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A 10/11-20
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 9 March 2011 at 11:00 am
I. Tabling of Papers
| Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments | L.N. No.
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| 1. | Practising Certificate (Barristers) (Amendment) Rules 2011 | 37/2011
| | 2. | Arbitration Ordinance (Commencement) Notice | 38/2011
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Other Papers
| 1. | No. 72 | - | Employees Retraining Board Annual Report 2009-10
| (to be presented by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare)
| | 2. | No. 73 | - | Employees' Compensation Insurance Levies Management Board Annual Report 2009/10
| (to be presented by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare)
| | 3. | No. 74 | - | Employees Compensation Assistance Fund Board Annual Report 2009-2010
| (to be presented by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare)
| | 4. | No. 75 | - | Occupational Deafness Compensation Board Annual Report 09/10
| (to be presented by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare)
| | 5. | No. 76 | - | Pneumoconiosis Compensation Fund Board Annual Report 2009
| (to be presented by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare)
| | 6. | Report No. 15/10-11 of the House Committee on Consideration of Subsidiary Legislation and Other Instruments
| | (to be presented by Hon Miriam LAU, Chairman of the House Committee)
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II. Questions
1. Hon WONG Sing-chi to ask: (Translation)
The Government announced its 2011-2012 Land Sale Programme (i.e. the Programme for the coming year) last month and indicated that the private residential sites in the coming year may supply up to 35 400 units. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | in respect of each of the 52 residential sites in the Land Sale Programme, for how long it has been rolled over and included in the Application List, its Building Covenant period and the estimated number of units that can be provided; given that the Government has estimated that if all the residential sites on the Application List for the coming year are sold, a total of 13 000 units can be provided, yet if a calculation is made on the basis that only 30% of the sites on last year's Application List were sold, together with the number of units to be provided by the residential development projects undertaken by the MTR Corporation Limited and the redevelopment projects undertaken by the Urban Renewal Authority, only a total of 21 700 units can be provided, which is still considerably below the Government's original estimation of 30 000 to 40 000 units, whether the authorities will designate more sites on the Application List for auctions initiated by the Government or for sale by tender;
| | (b) | given that as the 32 residential sites on the 2010-2011 Application List originally available for auctions initiated by the Government or for application for sale within this month have to be rolled over to the Application List for the coming year, the relevant dates have been deferred to April or June this year, coupled with the fact that six new sites on the Application List for the coming year, which involve approximately 11 hectares of land covering about 24% of the total area of the sites on the Application List, will not be available for application for sale until March next year, and according to the rolling over arrangement currently adopted, these six sites will not in actual fact be available for application for sale until April next year or even later, these arrangements are therefore tantamount to reducing the number of sites available for application for sale within these two years, whether the authorities will expedite its work so as to designate more sites available before January next year for application for sale or for auctions initiated by the Government; and
| | (c) | in respect of the sites on the Application List that are not sold, whether the authorities will consider switching the use of these sites to building Home Ownership Scheme flats or My Home Purchase Plan flats, so as to increase the provision of land confirmed for housing development, and reduce reliance on real estate developers' applications for land sale and bidding for land as well as on private redevelopment projects?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development
2. Hon WONG Ting-kwong to ask: (Translation)
While the statutory minimum wage ("SMW") rate will be implemented with effect from 1 May this year, some employers have relayed to me that quite a number of them are still unclear about the method for calculating wages and they did not obtain clear answers when they made enquiries to the Labour Department. They are thus worried that they might breach the law inadvertently. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | how many enquiries the authorities have received in total in respect of the legislation on minimum wage since its passage; to which major aspects were the problems related; of the staffing arrangements for answering such enquiries; given that it has been reported that the authorities have failed to provide concrete answers to the enquiries concerned, whether they have looked into the reasons for that;
| | (b) | what publicity activities on SMW have been carried out by the authorities, and list in detail the activities concerned; whether assessment has been made on the adequacy of the publicity efforts; if so, of the results; whether the authorities will consider stepping up the publicity efforts on enhancing the awareness of SMW; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
| | (c) | whether the authorities will consider consolidating the relevant enquiries and conducting a detailed study for the purpose of providing reference cases for people in need of such information, thereby assisting employers to avoid breaching the law inadvertently?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare
3. Hon Frederick FUNG to ask: (Translation)
It has been learnt that Tai Hang Sai Estate, which is located in the urban area of Kowloon, is a private low-cost housing estate owned and managed by the Hong Kong Settlers Housing Corporation Limited ("HKSHCL"). The buildings in the estate are almost 50 years of age, and in terms of living environment and building quality, etc., they have fallen into a very dilapidated and severely aged condition, with building specifications and level of ancillary facilities lagging far behind. Over the years, some residents have called for redevelopment and rehousing. HKSHCL has also proposed a relevant redevelopment plan under which Tai Hang Sai Estate will be redeveloped into a low-cost housing estate in tandem with the construction of private housing for sale to offset the overall redevelopment costs. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the number of private low-cost housing estates in Hong Kong at present; the principles based on which and the means through which the Government approved and subsidized the development of private low-cost housing estates at that time; the latest policy direction in this regard; the support and financial assistance rendered by the Government in the past to private low-cost housing estates in need of redevelopment and rehousing;
| | (b) | as it has been learnt that some of the tenants living in Tai Hang Sai Estate were rehoused in the estate by the Hong Kong Housing Authority as a result of redevelopment of public rental housing ("PRH") estates, yet they do not possess the status of PRH tenants, nor can they use the green form to apply for flats under the Home Ownership Scheme, and they will not even be rehoused in the future when Tai Hang Sai Estate is redeveloped, of the number of such tenants; the justifications of the authorities for depriving them of the rights of PRH tenants; whether the Government will, based on the principle of fairness and reasonableness, grant these tenants again the rights of PRH residents, such as rehousing; if not, of the reasons for that; and
| | (c) | on the premises of meeting the housing needs of the grassroots, increasing the supply of residential flats in the urban area and effectively using the limited urban land resources, etc., whether the authorities will seriously study and consider various feasible options in order to fully resolve without delay the problem of deplorable living conditions in Tai Hang Sai Estate through redevelopment and rehousing programmes, etc.?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing
4. Hon LEUNG Kwok-hung to ask: (Translation)
I have received complaints from quite a number of residents in Chai Wan district, pointing out that as a result of the delay by the Government in retrofitting noise barriers at the road section near Neptune Terrance along Chai Wan Road, the residents nearby have been subjected to serious noise nuisance for many years. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the number of noise barrier retrofitting works carried out in Hong Kong in the past five years; where and when such works were carried out; and whether it has set any order of priority for such works; if not, of the reasons for that;
| | (b) | when the Government will retrofit noise barriers along Chai Wan Road adjacent to the densely populated Neptune Terrance where the noise level is as high as 75 decibels, and what mitigation measures will be implemented to resolve the noise problem in the district immediately; and
| | (c) | of the number of noise barrier retrofitting works to be carried out by the Government in Hong Kong in the next five years; and where and when such works will be carried out?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment
5. Hon CHEUNG Kwok-che to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that the rents for private housing have soared in recent years, with the monthly per-square-foot rents for small flats even higher than those for luxurious residential units. Yet, the maximum levels of rent allowance ("MRA") under the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance ("CSSA") Scheme have not been adjusted since June 2003. The figures of the Census and Statistics Department revealed that the rents paid by almost 60% of the CSSA recipients living in private housing were higher than MRA, and that ratio has been rising in the last three years. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | when MRA under CSSA Scheme was last reviewed by the authorities in accordance with the movement of the Consumer Price Index (A) rent index for private housing;
| | (b) | given that the Government has indicated that it will adjust MRA in accordance with the established mechanism when necessary, of the meaning of "when necessary"; given that the ratio of CSSA recipients living in private housing and paying rents which are higher than MRA has been rising, whether the authorities will consider adjusting MRA upwards; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
| | (c) | given the high levels of rents for private housing at present, whether the authorities will introduce interim measures for CSSA recipients living in private housing and paying rents higher than MRA, so as to alleviate their hardship; if not, of the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare
6. Hon Paul TSE to ask: (Translation)
Some members of the trade have pointed out that given that the Government has required, through legislation, travel agents to pay "Council levy" to the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong ("TIC") in order to meet the expenditure incurred by TIC in discharging its function of regulating the tourism industry, and it is stipulated that TIC is subject to value for money audits, the Government is duty-bound to monitor the use of funds (most of which comes from the levy) by TIC. Regarding the following expenditure items of TIC, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it knows the amount of funds used by TIC in placing an advertisement entitled "Statement" in several newspapers on 17 February this year; whether TIC had consulted travel agents and the Government before deciding whether or not it should use its funds to place the advertisement; if TIC had done so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; whether the government officials who are appointed to monitor the operation of TIC were aware of the placing of the said advertisement beforehand and whether they had offered advice to TIC as to whether it should and could use its funds to place such an advertisement; if the government officials concerned had done so, of the advice offered; if not, the reasons for that;
| | (b) | given that TIC had conducted "undercover" operations during the recent Lunar New Year to detect cases of non-compliance by travel agents and tourist guides in receiving mainland inbound tour groups, whether the Government knows the amount of funds TIC used to date for conducting these operations; the average expenditure involved in conducting each operation; whether the conduct of such operations will become a standing practice; whether any estimation has been made regarding the amount of annual expenditure involved in conducting such operations; and
| | (c) | as I have learnt that TIC will use more than $1,000,000 to engage an audit firm to conduct a value for money audit, and that TIC will set aside a provision of about $400,000 for the purpose of recruiting its Executive Director through head hunting agencies, whether the Government is aware of and whether it has monitored such expenditure items; regarding TIC's non-recurrent expenditure items involving huge amounts of money (e.g. $200,000 or above), whether the Government has any established mechanism for monitoring such expenditure items; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
*7. Dr Hon LAM Tai-fai to ask: (Translation)
Some operators of industrial and commercial enterprises have relayed to me that when the Inland Revenue Department ("IRD") recovers from the enterprises depreciation allowances on machinery or plants granted years ago under section 39E of the Inland Revenue Ordinance (Cap. 112) ("section 39E"), and if such enterprises object and appeal against the recoveries, IRD will issue "Conditional Standover Order" to them requiring them to purchase before a certain deadline Tax Reserve Certificates ("TRCs") in an amount equivalent to the amount of taxation to be recovered. The operators have pointed out that as the amount of money needed for purchasing TRCs may be as high as a million, or even over 10 million, the Orders will exert intolerable pressure on cash flow and may cause the enterprises to close down immediately, yet the assessors often do not accept the explanations given by the enterprises, and also warn that if they do not purchase TRCs as instructed, IRD will issue notices to the banks or clients of the enterprises concerned to notify them of the enterprises' situation. Such operators have also pointed out that IRD's action may cause the banks to immediately tighten the credit lines to the enterprises concerned, and deal a direct blow to order negotiations of the enterprises, and that some enterprises may eventually be forced to close down before the tax disputes can be settled. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the justifications and legal basis for IRD to require the enterprises concerned to purchase TRCs before the tax disputes are settled;
| | (b) | whether it has assessed that requiring the enterprises concerned to purchase huge amount of TRCs will deal a severe blow to their cash flow, which can cause them to close down immediately; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
| | (c) | whether the authorities will issue the aforesaid notices to the banks or clients of the enterprises concerned which do not purchase TRCs as instructed; if it will, of the purposes and legal basis of such action; if not, whether they will take other actions;
| | (d) | whether it has assessed if it is sensible, reasonable and lawful for the authorities to issue the aforesaid notices to the banks or clients of the enterprises concerned, thus causing the banks to immediately tighten the credit lines to such enterprises and dealing a direct blow to their order negotiations; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
| | (e) | of the number of aforesaid notices issued by the authorities to the banks and clients having business connection with the enterprises concerned in each of the past three years;
| | (f) | if IRD considers that the enterprises concerned could not claim depreciation allowances on some machinery or plants in the past, of the detailed reasons for it to keep on allowing the enterprises to make such claims for years in the first place, and whether any maladministration or mistakes have been involved;
| | (g) | as some members of the trade have pointed out that the one-off tax recovery by IRD after allowing enterprises to claim depreciation allowances on machinery or plants for years will create a snow-ball effect on their tax burden, whether the authorities have assessed if this is true; and why the authorities did not immediately reject the claims of the enterprises in the past;
| | (h) | whether it plans to make any relief arrangements for enterprises which cannot afford to purchase huge amount of TRCs; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
| | (i) | whether it has assessed if the forced closure of enterprises before the tax disputes are settled because they cannot afford the TRCs expenses is tantamount to depriving the lawful rights of such enterprises to raise objections or lodge appeals in relation to the disputes; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
| | (j) | whether it plans to conduct a comprehensive review of the practice of requiring the enterprises concerned to purchase huge amount of TRCs and other related arrangements; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
| | (k) | of the total number of "Conditional Standover Orders" issued by IRD to enterprises in each of the past five years arising from matters related to section 39E; if such statistics are not available, why the authorities have not managed properly the data storage system concerned?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
*8. Hon CHIM Pui-chung to ask: (Translation)
I was once sentenced to one year's imprisonment, and actually served eight months. Over the past twelve years, I made several applications for visas to visit Australia but all of them were rejected. Regarding applications from Hong Kong residents for visas to visit Australia, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it knows if the Australian government has a set of blacklists of Hong Kong residents to whom no entry visa to Australia will be issued;
| | (b) | whether it will help those Hong Kong residents in need to obtain visas to visit Australia; and
| | (c) | whether the Government has considered treating those Australian nationals with the same profile and background in the same way by refusing their entry into Hong Kong; if it has not, of the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security
*9. Dr Hon Joseph LEE to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that since the official implementation of the Environmental Levy Scheme on Plastic Shopping Bags ("the Levy Scheme") by the Government on 7 July 2009, shops have been striving to be the first in producing environmental bags, many of which are non-woven bags, to replace conventional plastic bags. There is even a phenomenon of indiscriminate distribution of environmental bags. It has also been reported that a green group has pointed out that environmental bags might cause a greater impact on the environment because the plastic content of non-woven environmental bags is higher than that of conventional plastic bags, and recycling of the former is not easy as they have components such as threads and buttons. Moreover, the public's reuse of non-woven environmental bags may possibly give rise to hygiene problems. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether the authorities have compiled statistics on the quantities of conventional plastic bags and non-woven environmental bags produced after the implementation of the Levy Scheme; if they have, of the details; if not, whether they will consider compiling such statistics so as to understand the change in the quantities produced;
| | (b) | whether the authorities have compiled statistics on the quantity of non-woven environmental bags discarded after the implementation of the Levy Scheme; if they have, of the details; if not, whether they will consider compiling such statistics; how they handle those non-woven environmental bags discarded;
| | (c) | given that the quantity of environmental bags used has been on the rise, whether the authorities have assessed if the use of non-woven environmental bags has less impact on the environment than the use of conventional plastic bags had in the past; if they have, of the details, if not, whether they will consider conducting such assessment; and
| | (d) | given that the Environment and Conservation Fund Committee has allocated $10 million to support a Public Education Programme of the "Policy Framework for the Management of Municipal Solid Waste (2005-2014)", so as to support and complement the implementation of the aforesaid Levy Scheme, whether the authorities have assessed the effectiveness of this public education programme since its implementation, and the adequacy of public education on the potential hygiene and health problems (such as breeding bacteria and spreading viruses) caused by the public's reuse of non-woven environmental bags; if they have not, whether they will consider conducting such assessments?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment
*10. Hon LEUNG Yiu-chung to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the written question on underpayment of wages to foreign domestic helpers ("FDHs") raised by me on 26 January this year, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | given the Government's reply that "if LD (the Labour Department) detects any suspected wage offences under the Employment Ordinance committed by employers, LD will invite the concerned FDH to provide information and act as a prosecution witness ("PW")", whether the Government will definitely invite the FDHs concerned to provide information and act as PWs in those cases; if it will, of the number of FDHs invited by LD to act as PWs in the past five years; if not, the reasons for that; of the total number of FDHs concerned not being invited by LD in the past five years to act as PWs;
| | (b) | given the Government's reply that "during the same period, LD handled a total of 2 613 claims which involved FDHs lodging claims for arrears of wages against their employers", yet LD's Annual Reports show that on average thousands of claims were handled each year in relation to nonpayment of wages/wage deduction, whether the aforesaid figure of 2 613 claims was the number of claims in the year of 2010 only or the total number of claims in the five years from 2006 to 2010; if it was the number of claims in 2010 only, of the total number of cases handled by LD in the five years from 2006 to 2010 relating to FDHs lodging claims for underpayment of wages against their employers; if it was the total number of claims in the five years from 2006 to 2010, of the reasons for such a marked difference between the figure and those indicated in LD's Annual Reports; and
| | (c) | given the Government's reply that "if an FDH employer is convicted of contravening relevant labour legislation, the employer may be regarded as not meeting the criteria for employing FDHs for a period of time (in general, two years), and the relevant application will not be approved", yet according to the Immigration Department's Guidebook for the Employment of Domestic Helpers from Abroad, an employer will not be considered eligible to employ a helper for a period of time where he/she has been convicted of offences relating to a helper under labour laws, if the Government can clarify whether an FDH employer who is convicted of contravening the relevant labour laws will only "probably" be regarded as not meeting the criteria for employing an FDH for a period of time, or he/she will "definitely" be regarded so?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare
*11. Hon James TO to ask: (Translation)
Since 2007, the Government has reviewed in a step-by-step manner the Outline Zoning Plans ("OZP") of various districts and made suitable amendments to the development parameters of the OZPs, including the incorporation of building height and other development restrictions. Recently, some organizations have relayed to me that the building height restrictions imposed by the Government on lands zoned for "Government, Institution or Community" ("GIC") uses are tighter than those on lands zoned for residential and commercial uses when the Government revises the OZPs concerned. These organizations have also complained about the severe lack of land in urban areas zoned for social welfare uses. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | given that the Secretary for Development has indicated that in "reviewing the building height restrictions on lands of different use in various districts...... will consider a number of factors, including the topography, site formation level, existing land use zonings......", whether the Government will, apart from the aforesaid factors, consider other ones (including the community's need for social welfare facilities) when reviewing the restrictions on lands zoned for GIC uses;
| | (b) | given that some organizations have relayed to me that in reviewing the OZPs, the Government has not conducted any public consultation, nor has it consulted the stakeholders when drawing up building height restrictions on lands zoned for GIC uses, whether the Government will step up consultation work in response to such demand, and consult the local communities before revising the OZPs;
| | (c) | given that some organizations have relayed to me that while the population of Hong Kong has increased in recent years, land available for use by social welfare organizations (especially in Kowloon) is insufficient to meet the demand brought about by population growth, what measures the Government has in hand to mitigate this problem when drawing up the OZPs; whether it will review the plot ratio and building height restrictions imposed on land in Kowloon zoned for GIC uses so as to increase the permissible floor areas of social welfare facilities; and
| | (d) | as I have learnt that the procedures of the Government Property Agency ("GPA") for processing applications for use of vacant government units are very complicated, e.g. in the case of the 3rd floor of Hoi Hong Building at Tit Shu Street in Tai Kok Tsui, GPA has to try to let out the premises for commercial use first and only if no hirer is interested will it then consider allocating the premises for social welfare uses, and such practice will not help solve the problem of insufficient land for social welfare uses, whether the Government will conduct a comprehensive review of the relevant policies?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development
*12. Hon WONG Kwok-hing to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported recently that among the 12 MTR rail breakage incidents since 2008, eight of them had not been disclosed to the public. On 19 January and 10 February this year, cracks were identified respectively at a section of the track at Sunny Bay Station and at a section of the track between Admiralty Station and Tsim Sha Tsui Station. Some experts have commented that these incidents were unusual and urged the MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL") to thoroughly inspect the quality of rail tracks. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | given that serious incidents are involved when a "Red Alert" is issued by MTRCL under the current notification mechanism, how the authorities and MTRCL define serious incidents, and of the criteria adopted;
| | (b) | since MTRCL has used the words "裂紋" and "裂縫" as the Chinese renditions of "cracks", how the authorities and MTRCL define these words;
| | (c) | whether it knows the total length of all rail tracks (including the Light Rail) in Hong Kong in the past decade and the changes in the number of staff members responsible for railway maintenance; whether MTRCL will increase the number of maintenance staff to cope with future demand; if it will, of the details; of the ratio between the total length of rail tracks (including the Light Rail) and the number of maintenance staff;
| | (d) | whether it knows the MTR extensions in respect of which the maintenance work has been outsourced at present; of the number of contracts involved, the relevant contract sums and the number of staff of outsourced services involved;
| | (e) | whether it knows the criteria adopted by MTRCL in determining the use of outsourced services; whether MTRCL can terminate the existing outsourced services gradually and take over the management and maintenance work (such as telecommunications equipment, equipment for power supply switching and infrastructure equipment, etc.); if it cannot, of the reasons for that; and
| | (f) | of the number of civil servants who are dedicated to monitoring the operation and maintenance of MTR at present, and whether the authorities will expand the existing scale and organizational structure in this respect in order to cope with increasingly heavy workload relating to railway matters; if the authorities will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing
*13. Hon Audrey EU to ask:
I have received an increasing number of complaints from members of the public that some old franchised buses are still in service even after reaching 17 years of age, but may, on application, continue to run for a further year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the purpose of extending the service life of a franchised bus beyond 17 years;
| | (b) | of the procedure for applying and extending the service life of a franchised bus beyond 17 years; and
| | (c) | of the number of buses currently operating under such an extension and the number of extensions approved in each of the past five years, together with a breakdown by the emission standard met by the buses (set out in the table below)?
Emission
Standard/Year | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 |
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| Euro II |
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing
*14. Hon LEE Wing-tat to ask: (Translation)
When announcing the launch of the "My Home Purchase Plan" ("MHPP") last year, the Government indicated that sites in Tsing Yi, Diamond Hill, Sha Tin, Tai Po, Tuen Mun and other areas had been earmarked for MHPP and that applications for pre-letting for the first project could take place starting from 2012. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | for each of the sites earmarked for MHPP, of the specific location, site area, expected completion dates for foundation works and site formation works, expected commencement date for superstructure construction, expected building completion date, and expected number of residential units to be provided;
| | (b) | given that the Financial Secretary announced in the Budget published this year that applications for the first project could commence next year, whether the Government can invite applications for pre-letting in the first quarter of next year; and
| | (c) | when the authorities expect the remaining four projects will invite applications for pre-letting; what factors that the development progress of these projects will be subject to, and whether there are ways to expedite their development progress; if there are, of the details; if not, whether the authorities will consider turning some of the unsold sites which have remained on the Application List for a long time into sites for building MHPP flats?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing
*15. Hon CHEUNG Hok-ming to ask: (Translation)
Mikania micrantha, Gairo Morning Glory, China dodder and water hyacinth are some of the invasive alien plants ("IAPs") brought into Hong Kong. These plants grow at an alarming speed, and if they grow into massive clusters, they will be hazardous to the native plants, reduce the biological diversity, and affect the eosystem. Recently, it has been reported that the proliferation of Mikania micrantha in rural areas is worsening, but the relevant government departments are not actively dealing with it. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the total number of sightings of the proliferation of Mikania micrantha reported to the authorities by members of the public, organizations or other government departments in the past three years; among these cases, the number of those which had been handled; and the number of locations with Mikania micrantha's proliferation found by the authorities during their routine inspections;
| | (b) | whether the authorities have conducted any regular inspection of the locations where Mikania micrantha were removed, and whether they have identified any recurrence of Mikania micrantha's proliferation at such locations or in nearby areas; if they have, of the details; whether they have assessed if the current approach for eradicating Mikania micrantha is effective; and
| | (c) | given that China is a state party to the Convention on Biological Diversity which was adopted in Nairobi on 22 May 1992, and this Convention also applies to Hong Kong, whether at present the authorities have formulated any relevant policy on prevention and clearing of IAPs; if they have, of the details; if not, whether they will study the formulation of appropriate measures; given that the authorities often plant trees, including non-native plants, in urban or rural areas, of the criteria they adopt in the course of selecting plant species for planting so as to assess if the species concerned are suitable for planting in Hong Kong?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment
*16. Hon Albert CHAN to ask: (Translation)
There have been comments that since the government introduced the nine measures to stabilize the property market (commonly known as "the Nine Measures of Michael SUEN") in 2002, the supply of sites for private residential developments through land auction, redevelopment of the old areas and change in land use have plummeted, resulting in a drastic decrease in the number of new private domestic units in recent years. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:
| (a) | the area of the sites supplied annually since 2002 for private residential developments through the three different ways, namely land auction, redevelopment of the old areas and change in land use; and
| | (b) | the respective numbers of private domestic units built and completed, since 2002, on the sites supplied for private residential developments through the three different ways, namely land auction, redevelopment of the old areas and change in land use?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development
*17. Hon Paul CHAN to ask: (Translation)
It has been learnt that since the launch of the Enhancing Self-Reliance Through District Partnership Programme ("the Programme") in 2006, the Government has approved a total grant of about $110 million to fund some 110 new social enterprise projects. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the respective numbers of projects, since the launch of the Programme, which have been granted funding and those which have not; the reasons why some of the projects were not granted any funding; and
| | (b) | among the funded projects, of the number of those which were eventually unable to achieve the objectives as set out in their applications, the discrepancies between the achievements and the objectives of these projects, and how the authorities had dealt with these projects in the end; apart from requiring the organizations receiving funding to submit reports regularly, whether the authorities have other measures to regularly monitor the operation of the funded projects; if they have, of the details; if they have not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs
*18. Hon Abraham SHEK to ask: (Translation)
A member of the public has relayed to me that the Government should allow non-transit passengers to use the SkyPier ferry services so as to expand the business opportunities of the peripheral area of the airport and promote tourism on Lantau Island. The member of the public has also pointed out that while the Government has all along rejected the aforesaid suggestion, it has agreed to call tender again for leasing out the Tuen Mun Ferry Terminal, whose scheduled service and passengers have been sparse and few, to shipping companies to operate cross-boundary ferry services between Tuen Mun and Macao from April 2011, and such arrangement is a waste of resources. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it knows the cross-boundary passenger throughput of the SkyPier last year; and the annual passenger flow of the Macao Ferry Terminal and China Ferry Terminal at present; and whether it has assessed, based on the patronage, if the operations of such terminals are cost effective; if it has, of the outcome;
| | (b) | of the justifications for the Government to agree to lease out the Tuen Mun Ferry Terminal again for operating cross-boundary ferry routes to and from Macao;
| | (c) | given that the authorities indicated that in 2008 and 2009, the Airport Authority ("AA") had looked into a proposal of providing customs and immigration facilities at the SkyPier, whether the Government will require AA to make public the study report, and of the obstacles in policy and operation which cause the authorities to decide that non-transit passengers may not use the SkyPier;
| | (d) | whether it knows the floor area in the SkyPier earmarked for providing customs and immigration facilities for non-transit passengers, as well as the uses of such area at present; whether it has assessed if there is any operational inefficiency in the overall utilization of space at the pier at present; if such an assessment has been made, of the outcome;
| | (e) | whether the Government will consider afresh making the services at the SkyPier available to non-transit passengers in response to the vast number of mainland visitors to be brought to Hong Kong by the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, so as to promote tourism development and convention and exhibition activities on Lantau Island to generate economic benefits; and
| | (f) | of the authorities' timetable for reviewing the existing arrangements related to the SkyPier?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing
*19. Hon Fred LI to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the Rent Allowance for Elderly Scheme ("RAES") currently provided by the Hong Kong Housing Authority, will the Government inform this Council of:
| (a) | the number of beneficiaries receiving cash allowances under RAES as at the end of February 2011;
| | (b) | the estimated number of beneficiaries whose existing leases for their accommodation are due for renewal in 2011-2012;
| | (c) | the following data required by the authorities for calculating the maximum monthly rent allowances under RAES for 2011-2012 (to be listed by household sizes of one, two and three person(s)):
| | (i) | the average area of accommodation allocated to Waiting List applicants rehoused to public rental housing in various districts from 2007-2008 to 2009-2010; and
| | (ii) | the average monthly rent of households in private units with usable flat size below 70 m2 in the urban area, according to the Rent Survey of the Census & Statistics Department for the 4th Quarter of 2010;
| | (d) | the overall average monthly rent of households in private units with usable flat size below 70 m2 in the urban area, according to the Rent Survey of the Census & Statistics Department for the 4th Quarter of 2010;
| | (e) | the overall average monthly rent of private residential units with usable flat size below 70 m2 in the urban area, according to the information provided by the Rating and Valuation Department for the 4th Quarter of 2010; and
| | (f) | the estimated timeframe for the authorities to announce the maximum monthly rent allowances under RAES for 2011-2012?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing
*20. Hon KAM Nai-wai to ask: (Translation)
In the past, quite a number of members of the public complained that the cargo compartments (commonly known as "skips") temporarily placed on streets for collecting construction waste had an adverse impact on the traffic and environmental hygiene. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the number of inspections conducted by the authorities on their own initiative in the past three years on the compliance or otherwise by vehicle owners and drivers concerned with the Guidelines for Mounting and Placing of Skips issued by the Transport Department, and the number of drivers or vehicle owners who had been prosecuted for not complying with the guidelines;
| | (b) | whether it knows the number of accidents caused by skips to people or vehicles in Hong Kong in the past three years, with a breakdown by 18 District Council ("DC") districts;
| | (c) | whether it knows the number of skips placed on streets in various districts in Hong Kong in the past three years, with a breakdown by 18 DC districts;
| | (d) | of the number of complaints about skips received by the authorities in the past three years, with a breakdown by 18 DC districts; how the authorities had handled the complaints upon receipt; and the time required to handle such complaints; and
| | (e) | whether it will consider establishing a licensing system to step up the regulation of skips; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment
* For written reply
III. Bills
First Reading
| Inland Revenue (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2011
| Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)
| | Inland Revenue (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2011 | : | Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
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IV. Motions
Proposed resolution under the Public Finance Ordinance
Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury to move the motion in the Appendix.
| (The motion was also issued on 18 February 2011
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 485/10-11)
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V. Members' Motions
- Establishing a communication mechanism between China and Hong Kong
Hon Ronny TONG to move the following motion: (Translation)
That this Council urges the authorities to study establishing expeditiously a direct, effective and permanent communication mechanism, so as to enable the three sides of Beijing, the Hong Kong Government and Hong Kong's elected representatives to, on basis of not violating the principle of 'one country, two systems', exchange views on issues relating to constitutional arrangements, people's livelihood, economy, planning, environmental protection, transportation and tourism, etc., thereby materializing the unique political, economic and social status of the HKSAR under the Basic Law, and building the foundation of long-term mutual understanding and trust among Beijing, Hong Kong and its people; particularly under the aforesaid principles, this Council urges the authorities to establish:
| (a) | a formal channel to enable council representatives to, outside of the Executive Authorities, exchange views with Mainland officials on relevant issues;
| | (b) | a permanent liaison mechanism between representative councils and the Mainland's municipal and provincial governments, so as to facilitate discussion on issues of concern to both sides; and
| | (c) | a mechanism for regular exchange of visits to enable Hong Kong's elected representative councils to exchange views directly with the Mainland's law-making bodies and other relevant departments.
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Amendment to the motion
Hon Albert HO to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add ", given that the exchanges between China and Hong Kong have turned increasingly frequent," after "That"; to delete "three sides of Beijing, the Hong Kong Government and Hong Kong's elected representatives to, on basis of not violating the principle of 'one country, two systems', exchange views on issues relating to constitutional arrangements," after "enable the" and substitute with "various sides comprising the Central Government, the SAR Government, Hong Kong's elected representatives and the various sectors of Hong Kong to, on basis of upholding the principles of 'one country, two systems', 'Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong' and 'a high degree of autonomy', exchange views on issues relating to the SAR's constitutional arrangements, democracy, human rights and those issues involving both the SAR and the Mainland in respect of"; to delete "Beijing, Hong Kong and its people" after "among" and substitute with "the various sides"; to delete "to establish" after "aforesaid principles, this Council urges the authorities"; to add "to establish" after "(a)"; to add "to establish" after "(b)"; to delete "and" after "both sides;"; to add "to establish" after "(c)"; and to add "; and (d) to urge the Central Government to respect the right of the Chinese nationals in Hong Kong to freely travel to and from the Mainland and reinstate the right of those Hong Kong residents and Members of the Legislative Council who have been barred from entering the Mainland to return to their hometown, so as to implement the aforesaid mechanisms" immediately before the full stop.
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Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs
- Reforming the Hospital Authority
Dr Hon LEUNG Ka-lau to move the following motion: (Translation)
That during the 20 years since the establishment of the Hospital Authority ('HA'), its annual spending of public money has increased from $7.7 billion to $33 billion, yet due to its unsatisfactory management, the morale of frontline healthcare personnel is low and the quality of care varies; the distribution of resources among various clusters is uneven, and the per capita share of hospital beds, healthcare personnel and funding can vary by as much as 200%; its administrative structure is cumbersome, and the annual salaries of the Chief Executive as well as the 33 Directors, Cluster Chief Executives and Hospital Chief Executives are as high as $2 million to over $4 million; the working condition for its employees is poor, and the working hours of healthcare personnel are long, and it is common to be on duty for 28 consecutive hours; the waiting time for specialist services is too long, thus causing delay in treatment, and the subsidies to patients for using outsourced services are on the low side, thus failing to divert them to the private medical system; the transparency of the HA Drug Formulary is inadequate, and hence patients and the public are unable to find out the drug assessment criteria; and the means test under the Samaritan Fund is too harsh, making many patients fall outside the safety net and unable to receive due protection; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to thoroughly review the operation of HA and put forward reform proposals, including:
| (a) | using disease treatment costs and service volume as the basis, to formulate objective funding criteria for each hospital cluster, and to allocate appropriate resources to hospitals in busy districts so as to avoid wastage or shortage of resources for developing services in individual hospital clusters; through the Internet or enquiry hotlines, to make public information about making appointments of various hospitals, and proactively advise patients of hospitals in busy districts to seek cross-district medical treatment, so as to balance the supply of and demand for healthcare services in various districts;
| | (b) | to review whether the management structure of the Head Office overlaps with those of hospital clusters, so as to streamline the relevant structure;
| | (c) | to formulate manpower indicators based on workload, and to set standard working hours for healthcare personnel and provide them with half-time job options, with a view to reducing medical blunders and staff wastage;
| | (d) | to reorganize specialist services, reduce unnecessary internal referrals, strengthen primary medical care, and increase the subsidies to patients for using outsourced services, so as to divert patients to the private medical system;
| | (e) | in respect of decisions to add any drugs to or remove any drugs from the HA Drug Formulary, to publish drug efficacy reports and financial implication assessments, and include patients' quality of living as a criterion of evaluation, so as to maximize the social effectiveness of drug subsidies, and even drugs 'which have preliminary medical evidence only' should be included in the safety net of subsidies, and their removal should only be considered when their efficacy is negated, so as to reduce disputes; and
| | (f) | to relax the application threshold of the Samaritan Fund, and set a fixed ceiling for patients' co-payment.
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| Amendments to the motion
| | (i) | Dr Hon PAN Pey-chyou to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add ", with population ageing, the healthcare issue has become a great challenge currently faced by society;" after "That"; to delete "its unsatisfactory management" after "yet due to" and substitute with "the failure of its management to progress with the times and its disregard of various unreasonable phenomena"; to add ", staff wastage is serious," after "healthcare personnel is low"; to delete "and service volume" after "disease treatment costs" and substitute with ", service volume and the distribution of population and age groups in the districts concerned"; to add "and fair" after "formulate objective"; to add ", on the one hand," after "hospital cluster, and"; to delete "so as to avoid" after "hospitals in busy districts" and substitute with "while avoiding"; to add ", so that the types and quantity of services of the various clusters can better suit the needs of people in their districts, thereby alleviating the plight of elderly and physically weak persons in seeking cross-district medical treatment" after "individual hospital clusters"; to add "(b) with a view to optimizing as much as possible the utilization of precious healthcare resources and services, HA should" before "through the Internet"; to delete ", to" after "enquiry hotlines"; to add "where their capabilities and clinical conditions permit" after "seek cross-district medical treatment"; to delete the original "(b)" and substitute with "(c)"; to add "(d) to comprehensively review and reasonably improve the pay and promotion ladder of frontline healthcare personnel, and offer reasonable remuneration for their duty hours, so as to retain talents;" after "the relevant structure;"; to delete the original "(c)" and substitute with "(e)"; to delete the original "(d)" and substitute with "(f)"; to delete the original "(e)" and substitute with "(g)"; to add "HA, when procuring drugs, should not base its consideration solely on the financial principles, but should also take account of drugs quality and supply stability;" before "in respect of"; to delete "and" after "to reduce disputes;"; to delete the original "(f)" and substitute with "(h)"; and to add "; (i) to allocate additional resources to provide more healthcare personnel with local and overseas training opportunities; (j) to reorganize the grade structures of General Services Assistants and Technical Services Assistants, set up a unified system of ranks, pay and fringe benefits, and formulate uniform employment terms, so as to rectify the unfair situation of different remunerations for the same post in different clusters; and (k) to strengthen the Chinese medicine services in HA hospitals, and consider establishing Chinese medicine hospitals to provide the public with more comprehensive Chinese medicine services and promote the development of Chinese medicine" immediately before the full stop.
| | (ii) | Dr Hon Joseph LEE to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add ", as" after "That"; to add "the manpower establishments of nurses and allied health staff are outdated, resulting in persistent manpower shortage and affecting service quality;" after "over $4 million;"; to delete "and" after "to reduce disputes;"; and to add "; (g) to set a nurse-patient ratio to improve the quality of nursing care, so as to effectively safeguard patients' safety; (h) to review the manpower establishment of allied health staff and re-examine the service volume and manpower demand, so as to improve allied healthcare services, thereby reducing the chances of patients' re-hospitalization; (i) to introduce direct referral services by optometrists, so as to reduce unnecessary referrals and shorten waiting time, and to strengthen primary healthcare; (j) to introduce chiropractic services to meet patients' needs; and (k) to review the pay and grade policies on nurses and allied health staff, so as to resolve the problem of severe wastage of talents" immediately before the full stop.
| | (iii) | Hon CHAN Hak-kan to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add ", although" after "That"; to delete "yet" after "$33 billion,"; to add ", and it is difficult for frontline doctors to be promoted" after "28 consecutive hours"; to add "and primary healthcare is inadequate," after "too long,"; to delete "and to" after "based on workload,"; to add "and review the promotion mechanism for healthcare personnel as well as formulate effective measures to alleviate their work pressure," after "half-time job options,"; to add "provide sufficient funding to" after "unnecessary internal referrals,"; and to add "expedite the implementation of the strategy for developing primary care, including establishing community health centres to improve public primary healthcare," after "primary medical care,".
| | (iv) | Hon CHEUNG Man-kwong to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To delete "during the 20 years since the establishment of the Hospital Authority ('HA')," after "That" and substitute with "it has been 20 years since the Government established the Hospital Authority ('HA') in 1990, and due to factors such as population growth, population ageing and the development in medical science and technology, etc., even though"; to delete ", yet" after "$33 billion" and substitute with "and the number of staff has increased from some 35 000 to over 55 000, the problem of inadequate resources still remains serious; besides,"; to add "and within" after "resources among"; to add "system" after "the means test"; to add "however, the Legislative Council does not have sufficient power to monitor HA; according to the Hospital Authority Ordinance, HA is not required to seek the Legislative Council's approval for creating posts with high pay, and the various public hospitals even have the authority to set the levels of fees for their services; furthermore, there are insufficient channels for patient groups and the public to participate in HA's decision-making and push HA to make improvements;" after "receive due protection;"; to add "; at the same time, to provide administrative and logistic support, so as to prevent the relevant measures from imposing additional administrative work on frontline healthcare personnel" after "various districts"; to delete "increase the subsidies to patients for using outsourced services" after "medical care, and" and substitute with "allocate additional resources to provide patients with subsidies for using appropriate private medical services"; to delete "and" after "reduce disputes;"; and to add "; (g) to face up to the healthcare manpower wastage problem in public hospitals, review the impact of the Government's measures on promoting the development of medical services industry and encouraging the development of the private medical sector on the demand for healthcare personnel, and to increase the supply of healthcare personnel; (h) to value the contributions of frontline healthcare personnel in public hospitals, and targeting at the serious staff wastage and low morale problems in some public hospitals and specialties, to allocate additional resources to recruit sufficient manpower and offer reasonable promotion prospect to frontline healthcare personnel, to improve the management and resource allocation of hospitals and clusters, and train more specialist healthcare personnel; and (i) to explore amending the Hospital Authority Ordinance to enhance the Legislative Council's regulatory control over HA in creating posts with high pay and determining its service charges, and to enable patient groups and the Legislative Council to elect representatives to serve as members on the HA Board, so as to enhance patient groups' participation and the Legislative Council's regulatory control over HA" immediately before the full stop.
| | (v) | Hon Alan LEONG to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To delete "and" after "each hospital cluster,"; to add "in respect of individual hospital clusters with smaller amounts of funding, including the New Territories West and Kowloon East Clusters, to offer sufficient resources to improve their services;" after "individual hospital clusters;"; to add "; and to allocate additional resources and raise the amounts of subventions and subsidies, so as to rectify the current situation of unenthusiastic participation in public-private partnership" after "patients to the private medical system"; to delete "publish" after "HA Drug Formulary, to" and substitute with "enhance the transparency of approving drugs to be included in the HA Drug Formulary, regularly publish the approval results and grounds,"; to add "to conduct regular reviews of the HA Drug Formulary system;" after "reduce disputes; and"; and to add "; (g) to increase the manpower of frontline doctors and nurses, improve doctors' promotion opportunities and increase the number of training places, with a view to alleviating the pressure faced by frontline personnel; (h)to explain the funding criteria adopted by various hospital clusters, so as to avoid uneven resource distribution; and (i) to expedite the progress of hospital redevelopment and medical equipment renewal, so as to cope with growing medical demands" immediately before the full stop.
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Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Food and Health
Clerk to the Legislative Council
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