age | Existing expected medical claim costs
| Loading for pre-existing conditions
| Administrative expenses
| Profit margin
| High Risk Pool reinsurance rate
| | 00-01
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| | 02-04
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| | 05-09
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| | 10-14
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| | 15-19
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| | 20-24
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| | 25-29
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| | 30-34
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| | 35-39
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| | 40-44
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| | 45-49
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| | 50-54
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| | 55-59
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| | 60-64
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| | 65-69
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| | 70-74
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| | 75-79
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| | 80-84
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| | 85+
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| | (b) | how the calculation of the indicative premiums under the "premium for higher deductible" on page 70 is reflected in the formula for calculating the premium rate as set out on page 71 of the consultation document?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health
*8. Hon CHAN Kin-por to ask: (Translation)
There have been comments that Hong Kong is now facing two major problems, namely structural transformation of the economy and unbalanced development of industries, as well as lack of proper complementary measures in respect of employment and livelihood in Hong Kong's population policy. It was reported that the Provisional Minimum Wage Commission had estimated in its report that around 45 000 people would be dismissed if the minimum wage was set at the level of $28 per hour, 200 000 people would have a reduction in their working hours, and it was also predicted that in future, more low-skilled workers with low education attainment might face the risk of unemployment due to their weak bargaining power. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the employment and unemployment situation of grass-roots workers in Hong Kong in the next three to five years as projected by the Government; whether the unemployment rate of grass-roots workers will rise further; if not, of the projection made by the Government; if it will, of the trades, positions and age groups that are expected to be hard hit by unemployment, and the counter-measures put in place by the Government;
| | (b) | apart from the six priority industries, whether the Government will develop other industries so as to create more elementary posts; if it will, of the measures to be implemented; if not, the reasons for that;
| | (c) | whether the Government will consider forging partnership with enterprises to develop labour-intensive industries (e.g. logistic support services such as telephone services centres) in labour-intensive places such as Tin Shui Wai and Tung Chung, with a view to creating more job opportunities and on-the-job training for people in those districts; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
| | (d) | whether the Government will, on the premise that family reunion will not be prejudiced, review and assess the implication of the existing population policy on Hong Kong's future employment situation, with a view to finding corresponding precautionary measures and solutions; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare
*9. Hon WONG Kwok-hing to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported earlier that after a driver had parked his motor tricycle ("tricycle") at an open private car parking space and paid the parking fee by Octopus Card, the Police still required the driver to drive his tricycle away from the parking space on grounds that "tricycles are not allowed to be parked at private car parking spaces", and if the driver did not do so, the vehicle would be towed away. It has also been reported that while the Police insisted that the driver had contravened the law, the Transport Department confirmed that tricycles were allowed to be parked at private car parking spaces, and this incident has reflected that government departments have not communicated with one another on standardizing the use of private car parking spaces by tricycles, resulting in law enforcement blunders. In addition, some members of the public have relayed to me that the existing motorcycle parking spaces are insufficient. Regarding the parking spaces for tricycles/motorcycles, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | at which types of open parking spaces tricycles/motorcycles may be parked legally; if they include private car parking spaces, why the law enforcement officers of the Police did not allow the aforesaid tricycle to be parked at the open private car parking space;
| | (b) | whether it knows the current number of parking spaces for tricycles/motorcycles in Hong Kong, and among them, the respective numbers of public and private parking spaces, as well as the shortfall in the supply of such parking spaces, with a breakdown by District Council district (list in table form);
| | (c) | whether the Government had, in the past five years, conducted any review on the shortage of parking spaces for tricycles/motorcycles; of the details of the outcome of the latest review and the improvement measures in this regard; and
| | (d) | whether the Government will conduct a comprehensive review of the shortage of parking spaces for tricycles/motorcycles in the near future?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing
*10. Hon Jeffrey LAM to ask: (Translation)
Hong Kong is developing cruise tourism. At present, apart from berthing at Ocean Terminal when arriving in Hong Kong, cruise vessels may apply for berthing at alternative locations such as China Merchants Wharf in Kennedy Town or the container terminals in Kwai Chung, or berthing mid-stream. With the new cruise terminal in the Kai Tak Development Area to commence operation in 2013, the number of cruise vessels arriving in Hong Kong is expected to rise. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the respective numbers of cruise vessels primarily on sightseeing itineraries which arrived in Hong Kong in 2009 and in 2010 (from January to the present), with a breakdown by the vessels' displacement tonnage, as well as the number of times these cruise vessels had used alternative berthing arrangements;
| | (b) | of the anticipated number of cruise vessels primarily on sightseeing itineraries to arrive in Hong Kong in 2011, with a breakdown by the vessels' displacement tonnage, and among these, the anticipated number of cruise vessels that will use alternative berthing arrangements;
| | (c) | whether the Government will cancel the existing alternative berthing arrangements for cruise vessels upon the commissioning of the new cruise terminal in the Kai Tak Development Area; if so, of the reasons for that; whether the Government will consider maintaining these alternative berthing arrangements and adding suitable ancillary facilities (e.g. beautified environment and passenger connection and safety facilities, etc.) so as to increase the overall number of berths for cruise vessels in Hong Kong and to meet the needs of different cruise vessels; and
| | (d) | how the Government will make use of the advantages of the new cruise terminal to further promote the development of cruise tourism in Hong Kong?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
*11. Hon Tanya CHAN to ask: (Translation)
At present, temples under the Chinese Temples Committee ("the Committee") are subject to the regulation of the Chinese Temples Ordinance (Cap. 153) ("the Ordinance"), which stipulates that after deducting the expenses on observance of the customary ceremonies and the maintenance of the temple buildings and temple properties, any surplus from the revenues of Chinese temples may be transferred to the General Chinese Charities Fund ("GCC Fund"). Nevertheless, it has been learned that quite a number of Chinese temples have recently gained huge revenues by building and selling columbarium niches, but they have not transferred their profits to the GCC Fund as required by the Ordinance. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether the Committee requires each Chinese temple to submit on a regular basis its financial statements or records in any format to the Committee so as to monitor the financial situations of each temple; if it has, of the details; if not, whether the Government and the Committee have formulated any policy for monitoring the financial management of each Chinese temple; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
| | (b) | in each of the past five years, of the total revenue as well as total expenditure on customary ceremonies, maintenance and other operating expenses of each Chinese temple, the surplus and the amount of money transferred to the GCC Fund by each Chinese temple;
| | (c) | as it has been learned that quite a number of Chinese temples have built columbarium niches for sale recently, and such activities are apparently unrelated to those activities specified to be practiced in Chinese temples (i.e. the worship of gods or communication with spirits or fortune-telling) and allowed to be paid by the revenues of the temples as stipulated in the Ordinance, whether the Government has followed up and investigated the cases concerned according to the Ordinance so as to ensure that the temples are operated in accordance with the Ordinance; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
| | (d) | whether the Government will consider reviewing and making suitable amendments to the Ordinance so as to ensure that the Ordinance will meet the needs of Hong Kong society today; if it will, of the work-plan and timetable; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs
*12. Hon LEUNG Kwok-hung to ask: (Translation)
A member of the public has complained to me that a credit reference company which specializes in providing banks and financial institutions with consumer credit data had given incorrect personal data about him to a bank, resulting in the rejection of his bank loan application. Meanwhile, some members of the public have also complained to me that the company has retained the credit records of some members of the public for more than seven years and/or provided banks and financial institutions with such records, thereby violating the requirements of the Code of Practice on Consumer Credit Data ("the Code"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | apart from the Code promulgated by the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data ("Privacy Commissioner") to regulate consumer credit data, whether the Goverment has imposed regulation on credit reference agencies ("CRAs") at present; if so, how they are regulated and of the scope of regulation; if not, the reasons for that;
| | (b) | whether at present the Hong Kong Monetary Authority ("HKMA") has imposed regulation on how banks and financial institutions accept, rely on and use the consumer credit data provided by CRAs; if so, how they are regulated and of the scope of regulation; if not, the reasons for that; and
| | (c) | whether it knows if the Privacy Commissioner or HKMA had in the past three years regularly investigated whether CRAs had retained any credit or other records of members of the public for more than seven years or released such records; if regular investigation had been conducted, how often such investigations had been conducted; if regular investigation had not been conducted, of the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
*13. Hon IP Wai-ming to ask: (Translation)
Since 2005, the Education Bureau ("EDB") has outsourced the service of distributing hearing aids to hearing impaired ("HI") students in need and repairing those hearing aids. In August this year, EDB allocated an additional funding of five million dollars to purchase one more hearing aid for each of the approximately 1 500 HI students in Hong Kong. Yet, it has been reported earlier that since EDB has outsourced the aforesaid service, some students can only use specified models of hearing aids provided by the contractor of the outsourced service, and the parents of those students who have used such hearing aids complained that not only were the hearing aids ineffective in improving the various problems of hearing impairment of students, the inconsistency in quality (e.g. some hearing aids need to be repaired several times a month because they have broken down) has also affected the learning progress of the students. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the total number of students who had applied to EDB for the provision of hearing aids since 2005; the percentage of that number in the total number of HI students in Hong Kong at present; the increase in the number of students receiving such service each year; and of the distribution of classes attended by these students and the male-to-female ratio;
| | (b) | whether EDB has a set of standard for the invitation of tenders for the outsourced service concerned; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; whether the authorities have selected the supplier concerned by way of single tender; whether the condition of "the lowest bidder wins" was the only or major selection criterion in the tendering process;
| | (c) | whether the authorities had conducted detailed examination for individual students when accepting their applications for this support service so as to assist them in getting suitable hearing aids; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
| | (d) | whether the authorities compulsorily require that students can only choose the specified models of hearing aids under the aforesaid programme; whether the authorities have conducted professional tests on the hearing aids supplied by the supplier of the outsourced service to ensure quality, whether the authorities will provide students with one more hearing aids for substitution when the hearing aids of the students are in need of repair, so that their learning progress will not be affected during the replacement of hearing aids; if not, why the authorities do not provide HI students with a backup hearing aid; and
| | (e) | whether the authorities have considered providing parents of HI students with more choices in purchasing hearing aids through other means, e.g. by ways of voucher or on accountable basis, when implementing this programme in the next few years?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education
*14. Hon Paul CHAN to ask: (Translation)
When the Bill to list the shares of the former Mass Transit Railway Corporation (now known as the MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL")) was passed by the Legislative Council in 2000, the Government advised that "it will remain as the majority shareholder of the MTRCL for at least 20 years" and its shareholding and voting right in the Corporation would be no less than 50%. It also indicated that should the Government intend to reduce its shareholding in the Corporation to below 50%, "it must be confident that the Corporation, in setting the MTR fares, will certainly take into full consideration passengers' acceptability of the fares and public interest". Upon the implementation of the rail merger, the authorities also stated clearly that MTRCL would maintain its listing status. Currently, the Government has a shareholding of around 77% in MTRCL. Yet, looking at the blue chips companies listed in Hong Kong, their majority shareholders can gain control of the companies by holding merely some 30 to 40% of the shares. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it has assessed if the current level of the Government's shareholding in MTRCL is appropriate; if the assessment result is in the affirmative, of the justifications; if not, the reasons for that and what actions will be taken to rectify the situation;
| | (b) | whether the authorities have assessed the extent to which the level of the Government's shareholding in MTRCL and the fares of MTRCL are affecting each other; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; whether they have assessed if the fare adjustment mechanism currently applicable to MTRCL can fulfill the authorities' pledge that "it must be confident that the Corporation, in setting the MTR fares, will certainly take into full consideration passengers' acceptability of the fares and public interest"; whether the conditions are ripe for the Government to reduce its shareholding in MTRCL; if not, what adjustments the authorities will make to the fare adjustment mechanism so that it can fully take passengers' acceptability of the fares and public interest into consideration; and
| | (c) | given that MTRCL has already been listed for 10 years, which is half of the 20 years as indicated by the authorities to be the minimum period of time during which the Government will remain the majority shareholder of MTRCL, whether the authorities have commenced any study on plans to reduce the Government's shareholding in MTRCL in an orderly manner; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
*15. Hon Starry LEE to ask: (Translation)
The Provisional Minimum Wage Commission has recommended setting the initial statutory minimum wage rate in Hong Kong at $28 per hour, which will be implemented by the Government on 1 May next year. Based on this hourly wage rate, if all members of a two-person household receive minimum wages, they may not be able to apply for public rental housing ("PRH") because their gross income exceeds the Waiting List income limit of $11,660 for PRH. In addition, the gross income of a grass-roots family with children may also exceed the income limit for receiving full grant of the School Textbook Assistance after the minimum wage rate takes effect. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether a comprehensive review of the relevant polices will be conducted in time before the statutory minimum wage rate takes effect, so as to ensure that grass-roots families will not be deprived of opportunities to apply for various support programmes due to the implementation of the minimum wage rate; if such a review will be conducted, which policies will be involved, as well as of the details and timetable of the review; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare
*16. Dr Hon LAM Tai-fai to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the reply given by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury ("SFST") to my oral question on 24 November this year, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it will fully publicize the report submitted by the Joint Liaison Committee on Taxation ("JLCT") on the review of the implementation of section 39E of the Inland Revenue Ordinance (Cap. 112) ("section 39E"), as well as the relevant correspondences and documents exchanged between the authorities and JLCT; if it will, when they will be published; if not, of the reasons for that;
| | (b) | given that SFST stated that "according to our understanding, in the course of upgrading and restructuring the processing trade in the Mainland, considerable Hong Kong enterprises have opted to transfer the title of their machinery and plant to the newly established Mainland enterprises as capital injection", whether the Government has data showing the number of the aforesaid "considerable Hong Kong enterprises"; if so, of the details; if not, on what objective facts SFST has based in arriving at such understanding;
| | (c) | given that SFST stated that "for some Hong Kong enterprises which have provided machinery and plant to the newly established Mainland enterprises at a rent, they have to pay business tax and income tax in the Mainland as their rental income is taxable profits in the Mainland", yet there is in fact no question of the Hong Kong enterprises receiving rent when they provide machinery and plant to processing enterprises to produce goods to be sold by themselves, why the authorities could interpret that such machinery and plant are provided "at a rent";
| | (d) | given that SFST stated that "for machinery and plant provided for use by the Mainland enterprises rent-free [under 'import processing'], we are worried that if we accede to the request of some enterprises and provide depreciation allowances in Hong Kong for such machinery and plant, we may be perceived as encouraging transfer pricing", yet the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and the Inland Revenue Department in Hong Kong have both issued specific guidelines on the handling of the issue of transfer pricing, of SFST's justifications for the aforesaid worry;
| | (e) | given that according to the Inland Revenue Board of Review Case Nos. D37/01 and D60/06, the Board has ruled that the tax liability of a taxpayer should be determined by local legislation, and no consideration should be given to whether the foreign tax authorities have suffered tax loss, why SFST raised the issue of taxing rights of other tax jurisdictions (including the Mainland);
| | (f) | given that according to section 16 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance, all outgoings and expenses shall be deducted to the extent to which they are incurred in the production of chargeable profits, whether it has assessed if it is a violation of the basic principles of "tax symmetry" and deduction of expenses under section 16 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance when depreciation allowances for machinery and plant used in the production of chargeable profits may not be granted merely because such machinery and plant are used outside Hong Kong; if not, of the reasons for that;
| | (g) | whether it has assessed the impact of the authorities' refusal to improve section 39E on the commerce and industry sector, employment in our society and economic development; and whether it has assessed if the loss in tax revenue suffered by the Government as a result of reduced profits consequent upon decreased productivity and competiveness in the wake of Hong Kong enterprises reducing their investment in machinery and plant will outweigh the reduction in tax revenue brought about by "relaxing section 39E" as referred by SFST; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
| | (h) | given that members of the trade have requested the authorities to resume compliance with the legislative intent of section 39E, which is only intended to strike down the acts of tax avoidance through sale and leaseback and leveraged leasing arrangements, why the authorities have interpreted such a request as "relaxing" section 39E;
| | (i) | whether the authorities will further consult the commerce and industry sector, accountancy sector and tax experts, etc. on the contents of the reply to the question on 24 November this year; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
| | (j) | whether it will consider convening a joint conference of sectors and inviting representatives from the four major chambers of commerce of Hong Kong, the chambers of commerce of small and medium enterprises, accounting and audit firms as well as tax experts, etc. to discuss the ways in handling the enforcement of section 39E; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
*17. Hon Paul TSE to ask: (Translation)
The Hong Kong Tourism Board ("HKTB") launches a number of large-scale marketing campaigns every year with a view to attracting visitors to Hong Kong. Regarding HKTB's provision of sponsorship to local travel agencies when launching such campaigns, will the Government inform this Council if it knows:
| (a) | whether HKTB has sponsored the advertisement and promotion expenses of any local travel agency (including placing and broadcasting publicity advertisements locally and overseas); if so, which promotional events of HKTB in the past three years had involved similar sponsorships; the public funding spent on sponsoring advertisement expenses of travel agencies in Hong Kong each year, the names of all travel agencies with advertisement expenses sponsored and the amount of sponsorship;
| | (b) | as it was reported that a staff member of HKTB had pointed out that when the Summer Pop - Live in Hong Kong was first launched in 2009, HKTB had sponsored only one travel agency half of the expenses of its advertisement placed overseas, while other travel agencies did not even have the chance to apply for the sponsorship, and such arrangement was alleged to have violated the principle of fairness, openness and justice, whether the authorities have investigated thoroughly and followed up the case; if so, of the details, if not, the reasons for that;
| | (c) | the reasons for HKTB to sponsor the advertisement expenses of travel agencies;
| | (d) | whether HKTB has any established procedure for processing applications and vetting and approving the aforesaid sponsorships; if so, of the details; whether HKTB has any criteria to ensure that funding will be granted in a fair, just and reasonable manner;
| | (e) | whether it has regularly made public, through open and appropriate channels, the expenditure on the aforesaid sponsorships; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
| | (f) | whether it has announced the procedure and criteria in (d), so that all travel agencies in Hong Kong are aware of the circumstances under which they can apply for sponsorships and the procedures they need to follow in applying for sponsorship; if so, of the details, if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
*18. Hon KAM Nai-wai to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the work of the Joint Offices ("JOs") set up by the Buildings Department and the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, dedicated to handling complaints and enquiries about water seepage in buildings, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | in each year since JOs' establishment, of the total numbers of complaints and enquiries received by JOs, with a breakdown by District Council ("DC") district;
| | (b) | in each year since JOs' establishment, of the numbers of complaints and enquiries which JOs finished handling; among such complaint cases, of the respective numbers of cases in which the sources of water seepage had been successfully identified, cases in which repair works had been carried out but the problem of water seepage had not yet been solved, and cases in which repair works had been done and water seepage stopped, with a breakdown by DC district; among the cases already completed, of the longest time and the shortest time taken and the average time required for completing each case;
| | (c) | in each year since JOs' establishment, of the total numbers of accumulated outstanding complaints and enquiries, of the nature of these cases, the number of cases requiring investigation into the sources of water seepage, the average waiting time for each case that required investigation into the source of water seepage, and the longest waiting time for such cases, with a breakdown by DC district;
| | (d) | among the accumulated cases in each district in (c), of the number of cases which had been handled but the problems recurred;
| | (e) | of the number of staff members involved in handling the complaints and enquiries since JOs' establishment; and
| | (f) | whether JOs have reviewed the difficulties or bottleneck situations which occurred in the course of handling water seepage complaints; whether JOs have studied the ways for handling water seepage problems in buildings more effectively and efficiently so that water seepage problem can be resolved as soon as possible?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development
*19. Hon Fred LI to ask: (Translation)
The Centre for Food Safety ("CFS") of the Government points out in its Risk in Brief published in September this year that "A major focus of application of nanotechnology in food processing involves the development of nanostructured food ingredients and additives. This category of nanofood was being developed with claims that they offer improved taste, texture and consistency, enhanced bioavailability and allow mixing of 'incompatible' ingredients in food matrix. Examples of nanostructured foodstuffs include spreads, ice cream, yoghurt, etc.". Moreover, "Other indirect applications of nanotechnology in food area include the development of nanosized agrochemicals and veterinary medicines". CFS also points out that "safety issues surrounding the use of nanotechnology in food have raised public concern". Nevertheless, CFS only advises the trade to "ensure the products on sale are safe for human consumption", and "not to sell nanomaterials that have not undergone safety assessment". In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | given that the safety issues surrounding the application of nanotechnology in food have raised concern, whether CFS will conduct studies on this particular topic and carry out safety tests;
| | (b) | how CFS will assist food manufacturers "not to sell nanomaterials that have not undergone safety assessment", and of the details; if no assistance will be provided, of the reasons for that; and
| | (c) | how the Government will regulate the sale of nanofood?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health
*20. Hon Albert CHAN to ask: (Translation)
In reply to my question on 11 November 2009 on the issue of excessive service fee-charging by telecommunications service providers, the Government said that when there was evidence to indicate that a service provider might breach the Telecommunications Ordinance (Cap. 106) or the licensing conditions, the Office of the Telecommunications Authority ("OFTA") would commence investigation and penalize the service provider in substantiated cases. Yet, I have still received complaints recently from a number of members of the public that they were charged by telecommunications service providers for services they did not apply for. In addition, some members of the public pointed out that the service charges of the telecommunications service providers were much higher than those they should actually pay, thus causing them to suffer huge losses. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it knows the number of complaints, received last year by OFTA and the Consumer Council respectively, which involved excessive fee-charging by telecommunications service providers, and the names of the service providers concerned, broken down by the type of telecommunications services (e.g. fixed-line telephones, mobile phones, external telecommunications and broadband Internet access, etc.) and the nature of complaints;
| | (b) | whether it knows, among the cases in (a), the number of those in which the complainants sought compensation successfully, as well as the names of the telecommunications service providers which were prosecuted and the number of prosecutions instituted against them; and
| | (c) | apart from continuing to implement the existing measures to regulate telecommunications service providers, whether the authorities will adopt new regulatory measures, so as to better protect consumers' interests; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
* For written reply
III. Bills
First Reading
Stamp Duty (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2010
Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)
| | Stamp Duty (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2010 | : | Secretary for Transport and Housing
| Second Reading (Debate to resume), Committee Stage and Third Reading
| | Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2010 | : | Secretary for Transport and Housing
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| (i) | Secretary for Transport and Housing to move Committee stage amendments
| (The amendments were issued on 1 December 2010
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 268/10-11)
| | (ii) | Hon Andrew CHENG to move Committee stage amendments
| (The amendments were issued on 3 December 2010
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 276/10-11)
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IV. Motions
Proposed resolution under the Air Pollution Control Ordinance
Secretary for the Environment to move the following motion:
Resolved that the Second Technical Memorandum for Allocation of Emission Allowances in Respect of Specified Licences, published in the Gazette as Special Supplement No. 5 to Gazette No. 41/2010 and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 20 October 2010, be amended -
| (a) | in the Chinese text of section 2.1, by adding "分" after "獲"; and
| | (b) | in section 2.5, by substituting "three" by "two".
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V. Members' Motions
- Proposed resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance
Hon TAM Yiu-chung to move the following motion:
Resolved that in relation to the -
| (a) | Minimum Wage Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule 3) Notice 2010, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 145 of 2010;
| | (b) | Minimum Wage Ordinance (Commencement) Notice 2010, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 146 of 2010;
| | (c) | Minimum Wage Ordinance (Commencement) (No. 2) Notice 2010, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 147 of 2010; and
| | (d) | Employment Ordinance (Amendment of Ninth Schedule) Notice 2010, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 148 of 2010,
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and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 17 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.
- Air pollution and public health
Hon KAM Nai-wai to move the following motion: (Translation)
That, as the problem of air pollution in Hong Kong has continued to be serious, posing threats to public health, yet the Government has not updated Hong Kong's Air Quality Objectives ('AQOs'), and at present, many highly polluting franchised buses and lorries still run on the roads, continuing to emit exhaust gas, this Council expresses its disappointment in this regard; according to the statistics of the Hedley Environmental Index, in the first 10 months of this year, air pollution caused as many as 635 premature deaths and more than 4 million attendances of medical consultation in Hong Kong; given that air pollution has incurred huge monetary losses and social costs, this Council urges the Government to implement the following proposals, so as to expeditiously improve air quality for the protection of public health:
| (a) | to immediately update AQOs by adopting the most stringent standards of the World Health Organization's air quality guidelines as Hong Kong's AQOs, and undertake to review AQOs regularly in the future;
| | (b) | by way of financial subsidy or franchise extension, to push ahead the early phasing out and replacement of franchised buses with high emissions, so as to improve roadside air quality, and immediately install emission reduction devices on all buses that have not been phased out or replaced;
| | (c) | to enhance the scheme for the replacement of Euro II diesel commercial vehicles mentioned in the Budget of this year, including placing Pre-Euro and Euro-I vehicles under the scheme and allowing those vehicle owners who only write off their vehicles to receive subsidies under the scheme;
| | (d) | to increase the number, usage and types of electric vehicles; improve and strengthen support facilities to tie in with the introduction of electric vehicles by, for example, actively discussing with various developers the provision of recharging facilities for electric vehicles in the car parks of their properties; and expeditiously study amending the legislation to expedite and streamline the procedure for electric vehicle drivers to apply for the permit to drive on expressways, so as to assist in popularizing electric vehicles;
| | (e) | to urge bus companies to expand and increase the provision of interchange concessions and services which appeal to passengers, and to expedite the reorganization and improve the arrangement of bus routes, with a view to avoiding the overlapping of bus routes, relieving traffic congestion and reducing air pollution;
| | (f) | to expeditiously implement the proposal of designating 'low emission zones', so as to restrict the entry of vehicles with high emissions into designated areas;
| | (g) | in respect of the situation where the Air Pollution Index reaches the 'extremely severe' level, to formulate specific guidelines, including implementation of measures to suspend schools and arrange for workers who need to work outdoors for long hours to suspend work, etc., so as to protect the health of school children and the socially disadvantaged, such as people with chronic illness, the elderly and workers working outdoors, in situations where the pollution is serious;
| | (h) | when formulating measures to improve air pollution, to adopt the latest objectives and benchmarks of the World Health Organization, and evaluate the effectiveness of each measure in improving public health, and set improving public health as the primary policy objective in addressing the problem of air pollution; and
| | (i) | to recognize that air pollution is a public health issue, and require accountable officials from the Food and Health Bureau to participate in the formulation of policies on improving air quality.
| | Amendments to the motion
| | (i) | Hon CHAN Hak-kan to move the following amendment:
(Translation)
To delete "as" after "That," and substitute with "given that"; to delete "by" after "update AQOs" and substitute with "and formulate a timetable and relevant measures for eventually"; to delete "as Hong Kong's AQOs" after "air quality guidelines"; to add "and the effectiveness of the relevant measures" after "review AQOs regularly"; to add "(f) to encourage, through policy initiatives, the various bus companies to deploy wholly electric buses in new development areas and busy districts, so as to further improve roadside air quality in such areas;" after "reducing air pollution;"; to delete the original "(f)" and substitute with "(g)"; to delete the original "(g)" and substitute with "(h)"; to add "(i) to actively promote the energy conservation policy, and further increase the ratio of natural gas and renewable energy in the fuel mix for power generation in Hong Kong, so as to reduce emission by power generation;" after "pollution is serious;"; to delete the original "(h)" and substitute with "(j)"; to delete "and" after "addressing the problem of air pollution;"; to delete the original "(i)" and substitute with "(k)"; and to add "; and (l) to actively follow up the work of collaborating with Guangdong Province on improving regional air quality after 2010, so as to ensure continuous improvement of regional air quality" immediately before the full stop.
| | (ii) | Hon IP Wai-ming to move the following amendment:
(Translation)
To delete "as" after "That," and substitute with "considering that"; to delete "and lorries" after "highly polluting franchised buses" and substitute with ", lorries and private cars"; to delete "disappointment" after "this Council expresses its" and substitute with "grave concern"; to delete "by adopting" after "update AQOs" and substitute with ", and based on"; to delete "as Hong Kong's AQOs, and undertake to review AQOs regularly" after "air quality guidelines" and substitute with ", formulate a timetable for Hong Kong's AQOs to fully meet the guidelines, and undertake to review it regularly"; to add ", and at the same time, to assist the industries in resolving the technical problems that occur after vehicle replacement, with a view to ensuring that the repair, design and parts availability, etc., of the new vehicles after replacement can tie in with the operation of the industries" after "subsidies under the scheme"; to add "on the premise of not affecting the livelihood of bus company employees and the number of posts, and through discussing with District Councils," after "passengers, and"; to delete "implement the" after "(f) to expeditiously" and substitute with "study and consult the public and the transport sector on a specific"; to add "(g) to require power companies in Hong Kong to fully adopt low-emission power generation technologies and clean fuel for power generation on the premise of not increasing electricity tariffs and affecting public health, and expeditiously increase the ratio of renewable energy in the fuel mix for power generation, with a view to alleviating the air pollution caused by power generation emission in Hong Kong;" after "areas;"; to delete the original "(g)" and substitute with "(h)"; to add "and legislation" after "specific guidelines"; to delete "etc." after "suspend work," and substitute with "and classifying the related diseases contracted by employees who have to work outdoors under severe air pollution conditions as occupational diseases"; to delete the original "(h)" and substitute with "(i)"; and to delete the original "(i)" and substitute with "(j)".
| | (iii) | Hon Ronny TONG to move the following amendment:
(Translation)
To delete "as" after "That," and substitute with "given that"; to add "and increase the number of bus interchange points" after "passengers"; to delete "and" after "addressing the problem of air pollution;"; and to add "; (j) to curb the number of vehicle growth through policy formulation, green transport planning, financial measures and building a better green transport system in urban areas; and (k) to provide financial incentives to induce minibus operators to expedite the introduction of new minibuses with lower levels of emission to replace old minibuses" immediately before the full stop.
| | (iv) | Dr Hon Joseph LEE to move the following amendment:
(Translation)
To add "currently," after "That, as"; to add "; at the same time, review the existing air monitoring stations, so as to ensure that more comprehensive and accurate data can be collected" after "future"; to delete "and" after "addressing the problem of air pollution;"; and to add "; and (j) to actively study and develop renewable energy, so as to intensify alleviation of air pollution" immediately before the full stop.
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Public Officer to attend : Secretary for the Environment
- Reviewing the policy on nature conservation
Hon Audrey EU to move the following motion: (Translation)
That this Council urges the Government to expeditiously review the existing policy on nature conservation and formulate appropriate measures, including: setting up a community-led and government-supported nature conservation fund; putting in place a compensation mechanism for cases in which the land lots have been frozen for development due to nature conservation and have established development rights according to law; immediately implementing planning control on 'enclaves' adjacent to country parks; requiring developers, upon the expiry of the planning permission and building plan approval, to apply afresh for development permission according to the existing conservation requirements in respect of projects yet to be commenced; plugging the loophole that developers can undertake large-scale developments by acquiring small house concessionary rights; and increasing the penalties for property owners and liable persons who carry out unlawful development and cause land damage in contravention of the law, so as to properly conserve land lots with high ecological value and picturesque sceneries.
| Amendments to the motion
| | (i) | Hon KAM Nai-wai to move the following amendment:
(Translation)
To add "many land lots with high ecological value have been damaged in recent years," after "That"; to add "conducting comprehensive studies and consultation on" after "nature conservation fund;"; and to add ", so as to enable the public to put forward their views on the substantial social resources incurred by such a compensation mechanism" after "according to law".
| | (ii) | Hon CHEUNG Hok-ming to move the following amendment:
(Translation)
To add ", given the recent occurrence of a number of cases of tampering with land lots of conservation value, and at the same time conflicts between private land owners' development rights and the needs of conservation have not been properly tackled," after "That"; to delete "setting up a community-led and government-supported" after "appropriate measures, including:" and substitute with "(a) to establish policy objectives and strategies for nature conservation, and adopt a scientific and widely recognized mechanism for identifying projects that are in genuine need of conservation; (b) to set up a"; to delete "; putting" after "nature conservation fund" and substitute with "jointly managed by the Government and the community, with a start-up capital injection of $1 billion from the Government, followed by annual injections each amounting to 1% of the government land auction proceeds, and coupled with proactive efforts to seek community capital injections; (c) to put"; to add "well-devised" after "in place a"; to delete "land lots have been frozen for development" after "cases in which the" and substitute with "uses of the private land lots have been restricted or their development rights frozen"; to delete "and have established development rights according to law; immediately implementing" after "due to nature conservation" and substitute with "; (d) after consulting the various stakeholders in society, to progressively implement"; to delete " 'enclaves' adjacent to country parks; requiring" after "planning control on" and substitute with "land lots of high conservation value adjacent to country parks but yet have no planning restrictions; (e) in case of development projects for land lots within the scope of nature conservation, to require"; to delete "plugging the loophole that developers can undertake large-scale developments by acquiring small house concessionary rights; and increasing the penalties for" after "to be commenced;" and substitute with "and (f) to make clear the respective responsibilities of"; and to delete "so as to properly conserve land lots with high ecological value and picturesque sceneries" immediately before the full stop and substitute with "and at the same time properly conserve land lots of high conservation value through enhanced monitoring and heavier penalties".
Amendment to Hon CHEUNG Hok-ming's amendment
Hon LEE Wing-tat to move the following amendment:
(Translation)
To delete "annual injections each amounting to 1% of the government land auction proceeds" after "followed by" and substitute with "capital injections from a surcharge to be levied upon the payment of regrant premium for changing the use of agricultural lands"; and to add "formulated through thorough studies and public consultation" after "compensation mechanism".
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Public Officer to attend : Secretary for the Environment
Clerk to the Legislative Council
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