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A 11/12-16
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 1 February 2012 at 11:00 am
I. Tabling of Papers
| Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments | L.N. No. |
|---|
| 1. | Schedule of Routes (Citybus Limited) Order 2012 | 4/2012
| | 2. | Schedule of Routes (Citybus Limited) (North Lantau and Chek Lap Kok Airport) Order 2012 | 5/2012
| | 3. | Schedule of Routes (Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited) Order 2012 | 6/2012
| | 4. | Schedule of Routes (Long Win Bus Company Limited) Order 2012 | 7/2012
| | 5. | Schedule of Routes (New Lantao Bus Company (1973) Limited) Order 2012 | 8/2012
| | 6. | Schedule of Routes (New World First Bus Services Limited) Order 2012 | 9/2012
| | 7. | Public Health and Municipal Services (Designation of Public Swimming Pool) Order 2012 | 10/2012
| | 8. | Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Amendment of Fourteenth Schedule) Order 2012 | 11/2012
| | 9. | Public Health and Municipal Services (Setting Aside Places for Use as Public Pleasure Grounds) Order 2012 | 12/2012
| | 10. | Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Amendment of Fourth Schedule) Order 2012 | 13/2012
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Other Papers
| 1. | No. 61 | - | Legal Aid Services Council Annual Report 2010-2011 |
(to be presented by the Secretary for Home Affairs)
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| 2. | No. 62 | - | Estimates
for the year ending 31 March 2013
Volume I - General Revenue Account (Page 1 to 524)
Volume I - General Revenue Account (Page 525 to 964) |
(to be presented by the Financial Secretary)
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| 3. | No. 63 | - | Estimates
for the year ending 31 March 2013
Volume II - Fund Accounts |
(to be presented by the Financial Secretary)
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| 4. | Report No. 10/11-12 of the House Committee on Consideration of Subsidiary Legislation and Other Instruments |
| (to be presented by Hon Miriam LAU, Chairman of the House Committee) |
II. Questions for Written Replies
1. Hon LEUNG Yiu-chung to ask: (Translation)
I have received complaints from a member of the public pointing out that a foreign object, which was suspected to be an insect wing, was found in a new born baby diaper of a baby diaper brand which is very popular among parents in Hong Kong. The member of the public had reflected the situation to various government departments (including the Department of Health and the Customs and Excise Department), hoping that the authorities would take follow-up actions, but such departments only asked him to approach the Consumer Council to lodge a complaint through the channels for lodging complaints on commercial products in general. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether the relevant government departments at present proactively monitor and inspect the quality and safety of infant products, rather than handling complaints in accordance with the arrangement for dealing with complaints on products in general after receiving the complaints; if they have, of a breakdown of the details by government department; if not, the reasons for that; and
| | (b) | whether the authorities will enhance inspection and safety assessment of infant products, so as to safeguard the health of infants?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
2. Hon Miriam LAU to ask: (Translation)
The authorities have indicated that the Government supports the development of a vibrant international school sector in addressing the demand for international school places of overseas families living in Hong Kong and families coming to Hong Kong for work or investment. It has been learnt that quite a number of foreign chambers of commerce have recently warned that international school places in Hong Kong are in severe shortage, and they have even pointed out that the situation has already reached crisis level, threatening Hong Kong's status as a world-class city. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it knows the respective numbers of students on the waiting list for admission to various international schools in Hong Kong in the past five years and the longest waiting time; among those on the waiting list, of the ratio between local and non-local students;
| | (b) | whether the authorities have received complaints about the severe shortage of international school places from the chambers of commerce concerned; if they have, whether they have assessed if the shortage of such school places has reached crisis level; if the assessment result is in the affirmative, of the policy to alleviate the situation; if the assessment result is in the negative, whether they will follow up the relevant complaints; and
| | (c) | given that it has been reported that the authorities intend to adopt a new policy that requires those international schools which are newly allocated vacant school premises or sites for development to reduce the maximum percentage of their intake of local students from 50% to 30%, so that the additional international school places to be provided in the coming few years can meet the ever-increasing demand for such school places from non-local students, of the specific details of such policy and its impact on alleviating the demand of non-local students; whether this policy will be extended to existing international schools?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education
3. Ir Dr Hon Raymond HO to ask: (Translation)
There are many restaurants at the tourist attractions (e.g. Lei Yue Mun and Cheung Chau, etc.) which are famous for seafood in Hong Kong, and foul odour can be smelled from time to time at the seashore near these restaurants. Such a situation has persisted for many years and it is not hard to notice the situation, but the authorities still have not properly tackled the problem. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether the reason for not properly tackling the aforesaid problem over the past years by the authorities is that tourists' interest in the aforesaid attractions has not dropped, and that the authorities are pleased with the present situation; if not, whether the authorities are not fully aware of the problem;
| | (b) | whether the authorities know the source of the odour; if so, whether they have adopted any corresponding improvement measure; if they have, of the details and effectiveness of the measure; and
| | (c) | whether the authorities have any specific plan to improve the environmental hygiene of the tourist attractions which offer culinary delights as a selling point, so as to avoid tourists having a negative impression on Hong Kong's environmental hygiene and to reinforce the image of Hong Kong as a culinary paradise?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment
4. Hon IP Wai-ming to ask: (Translation)
In recent years, quite a number of accidents occurred inside the compartments of public buses. Recently, a passenger even died from falling down the stairs from the upper deck to the lower deck of a bus. Some passengers who had sustained injuries from falling down bus stairs sought my assistance, pointing out that they had difficulty in claiming compensation from the bus companies involved after the accidents. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it knows the numbers of accidents occurred inside the compartments of buses of various franchised bus companies ("on-board accidents") in the past five years; among them, the numbers of those accidents involving bus passengers who tripped and fell while ascending or descending bus stairs; the casualties and the types of design of the bus stairs involved in such accidents;
| | (b) | whether it knows the number of injured passengers in the on-board accidents in (a) who have claimed compensation from the franchised bus companies involved, and among them, the number of those who have received compensation and the total amount of compensation;
| | (c) | given that some injured passengers have relayed to me that, at present, when injured passengers claim compensation from the franchised bus companies, the burden of proof very often falls on them, and they have to prove that the bus companies concerned should be held responsible for negligence in the accident cases, but such arrangement very often impedes them from striving for reasonable compensation from the bus companies, whether the authorities have put in place any measure to assist injured passengers in claiming compensation from the bus companies or whether there is any government department to provide assistance to them in this regard; whether the authorities will request the franchised bus companies to cooperate by handing over to the injured passengers the records and data of the bus journeys during which the accidents occurred to facilitate the passengers to provide evidence; and
| | (d) | how the authorities will instruct the various franchised bus companies to prevent on-board accidents; whether it knows the efforts made by the bus companies in the past five years to improve the safety of bus compartments and bus stairs and to reduce on-board accidents, as well as the amount of money involved and the effectiveness of such efforts?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing
5. Hon LEUNG Kwok-hung to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the incident of Kai Fung No. 2 being intercepted by the Marine Department of Hong Kong ("the Department") while departing from Hong Kong waters on 3 January this year, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | given that according to the letter issued by the Department to the owner of Kai Fung No. 2 as well as some press reports, the Department indicated that it had learned from press reports that Kai Fung No. 2 was heading towards Diaoyu Islands to proclaim territorial rights, and on the ground of the safety of its crews, it refused permission for Kai Fung No. 2 to leave Hong Kong waters, whether it has assessed if it is reasonable for the Department to take enforcement actions solely on the basis of press reports; if the assessment result is in the affirmative, of the justifications for that;
| | (b) | given that the captain of Kai Fung No. 2 needs to go fishing in the sea to earn his living, but the Government obstructed the vessel from leaving Hong Kong waters, how the captain can exercise his rights to leave Hong Kong waters for fishing purposes without being intervened by the Department; and
| | (c) | given that the freedom to enter or leave Hong Kong and the freedom of speech of citizens are safeguarded under both the Basic Law and the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance (Cap. 383) ("HKBORO"), whether it has assessed if the Department has contravened the Basic Law and HKBORO in prohibiting Kai Fung No. 2 from leaving Hong Kong on the basis of press reports in this case; if the assessment result is that it has contravened such laws, how the Government will make compensation; if the assessment result is that it has not contravened such laws, of the justifications for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing
6. Hon CHAN Kin-por to ask: (Translation)
Under the Employees' Compensation Ordinance (Cap. 282) ("the Ordinance"), all employers must at present take out employees' compensation insurance policies ("EC policies") for their employees and in 2010, the Labour Department instituted 1 294 prosecutions against employers who had not taken out EC policies for their employees, which is a record high in the recent six years. In addition, it has been reported that in recent years the court imposes increasingly heavy penalties on persons who contravene the Ordinance, and in the past few years, two employers were sentenced to seven days' and 14 days' imprisonment respectively for contravening the Ordinance, and a few employers were given suspended sentences of imprisonment. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | given that it has been reported that as the risk of claims for compensation under EC policies for a number of high-risk types of jobs is already higher than that for the other industries plus the fact that some employers, who hold the view that their employees will not all have accidents at the same time, only take out EC policies for a small number of their employees, resulting in insurers receiving far lower premiums than what should be payable by the employers in accordance with the associated risk, and paying massive amounts of compensation whenever there are accidents; and that since the level of premium is adjusted according to the overall situation in the industry, there has been a substantial increase in the level of premium in general for such types of jobs recently, which is unfair to those law-abiding employers as well as members of the public who ultimately bear the costs of services or products, whether the authorities will persuade and advise employers to provide true salary information when taking out EC policies and study requiring auditors to state in their reports whether the company's expenditure on salaries matches the salaries of employees which were declared when EC policies were taken out;
| | (b) | given that it has been reported that the acts of making fraudulent insurance claims through recovery agents and champerty have become increasingly rampant in recent years, resulting in the insurance industry suffering tremendous losses in operating employees' compensation insurance business, and relevant industries having difficulties in taking out EC policies; and statistics show that among the occupational injury claims received by the insurance industry, in 2006, only 1 400-odd cases involved sick leave certificates covering periods of more than half a year, but the number of such cases increased by 60% within five years to over 2 200 cases in 2010, whether the authorities have examined the reasons for the increasing trend in the number of sick leave certificates covering prolonged periods issued by public hospitals in recent years and the solution; and
| | (c) | given that it has been reported that some employers forced their employees to become self-employed persons ("false self-employment") or to be upgraded as the companies' directors ("false directorate") so as to evade the responsibility of taking out EC policies, and while the salaries and benefits are the same as before when they were employees, yet as the relationship between the two parties is no longer that between employers and employees, the employees will not be given any protection or compensation to which they are entitled in the event that they sustain injuries at work, not to mention mandatory provident fund contributions by the employers, of the total number of complaints involving "false self-employment" and "false directorate" received by the authorities last year, and the number of cases in which the persons involved were prosecuted?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare
7. Dr Hon David LI to ask:
I have been informed by a member of the public that the number of persons using Cheung Tung Road on Lantau Island for recreational cycling is growing and, at the same time, vehicular traffic, in particular heavy vehicle traffic, along Cheung Tung Road is also on the rise. Furthermore, the member of the public also reflected that the Government has announced plans for the development of an organic waste treatment facility, as well as concrete and asphalt batching plants, etc., which may lead to an increase in the number of heavy vehicles using Cheung Tung Road in future. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the total number of traffic accidents that occurred on Cheung Tung Road in each of the past five years, and among them, the number of those which involved cyclists;
| | (b) | in each of the past five years, of the number of speed control enforcement operations carried out on Cheung Tung Road; and the number of persons who had been prosecuted for speeding on Cheung Tung Road;
| | (c) | given that the speed limit along Cheung Tung Road is 50 kilometres per hour, whether it has assessed if there was evidence that excessive speeding was one of the causes of the traffic accidents that occurred on Cheung Tung Road in the past five years, and whether it has reviewed the current speed limit set for the road;
| | (d) | of the Government's projection of the growth in vehicular traffic along Cheung Tung Road in the next five years, and the source of such increase;
| | (e) | since Cheung Tung Road was opened to traffic, whether the Government has conducted any review of the visibility along the road, in particular along those sections with slight bends and slight slopes when driving behind heavy vehicles; if it has, whether improvement works had been carried out after the reviews; if so, of the details;
| | (f) | of the number of road signs erected along Cheung Tung Road to alert drivers that there are cyclists on the road; and
| | (g) | whether the Police have provided any advice to frequent users of Cheung Tung Road (including the drivers using Cheung Tung Road for accessing the private or government establishments nearby) on safe driving practices on roads which are also used by cyclists; if not, of the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing
8. Dr Hon PAN Pey-chyou to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that the problem of mainland pregnant women giving birth in Hong Kong is worsening with no improvement over the years, causing serious impact on the provision of obstetrics and gynaecology services in public and private hospitals, and the problem has already extended to Maternal and Child Health Centres ("MCHCs"), exerting heavy pressure on the services of MCHCs as well as affecting the use of such services by local babies. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the respective numbers of newborn babies receiving services in various MCHCs in Hong Kong in the past five years, together with a breakdown by baby born to parents who are both Hong Kong permanent residents, only one of whom is a Hong Kong permanent resident and who are both not Hong Kong permanent resident;
| | (b) | given that it has been reported that recently there are agencies which bring a large number of mainland women and their newborn babies to MCHCs every time to use the services, but quite a number of them have not made appointments in advance, and some of them even behave in an unhygienic and inconsiderate manner in MCHCs, which adversely and seriously affects the hygienic conditions in MCHCs and substantially increases the workload of healthcare staff in MCHCs, whether the authorities have any targeted measure in place to rectify the problem; if they have, of the specific details and time of implementation; if not, the reasons for that; and
| | (c) | whether the authorities have any formulated administrative measure to ensure that the use of child care services of MCHCs by newborn babies of parents who are both Hong Kong permanent residents or those born to parents one of whom is a Hong Kong permanent resident will not be affected by the aforesaid situation; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health
9. Hon LEE Wing-tat to ask: (Translation)
At present, Hong Kong mainly relies on landfills to treat its waste. Of the 18 000 tonnes of solid waste generated every day, 13 300 tonnes are disposed of at landfills. According to the progress of the key initiatives in the "Policy Framework for the Management of Municipal Solid Waste (2005-2014)", the Government has made a series of recommendations in respect of waste treatment, reduction and recycling, including the measures of developing an integrated waste management facility ("IWMF") with a daily treatment capacity (including sorting and incinerating) of 3 000 tonnes of waste, raising the target of waste recovery rate from the present 49% to 55% by 2015, developing two organic waste treatment facilities ("OWTFs") with daily treatment capacity of 200 and 300 tonnes respectively at Siu Ho Wan on North Lantau and Sha Ling in the North District, as well as reducing waste at source through direct economic incentives (e.g. introducing municipal solid waste charging and funding project of on-site food waste treatment), etc. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the breakdown of the volume of solid waste generated, the overall waste disposal rate at landfills and the waste recovery rate in Hong Kong in each of the past five years by type of waste, including glass, metal, plastics, paper, food waste, construction waste, sludge, electronic waste (including old computer and electrical appliance) and other waste (please specify the types);
| | (b) | of the computation methods, standards and criteria for determining the aforesaid respective treatment capacity and target (including the daily capacity of IWMF to treat 3 000 tonnes of waste, the 55% target rate of waste recovery by 2015, as well as the daily treatment capacity of 200 and 300 tonnes of the two OWTFs);
| | (c) | whether it has studied and assessed the amount of waste required to be reduced and the extent to which the waste recovery rate is required to be raised in Hong Kong in order to downsize the scale of the aforesaid IWMF and hence reduce its impacts on the environment with the adoption of waste reduction and recycling approaches for waste treatment; and
| | (d) | given that at present, the Government has indicated that according to the medium to long-term planning strategy for waste management facilities, the construction of the IWMF on the artificial island near Shek Kwu Chau as compared to Tsang Tsui in Tuen Mun will achieve a more well-balanced spatial distribution for waste management facilities in Hong Kong as a whole, yet the Government pointed out in the "Integrated Waste Management Facilities Site Selection Report" in 2008 ("the 2008 Report") that compared to Shek Kwu Chau and other potential sites, Tsang Tsui in Tuen Mun had achieved the highest overall score because of "the ease of integration with the existing landfill and waste reception facilities, much less impact on local ecology, shorter construction time, lower construction cost",
| | (i) | whether the Government had referred to the 2008 Report in making the present proposal for the site; why the present proposal differs from the results in the 2008 Report;
| | (ii) | of the respective overall costs for constructing the IWMF on the artificial island near Shek Kwu Chau and Tsang Tsui in Tuen Mun, with a breakdown by cost item (e.g. construction cost, operating cost and transportation cost, etc.); and
| | (iii) | whether it had assessed the respective economic benefits to be brought to the two districts by constructing the IWMF at the two aforesaid sites, with specific figures to illustrate such benefits?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment
10. Hon WONG Sing-chi to ask: (Translation)
The information provided by the authorities to this Council on 6 April and 19 October 2011 indicated a rising trend in both indecent assault and "under skirt photo-taking" cases which had occurred in the railway premises each year since 2006. Moreover, a Member of this Council raised a question on 6 April 2011 enquiring whether the Government or MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL") would consider setting up a dedicated team to handle the sex crimes which occurred in the railway premises ("sex crimes"). The authorities responded that "the Railway Police District adopts a flexible deployment of manpower. In addition to high profile anti-crime patrols at various crime blackspots, uniformed and plain-clothes officers carry out special joint operations targeting at sex crimes". In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | focusing on the rising trend in sex crimes, whether the authorities will seriously reconsider setting up a dedicated team by the Government or MTRCL to handle sex crimes, and providing training for MTRCL staff to enable them to have sufficient knowledge and sensitivity to handle sex crimes; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
| | (b) | of the number of sex crimes which occurred last year; the respective numbers of reported cases involved and people arrested, with a breakdown by type of offences;
| | (c) | of the details of the aforesaid special joint operations carried out by uniformed and plain-clothes officers; whether it knows if the Police and MTRCL have since 2006 separately or jointly conducted regular reviews of the work of combating sex crimes; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; given the rising trend in sex crimes, whether the authorities have assessed if there is still much room for improvement in the work of the Police and MTRCL; if the assessment result is in the affirmative, of the specific timetable for introducing improvement;
| | (d) | given that the authorities indicated in their reply to my question on 19 October 2011 that two sets of posters and notices on sex crimes ("Don't be a Silent Victim, Report Indecent Assault" and "Don't be silent. Cry out immediately to report indecent assault, when considered safe") had been put up at different MTR stations at alternate intervals, and the newly-designed anti-crime posters "Stay alert, watch out" had been put up at stations and in some train compartments, whether it knows if the aforesaid two sets of posters and notices on sex crimes have been put up in MTR train compartments; if the posters and notices have not been put up, the reasons for that; the details (including the numbers and their percentages in the total numbers of MTR trains and train compartments respectively) of those train compartments in which the "Stay alert, watch out" posters have been put up, broken down by MTR railway line;
| | (e) | given that a concern group on women's right has pointed out earlier that as the balustrades on both sides of the escalators at certain MTR stations (including Central Station, Hung Hom Station, Austin Station, Kowloon Tong Station and Hang Hau Station) are made of transparent glass or coated with highly-translucent frosted materials, those stations have become "blackspots" for women being peeped on and taken sneak shots, if it knows whether MTRCL has taken follow-up actions with regard to the design problems of the escalators at the aforesaid five stations; if it has, of the details and progress of the improvement measures; if not, whether it will immediately introduce improvement measures focusing on these problems; moreover, apart from the aforesaid five stations, whether MTRCL has reviewed the design of the escalators at other stations and introduced improvement measures immediately to target at these problems; and
| | (f) | how the authorities follow up the specific recommendations made by the concern group in (e) to MTRCL including taking the initiative to publish crime-related information (the time and places of occurrence as well as the types of cases, etc.), improving the spatial design in the railway premises, as well as setting prevention and combating sexual violence crimes as a corporate responsibility, and list the follow-up actions to each recommendation?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security
11. Hon Audrey EU to ask: (Translation)
The Government Headquarters and the Legislative Council ("LegCo") have been relocated to the new site at Tamar. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:
| (a) | the total expenditure on the construction of the new Central Government Complex;
| | (b) | the total expenditure on the construction of the LegCo Complex; and
| | (c) | the respective expenditures on electricity and data on carbon emissions of LegCo from October to December 2010 and from October to December 2011?
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Public Officer to reply : The Chief Secretary for Administration
12. Hon Abraham SHEK to ask:
According to the statistics of the Government, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate between June and August last year was 3.2%, representing a decrease of 0.2% as compared with that in the previous season. It has been reported that amongst the 360 000 persons with disabilities ("PWDs") in Hong Kong, only 13% of them are economically active, which is much lower than the rate of over 60% economically active people in Hong Kong in general. It has also been reported that a graduate of a university in Hong Kong, who is visually impaired, was even denied a job the main duty of which was to make telephone calls to clients at an insurance company. On the other hand, it has been reported that there is a special unit under the Labour Department ("LD") helping PWDs to find jobs. In this connection, will the Government inform the Council:
| (a) | of the details of the aforesaid special unit under LD, including, in the past five years, the number of cases it had processed in assisting unemployed PWDs in finding jobs, and among these PWDs, the percentage of those who had secured employment through the unit; whether any review has so far been conducted to evaluate the unit's performance in fulfilling the relevant policy targets; if so, of the details of the review; if not, the reasons for that;
| | (b) | on top of the measures currently in place, whether it has considered any additional measure to lower the unemployment rate of PWDs, and facilitate better integration of them into society; if it has, of the details;
| | (c) | given that there is not any provision under the existing Disability Discrimination Ordinance (Cap. 487) ("the Ordinance") to require employers to provide the reasons for rejecting the job applications from those PWDs who fulfill the stated recruitment criteria, whether it has considered reviewing the Ordinance in the coming year to enhance the transparency of the recruitment procedures of companies by including such a requirement in the Ordinance; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
| | (d) | whether it will reconsider introducing an employment quota for PWDs, making reference to similar overseas practices; if it will, of the details (including the details of the various employment quota systems adopted by the respective countries to which it has made reference); if not, the reasons for not doing so including any difficulty it faces?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare
13. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)
Recently, some members of the public have approached me for assistance, pointing out that some homosexual students were bullied by others in schools. According to a survey conducted by the Boys' and Girls' Clubs Association of Hong Kong in 2009, among some 500 homosexual youngsters interviewed, over 50% indicated that they had been subject to different degrees of ostracization and bullying by their classmates, 13% had even been subject to physical violence or sexual harassment, and about 22% had contemplated suicide because of this. The survey also found that about 90% of the students had not sought assistance from schools, as they were afraid of being discriminated by their teachers. Meanwhile, another survey revealed that teachers of different sexual orientation similarly faced serious discrimination. The Education Bureau has issued general guidelines on handling violence and ensuring equal opportunities in schools, yet sex minority groups consider that they are inadequate to address the discrimination and bullying faced by homosexuals in schools. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
| (a) | whether the Education Bureau has statistics on bullying on the basis of sexual orientation in schools; if it has, of the current situation; if not, whether it will study and assess the current situation and draw up guidelines to require schools to compile and report such statistics;
| | (b) | of the number of training sessions provided by the Education Bureau in the past three years to assist teachers in handling cases of homosexual students seeking assistance because they were bullied by others; the number of teachers who participated in such training sessions; and the organizations and instructors offering such sessions;
| | (c) | whether the Education Bureau will consider modelling on places such as Taiwan, the United States and the United Kingdom, etc. to formulate guidelines for schools to prevent homosexual students from being discriminated against, so as to assist schools in handling relevant cases and creating a discrimination-free campus;
| | (d) | whether the Code of Practice against Discrimination in Employment on the Ground of Sexual Orientation compiled by the authorities is applicable to all government departments as well as universities, secondary schools and primary schools receiving government funding; whether they know, among the government-funded organizations, the number of those which have formulated guidelines and measures to eradicate discrimination on the ground of sexual orientation, so as to ensure that their staff (including teachers) will not be discriminated against in employment on the ground of sexual orientation; and
| | (e) | given that it is stated in the Code for the Education Profession of Hong Kong that teachers "shall not discriminate against any student on the basis of race, colour, religious belief, creed, sex, family background, or any form of handicap", whether the authorities will request the organization concerned to amend the Code to include the guideline that students should not be discriminated against on the ground of sexual orientation, so as to ensure that teachers can properly handle problems of bullying on the basis of sexual orientation in schools?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education
14. Hon Albert CHAN to ask: (Translation)
In reply to my question in November 2004, as well as the questions from other Members of this Council in March 2006 and March 2011, the authorities indicated that they had adopted a number of measures to curb the proliferation of a climbing plant Mikania micrantha in rural areas. However, I have learnt that the proliferation of Mikania micrantha has become far more serious in recent years than in 2004, and quite a number of plants withered because they were strangled by Mikania micrantha. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the locations and total areas where Mikania micrantha proliferated in each year since 2004;
| | (b) | of the new measures adopted by the authorities since 2004 to prevent Mikania micrantha from harming trees; and
| | (c) | whether the authorities will formulate more effective measures to curb the proliferation of Mikania micrantha; if they will, of the details of the measures; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment
15. Hon Tanya CHAN to ask: (Translation)
The Development Bureau has recently proposed 25 sites for reclamation outside Victoria Harbour and conducted public consultation which has triggered much discussion in the community. It has been learnt that some members of the public are of the view that given the possible environmental impact of reclamation outside Victoria Harbour as well as its high costs, the Government should consider developing the brownfield sites in the New Territories. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the areas of brownfield sites currently available for development in various District Council districts in Hong Kong; and
| | (b) | of the areas of the various types of land listed below, and list the breakdown by District Council district in the following table:
| | (i) | land for open storage and not for agricultural use before the Town Planning (Amendment) Ordinance 1991 was enacted on 25 January 1991 to extend statutory planning control to cover the rural areas in the New Territories;
| | (ii) | land which has been granted by the Government for temporary uses (including open storage, car parks and container yards) at present;
| | (iii) | land, apart from those in (b)(i) and (ii), which has been granted by the Government under short-term tenancies as vehicle repair workshops, resource recovery parks and for other uses at present; and
| | (iv) | land which is being occupied temporarily by the Government for developing infrastructure and other uses?
| District Council districts | Land area (hectares)
| | Brownfield sites
| Land in (b)(i)
| Land in (b)(ii)
| Land in (b)(iii)
| Land in (b)(iv)
| | (e.g. Yuen Long District) |
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development
16. Dr Hon LAM Tai-fai to ask: (Translation)
Quite a number of education workers, students and parents have relayed to me that they hope that small class teaching could be fully implemented in Hong Kong's primary and secondary schools as early as possible, so as to enhance the quality of teaching and improve the learning environment in schools. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | given that in reply to a question raised by a Member of this Council on 29 June 2011 ("the Member's question"), the Education Bureau advised that "[i]nternational studies have suggested that it is more effective when students are small and its effectiveness tends to wane according to students' age", which studies are included in the "international studies" referred to by the authorities as well as their relevant contents;
| | (b) | why the authorities are satisfied that the findings of the "international studies" in (a) are applicable to Hong Kong;
| | (c) | whether it knows if there are other international studies which have arrived at conclusions that are different from the study findings cited by the Government; if it knows, of the details; if not, why it cited the aforesaid study findings before it fully understands the matter;
| | (d) | whether the Government has conducted any study on the implementation of small class teaching in secondary schools in Hong Kong; if it has, of the details; whether it has assessed if the implementation of small class teaching can enhance the effectiveness of learning and teaching in secondary schools; if it has, of the details; if not, why it queries the effectiveness of implementing small class teaching in secondary schools before it has studied and assessed the local situation;
| | (e) | whether it knows if any local or overseas organization has conducted studies on the implementation of small class teaching in secondary schools in Hong Kong; if it knows, of the details; if not, why it queries the effectiveness of implementing small class teaching in secondary schools before it fully understands the matter;
| | (f) | whether it knows how the average class sizes of primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong at present compare with the relevant class sizes in other developed economies;
| | (g) | whether it has assessed the amount of government expenditure to be incurred each year after small class teaching has been fully implemented in primary schools in Hong Kong; if it has assessed, of the amount of such expenditure;
| | (h) | whether it has assessed the amount of additional government expenditure to be incurred each year for the full implementation of small class teaching in secondary schools in Hong Kong; if it has assessed, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
| | (i) | given that in reply to the Member's question, the Education Bureau indicated that "[w]hen the situation in schools stabilizes and more accurate data on student population are available, we will be happy to continue to explore with the school sector appropriate measures to enhance the quality of teaching and learning in secondary schools", of the concrete timetable for the authorities to continue to explore appropriate measures with the school sector and for completing the study;
| | (j) | whether it has assessed how secondary schools, which do not implement small class teaching, articulate with primary schools implementing small class teaching, and whether problems will emerge as a result; if it has assessed, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
| | (k) | whether it will consider implementing small class teaching in secondary schools in phases, and allowing schools to participate on a voluntary basis; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education
17. Hon Paul TSE to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that a journalist used a fingerprint film-making tool kit purchased from a mainland shopping web site for around a hundred dollars to copy his fingerprint, and successfully used the copied fingerprint film to twice pass through the clearance of the Automated Passenger Clearance System ("e-Channels") which costs HK$400 million. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the reasons for the failure of the fingerprint anti-counterfeiting technology of e-Channels to identify the copied fingerprints;
| | (b) | whether it has investigated and assessed the number of people who have successfully passed through the control points in Hong Kong via e-Channels by copying the fingerprints of other people with the aforesaid method or other methods since the launch of e-Channels in 2004;
| | (c) | whether it investigated how many sets of the aforesaid fingerprint copying tools were sold through the shopping web site referred to in the media report or other selling channels;
| | (d) | of the policies and measures to prevent such fingerprint copying tools from being sold rampantly and proliferating in the market, and to enhance the effectiveness of the fingerprint anti-counterfeiting function of e-Channels; and
| | (e) | whether it has assessed if e-Channels, which were purchased using HK$400 million of public money, are still an effective gate-keeping system of immigration clearance; whether an overall assessment is needed?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security
18. Hon Frederick FUNG to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the existing arrangement under which home loan interest paid is deductible from a taxpayer's assessable income under Salaries Tax or from a taxpayer's total income under Personal Assessment, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the number of taxpayers who have benefited from the aforesaid tax deduction arrangement and the amount of deductions in respect of their expenses on home loan interest in each year of assessment since the implementation of the arrangement in the year of assessment 1998-1999; the amount of tax revenue thus foregone in each year of assessment; whether the authorities had conducted any review of the arrangement in the past (including its effectiveness in alleviating the financial burden of the middle class, as well as its impact on the local property market and government revenue, etc.); and
| | (b) | given that there are suggestions in the community requesting that the Government should further extend the entitlement period for home loan interest deduction, increase the maximum limit of the amount of deduction and introduce a home rental deduction, etc., whether the authorities have conducted any study on these suggestions (including the level of difficulty in implementing these suggestions, as well as their positive and negative effects on the middle class and the Government's financial position, etc.); if they have, of the outcome; whether they will consider adopting such suggestions and putting forward corresponding measures in the 2012-2013 Budget; if not, of the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
19. Hon IP Wai-ming to ask: (Translation)
The South East New Territories ("SENT") Landfill, which is located in Area 101 at Tseung Kwan O and was commissioned in 1994, was originally expected to be exhausted by around 2013. The Government earlier pointed out that as the Integrated Waste Management Facilities which could effectively reduce the volume of waste requiring disposal at landfills would only be commissioned in mid 2010s, extension of the SENT Landfill in early to mid 2010s was therefore necessary. Apart from the odour from the SENT Landfill which affects the nearby residents, quite a number of drivers have recently complained to me that many dump trucks going in and out of the SENT Landfill via Wan Po Road are not properly covered with canvas, causing environmental pollution in the vicinity of Wan Po Road, and traffic accidents frequently occur there because stones and sand dropping from the cargo compartments of those dump trucks hit and break the windows of other vehicles on the road. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the number of complaints about odour from the SENT Landfill received each month by the authorities in the past three years; whether the authorities have any new measure in place to alleviate the odour nuisance from the landfill; if they have, of the details and the implementation timetable; if not, the reasons for that;
| | (b) | whether the authorities had received any complaint in the past three years about environmental pollution in the vicinity of Wan Po Road; if they had, of the number and contents of such complaints;
| | (c) | among the traffic accidents which occurred on Wan Po Road in the past three years, of the number of those involving dump trucks; whether the authorities have analyzed the causes of such traffic accidents; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
| | (d) | whether the authorities had prosecuted dump truck drivers in the past three years for overloading or non-compliance with environmental protection measures; if they had, of the number of such prosecutions and the offences involved in general; if not, the reasons for that; whether the authorities have provided guidelines to advise vehicles entering the SENT Landfill to enhance their protective facilities; if they have, of the details; if not, whether they will consider formulating such guidelines; and
| | (e) | whether the authorities have conducted any environmental pollution survey in Tseung Kwan O district since the commissioning of the SENT Landfill; if they have, of the details; if not, whether the authorities have any plan to conduct a comprehensive environmental pollution survey in the district?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment
20. Hon LEE Wing-tat to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported earlier that the extension works of the Stanley Plaza ("the Plaza") managed by The Link Management Limited ("The Link") is suspected to involve "construction before approval is granted", and in addition to arousing the concerns of government departments, the case has also given rise to the public queries that after the plans of the alteration works have been vetted and approved by the Buildings Department ("BD") under the Buildings Ordinance (Cap. 123), the applicants may, without obtaining prior consent from the Lands Department ("LandsD") on the modification of the lease conditions, proceed with the alteration works based on the plans approved by BD. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the gross floor area and other types of areas of the Plaza (e.g. the total commercial gross floor area and total area of public open space, as well as the internal gross floor area, total lettable area and area of public open space inside the Plaza) respectively before and after the divestment of commercial properties by the Hong Kong Housing Authority; after the completion of the aforesaid extension works, how the commercial gross floor area, total lettable area and total area of public open space of the Plaza differ from the corresponding areas before the extension; how LandsD calculates the land premium of the Plaza after its extension, and of the areas used for the calculations;
| | (b) | whether it knows if in the past five years there were other projects managed by The Link or other private development projects which had commenced after obtaining approval from BD for the alteration plans but before consent was given by LandsD for the modification of the lease conditions (i.e. involving "construction before approval is granted"); if there were, of the details, and whether such projects included the construction project of a betting centre and a support centre in Shatin proposed by the Hong Kong Jockey Club; if the project was included, of the details (including when its alteration plan was approved by BD and when the construction works commenced, as well as the progress of the vetting and approval of its application for lease modification or extension by LandsD at the time when the construction works commenced, etc.); whether the practice of "construction before approval is granted" is a general, usual or acceptable practice;
| | (c) | how LandsD handles projects which involve "construction before approval is granted" (e.g. whether it has any mechanism in place for making a request of reinstatement according to the lease conditions, or whether it usually gives consent to the modification of lease conditions according to the works which have already commenced); whether there is any mechanism of punishment in respect of construction projects which violate the lease conditions; of the cases in which such handling and punishment mechanisms had been applied in the past five years, and the details of such cases; and
| | (d) | how BD and LandsD at present coordinate with each other to facilitate the two departments to note which applications have been submitted to them respectively as well as the approval results in the course of their vetting such applications, and to give timely notifications to the applicants regarding the need to submit applications to the relevant government departments, as well as to ensure that the consent of all relevant departments has been given before granting the Certificate of Compliance (also known as "Letter of Satisfaction") to a project; how BD and LandsD monitor and prevent the aforesaid practice of "construction before approval is granted" or "commencing construction in advance of approval"?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development
III. Bills
First Reading
Appropriation Bill 2012
Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)
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| Appropriation Bill 2012 | : | The Financial Secretary
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IV. Motions
| Proposed resolution under section 34(2) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance
Secretary for Security to move the following motion:
Resolved that the Frontier Closed Area (Amendment) Order 2011, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 170 of 2011 and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 7 December 2011, be amended as set out in the Schedule.
| | Schedule
Amendments to Frontier Closed Area (Amendment) Order 2011
| | 1. | Section 3 amended (Schedule substituted)
| | | (1) | Section 3, new Schedule, after section 2-
Add
| | | "3. | The coordinates are based on Hong Kong 1980 Grid System.".
| | | (2) | Section 3, new Schedule -
Repeal Note 1.
| | | (3) | Section 3, new Schedule -
Renumber Notes 2, 3, 4 and 5 as Notes 1, 2, 3 and 4.
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V. Members' Motions
- Proposed resolution under section 34(4) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance
Hon Miriam LAU to move the following motion:
Resolved that in relation to the -
| (a) | Road Traffic (Impairment Test) Notice, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 1 of 2012; and
| | (b) | Road Traffic (Amendment) Ordinance 2011 (Commencement) Notice 2012, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 2 of 2012,
| and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 11 January 2012, 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 29 February 2012.
- 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. 10/11-12 of the House Committee laid on the Table of the Council on 1 February 2012 in relation to the subsidiary legislation and instrument(s) as listed below:
| Item Number | Title of Subsidiary Legislation or Instrument
| | (2) | Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes (Contributions for Casual Employees) (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 2011 (L.N. 171/2011).
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Public Officer to attend : Under Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
Clerk to the Legislative Council
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