A 10/11-31

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 8 June 2011 at 11:00 am

I. Tabling of Papers

Subsidiary Legislation / InstrumentsL.N. No.
1.Assumption of Responsibility for Markets Notification 201199/2011
2.Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters (India) Order (Commencement) Notice100/2011

Other Papers

1.No. 96-Securities and Futures Commission Annual Report 2010-11
(to be presented by the Financial Secretary)

2.Report No. 24/10-11 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

1. Hon WONG Yuk-man to ask: (Translation)

On 8 April this year, when the Panel on Security of this Council discussed at its special meeting the item of "Enforcement against the smuggling and sale of illicit cigarettes", the authorities indicated that the Government had disposed of illicit cigarettes forfeited by auction or destruction. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)when the authorities formulated the policy of disposing of forfeited illicit cigarettes by auction, and what the justifications were; according to the authorities' estimation, whether the general public are aware of that policy; whether the authorities had carried out any consultation or made any announcement in formulating such a policy;

    (b)how the authorities ensure that the illicit cigarettes disposed of by auction are of good quality, and that law-breakers did not add to those illicit cigarettes any substance which is hazardous to health; of the respective market values of the illicit cigarettes forfeited from 2000 to 2007; among the illicit cigarettes forfeited by the authorities in the past 10 years, of the respective quantities of those being disposed of by auction and the proceeds generated, and the quantities of those destroyed; the places where the auctioned illicit cigarettes were shipped to, and the percentages of the illicit cigarettes shipped to the various places in the total quantity of illicit cigarettes being disposed of by auction in that year; whether the authorities have assessed if the auction of forfeited illicit cigarettes is ethical, if it encourages smoking and if it deviates from the policy of anti-smoking and tobacco control over the years; if they have assessed, of the outcome; and

    (c)how the authorities destroyed illicit cigarettes in the past 10 years; given that some experts have pointed out that as illicit cigarettes contain heavy metal and carcinogenic substances, incineration is not appropriate, and have therefore suggested that the authorities should dispose of the illicit cigarettes by landfilling, what measures the authorities have to ensure that the destruction of illicit cigarettes is safe and will not affect environmental hygiene?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

2. Hon Paul TSE to ask: (Translation)

There have been comments that although the Government had legislation and relevant systems providing clear instructions on the demolition of unauthorized building works ("UBWs") in the past, the lax enforcement of the laws over the years had resulted in the proliferation of UBWs, making it difficult to rectify the situation. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it has estimated the time needed by the Buildings Department ("BD") to properly handle the problem of UBWs with its existing resources; apart from the cases of UBWs recorded by BD at present, whether it has estimated the current number of suspected unauthorized building structures;

    (b)whether it has studied if in the past the procedures and formalities for applying for alterations of building structures even as simple as changes in the positions of drying racks and supporting frames for air-conditioners were very complicated, and the processing time for such applications was too long, causing much nuisance to the public, and as a result members of the public would rather erect UBWs because they were tired of the bureaucratic procedures; if the results of such a study are in the affirmative, and on the basis of the minor works policy reform, of the means to further simplify the application procedures and shorten the processing time for applications and appeals; if not, whether it can conduct the study immediately; and

    (c)whether it has considered following the practice of the former Squatter Control Unit (commonly known as "hut division") in dealing with UBWs many years ago by specifying a cut-off date and exempting UBWs already existed before such a date from demolition, but requesting owners of the buildings concerned to engage qualified persons to verify the compliance of such UBWs with safety standards and pay additional premium or government rent to the Government, and new UBWs erected after the specified cut-off date have to be demolished mandatorily; if it has, of the details; if not, whether it can consider as soon as possible; and whether it has any plan to comprehensively tackle or "rationalize" the serious proliferation of UBWs in buildings?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

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

Some members of the public have relayed to me that recently there have been frequent MTR failure incidents, and even the Disneyland Resort Line, which carries fewer passengers and was completed only about five years ago, has experienced two failure incidents in less than two months. They express grave dissatisfaction that the MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL") has not made obvious improvement to its services and a huge surplus has been recorded, but it still insists on increasing its fares by 2.2% as scheduled in June this year according to the fare adjustment mechanism under which fares may be increased or reduced ("FAM"), and has triggered off a wave of fare increases. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)what measures the SAR Government, as the largest shareholder of MTRCL, has at present to motivate MTRCL to improve its services, so as to render value-for-money services to the public;

    (b)whether it will examine the implementation of a marking scheme for railway incidents so that MTR's fare adjustment mechanism is linked to its standard of service, with a view to motivating MTRCL to improve its services and reducing the frequency of failure incidents; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c)whether it will reconsider establishing a fare stabilization fund covering various modes of public transport including MTR, buses and ferries, etc. so as to make up for the inadequacies of FAM in actual operation during times of continuous inflation?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

4. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)

The Finance Committee allocated $220 million last year to help needy families acquire Internet access service and computers, and such programme changed from the original plan of a single tender to separate implementation by the Hong Kong Council of Social Service ("HKCSS") and the eInclusion Foundation Limited ("eInclusion"). In reply to a question about the programme from a Member of this Council on 25 May this year, the Acting Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development indicated that the former Government Chief Information Officer, Mr Jeremy GODFREY, had concluded that it would be in the best interests of low-income families if the programme could be executed so as to incorporate the best elements of the proposals submitted by such two organizations respectively. As such, the Bureau engaged the two organizations in discussions but there was difficulty reaching agreement on a collaboration model to co-found an implementation agent, and the Government decided to engage HKCSS and eInclusion to implement the programme in two geographical zones. On 26 May, Mr GODFREY made a submission to this Council pointing out that during the tender process, it was made clear to him that there was a political requirement to select a particular implementer, but he considered that this would not be in the best interests of low-income families, and he was also given unconvincing reasons for instructing him to formally terminate the original selection process and subsequently for pursuing the dual-implementer approach; he considered it more likely that these decisions had been influenced by political considerations and it might make him party to misleading the Legislative Council, he therefore decided to resign. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
    (a)whether formal investigation has been conducted to find out if it was implied to Mr GODFREY during the tender process that he was to select a particular organization and if such a practice violated the tender procedures;

    (b)whether investigation has been conducted to find out if Mr GODFREY was instructed to terminate the selection process, and the reasons for that; and

    (c)during the selection process, whether the Executive Authorities were aware that the Internet Professional Association, which formed the eInclusion, has political party background; and whether they had considered that selecting such an organization would make the public perceive that the Government was in favour of a particular political party?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

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

The Government will disburse in this financial year a sum of $6,000 to each Hong Kong Permanent Identity Card holder at the age of 18 or above. Members of the public are generally concerned about the disbursement timetable, criteria, details and procedures for receiving such sum, but the Government has not yet made any announcement. It has been learnt that some elderly Hong Kong permanent residents who are residing on the Mainland on a long-term basis have to make a special trip to return to Hong Kong to receive the sum, but as they do not have residence in Hong Kong, some of them choose to wait and sleep on the streets. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it will determine the order of priority for the disbursement of $6,000 by age so that priority will be given to senior citizens; how the Government will deal with cases of elderly persons who passed away before receiving the sum; and

    (b)of the criteria, details and procedures regarding the disbursement of $6,000 (including the cut-off date for determining whether a member of the public concerned meets the qualifying condition of "Hong Kong permanent resident who has reached the age of 18"; whether qualified members of the public will need to register in advance; how to avoid the situation where members of the public will not be disbursed the sum because they fail to register; how elderly persons in a confused state of mind, with mobility-handicapped and those living in residential care homes for the elderly on a long-term basis, prisoners and psychiatric inpatients may receive the sum, as well as whether those qualified Hong Kong people who left Hong Kong and are residing on the Mainland or overseas have to return to Hong Kong to receive the sum, etc.); whether the Government will disburse the sum through banks; if it will, whether it needs to pay handling fees to the banks?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

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

Some members of the public have complained to me that they are dissatisfied with the acts and practices of certain political parties and politicians as they have not instituted legal proceedings on their own, but have made use of an illiterate elderly recipient of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance to apply for legal aid to initiate a judicial review, thus abusing judicial proceedings, attacking the construction project of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge ("HKZMB"), forcing the project to be halted and seriously undermining the interests of Hong Kong. This has not only procrastinated the progress of the works of the HKZMB Hong Kong section and pushed up the construction costs, but may also affect 78 other projects, thereby seriously hampering the economic development of Hong Kong, pushing up the unemployment rate and leading to immeasurable losses. There are also media reports that the Civic Party has admitted that it assisted a Tung Chung resident to apply for judicial review. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether the Government has received any complaint or view which alleged that the aforesaid case involved "champerty", "maintenance" or other acts of abusing judicial proceedings; and whether the Government will initiate investigations to ascertain if anyone has manipulated the litigation behind the scene, perverted the course of justice and gained benefits in the process; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (b)given that at the Chief Executive's Question and Answer Session on 19 May this year, the Hon Alan LEONG Kah-kit of the Civic Party claimed that this Council had been cautioning the Government that it was highly likely that the Government's approach of handling the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance would be regarded as breaching the law, while at the special meeting of the House Committee of this Council held on 20 May this year, the Chief Secretary for Administration said that after going through all the records, the Government had not found any record indicating that requests had been made for the Government to conduct the kind of baseline studies requested by the Court in its judgment, whether the Government will the take the initiative to find out from Mr LEONG the specific contents of such views and when such views had been given; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officers to reply: Secretary for the Environment
Secretary for Transport and Housing

*7. Hon Ronny TONG to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported recently that a Hong Kong resident, who joined a tour to Tibet, was suspected to suffer from acute mountain sickness and died there, and it was only after the repeated efforts of the family members of the deceased that the insurance company eventually arranged to transfer the body of the deceased back to Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the respective numbers of request for assistance received by the SAR Government from Hong Kong residents in distress outside Hong Kong each year since the reunification of Hong Kong in 1997, with a breakdown in table form by type of requests and the assistance rendered by the authorities;

    (b)in the case where a Hong Kong resident unfortunately dies outside Hong Kong, whether the SAR Government has any standing mechanism at present to help the family members make after-death arrangements for the deceased and transfer the body back to Hong Kong; if it has, of the details of the mechanism concerned; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c)whether the authorities had educated members of the public or publicized in the past three years how Hong Kong residents should seek assistance from the SAR Government when they are in distress outside Hong Kong; if so, of the measures concerned; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

*8. Hon Vincent FANG to ask: (Translation)

According to the Import and Export (Registration) Regulations (Cap. 60 sub. leg. E), importers and exporters are required to pay "declaration charges" according to statutory rates in respect of the articles they import and export, and if the articles exported are Hong Kong-manufactured clothing and footwear items specified in Schedule 1 to the Industrial Training (Clothing Industry) Ordinance (Cap. 318), exporters are required to pay an additional "clothing industry training levy" which will be used by the Clothing Industry Training Authority ("CITA") for training purposes. Moreover, the Government reached a new funding arrangement with the Hong Kong Trade Development Council ("HKTDC") in 2001, under which, the annual subvention to HKTDC from the year 2002-2003 would be based on 60% of the gross yield from the total "declaration charges" on imports, domestic exports and re-exports; but it has been learnt that the annual subvention allocated by the Government to HKTDC since the implementation of the new arrangement has all along been less than 60% of the gross yield from the total "declaration charges" received by the Government. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)in each of the past five years, of the total amounts of "declaration charges" and "clothing industry training levy" received by the Government and the changes in such amounts, the respective total subventions allocated to HKTDC and CITA from the yields from the two levies, and whether it knows the respective percentages of such subventions in the annual revenues and total expenditures of these two organizations (set out in table form); if such subventions were insufficient to fully cover the operation expenses, of the respective avenues through which these two organizations obtained funds to make up for the shortfall, and whether their development and work had been constrained as they needed to solve the problem of insufficient funds on their own;

    (b)why the Government does not fully allocate the gross yields from the two levies to these two organizations to fund their operations and developments, so as to assist Hong Kong's import and export enterprises in market expansion, promote its economy and trade, and nurture talents for its clothing industry;

    (c)of the uses of the balances of the gross yields from the two levies after deducting the subventions to these two organizations in the past five years; whether the Government has planned to use such balances for other activities which promote the development of trade and the clothing industry of Hong Kong; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (d)given that there is double levying on Hong Kong-manufactured clothing and footwear items which are subject to both "declaration charges" and "clothing industry training levy", whether the Government will consider abolishing either one of the levies; and

    (e)given that Hong Kong is a duty-free port and the yield from import and export "declaration charges" is not a major source of government revenue, whether the Government will review the rates of the two levies and the need to keep them; whether it will consider lowering the rates of or abolishing such two levies?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

*9. Hon Jeffrey LAM to ask: (Translation)

Since February 2009, the Probationary Driving Licence Scheme ("P Licence Scheme") has been extended from motor cycles and motor tricycles to private cars and light goods vehicles. Any person who applies to take and obtains a pass in a private car or light goods vehicle driving test is required to apply for a probationary driving licence ("P Licence") first and is subject to a number of additional driving restrictions. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)since February 2009, of the numbers of holders of P Licence for private cars and light goods vehicles prosecuted each year for not displaying a "P" plate on their vehicles, and speeding offences (which includes driving at a speed in excess of 70 kilometres per hour on roads with speed limit above 70 kilometres per hour), as well as driving on the offside lane of expressways where there are three or more traffic lanes;

    (b)of the changes in the numbers of traffic accidents which involved holders of P Licence for private cars and light goods vehicles each year since the Scheme was extended to these two types of vehicles in 2009, and how such numbers compared to the numbers of traffic accidents which involved persons who had obtained a driving licence for these two types of vehicles respectively for less than one year in 2007 and 2008; and

    (c)of the effectiveness of the P Licence Scheme for private cars, light goods vehicles and motor cycles since its implementation as assessed by the authorities; whether the authorities have planned to conduct a review; if they have, when they will conduct the review; whether they have planned to make any amendment to the Scheme; if they have, the direction of and the timetable for amendment?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

*10. Hon Audrey EU to ask: (Translation)

Recently, quite a number of members of the public have relayed to me that the rateable values of different types of buildings for the financial year 2011-2012 have increased substantially as compared with those for the previous year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the year-on-year increases in the rateable values of domestic premises, offices, retail premises and factory premises in each district for the past three years;

    (b)of the number of rateable tenements in each district which are subject to rates of an amount less than $6,000 for 2010-2011 but more than $6,000 for 2011-2012;

    (c)whether the authorities considered raising the maximum amount of rates to be waived in response to the increase in rateable values when setting the ceiling on the waiver of rates for 2011-2012;

    (d)of the total number of cases of requests for review of rateable values received by the authorities in the past three years, and the number of those which succeeded in obtaining a review; and

    (e)whether the authorities have looked into the main causes of the errors found in the original assessments in those cases which succeeded in obtaining a review?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

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

According to the information of the Travel Industry Council ("TIC"), there are nearly 19 200 accredited outbound tour escorts and nearly 6 200 accredited tourist guides in Hong Kong at present. Regarding the regulation of outbound tour escorts and tourist guides, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it knows, as at the first quarter of this year, if such batch of tour escorts and tourist guides included persons holding both the Tour Escort Pass and the Tourist Guide Pass at the same time; if so, of the number of such persons concerned;

    (b)whether it knows the number of tour escorts and tourist guides who were "disqualified" (i.e. their Tour Escort Passes or Tourist Guide Passes were revoked) in the past three years and the reasons for their disqualification, and the number of tour escorts and tourist guides who did not apply for or were not granted renewal of their passes, and the respective reasons concerned;

    (c)whether the authorities regularly review if the TIC-approved courses such as the Pre-service Tourist Guide Training Course, the Certificate Course for Outbound Tour Escorts and the Skills Upgrading Scheme Tour Guide Training Course, etc. offered by various training institutions can meet the requirements of TIC on such courses and under the respective accreditation systems for outbound tour escorts and tourist guides; if they do, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (d)whether the authorities will consider putting the existing Outbound Tour Escort Accreditation System and Tourist Guide Accreditation System within the purview of the Commissioner for Tourism ("the Commissioner") and designating the Commissioner to be responsible for regulating tour escorts and tourist guides; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

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

Regarding the air quality and air quality objectives ("AQOs") of Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)given that according to the 2010 Environmental Performance Report of the Environment Bureau and the Environmental Protection Department ("EPD"), the 2010 targets included: to "finalize the proposed new Air Quality Objectives and the long-term air quality management strategy" and "submit the final set of recommendations for consideration to the Legislative Council", of the reasons why EPD failed to achieve the aforesaid two targets within 2010;

    (b)given that some environmental groups consider that the statistics of Air Pollution Index ("API") of each month broken down by number of hours which are compiled by EPD cannot clearly indicate the situation of air pollution in Hong Kong, and they instead recommend compiling statistics on the number of days on which API exceeds the prescribed standards in each month for indicative purpose, or on whether the average daily API for that month has exceeded such standards, so as to enable the public to better understand the actual situation of air pollution, whether the Government will consider such recommendations; and based on the data recorded in the past three years and using such recommended methods of compilation, of the statistical outcome for each of the past three years;

    (c)given that an environmental group analyzed and compared the data collected from 11 general air monitoring stations in Hong Kong and found that the Sham Shui Po District has the worst air quality, whether the Government had conducted similar analyses and comparisons in the past five years; if it had, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; whether it had introduced any targeted measure to improve air quality in districts with poorer air quality, such as Sham Shui Po and Kwai Chung, etc.; if it had, of the details of the efforts made in various districts each year;

    (d)as it has been reported that the diesel particulate filters and diesel oxidation catalysts which were installed in vehicles with government subsidies using public money will increase primary nitrogen dioxide emissions from vehicles, whether it knows, when taking forward the subsidy scheme, that such devices would increase nitrogen dioxide emissions; if so, of the increase in the quantity of nitrogen dioxide and other air pollutants thus caused and the impact on public health, and whether it has made public such information;

    (e)given that in the 2010-2011 Policy Address, the Government indicated that it would collaborate with franchised bus companies to conduct a trial on retrofitting Euro II and Euro III buses with catalytic reduction devices, and subject to satisfactory trial results, the Government would fully fund the retrofit of the devices on Euro II and Euro III buses on a full scale, of the amount of fund required, the timetable and other details (e.g. the origin and service life, etc. of the catalytic reduction devices) for retrofitting the devices on a full scale; whether it knows if the catalytic reduction devices will increase the emissions of other air pollutants; if it knows, of the details, and the Government's counter measures if the emissions of other air pollutants will be increased; and

    (f)given that in reply to a question of a Member of this Council on 16 March this year, the Secretary for the Environment indicated that "the Government needs to analyze in detail the different views collected and assess their impacts on the relevant policy issues in order to fully consider and coordinate the implementation of the recommended measures", and in reply to a question of a Member at the Question and Answer Session of this Council on 19 May 2011, the Chief Executive indicated that announcement on AQOs will be made within this year, of the current progress of the efforts with respect to opinion analysis, impact assessment and consultation with different stakeholders, etc.?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment

*13. Hon Albert CHAN to ask: (Translation)

I have recently received complaints from quite a number of members of the public that when the electrical appliances they bought from retail shops were delivered to their homes for installation by the relevant agents or manufacturers, they found that the goods delivered to them did not meet the descriptions, were very old and of poor quality, and when such electrical appliances broke down and they asked the agents or manufacturers for replacement, their requests were stalled or even refused, causing them to suffer losses. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
    (a)the number of complaints, broken down by reason of dissatisfaction, received by the Consumer Council ("CC") concerning dissatisfaction over electrical appliances supplied by agents or manufacturers in each of the past three years and the names of the agents or manufacturers involved; among them, the name of the agent or manufacturer involved in the highest number of cases;

    (b)among the complaint cases in (a), the number of cases which had been successfully handled; among them, the number of cases in which the agents or manufacturers of electrical appliances were willing to replace the goods; and

    (c)regarding the cases which could not be successfully handled, whether CC has any measure to assist those members of the public whose interests have been undermined; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

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

The Airport Authority Hong Kong ("AA") has launched a public consultation on the Hong Kong International Airport Master Plan 2030, which covers the feasibility of constructing the third runway. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the authorities' preliminary analysis and conclusion of the construction of the third runway proposed by AA; the expected timetable from conducting overall consultation to deciding on the construction, obtaining the funding, carrying out Environmental Impact Assessment studies and finally commencing the works and commissioning of the runway; as well as the authorities' initial proposed financial arrangements for the construction of the third runway;

    (b)given that there are divergent views in the community on the construction of the third runway (which include the views that there is an urgent need to construct the third runway to address the situation of the existing airport reaching saturation before 2020 and to enhance its competitiveness to meet the challenges posed by the expanding airports in the neighbourhood; in terms of of technology and routing, etc., there are however doubts about the actual value of the third runway; or there are views that the construction of the new runway will not only bring serious aircraft noise nuisance but will also necessitate reclamation of more than 100 hectares of land, which will seriously upset the marine ecosystem; as well as the view that the completion of the Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link ("XRL") and the Hong Kong-Shenzhen airports rail link will lessen the demand for flights, etc.), how the authorities ensure that AA will adequately expound the various views during public consultation so that the public would understand the views; how AA encompasses the diverse views raised during the consultation process and proposes mitigation measures to reduce the adverse effects of the projects, thereby making a final decision in a fair and just manner after taking into consideration the different views; and

    (c)given the earlier controversy over the construction of XRL and the challenge of the recent judicial review in relation to the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, how the authorities step up its communication and consultation on the construction of the third runway with the stakeholders who are directly affected; and avoid possible legal challenges which may arise from errors, slippages and faults in the statutory procedures?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

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

Regarding the railway service and incidents of the MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL"), will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it knows the respective average daily patronage, average peak hour patronage and occupancy rate, as well as average off-peak patronage and occupancy rate on the various railway alignments in each year since 2005, with a breakdown by year;

    (b)whether it knows the respective numbers of incidents of service being delayed for more than eight minutes, 30 minutes and one hour on various railway alignments since 2010, as well as the numbers of passengers affected, with a breakdown by cause of the incidents of delay in service for over eight minutes to 30 minutes, over 30 minutes to one hour, and over one hour respectively, set out in a table;

    (c)whether it knows the details of the incidents in (a) (set out in the table below);

    Date of incidentTime of
    incident    		Line affectedCause of
    incident and
    investigation
    findings    		Remedial
    actions and
    improvement
    measures taken     		Duration of
    service delay
    (minute)







    (d)whether the authorities had examined in the past three years the establishment of a penalty and compensation mechanism in respect of railway incidents, e.g. stopping payment of bonuses to the Chief Executive Officer and relevant staff at managerial level of MTRCL, as well as providing compensation to the passengers affected by the incidents; if yes, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (e)given that in reply to the question of a Member of this Council on 2 June 2010, the Secretary for Transport and Housing stated that "[s]ince the rail merger, the MTRCL has invested $4 billion each year in the maintenance, repair and renewal of its railway assets in order to maintain high quality railway services and enhance service performance", whether it knows, in each year since 2005:

    (i)details of MTRCL's work in areas such as maintenance of service quality, enhancement of service performance, as well as maintenance, repair and renewal of its railway assets, and the respective percentages of the expenditure incurred in the aforesaid expenditure of $4 billion, with a breakdown by year; and

    (ii)the respective allocation of resources such as manpower and time by MTRCL for the aforesaid jobs, with a breakdown by year?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

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

The media uncovered earlier that a number of large supermarket chains mixed pork into beef for sale as beef; as the price of beef is higher, supermarkets can reap huge profits, but the commodities do not meet their descriptions and they have neglected public health and food quality. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)in the past five years, whether the Government had carried out sample tests on minced beef sold at supermarkets or chain stores to ascertain whether there was adulteration of pork; if it had, of the number of cases identified and which supermarkets or chain stores were involved; if not, whether it became aware of the situation only after it was uncovered by the media;

    (b)whether, under the existing legislation, the adulteration of pork in beef for sale as beef is in breach of any legislation; if so, of the legislation breached and the relevant penalty; and after the media uncovered the aforesaid cases, whether the Government has immediately taken law enforcement actions; if it has, of the details, including the actions taken, at which and how many supermarket chains it has conducted spot checks, and of the results; if not, whether the relevant government departments have assessed the seriousness of the problem;

    (c)whether it knows if, in general, the health of members of the public will be affected after they have consumed beef adulterated with pork; and

    (d)of the government departments to which members of the public may lodge complaints if they find that there is again adulteration of pork or other meat in minced beef sold by supermarkets or chain stores; upon receipt of the complaints, whether the Government will immediately send staff to collect evidence on the spot?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

*17. Hon Abraham SHEK to ask:

It has been reported that the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited ("HKEx") is now discussing the details on the introduction of business trust listing in Hong Kong, for which, under the current proposal, requires the trustee-manager to hold a controlling stake of not less than 50% of the total trust units; meanwhile, Hutchison Whampoa Limited announced in March this year that it will spin off its port business to a separate business trust listed in Singapore. Regarding the competitiveness of the Hong Kong stock exchange market on trust listings, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)given that real estate investment trust is the only kind of trusts allowed to be listed in Hong Kong at present, whether the Government has considered allowing the listing of other trusts, including but not limited to business trusts, by the end of this year; if it has, of the criteria and factors to be considered in establishing the listing mechanism for business trusts;

    (b)whether it had conducted any consultation with the stakeholders in the past three years on establishing business trust listing; if it had, of the details of such consultation; whether a consensus view of the stakeholders in support of the proposed listing arrangements had been formulated, and if so, of the details of such proposal;

    (c)given that in Singapore, it only requires the possession of 25% of trust units to control the respective business trusts, of the factors it has considered for proposing the threshold of not less than 50% of the total trust units for business trusts listed in Hong Kong, and whether such proposed arrangement is in line with any overseas practices; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (d)given that a business trust does not have a separate legal identity and is only controlled by a trustee-manager, whether it has considered the feasibility of introducing any external regulation to regulate business trusts especially with regard to the requirements for enhancing information transparency and corporate governance of the trusts; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (e)as it has been reported that PCCW Limited has proposed a separate listing for its telecommunication operations in the form of a business trust, whether it has acknowledged and evaluated if the progress of establishing the listing mechanism for business trusts can timely meet the aforesaid Initial Public Offering listing proposal of PCCW Limited for such business trust; if not, of the measures it has considered in expediting the introduction of business trust listing in Hong Kong; and

    (f)whether it has considered putting in place any institutional arrangement to monitor the risks of operating business trusts and the sale of any related financial product to the public; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

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

As the harbourfront areas on both sides of the Victoria Harbour are important public assets, members of the community are very concerned about the planning, development, design and management of such areas. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)regarding the development of a complete and connected promenade running along the northern shore of Hong Kong Island from Sai Wan in Central and Western District directly to the vicinity of Siu Sai Wan in Eastern District, whether the Government has set the timetables for the development of such project as well as the various phases under this project;

    (b)of the respective detailed numbers of private properties or land sites and government properties or land sites which may affect the completeness and connectivity of the promenade on the northern shore of Hong Kong Island; the respective solutions the Government has in this regard; and whether it has set the timetable for relocating such government properties to other districts; and

    (c)whether the Government will adopt the public-private-partnership approach to design, build and operate the New Central Harbourfront and even the harbourfront development project on the northern shore of Hong Kong Island as a whole; if it will, of the details concerned?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

*19. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)

Recently, it has been reported that as female toilets in public places have all along been criticized for their persistent long queues, the authorities intend to amend the Buildings Ordinance (Cap. 123) ("BO") to make it mandatory for developers to increase the male-to-female ("M/F") toilet compartment ratio from 1:1.25 to 1:1.5. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of complaints received in the past three years about insufficient female toilet compartments in shopping arcades, cinemas and other places of public entertainment, etc.;

    (b)when they will introduce a bill to the Legislative Council to amend BO by fixing the M/F toilet compartment ratio at 1:1.5, and of the justifications that the problem of insufficient female toilet compartments can be solved by adopting this ratio; and

    (c)whether they will, when amending the BO, draw on overseas experience to provide unisex toilets; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

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

Some representatives of the elderly care homes industry have pointed out that the operation of private residential care homes for the elderly ("private RCHEs") faces various difficulties, and the support provided by the Government is not sufficient. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
    (a)given that private RCHEs may have to pay higher labour cost in hiring employees upon the implementation of the statutory minimum wage legislation, and that the soaring rentals and food prices at present further increase the operating costs of private RCHEs, whether the authorities have received requests for assistance from private RCHEs which encountered difficulties in their operation under such circumstances; of the details about the initiatives taken by the authorities to understand the operating difficulties of private RCHEs; whether the authorities have any proactive measure to help private RCHEs ride out the difficulties; and how the authorities assist the affected elders when private RCHEs cannot continue to operate and have to close down;

    (b)of the number of elderly Comprehensive Social Security Assistance ("CSSA") recipients who are at present residing in private RCHEs, with a breakdown of the respective numbers by district, as well as the respective percentages of these figures in the total number of residents of the care homes concerned; and

    (c)as the Subcommittee on Elderly Services of this Council has pointed out that most elderly people who reside in private RCHEs receive CSSA, and that private RCHEs charge a monthly fee for the places equivalent to the CSSA payment level, which is far below the monthly subsidy for subvented places, and therefore they are not able to meet the service standards of subvented homes, whether the authorities know the amount of shortfall for which private RCHEs have to make up in their operating expenses for these places in order to meet the service standards of subvented homes required by the Social welfare Department; whether the authorities have received requests for assistance from private RCHEs, indicating that they have encountered operating difficulties in this regard; if so, how the authorities will provide assistance; and whether they have received any complaint about elderly CSSA recipients encountering difficulties in applying for places in private RCHEs?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

* For written reply

III. Bills

First Reading

Legislative Council (Amendment) Bill 2011

Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)

Legislative Council (Amendment) Bill 2011:Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs

Second Reading (Debate to resume), Committee Stage and Third Reading

Inland Revenue (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2011:Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury to move
Committee stage amendments
(The amendments were issued on 31 May 2011
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 805/10-11)

IV. Motions
  1. Proposed resolution under Article 73(7) of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China and section 7A of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal Ordinance

    The Chief Secretary for Administration to move the following motion:

    Resolved that the appointment of -

    (a) the Right Honourable The Lord Collins of Mapesbury; and

    (b) the Right Honourable The Lord Clarke of Stone-cum-Ebony,

    as judges of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal from other common law jurisdictions pursuant to section 9 of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal Ordinance (Cap. 484) be endorsed.

  2. Proposed resolution under Article 73(7) of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China

    The Chief Secretary for Administration to move the following motion:

    Resolved that the appointment of the Honourable Mr. Justice Andrew Cheung Kui-nung as the Chief Judge of the High Court of Hong Kong be endorsed.
V. Members' Motions
  1. Proposed resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance

    Hon James TO to move the following motion:

    Resolved that in relation to the Professional Accountants (Amendment) Bylaw 2011, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 70 of 2011, and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 18 May 2011, the period for amending subsidiary legislation referred to in section 34(2) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1) be extended under section 34(4) of that Ordinance to the meeting of 6 July 2011.

  2. Motion under Rule 49E(2) of the Rules of Procedure

    Hon Miriam LAU to move the following motion:

    That this Council takes note of Report No. 24/10-11 of the House Committee laid on the Table of the Council of 8 June 2011 in relation to the subsidiary legislation and instrument(s) as listed below :

    Item NumberTitle of Subsidiary Legislation or Instrument
    (1)Tramway Ordinance (Alteration of Fares) (Amendment) Notice 2011 (L.N. 63/2011).

    Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Transport and Housing

  3. Setting out a five-year plan for elderly services

    Hon TAM Yiu-chung to move the following motion: (Translation)

    That, given that the trend of the ageing of the society in Hong Kong is accelerating, this Council urges the Government to plan in full speed and formulate as early as possible a more comprehensive elderly policy, and also set out a five-year plan for elderly services, so as to set specific development objectives and pledges for elderly services every five years, with a view to rectifying the serious problems of imbalance between supply of and demand for services, a large number of persons waiting for services and prolonged waiting time, as well as strengthening the care for the needs of elderly persons' living, and vigorously improving people's livelihood; the relevant measures should include:

    (a)to establish a five-year plan and service pledges in respect of residential care services for the elderly and community care for the elderly, and strive to increase the number of residential care places for the elderly and community care places for the elderly; to review the Standardized Care Need Assessment Mechanism for Elderly Services; to provide elderly services subsidies for elderly persons by making reference to the mode of the existing education voucher scheme; and to enhance complementary measures for the elderly policy of 'ageing in place';

    (b)to abolish the absence limit in respect of application for Old Age Allowance ('OAA') to enable elderly persons to spend their twilight years on the Mainland without worries, and allow elderly recipients of Disability Allowance to also receive OAA, so as to improve their living;

    (c)to intensify the policy of portable elderly welfare benefits; to provide allowances to elderly persons who return to their hometowns to live, enabling those elderly persons who choose to spend their twilight years in their hometowns to receive a monthly living supplement; to proactively study in conjunction with the relevant Mainland departments the introduction of medical insurance schemes for Hong Kong elderly persons living on the Mainland, and consider collaborating with the Mainland to run hospitals or provide out-patient services, so as to serve the Hong Kong people living on the Mainland;

    (d)to propose the introduction of an entirely new 'elderly maintenance grant scheme' in addition to OAA and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance ('CSSA') Scheme, so as to provide financial assistance to elderly persons who are not eligible for applying CSSA to help them improve their living;

    (e)to increase the amount of Elderly Healthcare Vouchers to $1,000, lower the age requirement to 65, streamline administrative arrangements, and encourage the participation of more doctors; and to relax the elderly drug subsidization policy;

    (f)to expedite resource allocation from the Community Care Fund for providing tooth filling and restoration allowances to the elderly, and strengthen elderly dental care services, including the establishment of dental clinics in the 18 districts, introduction of elderly dental care services and opening public dental clinics for elderly persons' use, etc.;

    (g)to expedite the establishment of public Chinese medicine clinics in the 18 districts, and establish additional elderly health centres and increase their membership;

    (h)to devote resources to strengthen occupational training related to the elderly care service industries, so as to increase manpower for elderly services and care and enhance practitioners' professional knowledge and quality;

    (i)to formulate a comprehensive and long-term elderly housing policy, examine afresh the current land planning for earmarking sites for elderly housing purposes, proactively study the introduction of the 'mixed use development' concept in private and public housing, and design a residence model which integrates elderly housing and complementary facilities;

    (j)to expedite the implementation of a 'mortgage scheme for the elderly' (i.e. 'reverse mortgage'), so as to assist elderly persons with private properties in enhancing their finances and improving living environment and lives in twilight years, and launch a scheme on 'making use of residential properties to provide for the twilight years of the elderly' for elderly property owners who have no means of living and do not have any children;

    (k)to implement the elderly-friendly policy in all public places, effectively enforce the requirements of barrier-free facilities, and provide various types of facilities for elderly persons to facilitate their entry and exit; and

    (l)to motivate various transport operators to offer comprehensive and permanent fare concessions to elderly persons; to enrich elderly persons' retirement life by introducing 'recreation and sports vouchers for the elderly' and waiving admission fees for elderly persons in all exhibition halls under the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, and set up an 'elderly employment fund', so as to assist healthy elderly persons in sustaining their employment and giving full play to their abilities.

    Amendments to the motion
    (i)Hon WONG Sing-chi to move the following amendment: (Translation)

    To delete "given that" after "That," and substitute with "at present,"; to delete "and" after "exit;"; and to add "; and (m) to ensure that the elderly will be able to maintain a reasonable standard of living, and establish a universal retirement protection system" immediately before the full stop.

    (ii)Hon CHEUNG Kwok-che to move the following amendment: (Translation)

    To add "according to the information of the Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong's population is expected to increase from 6.8 million in mid-2003 to 8.38 million in mid-2033, with one elderly person aged 65 or above in every four persons by that time;" after "That,"; to add "conduct a review every five years thereafter, and allow the relevant stakeholders to participate in the planning and review process," after "for elderly services,"; to delete "every five years" after "pledges for elderly services"; to delete ", and strive to increase" after "care for the elderly" and substitute with "by first addressing issues relating to the relevant services received by all waiting applicants and then increasing, according to the ratio of elderly population growth,"; to delete "provide elderly services subsidies for elderly persons by making reference to the mode of the existing education voucher scheme" after "Elderly Services; to" and substitute with "review the financing system for long-term elderly care services"; to add "(d) to formulate an elderly retirement protection scheme, so that the elderly can live their lives with greater dignity;" after "living on the Mainland;"; to delete the original "(d)" and substitute with "(e) before formulating an elderly retirement protection scheme,"; to delete the original "(e)" and substitute with "(f)"; to delete the original "(f)" and substitute with "(g)"; to delete "expedite resource allocation" before "from the Community Care" and substitute with "immediately review the existing experimental Pilot Project on Outreach Primary Dental Care Services for the Elderly in Residential Care Homes and Day Care Centres, and extend the scheme to all elderly persons in Hong Kong who are in need of the relevant services; before implementing the services on a territory-wide basis, to allocate resources"; to delete the original "(g)" and substitute with "(h)"; to delete "increase" after "health centres and" and substitute with "fully open"; to add ", so as to benefit all elderly persons in Hong Kong" after "membership"; to delete the original "(h)" and substitute with "(i)"; to add "and link it with the Qualifications Framework," after "industries,"; to delete the original "(i)" and substitute with "(j)"; to add "and at the same time, to enhance the Elderly Persons Priority Scheme and Harmonious Families Priority Scheme, which are currently implemented by the Hong Kong Housing Authority, and relax their restrictions, so as to encourage more children to live with their elderly parents;" after "and complementary facilities;"; to delete the original "(j)" and substitute with "(k)"; to add "having an additional option for" after "properties in"; to delete the original "(k)" and substitute with "(l)"; to delete "and" after "exit;"; to delete the original "(l)" and substitute with "(m)"; and to delete ", and set up an 'elderly employment fund', so as to assist healthy elderly persons in sustaining their employment and giving full play to their abilities" immediately before the full stop and substitute with "; and (n) with a view to giving the elderly a sense of worthiness, the Government should comprehensively review the elderly employment policy, including the promotion of flexible retirement age, and the Government may also take the lead in reviewing the retirement age of civil servants and encouraging enterprises to extend the years of services for their employees or even to adopt flexible retirement schemes, such as employing them on a half-time or contract basis after their formal retirement".

    (iii)Hon Vincent FANG to move the following amendment: (Translation)

    To add "as projected by the Census and Statistics Department, the proportion of people aged 65 and above will significantly increase from 13% last year to 28% in 2039;" after "That,"; to add "and long-term" after "more comprehensive"; to add "introduce elderly care vouchers and" after "Elderly Services; to"; to add "who are waiting for residential care places" after "subsidies for elderly persons"; to add ", so as to enable them to freely choose and purchase suitable elderly services until they are formally admitted to a residential care home" after "education voucher scheme"; to delete "and" after "exit;"; and to add "; (m) with a view to alleviating the pressure of middle-class children in supporting their parents and encouraging them to support their parents, to increase the various allowances for maintaining dependent parents or grandparents; (n) to relax the restriction for those who live with the dependent parents or grandparents to claim the Dependent Parent/Grandparent Allowance, so as to encourage the young generation to closely take care of their elderly parents and promote family harmony; and (o) with a view to encouraging the employment of local home care workers, to provide a tax allowance for home care for children who employ local home care workers trained by recognized institutions to take care of their elderly parents at home, so as to encourage ageing in place and also boost local employment" immediately before the full stop.

    (iv)Hon Alan LEONG to move the following amendment: (Translation)

    To delete "given that" after "That," and substitute with "in order to cope with the phenomenon that"; to add "and poverty" after "of the ageing"; to add "and their retirement protection" after "elderly persons' living"; to add "(c) to abolish the requirement that family members of elderly persons should submit a declaration on their financial conditions (commonly known as a 'statement on non-provision of financial support' or 'bad son statement') before elderly persons can become eligible for applying for Comprehensive Social Security Assistance on their own, so that elderly persons can spend their twilight years in contentment;" after "improve their living;"; to delete the original "(c)" and substitute with "(d)"; to delete "(d) to propose the introduction of an entirely new 'elderly maintenance grant scheme' in addition to OAA and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance ('CSSA') Scheme, so as to provide financial assistance to elderly persons who are not eligible for applying CSSA to help them improve their living" after "on the Mainland;" and substitute with "(e) to implement a universal retirement protection scheme to alleviate the basic livelihood problems faced by the elderly, the working poor and unpaid homemakers in their retirement lives, and when the labour force in the society is still sufficient at present, to enable the three sides of employees, employers and the Government to implement community savings plans, so as to properly prepare for the crisis arising from the peak of population ageing in the future"; to delete the original "(e)" and substitute with "(f)"; to delete the original "(f)" and substitute with "(g)"; to delete ", and" after "allowances to the elderly" and substitute with "and for introducing elderly dental care vouchers, and comprehensively"; to delete the original "(g)" and substitute with "(h)"; to delete "and" after "18 districts," and substitute with "extensively"; to add ", and set the objective of reducing the waiting time to less than two months" after "membership"; to delete the original "(h)" and substitute with "(i)"; to delete the original "(i)" and substitute with "(j)"; to delete "and" after "public housing,"; to add ", increase elderly persons' living area to provide them with sufficient space for placing rehabilitation appliances, and increase the number of places under the Harmonious Families Priority Scheme, so that more elderly persons can live with their family members" after "complementary facilities"; to delete the original "(j)" and substitute with "(k)"; to delete the original "(k)" and substitute with "(l)"; and to delete the original "(l)" and substitute with "(m)".

    (v)Dr Hon PAN Pey-chyou to move the following amendment: (Translation)

    To add "the demand for elderly services from the society has continued to increase, and" after "That, given that"; to add "(a) focusing on the varying quality of private residential care homes for the elderly at present, to take the operating conditions of the sector seriously, and study providing the market with venues which are suitable for operating private residential care homes for the elderly by perfecting the land planning and housing policy; at the same time, to ensure that purchase prices are able to meet the costs of providing quality services; and to promote the voluntary accreditation system for private residential care homes for the elderly, so as to encourage the sector to upgrade its quality; (b) focusing on the continuous increase in the number of dementia patients in the society and the impact on the healthcare, social welfare, law, public order and ethics, etc., to take the gravity of the problem seriously and formulate corresponding proposals, so as to protect dementia patients and their family members; (c) to encourage local radio stations to provide dedicated channels for the elderly, and also to encourage television stations to produce more elderly programmes, so as to provide senior citizens with more free audio-visual entertainment; (d) through publicity and education, to proactively advocate the spirit of respecting, loving and caring for the elderly;" after "include:"; to delete the original "(a)" and substitute with "(e)"; to delete the original "(b)" and substitute with "(f)"; to delete the original "(c)" and substitute with "(g)"; to add "; on the other hand, focusing on the incessant return of Hong Kong elderly persons from the Mainland to Hong Kong in recent years, to formulate a more comprehensive strategy so as to assist such poor and helpless elderly persons in settling down in Hong Kong again and living their twilight years without worries" after "on the Mainland"; to delete the original "(d)" and substitute with "(h)"; to delete the original "(e)" and substitute with "(i)"; to delete the original "(f)" and substitute with "(j)"; to delete the original "(g)" and substitute with "(k)"; to delete the original "(h)" and substitute with "(l)"; to delete the original "(i)" and substitute with "(m)"; to delete the original "(j)" and substitute with "(n)"; to delete the original "(k)" and substitute with "(o)"; to delete the original "(l)" and substitute with "(p)"; and to add "waiver" after "fare".

    Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

  4. The inability of the Government's measures to help people acquire their homes

    Hon James TO to move the following motion: (Translation)

    That, regarding people's problem of acquiring homes, the public and this Council have long since forged the consensus that the Government should resume the construction of Home Ownership Scheme flats and reinstate the Tenants Purchase Scheme, and the relevant motions were passed by this Council, but the Government has turned a deaf ear and disregarded public opinion; after the series of measures launched by the Government, including allocating lands for constructing 'flats with limited floor area', introducing My Home Purchase Plan and the special stamp duty for combating property speculation, as well as putting up more land lots for sale by auction, property prices in Hong Kong have continued to rise, reflecting that these government measures are unable to help people acquire their homes; in this connection, this Council expresses grave dismay at Chief Executive Donald TSANG Yam-kuen, and urges the Chief Executive to make serious reflection and respect public opinion.

    Amendments to the motion
    (i)Hon CHAN Kam-lam to move the following amendment: (Translation)

    To delete "regarding people's problem of" after "That," and substitute with "focusing on the problems of property price increases and people's difficulties in"; to delete ", and the relevant motions were passed by this Council, but the Government has turned a deaf ear and disregarded public opinion;" after "Tenants Purchase Scheme" and substitute with "; yet,"; to add "recently" after "by the Government"; to add ", etc." after "sale by auction"; to delete "in Hong Kong" after ", property prices"; to delete "these government" after "reflecting that" and substitute with "the relevant"; to add "curb property price increases and" after "unable to"; and to delete "expresses grave dismay at Chief Executive Donald TSANG Yam-kuen, and urges the Chief Executive to make serious reflection and respect public opinion" after "connection, this Council" and substitute with "urges the SAR Government to act appropriately having regard to the circumstances, and proactively respond to public aspirations by formulating a land and housing supply strategy to restore the healthy development of the real estate market, including resuming the construction of Home Ownership Scheme flats, reinstating the Tenants Purchase Scheme and enhancing My Home Purchase Plan, as well as building additional public rental housing flats, and rolling out middle-class public rental housing scheme and youth rental housing scheme to assist people in saving money for acquiring their homes".

    Amendment to Hon CHAN Kam-lam's amendment
    Hon Fred LI to move the following amendment:     (Translation)

    To delete "by formulating" after "public aspirations" and substitute with"; and regarding the Government's repeated failure to proactively respond to the consensus of the public and this Council, this Council expresses grave dismay and calls upon Hong Kong people to make continuous efforts in expressing their strong aspirations to Chief Executive Donald TSANG Yam-kuen to strive for the formulation of"; and to add "to provide Hong Kong people with opportunities for acquiring affordable homes" after "enhancing My Home Purchase Plan".

    (ii)Hon WONG Kwok-hing to move the following amendment: (Translation)

    To delete "Government has turned a deaf ear and disregarded public opinion" after "this Council, but the" and substitute with "Government's various corresponding strategies and their intensity have failed to achieve any result, causing growing public discontent"; to add "to levels comparable to those in 1997" after "continued to rise"; to delete "these" after "reflecting that" and substitute with "the aforesaid"; to delete "help people acquire" after "unable to" and substitute with "resolve people's difficulties in acquiring"; and to delete "expresses grave dismay at Chief Executive Donald TSANG Yam-kuen, and urges the Chief Executive to make serious reflection and respect public opinion" after "connection, this Council" and substitute with "urges Chief Executive Donald TSANG Yam-kuen to respect the consensus of the Legislative Council and the community to formulate appropriate measures to assist local people in acquiring their homes and draw up timetables for their implementation, including expeditiously resuming the construction of an appropriate quantity of Home Ownership Scheme flats annually and reinstating the Tenants Purchase Scheme, enhancing My Home Purchase Plan, introduce more housing and home acquisition measures to assist the sandwich class, striving to further increase the supply of potential sites and disposed sites for constructing residential buildings, and expeditiously formulating a long-term housing policy for Hong Kong, with a view to enabling Hong Kong people to live and work in contentment".

    Amendment to Hon WONG Kwok-hing's amendment
    Hon LEE Wing-tat to move the following amendment:     (Translation)

    To delete "by formulating" after "the community" and substitute with"; and regarding the Government's repeated failure to respect the consensus of the the Legislative Council and the community, this Council expresses grave dismay and calls upon Hong Kong people to make continuous efforts in expressing their strong aspirations to the Chief Executive to strive for the formulation of".

    (iii)Hon Cyd HO to move the following amendment: (Translation)

    To add "at the same time, the Administration has all along refused to build more public rental housing flats to alleviate people's demand for private residential flats;" after "acquire their homes;".

    Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Transport and Housing
Clerk to the Legislative Council