A 10/11-18

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 23 February 2011 at 11:00 am

I. Tabling of Papers

Subsidiary Legislation / InstrumentsL.N. No.
1.Securities and Futures Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule 5) Notice 201128/2011
2.Securities and Futures (Financial Resources) (Amendment) Rules 201129/2011

Other Papers

1. No. 64-Li Po Chun Charitable Trust Fund
Signed and audited financial statements together with the Report of the Director of Audit and Report of the Trustee on the Administration of the Fund for the year ended 31 August 2010
(to be presented by the Secretary for Home Affairs)

2.No. 65-Education Scholarships Fund
Audited financial statements together with the Report of the Director of Audit and Trustee's Report on the Administration of the Education Scholarships Fund for the year ended 31 August 2010
(to be presented by the Secretary for Education)

3.No. 66-Estimates
for the year ending 31 March 2012
Volume IA - General Revenue Account
Volume IB - General Revenue Account
(to be presented by the Financial Secretary)

4.No. 67-Estimates
for the year ending 31 March 2012
Volume II - Fund Accounts
(to be presented by the Financial Secretary)

5.Report No. 13/10-11 of the House Committee on Consideration of Subsidiary Legislation and Other Instruments
(to be presented by Hon Miriam LAU, Chairman of the House Committee)

II. Questions for Written Replies

1. Hon CHIM Pui-chung to ask: (Translation)

It has been learnt that the Police have recently stepped up prosecution against drivers who breached road traffic laws near the exit of the Aberdeen Tunnel towards Stanley. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether the area near the exit of the Aberdeen Tunnel towards Stanley is listed as a traffic accident black spot;

    (b)whether the aim of the Police's prosecution against offending drivers at the said location is to prevent traffic accidents or to increase government revenue; and

    (c)of the number of offending drivers prosecuted by the Police in the area near the Aberdeen Tunnel in each of the past three years, and the approximate average amount of fine in each of these cases?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

2. Hon Albert HO to ask: (Translation)

Regarding primary care services for women and men provided by the Department of Health ("DH"), will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the top 10 leading causes of death for females and males, as well as the respective numbers of deaths caused by such diseases in 2009; the respective death rates of major gender-related diseases in 2009, including those for breast cancer, cervical cancer and prostate cancer;

    (b)in each of the past three years, of the expenditure of the Woman Health Centres ("WHCs") of DH, the total number of women aged 64 or below who received physical examinations and screening tests at WHCs and the 10 Maternal and Child Health Centres of DH, and among these women, the respective numbers of those who had examinations and tests on cervical cancer, breast cancer and the leading causes of death for females in (a) as well as the expenditure on such examinations and tests; and

    (c)of the expenditure on the Men's Health Programme of DH in each of the past three years and whether DH had provided physical examinations for men aged 64 or below on prostate cancer and the leading causes of death for males in (a); if so, the expenditure on such physical examinations and the number of recipients; whether the authorities will set up Man Health Centres modelling on WHCs, so as to provide promotive medical services, including health education, counselling, physical examinations and appropriate screening tests for men according to their health care needs at different life stages; if they will, of the details; if not, what channels are available for men aged 64 or below to have access to primary care services in the public healthcare system for disease prevention and health promotion (such as physical examinations)?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

3. Hon WONG Kwok-kin to ask: (Translation)

The inflation rate in Hong Kong has continued to rise in recent months, which has an increasingly serious impact on the livelihood of the general public. According to the figures of the Census and Statistics Department, the year-on-year rate of increase in the Composite Consumer Price Index (i.e. the underlying inflation rate) in December last year rose to 2.8%. The Chief Executive also mentioned at last month's Question and Answer Session of this Council that it was estimated that there would be an unusual pressure of increase in inflation in the coming year, and that the Government would, when necessary, introduce various relief measures to assist the public in coping with inflation. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)the authorities' forecast of the duration of the upward trend in Hong Kong's inflation rate and various consumer prices this year;

    (b)whether it knows the respective average import wholesale prices and retail prices as well as the respective rates of increase last year for imported fish, vegetables and fruits, seafood, fresh meat, chilled food, rice, flour and other non-staple food;

    (c)whether the authorities will expand the scope of the Weekly Price Survey project currently undertaken by the Consumer Council, and allocate additional resources to expand the existing food bank projects; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and whether they have other measures to assist the public in coping with heated inflation;

    (d)whether the authorities will consider distributing food coupons to low-income families which do not receive Comprehensive Social Security Assistance so as to ensure that these grassroots have enough to eat; if they will not, how the authorities plan to meet the needs of these families; and

    (e)whether the authorities will, in response to the problem of sharp rise in prices of non-staple food, allocate additional resources to the Integrated Home Care Service Teams in various districts and increase these teams' quotas for provision of meals so as to ensure that the fees for such service will remain stable and more elderly people in need can benefit from this service; if they will not, of the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

4. Ir Dr Hon Raymond HO to ask: (Translation)

In recent years, there were a number of incidents where the Hong Kong SAR Government had to arrange emergency evacuation, including the provision of chartered flights, for Hong Kong travellers in places facing sudden situations. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)given that the Secretary for Security advised at the meeting of the Panel on Security held on 26 August 2010 that there were established mechanism and procedures for handling sudden incidents, of the details of such mechanism and decision-making process, as well as the major factors of consideration in making decisions;

    (b)regarding the provision of assistance to Hong Kong residents for evacuation from dangerous areas, including the provision of transport arrangements, whether the authorities concerned only provide such assistance to Hong Kong residents of Chinese nationality; if not, of a detailed list of those Hong Kong residents not of Chinese nationality who may also benefit from such emergency evacuation arrangements; and

    (c)in cases where arrangements for evacuation of Hong Kong residents from dangerous areas have to be made by the Central Government, whether the Hong Kong residents who are not of Chinese nationality in (b) will benefit from such arrangements?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

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

According to the guidelines of the Education Bureau, an annual recurrent cash grant under the Teacher Relief Grant ("TRG") is provided to each school with an incorporated management committee ("IMC") to appoint supply teachers to cover approved leave of eligible teachers. It was intended to give greater financial support and autonomy to schools, but some teachers have relayed to me that the actual implementation of the arrangement makes some teachers feel stressful and discontented. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the respective numbers and percentages of aided schools that have and have not established an IMC; whether the authorities know the reason why some aided schools have not yet established an IMC;

    (b)of the amount of TRG used by each aided school to appoint temporary supply teachers in the past three school years, and the percentage of such amount in TRG (broken down by the type and name of school);

    (c)how many schools needed, in the past three school years, to meet the shortfall themselves because TRG was not sufficient to meet the actual demand, and of the amount of the shortfall;

    (d)whether the authorities know that some schools were unable to hire supply teachers from outside because TRG was not sufficient and they had to arrange for other teachers in the school to cover the classes or allow teachers to take only 2.5 man-days of sick leave a year in order to cut expenditure, resulting in some teachers being afraid to take sick leave even when they were sick, how the authorities deal with such situations; and whether they have established a relevant regulatory mechanism to safeguard the legitimate interests of teachers;

    (e)given that under certain circumstances, e.g. during the peak of the influenza season, the chances of teachers taking sick leave are substantially higher, which directly aggravates the financial burden of hiring supply teachers on schools, whether the authorities will consider providing additional TRG temporarily in response to such special circumstances so as to alleviate the pressure on schools in using TRG; and

    (f)whether the authorities have any plan to review the actual implementation of TRG, including reviewing the applicability of calculating the amount of TRG on the basis of 2.5 man-days a year, and allow schools themselves to choose to hire supply teachers on a reimbursement basis or by means of TRG so as to highlight the spirit of autonomy in school-based management?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education

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

According to the general procedure of the Police for handling found properties, any found property which does not involve personal data and remains unclaimed after three months may be claimed by the finder. It was recently reported that a member of the public who found a non-personalized Octopus card (i.e. Standard Octopus) gave the card to the Police for handling, and while that card was not claimed upon expiry of the period, it had to be returned to and permanently kept by the Octopus Company Limited ("OCL") for the owner to claim. Yet, it was also reported that some members of the public who reported to OCL the loss of their non-personalized Octopus cards were told by the Company that reporting service was not available for loss of non-personalized Octopus cards. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of lost Octopus cards not containing personal data which were handled by the Police in each of the past three years, how such found properties which remained unclaimed upon expiry of the three months period were handled, and the justifications for handling them that way;

    (b)whether it knows if reporting mechanism is available for loss of Standard Octopus cards (without Automatic Add Value Service function) at present; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (c)whether it knows how OCL handles those lost Standard Octopus cards handed in by/transferred from the Police, the public or other organizations;

    (d)whether it knows the total number of lost Standard Octopus cards kept by OCL and yet to be claimed by the owners to date, and the total remaining value (including deposits) of the lost cards;

    (e)whether it knows, among the lost Standard Octopus cards kept by OCL, the number of those which have been claimed by the public to date; and

    (f)whether it knows if OCL has formulated any mechanism or proof for claiming lost Standard Octopus cards (without Automatic Add Value Service function); if it has, of the details; if not, how the public can claim lost cards?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

7. Hon Abraham SHEK to ask:

Since 2003, the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme ("CIES") has been implemented to facilitate the entry for residence by capital investment entrants who make capital investment but will not be engaged in the running of any business in Hong Kong. However, following the revision of the CIES in last October, real estate has been suspended temporarily from being a class of Permissible Investment Assets ("PIAs") under the CIES. In addition, it has been reported that only 28 out of the 2 000 Securities and Futures Commission authorized retail funds are included as PIAs under the CIES. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the criteria for approving and revising the PIA classes under the CIES;

    (b)given that CIES real estate investment accounts for only around 1% in terms of the value of the total real estate transactions in recent years,

    (i)of the reasons for the policy revision of the PIA classes under the CIES last October, and whether it has conducted any consultation with each stakeholder beforehand; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (ii)whether it has considered setting a sunset clause on the suspension of real estate as a PIA class; if so, of the details regarding any socio-economic consideration; and

    (c)given that the number of applications under the CIES dropped from an average of 570 a month in the first nine months in 2010 to 242 last December,

    (i)of the percentage change of the categories of the applicants involved and that of the total amount of capital they brought to Hong Kong each month compared with the relevant statistics in the past three years respectively, and

    (ii)whether it has considered allowing all the aforesaid 2 000 authorized retail funds to be added to the PIA classes; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

8. Hon Fred LI to ask: (Translation)

The World Health Organization has pointed out that breastmilk is the best food for the healthy growth and development of babies, and that babies under six months of age should preferably be exclusively breastfed, and then continue to be breastfed supplemented by other foods until the age of two or above. Regarding the promotion of breastfeeding in Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it knows the respective current percentages of babies who are exclusively breastfed in the first month and within six months of birth, as well as the percentages of those who continue to be breastfed supplemented by other foods until the age of two; of the criteria based on which the authorities assess if breastfeeding in Hong Kong has reached a satisfactory level;

    (b)whether the authorities had conducted any research or survey in the past three years to gauge whether the public, particularly parents of new-born babies, understand that breastmilk is more beneficial to babies' healthy growth and development than infant formula, the public's knowledge of infant formula, and the influence of infant formula advertisements on mothers' decision on whether or not they will breastfeed and when they will use infant formula; if they had, of the details; if not, whether the authorities have any plan to conduct such a survey to provide the basis for promoting breastfeeding and regulating infant formula; and

    (c)whether, when drawing up the Hong Kong Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes, the task force set up by the Food and Health Bureau will organize group discussions to understand the situation and needs of parents using breastmilk substitutes, as well as consult businessmen who manufacture and sell breastmilk substitutes, to ensure effective implementation of the Code in the future in order to protect babies' health and development?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

9. Hon LEUNG Kwok-hung to ask: (Translation)

Quite a number of social workers, doctors as well as elderly groups, medical specialist groups and groups for persons with disabilities have complained to me that the Government, without consulting the public and professional groups, has casually adopted the result of a renaming competition organized by a charitable organization at the end of last year, and arbitrarily and unprofessionally changed the Chinese rendition of dementia to "腦退化症". Some social workers and doctors have categorically pointed out that from the medical point of view, symptoms of dementia are indeed not the same as those of "腦退化症", and that the Chinese rendition "老年痴呆症", instead of "腦退化症", is still being used as the official name of dementia in medical journals, worldwide medical organizations, legal terminologies and documents of public hospitals at present. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)when the Government changed the official Chinese rendition of dementia to "腦退化症";

    (b)whether the Government had consulted the public and professional groups when making such a change; if it had, when the consultation was conducted, and according to the consultation report, of the respective groups which expressed support for and those which opposed;

    (c)according to the assessment by the Government, whether the symptoms of "腦退化症" are exactly the same as those of dementia from a medical point of view; if not, why the official Chinese rendition of dementia was changed to"腦退化症"; if so, whether it has disproved the professional views of elderly groups and medical specialist groups;

    (d)when changing the official Chinese rendition of dementia to "腦退化症", whether the Government had requested the Legislative Council to amend the legal terminology in the relevant ordinances simultaneously and asked public hospitals and government departments, such as the Social Welfare Department, etc. to amend the relevant documents; if it had, when such requests were made; if not, of the reasons for that; and

    (e)whether the change is recognized by worldwide medical organizations, so as to prevent Hong Kong's medical sector and the Government from being ridiculed as unprofessional; if so, when and from which organizations such recognition was obtained; if not, of the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

10. Hon Frederick FUNG to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the Government's plan to relocate the bus terminus facing the Tsim Sha Tsui Star Ferry Pier ("the bus terminus") with a view to releasing the site for development into a piazza, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the latest progress of the aforesaid development plan and the expected timetable for relocation of the bus terminus and development of the piazza;

    (b)in drawing up the aforesaid development plan, whether the authorities have consulted, comprehensively and in detail, the views of the various stakeholders and concern groups; if so, of the major views for and against the plan obtained, and how the authorities have finally reached the decision of relocating the bus terminus; in planning and implementing the proposal on relocating the bus terminus, how the authorities will meet the public's aspirations of conserving the bus terminus as people's collective memories and maintaining the important function of the bus terminus as an interchange for land and sea transport, as well as the public's request for promoting the use of ferries to alleviate the traffic burden on the Cross Harbour Tunnel in Hung Hom; and

    (c)given that the main objective of the development of the piazza is to provide a new public open space for local residents and visitors for leisure and holding activities, and it has been learnt that the economic benefits involved are not very substantial, whether the authorities will consider adopting a policy direction which promotes conservation and alleviates the traffic burden on the cross harbour tunnels, and on the basis of shelving the plan of relocating the bus terminus, and re-examine other means to enhance the site so as to achieve preserving people's collective memories, while at the same time redevelop the site into an important land and sea transport interchange with additional facilities provided (including bicycle parking spaces, etc.) for attracting and facilitating the public to use ferries to cross the harbour; if they will not, of the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

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

Regarding drivers' driving behaviour, health problems and working and rest time arrangements, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number and location of traffic accidents caused by drink driving, drug driving and drivers having health problems while driving in each of the past three years, as well as the casualties involved and the percentage of these accidents which involved professional drivers, broken down by type of vehicle; whether it has compiled statistics on traffic accidents involving "discount gang" taxis, including the number and location of such accidents as well as the casualties involved; if it has, of the number and location of such accidents in the past three years as well as the casualties involved; if not, the reasons for that;

    (b)of the measures implemented by the Government at present to safeguard the health of professional drivers; whether it has reviewed the effectiveness of such measures; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; whether the Government has made reference to how other places safeguard the health of professional drivers; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (c)whether it had, in the past three years, studied the introduction of legislation to require all professional drivers to undergo regular medical check-up; if it had, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (d)whether the Government had, in the past three years, considered undertaking relevant studies (e.g. selecting a number of bus captains as subjects and recording the changes in their physical conditions while on duty) for the purpose of understanding the relationship between bus safety and rest time of bus captains; if it had, of the details; if not, the reasons for that, and whether the Government has adopted other methods to study the working and rest time arrangements for bus captains; and

    (e)of the number and percentage of bus termini not provided with facilities such as toilets and rest rooms, etc. in Hong Kong at present; whether the Government and various franchised bus companies have any plan to suitably enhance the facilities at these termini; if they have, of the details and the timetable; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

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

The construction works under the West Island Line ("WIL") project commenced in July 2009, and some of the construction sites in the Central and Western District are very close to residential areas. Some affected residents have relayed to me that noisy works of 75 dB(A) (measured over a 30-minute period) or less under the project may be carried out between 7:00 am and 7:00 pm each day from Monday to Saturday, causing immense nuisance to residents; as the construction works of the South Island Line ("SIL") project are about to commence this year, the problem of noise pollution is of concern. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of complaints received by the authorities to date about noise nuisance related to the WIL project, and the monthly complaint figures, set out in a list, since the commencement of the project;

    (b)of the method to measure the aforesaid noise level of 75 dB(A); which organization chose the time and locations to make such measurements; whether residents were consulted; of the change in locations by the authorities for making measurements so as to collect noise data more effectively and accurately;

    (c)of the result of the most recent noise measurements taken from the WIL construction works by the authorities, including where and when the measurements were made, and whether the readings have exceeded the standard prescribed in the Environmental Impact Assessment;

    (d)of the function of the noise insulating fabric used in the project at present; of the correct way to use the noise insulating fabric in order to insulate noise; whether it will require the MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL") to stop using noise insulating fabric and use noise enclosures instead;

    (e)whether it will require MTRCL to change the time for carrying out those works which emit a high level of noise to after 9:00 am; whether it knows the locations where such a change can be effected, so as to alleviate the nuisance to residents;

    (f)what measures it has to enhance alleviation of the problem of nuisance caused by the noise of the aforesaid project to the residents nearby; and

    (g)whether it knows how MTRCL has gained experience in handling noise pollution of the WIL project, and how it will strengthen noise insulation and improve the method for collecting information on noise pollution during the SIL project?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment

13. Hon Paul TSE to ask: (Translation)

At present, legislation is already in place on the Mainland to prohibit import of used cooking oil but there is no legislation in Hong Kong against the export of such oil. Some members of the public have relayed to me that at present, a major share of the used cooking oil produced by local food establishments is purchased or recovered for shipment to the Mainland, where it is "processed" and reused improperly for cooking purposes, which seriously endangers the health of the people on the Mainland and in Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it had conducted any survey and assessment in the past three years on the annual amount of used cooking oil recovered from local food establishments for shipment to the Mainland;

    (b)whether it had considered introducing legislation against the export of used cooking oil from Hong Kong to dovetail with the Mainland's legislation which prohibits such import; if it had, of the progress; if not, the reasons for that, and whether it will consider introducing such legislation expeditiously; and

    (c)given that local recyclers already possess the technology to convert used cooking oil into motor/industrial diesel, whether the Government will consider formulating appropriate policy from an environmental protection perspective to encourage and assist local food establishments in selling used cooking oil to such recyclers proactively so as to avoid continuous illegal import of used cooking oil from Hong Kong to the Mainland?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment

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

Some members of the public have reflected to me that in recent years, several incidents of mainland tourists being forced to shop or being deceived when shopping were uncovered in Hong Kong, which seriously damage the local tourism industry as well as the image and reputation of Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the respective numbers of complaints received by the authorities in each of the past three years involving mainland tourists being forced to shop or being deceived, together with a table listing the summary of the contents of as well as the authorities' follow-up actions taken on each of such cases;

    (b)whether it knows, in each of the past three years, the respective total numbers of inbound tour groups and tourists from the Mainland, the respective numbers of open inspections and undercover surveillance operations carried out by the authorities concerned, the number of non-compliance cases uncovered, as well as the penalty imposed on each of the non-compliance cases;

    (c)whether it has assessed if the aforesaid spate of incidents will adversely affect the tourism, catering, hotel, retail and transport industries, etc. as well as the international image and overall economy of Hong Kong; if it has assessed, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (d)why the Government does not regulate tourist guides and travel agencies directly, or set up an independent statutory body with dedicated responsibility to deal with matters relating to the regulation, training and licensing of the tourism industry;

    (e)why the authorities have all along not mandatorily required that tourist guides must be employees of travel agencies and be entitled to reasonable basic salaries and remuneration packages, so as to enhance and ensure tourist guides' quality of services;

    (f)whether it has assessed the effectiveness of the joint efforts of Hong Kong and the mainland authorities in curbing the problems of zero reception fee and negative reception fee; if it has assessed, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (g)given that it has been reported that in a fight which occurred on 5 February this year involving a tourist guide and tourists, the travel agency concerned indicated thereafter it had made compensations to the tourists concerned because of the pressure exerted by the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong, whether the authorities have conducted an in-depth investigation in this regard (including investigating the facts and the responsibilities of the various parties involved, and whether criminal offences such as perverting the course of justice and improper compensation or claims, etc. were involved); if such an investigation has been conducted, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (h)whether the authorities have assessed if the practice of making compensation in (g) will have negative impact; if they have assessed, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

15. Hon Paul CHAN to ask: (Translation)

At present, most public organizations submit their annual reports and/or audited financial statements regularly to the Legislative Council. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)in the form of a table, of the public organizations which had submitted their annual reports and/or financial statements to the Legislative Council in the past three years, broken down by the time of submission (i.e. four months or less, five to six months, seven to eight months, nine to 10 months, 11 to 12 months and more than 12 months after their respective annual accounting dates), and the original deadlines for them to submit their annual reports and/or financial statements as required;

    (b)whether the authorities had reviewed in the past three years if the deadlines for submitting annual reports and/or financial statements by public organizations were appropriate; if they had, when the review was conducted, of the findings and follow-up actions; if not, whether the authorities will conduct the review; if they will, when they will do so; if not, of the reasons for that; and

    (c)what measures had been adopted by the authorities in the past three years in enhancing the level of corporate governance of public organizations and ensuring that they would adopt timely and effective measures for disclosing relevant information and increasing the transparency of their operation, so as to hold them accountable to the public?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

16. Hon Miriam LAU to ask: (Translation)

It was reported that the automatic teller machine ("ATM") system of two local banks experienced severe failure on 16 January this year of the service of over 1 200 ATMs in Hong Kong being completely paralyzed for at least five minutes, or even for an hour as suggested in some reports. It was also reported that the incident made it impossible for the public to withdraw or transfer money, and their cards were even trapped in the ATMs with wrong amounts deducted from their accounts, which had caused substantial inconvenience to and impact on the public. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it knows the number of incidents involving ATM systems in the past five years, the causes of such incidents, the number of ATMs involved, the duration during which the systems were affected, the number of complaints received (e.g. complaints about failure to make withdrawals or transfers, failure to retrieve ATM cards and erroneous deduction of money from accounts), the total amount of money involved in all such incidents and the maximum amount involved in a single incident;

    (b)given that it was reported that the aforesaid incident occurred on 16 January was caused by a routine system upgrade conducted by the banks involved, whether the authorities will consider requesting the banks concerned to in future notify their customers before testing or upgrading their ATM systems, so that their customers will not be affected; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c)given that some members of the public have pointed out that, as the number of bank branches has decreased significantly in recent years, the public may not be able to locate bank branches and make withdrawals or transfers in case of ATM system failures, thus causing inconvenience to the public, what measures the authorities have to ensure the stability of ATM systems of the banks and to prevent failures of such systems?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

17. Hon IP Wai-ming to ask: (Translation)

The Housing Department has implemented the "Programme on Source Separation of Domestic Waste" since 2005 by placing recycling bins for different kinds of waste, commonly known as "three-coloured waste separation bins" ("three-coloured bins"), in some public housing estates ("PHEs") in Hong Kong to facilitate residents to separate domestic waste at source. However, some members of the public have complained that some PHEs still do not have recycling bins, thus discouraging them from participating in the recycling programme. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)as at December 2010, whether "three-coloured bins" had been placed in all housing estates of the Hong Kong Housing Authority ("HA estates"); if so, of the way in which such bins were placed in various PHEs and their numbers; if not, whether the authorities have plans to place such recycling bins in all PHEs in Hong Kong;

    (b)how the authorities at present dispose of all the waste recovered from HA estates or through what ways the waste is recycled; whether the authorities have any plan to improve or perfect the existing recycling processes in PHEs, or co-operate with some local environmental protection groups and waste recyclers to raise the recovery rate and ensure that the waste concerned can be recovered and recycled;

    (c)in the past three years, whether the authorities had received complaints concerning waste recovery in PHEs; if so, of the number and the subject matters of the complaints; how the authorities handled the complaints, and whether relevant policies had been drawn up to prevent recurrence of the situations which were the subjects of such complaints;

    (d)as at December 2010, whether all HA estates had recycling bins for used rechargeable batteries and compact fluorescent lamps, apart from the three-coloured bins; if so, of the way in which these bins were placed and their numbers; if not, whether the authorities have plans to extend the measures to all PHEs in Hong Kong;

    (e)of the quantities of used rechargeable batteries and compact fluorescent lamps recovered from the aforesaid recycling bins placed in HA estates in the past three years; and the relevant recovery and disposal processes adopted;

    (f)as at December 2010, whether all HA estates had, on a long-term basis, recycling bins for used clothes and whether those bins were provided by the authorities; if so, of the way in which the bins were placed and their numbers; if not, whether the authorities have plans to extend the measures to all PHEs in Hong Kong; and

    (g)whether at present all the shopping centres in HA estates have "three-coloured bins" to facilitate the recovery of waste disposed of by commercial tenants; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; whether HA has stipulated relevant clauses in the contracts of tenancy to encourage commercial tenants to actively participate in the waste recovery programme so as to raise the recovery rate?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

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

Some members of the public have pointed out that the problem of abandoned pets in Hong Kong is serious, which not only involves inhumane treatment of animals, but also causes deterioration in environmental hygiene and nuisance to members of the public. They have further pointed out that some animal adoption organizations have ceased to take in abandoned pets and stray animals owing to insufficient facilities and resources, and also many people choose to abandon their pets on outlying islands (e.g. Lamma Island, etc.). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)what measures had been adopted by the authorities in the past three years to ensure that animal adoption organizations had sufficient capacity to take in abandoned pets, and whether it had studied jointly with such organizations how to deal with the problem of abandoned pets;

    (b)whether the situation of pets being abandoned on outlying islands was more serious than that in the other districts in the past three years and whether such situation was of concern to the Government; if so, of the measures to address this problem; and

    (c)given that some members of the public have pointed out that whenever a housing estate announces prohibition against the keeping of pets by tenants, a large number of pets will be abandoned by its tenants, whether the Government will follow up such situation and offer assistance to the tenants concerned?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

19. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)

According to the "Women and Men in Hong Kong - Key Statistics" published by the Census and Statistics Department, the monthly earning of nearly 400 000 female employed persons was less than $5,000 in 2009. Some community groups consider that the recent inflation has aggravated the burden on the public and the Government should be concerned about the well-being of working women in poverty. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
    (a)of the respective percentages of the number of working women in poverty in the female labour force and the overall labour force in Hong Kong in the past five years;

    (b)whether they have studied the trend in the number of working women in poverty in the past five years; if they have, of the details;

    (c)whether they had, in the past five years, drawn up policies to ease the hardship of low-income women; if they had, of the details;

    (d)whether they had, in the past five years, consulted community groups to understand the needs of low-income women; if they had, of the details; and

    (e)given that the Transport Support Scheme launched by the Labour Department required that an applicant must be an employee who works 72 hours or more a month, or a job-seeker (an unemployed or an employee intending to change jobs) who intends to work for 72 hours or more a month, whether the authorities have examined from the perspective of gender mainstreaming if such eligibility criteria will aggravate the situation of women in poverty; if they have, of the details?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

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

Some members of the public have relayed to me that their demand for mediation service is on the increase, but related systems ranging from training to accreditation of mediators are still confusing, resulting in the public not knowing how to choose mediation service. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)given that the Secretary for Justice has indicated that one of the duties of the newly established mediation task force is to develop a system of accrediting mediators, of the details of the work plans of this task force in this regard, and the Government's plan for developing a training system for professional mediators;

    (b)given that it has been learnt that there is a huge backlog of mediation cases on Lehman Brothers-related minibonds, and even though many aggrieved investors ("victims") are willing to accept mediation service, they generally have to wait for as long as two years, how the Government will solve this bottleneck problem in mediation service so that the bargaining power of the victims will not be undermined; and

    (c)given that the Government published the Report of the Working Group on Mediation ("the Report") and announced launching a three-month public consultation on 8 February 2010, of the public views collected during consultation; whether the Government will publish a final report on the results of the consultation, and the next step of implementing the recommendations of the Report?
Public Officer to reply : The Secretary for Justice

III. Bills

First Reading

Appropriation Bill 2011

Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)

Appropriation Bill 2011 : The Financial Secretary

Clerk to the Legislative Council