A 15/16-3
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 28 October 2015 at 11:00 am
I. Tabling of Papers
Other Papers
II. Questions
1. Hon Paul TSE to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that the number of claims received by the Immigration Department ("ImmD") in recent months from persons of Indian nationality for non-refoulement in order to resist removal to another country ("non-refoulement claims") has risen substantially. It is suspected that some employment agencies in India have conspired with Hong Kong law firms to solicit persons of Indian nationality to come to Hong Kong to make such claims in order to stay in Hong Kong for unlawful employment. In addition, officials of ImmD recently said that they believed that some people were abetting the claimants to abuse the screening mechanism for non-refoulement claims, for example, by adopting an uncooperative attitude in the course of the processing of their claims by the authorities in order to extend their stay in Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the nationalities of the people, apart from those of Indian nationality, by whom a relatively large number of claims were lodged since the implementation of the unified screening mechanism for non-refoulement claims ("unified mechanism") in March 2014; given that a law firm has concurrently represented several persons of Indian nationality to make non-refoulement claims, whether the authorities have investigated if the law firm participated in soliciting persons of Indian nationality to come to Hong Kong to make such claims; if they have investigated, of the outcome; if not, the reasons for that; (2) of the total amount of public expenditure incurred by the Government on processing non-refoulement claims since the implementation of the unified mechanism; given that there are already 10 200 cases received in the first eight months of this year pending determination, whether the Government has assessed if the $640 million-odd funding provision for this financial year is sufficient; if it is not sufficient, of the amount of shortfall; and (3) whether it will publicize to foreign countries through the Internet and other channels the message that persons making non-refoulement claims in Hong Kong will not be issued employment visas, and that the Government will stringently combat unlawful employment and the acts of abetting others to work unlawfully in Hong Kong; whether it will consider urging, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, the Indian Government to assist in curbing intermediaries abetting its nationals to make such claims; whether it will enact legislation to provide for a time limit for lodging claims and the procedures for screening claims?
2. Hon Michael TIEN to ask: (Translation)
A large number of members of the public have relayed to me that water dripping from air-conditioners has caused grave nuisance to them, including generating noise and dirtying clothes, and the problem is very common in various districts across the territory. It has been reported that in the years 2004 to 2014, the authorities received over 170 000 complaints in total but issued 5 256 warning letters and instituted 12 prosecutions only, with the prosecution rate standing at a mere 0.007%. In the first half of this year alone, the authorities received 8 900 complaints, and no prosecution has been instituted yet. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that while the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department ("FEHD") may take law enforcement actions under the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (including issuing Nuisance Notices and Nuisance Orders to the persons causing the nuisance or the occupiers or the owners of the relevant premises) to require the persons concerned to abate the nuisance within a specified period, the maximum penalties for failure to comply with such notices and orders are merely a fine of $10,000 and $25,000 respectively (plus a daily fine), whether the Government has reviewed if such penalties are effective in pressing the persons concerned to expeditiously resolve the problem of dripping air-conditioners; if it has reviewed and the outcome is in the negative, whether the Government will increase the penalties to enhance the deterrent effect; and (2) given that while the authorities indicated in their reply to a question raised by a Member of this Council in 2013 that in order to raise public awareness of the problem of dripping air-conditioners, "FEHD disseminates relevant messages in the summer through releasing Announcements in the Public Interest on television and radio, and distributing posters and leaflets to owners' corporations, mutual aid committees, property management companies of buildings and members of the public", some members of the public have pointed out that such publicity efforts have little impact and FEHD frontline staff are under considerable pressure, whether the Government will set up a dedicated team to handle the problem of dripping air-conditioners and pertinent complaint cases in a more efficient manner, and provide training courses to staff members on handling more difficult cases?
3. Hon TANG Ka-piu to ask: (Translation)
Under the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Ordinance, an employer may use the accrued benefits derived from the contributions he made for an employee to a Mandatory Provident Fund ("MPF") scheme to offset the severance payment ("SP") or long service payment ("LSP") payable to the employee under the Employment Ordinance ("the offsetting arrangement"). Although the Chief Executive indicated in his election manifesto in as early as 2012 that he would progressively reduce the proportion of the offsetting amount, the Government has not put forward any specific proposal for fulfilling that pledge, and the offsetting arrangement has been incessantly gnawing the accrued benefits payable to employees. On the other hand, a number of employer groups have reacted strongly to the reports that the Government intends to propose the abolition of the offsetting arrangement in the 2016 Policy Address. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether the authorities have conducted studies on the abolition of the offsetting arrangement; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; whether the authorities will consider drawing up a timetable for the abolition of the offsetting arrangement; (2) whether the authorities have approached employer groups and labour organizations to gain an understanding of their specific views on the abolition of the offsetting arrangement; if so, of the views of both sides, the efforts made by the authorities to reduce the differences between them, and whether they have put forward any proposal acceptable to both sides; if not, whether they will make efforts to gain an understanding of the views of both sides; and (3) given that some academics have proposed that when introducing legislative amendments to abolish the offsetting arrangement, the Government should impose a five-year transitional period in which employers are allowed to claim reimbursements from the Government for the extra amounts which originally could have been withdrawn from employees' MPF accounts for settling SPs or LSPs, whether the authorities will study the feasibility of that proposal?
4. Dr Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask: (Translation)
Recently, a 19-year-old young girl in a critical condition suffering from pulmonary hypertension died while waiting in vain for suitable lungs for transplant. Also, only at the last minute did a 46-year-old man with liver failure receive a liver transplant to gain a new lease of life. It has been reported that the organ donation rate in Hong Kong is lower than those in other regions. In 2011, there were about 35 deceased organ donors per million population ("pmp") in Spain, 17 donors pmp in the European Union but less than five donors pmp in Hong Kong. While the demand for organ transplant in Hong Kong has been increasing year after year, organs available for transplant are in acute shortage. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) as there are currently only 174 000 registrations recorded on the Centralized Organ Donation Register, how the authorities will step up efforts in promoting the message of organ donation, and whether they will arrange staff to proactively approach members of the public, at places where they apply for identity cards, passports, driving licences and public library cards and donate blood, to invite them to consider signing an organ donation card; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) as there are currently only nine organ transplant coordinators in Hong Kong, who are responsible for liaison work on organ transplant matters at around 40 public hospitals throughout Hong Kong, whether the authorities will increase the manpower such that at least one coordinator is provided for each public and private hospital, so that apart from persuading families of persons who have just passed away to donate the organs of the deceased, they may also devote more efforts in promoting organ donation among staff, patients, etc. in hospitals and conduct registration for them; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) whether it will implement a new policy to increase organ donation rate, such as by stipulating that where deceased persons have not raised any objection before death to organ donation, they will be deemed to have given consent to donate their organs for transplant after death, as well as enacting legislation to provide that organ donation cards have a legal effect similar to that of wills, in that unless the signers have changed their mind before death, other persons (including their families) do not have the right to object, after the signers have passed away, to the donation of their organs for transplant; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
5. Hon CHAN Han-pan to ask: (Translation)
The solicitation on the streets ("on-street solicitation") by sex workers coming to Hong Kong from the Mainland to engage in prostitution activities has caused great distress to residents of certain districts over the years. The authorities have conducted numerous law enforcement operations but with little effect. Some residents have relayed to me that their daily lives as well as the overall image of the community have been adversely affected. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of law enforcement operations conducted against on-street solicitation in each of the past five years; whether the authorities have monitored if on-street solicitation revived after the law enforcement operations; if they have monitored, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; the number of cases in which prosecutions were instituted against the owners who let their flats to other persons for the purpose of prostitution in each of the past five years, as well as the effectiveness of such prosecution actions; (2) given that on-street solicitation continues to exist despite repeated crackdowns, whether the authorities will consider raising the penalties by amending the legislation for greater deterrent effect, and introducing new measures for curbing such activities; if they will consider, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; whether they have plans to step up investigations to crack down on crime syndicates that control prostitution by sex workers so as to reduce on-street solicitation; if they have such plans, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) of the number of visitors to Hong Kong arrested in each of the past five years for engaging in prostitution activities and, among them, the number of persons who were engaged in on-street solicitation; whether the authorities have stepped up interception of persons suspected to be entering Hong Kong for engaging in prostitution activities; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
6. Dr Hon Priscilla LEUNG to ask: (Translation)
On 26 June this year, the Finance Committee of this Council approved the funding application for the project on further enhancing quality of coastal waters of Victoria Harbour so that the authorities might commission a consultancy study on how to reduce near shore pollution and enhance the quality of coastal waters of Victoria Harbour. On the other hand, I have received a number of complaints from members of the public that the coastal waters of Victoria Harbour give off very strong stenches, which has caused serious nuisance to members of the public. The problem is particularly serious in areas along the Hung Hom Promenade. After enquiring with a number of government departments, I have found that one of the causes for the emission of stenches from the seawater is that the foul water pipes of some private buildings in Hung Hom have been misconnected to the stormwater drainage system ("foul water pipe misconnection"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of foul water pipe misconnection cases followed up by the authorities in each year since 2013; among such cases, the number of those in which sewage was discharged into the Victoria Harbour Water Control Zone and the number of rectified cases, with a breakdown by District Council district; (2) of the respective numbers of foul water pipe misconnection cases since 2013 in which rectification was made after warnings or advices had been issued to the persons concerned, cases in which rectification was made after the persons concerned had been prosecuted or statutory repair orders had been issued by the authorities, and cases in which the authorities implemented measures to rectify the misconnection because no rectification had been made despite the aforesaid law enforcement actions taken by the authorities; whether the authorities have reviewed the effectiveness of such law enforcement actions; if they have, of the outcome; and (3) given that the aforesaid consultancy study will not be completed until early 2018, whether the authorities will, prior to the implementation of the measures to be proposed by the consultancy study, step up inspections and efforts in combating illegal discharge of wastewater and sewage, and enhance the initiatives to rectify foul water pipe misconnection, so as to demonstrate the determination of the Government to enhance the quality of coastal waters and develop a water-friendly culture?
*7. Hon Steven HO to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that when a No. 3 alarm fire broke out at Shau Kei Wan Typhoon Shelter ("SKWTS") on the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival this year, the fireboat Elite, berthed at Central, arrived at the scene 26 minutes after the outbreak of fire, and the fireboat could enter the fire scene to battle the blaze only after coordination was made by the Marine Police. In the end, 10-odd vessels were destroyed by the fire. While the authorities claimed in 2013 that the time generally required for fireboats to arrive at SKWTS was eight minutes, it actually took 24 minutes and 16.2 minutes on average for fire vessels (i.e. fireboats and fire speedboats) of the Fire Services Department to arrive at SKWTS in the past two years respectively. Some political parties and fishermen associations have repeatedly requested the authorities to enhance marine fire-fighting measures and rescue strategies, and to plan afresh the berthing arrangements in typhoon shelters, but the authorities have turned a deaf ear to their requests. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the support measures that have been and will be provided by the authorities for the victims of the aforesaid fire; of the details and progress of such work, and the difficulties encountered; (2) whether the authorities will provide support to the victims in meeting the costs of salvage of vessels which had sunk in the fire; whether they will exercise discretion and reduce the oil cleanup charges to be borne by the victims; whether they will streamline the relevant procedures so as to relieve the burden of the victims; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) given that some victims relayed that at the early stage of the incident, there was no inter-departmental counterpart responsible for co-ordinating the follow-up work, and the victims felt worn out from running around different departments, whether the authorities will strengthen the liaison among various departments in handling such follow-up work in future so as to reduce the post-accident pressure faced by the victims; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (4) whether the authorities will expeditiously take the following measures to improve their marine fire-fighting measures and rescue strategies: setting out target response times for fireboats to arrive at various typhoon shelters; deploying fireboats to station round the clock at typhoon shelters where fire hazards are high; stepping up fire safety publicity and educational efforts at the typhoon shelters; enhancing the fire safety awareness of fishermen and installing suitable fire service facilities at appropriate locations along the shore of or inside typhoon shelters, etc.; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (5) of the current response times in general for the various fireboats and fire speedboats to arrive at various typhoon shelters or sea bays from their respective berths (set out in the table below, and put a mark "/" for areas beyond the respective service areas of those vessels);
Typhoon shelter /
sea bayFireboat Fire speedboat 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Aberdeen West Typhoon Shelter Aberdeen South Typhoon Shelter Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter Cheung Chau Typhoon Shelter Kwun Tong Typhoon Shelter New Yau Ma Tei Typhoon Shelter Sam Ka Tsuen Typhoon Shelter Shau Kei Wan Typhoon Shelter To Kwa Wan Typhoon Shelter Tuen Mun Typhoon Shelter Yim Tin Tsai Typhoon Shelter Tai O Sheltered Anchorage River Trade Terminal (Tuen Mun) Sea bay near godown in Chai Wan Tuen Mun Cafeteria Beach (6) whether the review of the berthing and sheltered space for local vessels being conducted by the Marine Department includes studies on increasing the numbers of berthing spaces for vessels and improving the demarcation of berthing spaces for different types of vessels, so as to avoid an increase in fire hazards due to overcrowding of vessels, and to prevent conflicts arising from berthing spaces being shared by different types of vessels (such as fishing vessels and yachts); if it does, of the details and when the authorities will publish the findings of the studies; if not, the reasons for that; and (7) given that some fishermen relayed to me that, in order to cater for the development of the fishing industry, they had purchased fishing vessels with lengths exceeding the overall permitted lengths set for the typhoon shelters at which they intend to berth their vessels and they are therefore required to regularly obtain permission from the Marine Department for their vessels to enter or stay at the typhoon shelters concerned, and such a requirement has left quite a number of fishing vessels with no alternative but to berth outside the typhoon shelters or at faraway typhoon shelters, which have seriously affected the delivery of catch by fishermen and the provision of replenishment for their fishing vessels, whether the authorities will conduct a comprehensive review of the length limits for vessels permitted to enter various typhoon shelters, so as to meet the needs for the development of the local fishing industry and avoid causing inconvenience to the operations and daily lives of the fishermen, as well as prevent such length limits from bringing about additional fire hazards?
*8. Hon CHAN Hak-kan to ask: (Translation)
Some members of the public have pointed out to me that the problem of animals being abandoned has become increasingly serious, and therefore the authorities should face up to the problem, such as stepping up law enforcement and promoting the message of caring for animals. Under the existing arrangements, stray animals caught by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department ("AFCD") are kept in Animal Management Centres ("AMCs") for at least four days pending reclaim by their owners. Unclaimed animals are passed on to animal welfare organizations for adoption or euthanized. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of animals received by AMCs in each of the past five years, and the percentage of such animals being euthanized; (2) whether AFCD will consider increasing the number of days for which animals are kept in AMCs to facilitate owners to reclaim their animals; if AFCD will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) whether AFCD has studied the reasons why owners abandon their animals; given that the Hong Kong Housing Authority prohibits public rental housing ("PRH") tenants from keeping dogs and other animals (except small household pets) in their rental units, of the number of animals abandoned by PRH tenants in the past five years; (4) given that the Rabies Ordinance (Cap. 421) provides that a keeper of any mammal who, without reasonable excuse, abandons that animal commits an offence, of the number of prosecutions instituted by the authorities under the said Ordinance in the past five years, and the penalties imposed on the convicted persons by the court; (5) whether the authorities have reviewed the effectiveness of the current legislation on prohibiting animal abandonment, and whether they will consider increasing the relevant penalties to enhance the deterrent effect; (6) whether the authorities will, by making reference to the relevant practice of Kumamoto City, Japan, consider setting a goal of "zero euthanization of animals"; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (7) whether the authorities have implemented new measures in 2015-2016 to strengthen public awareness of care for animals; if they have, of the details of the new measures and the expenditure involved?
*9. Hon WU Chi-wai to ask: (Translation)
Under the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Ordinance (Cap. 485), an employer may use the accrued benefits derived from the contributions he made for an employee to a Mandatory Provident Fund ("MPF") scheme to offset the severance payment ("SP") or long service payment ("LSP") payable to the employee under the Employment Ordinance (Cap. 57) ("the offsetting arrangement"). Some employees have pointed out that the offsetting arrangement undermines the interests of employees, depriving them of retirement protection. Recently, in response to reports that the Government planned to propose the abolition of the offsetting arrangement in the 2016 Policy Address, the Secretary for Labour and Welfare said that the Government had not taken any stance on the abolition of the offsetting arrangement and would continue to listen to the views from all sectors of the community. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it will conduct public consultation on the abolition of the offsetting arrangement before the end of the current term of the Legislative Council; if it will, of the details and timetable; if not, the reasons for that; (2) as the information from the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority shows that the amount of accrued benefits withdrawn under the offsetting arrangement in each year from 2010 to 2014 accounted for 20% or more of the total amount of accrued benefits withdrawn in the corresponding year, and the amounts of accrued benefits withdrawn under the offsetting arrangement in 2010 and 2011 were even more than the amounts of accrued benefits withdrawn on the ground of retirement and early retirement in those two years, whether the Government has reviewed if the offsetting arrangement runs counter to the original intent of setting up MPF schemes; if it has, of the relevant details; and (3) of the respective amounts of accrued benefits withdrawn by the Government for the disbursement of (i) SPs and (ii) LSPs to non-civil service contract ("NCSC") staff in each of the past three years; whether the Government has plans to abolish the offsetting arrangement when appointing new NCSC staff or offering further appointments to existing NCSC staff members, so as to take the lead in this respect; if it does, of the relevant details; if not, the reasons for that?
*10. Hon Charles Peter MOK to ask: (Translation)
The Police indicated in August this year that on requests made by the Police for the purpose of cracking down on phone scams, telecommunications service operators ("TSOs") had disconnected more than 50 000 suspicious telephone calls. However, the Police have not given an account of the legal basis for the aforesaid requests. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the provisions in the Telecommunications Ordinance (Cap. 106) and other relevant legislation which govern the acts of disconnecting telephone calls or message transmission by TSOs; (2) given that subsection (1) of section 24 of Cap. 106 makes it an offence for telecommunications officers, etc., doing certain acts to a message, but that provision does not apply to any act done by such persons for the purposes prescribed in subsection (2) of that section, whether the authorities have assessed (i) if the aforesaid acts of disconnecting telephone calls constitute an offence under subsection (1)(c) of that section (i.e., "wilfully abstain[ing] from transmitting any message or wilfully intercept[ing] or detain[ing] or delay[ing] any message"), and (ii) (if so) if such acts were done for any of the purposes prescribed in subsection (2) of that section; if they have assessed, of the outcome and justifications; (3) of the legal basis for the Police to request TSOs to disconnect the telephone calls; (4) given that under Special Condition 3.1 of the Unified Carrier Licence, the licensees shall, irrespective of whether they provide fixed, mobile and/or converged services, observe the same requirement on interconnection so as to ensure any-to-any connectivity among users of telecommunications services, whether it has assessed if the aforesaid acts of disconnecting telephone calls are in breach of such condition; if it has assessed, of the outcome; (5) when the Office of the Communications Authority ("OFCA") became aware of the aforesaid operation of disconnecting suspicious telephone calls; of OFCA's role in such operation; whether the Police and OFCA consulted TSOs on the operation beforehand; and (6) whether it knows if the Communications Authority will initiate studies to clarify whether the aforesaid acts of disconnection of telephone calls are in breach of the law or the relevant licence conditions?
*11. Hon Alice MAK to ask: (Translation)
Recently, I have received complaints that some villages in remote areas, such as Chuen Lung Village, Kau Wah Keng San Tsuen and Yau Kam Tau Village in Tsuen Wan, have no access to fixed network broadband Internet access ("fixed broadband") services, or are provided with such services only by a single fixed broadband service provider, and such providers charge exorbitant service fees because they enjoy a monopoly position. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the villages in remote areas across the territory not being covered by fixed broadband networks at present, and set out such information by District Council district; (2) whether it knows the villages in remote areas across the territory being covered only by the fixed broadband network of a single provider at present, and set out such information by District Council district; (3) whether it will consider afresh imposing conditions requiring the provision of fixed broadband services in remote areas when granting relevant licences to fixed broadband service providers in future, so as to ensure that local residents have access to such services; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (4) whether the authorities will extend the "Government WiFi", free public wireless Internet access service, to the villages mentioned in (1) which are not covered by fixed broadband networks, or those mentioned in (2) which are covered only by the fixed broadband network of a single provider, for use by local residents; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*12. Hon IP Kwok-him to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that the number of claims recently received by the Immigration Department ("ImmD") from illegal immigrants for non-refoulement in order to resist removal to another country ("non-refoulement claims") has risen continuously. It is suspected that some overseas intermediaries, in their capacity as immigration consultants, help foreigners to come to Hong Kong and take up work unlawfully in Hong Kong by lodging non-refoulement claims. Some claimants brought with them documents for non-refoulement claims provided by Hong Kong lawyers before arriving in Hong Kong, and some even had their claims lodged by lawyers on their behalf before their flights landed, thus making ImmD unable to refuse their entry right away. The aforesaid situations have aroused the concern of members of the public as to whether the non-refoulement claim mechanism is being abused. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of non-refoulement claims received by the authorities each month since the implementation of the unified screening mechanism for non-refoulement claims in March 2014 and, among such cases, the respective numbers of cases the non-refoulement claims of which have been (i) substantiated and (ii) rejected (with a breakdown by claimant's nationality and ground for lodging the claim); (2) of the number of claimants, among the claimants in (1) whose claims have been rejected, who are still staying in Hong Kong and their average length of stay in Hong Kong; (3) of the various amounts of public expenditure incurred for handling non-refoulement claims each year since December 2009 (including expenditures on legal aid, humanitarian assistance and payroll); (4) of the respective numbers of solicitors and counsels currently listed on the Legal Aid Panels; the respective numbers, in each year since December 2009, of solicitors and counsels listed on the Panels who handled non-refoulement claims, and the respective average numbers of cases handled by them; and (5) whether it has studied if the following measures were adopted by overseas places in the past three years for preventing abuse of their non-refoulement mechanisms: stepping up law enforcement efforts to intercept illegal immigrants, expediting the procedure for assessing claims, setting a statutory time limit for lodging claims, capping the legal aid costs, and reviewing the arrangements for granting visa-free access to visitors; if it has studied, of the results, and whether it will follow the relevant practices?
*13. Hon James TIEN to ask: (Translation)
It is learnt that some of the funds established by the Government and with government injections are currently segregated from the government accounts, and the revenue and expenditure of these funds as well as their net assets are not included in the annual accounts and fiscal reserves of the Government. In his reply to a question I raised on the Estimates of Expenditure 2015-2016, the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury said that as such funds were managed and controlled by individual bureaux, government departments or relevant organizations on their own, the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau ("FSTB") did not keep past or up-to-date financial information of the funds. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the names of the aforesaid funds (with a breakdown by the bureau, government department or relevant organization to which the funds belong); (2) whether FSTB knows the total present asset values of such funds; if FSTB does, of the details; (3) of FSTB's justifications for not requiring the bureaux, government departments and relevant organizations responsible for managing such funds to report on the funds' financial situations; (4) whether any of the funds ceased operation in the past decade; if there were, of the names of such funds (with a breakdown by the year in which the operation ceased, the balance, and the way by which the fund balance was disposed of); (5) whether the financial situations of such funds are subject to monitoring by government departments other than those to which the funds belong (e.g. regular auditing by the Audit Commission); if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (6) whether measures are in place to ensure that such funds achieves the effectiveness objectives set at the time of establishment, and how it assesses the need for the continuous operation of the funds?
*14. Hon WONG Ting-kwong to ask: (Translation)
At the end of last month, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. and China Media Capital announced the formation of a joint venture of US$ 1 billion, to be headquartered in Hong Kong, to develop and produce films for distribution around the world. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has assessed the benefits (including how the development of the film industry will be promoted) that can be brought about by the aforesaid investment project to the film industry of Hong Kong, as well as whether the project can facilitate the development of the mainland film industry and its exchange of talents, with a view to creating more employment opportunities for local practitioners; if it has assessed, of the outcome; (2) whether it will take this opportunity to step up its efforts to promote the film industry of Hong Kong; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) whether it has assessed if there are sufficient film-related talents in Hong Kong at present to cope with the demand arising from the future development of the film industry; whether the authorities will, as a complementary measure, adjust the policies on and measures for the training of such talents; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*15. Prof Hon Joseph LEE to ask: (Translation)
It is learnt that quite a number of nurses working in public hospitals are close to their retirement age, which has aroused concern about the shortage of nursing staff. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
(1) among the nurses currently working in public hospitals, the number and percentage of those who will reach the retirement age in the coming five years, with a breakdown of the estimated number of nurses retiring each year by their rank and by the medical institution (public hospital/outpatient clinic) and specialty to which they belong; (2) the estimated respective numbers of vacancies of various types of nursing posts under the Hospital Authority ("HA") (i.e. enrolled nurses (general), enrolled nurses (psychiatric), registered nurses (general) and registered nurses (psychiatric)) in the coming five years, with a breakdown by rank and by the medical institution and specialty to which such posts belong; (3) the estimated respective numbers of graduates from various types of nursing programmes in each of the coming five years, with a breakdown by course provider; whether HA has assessed if the annual number of graduates newly recruited is sufficient to fill the vacancies concerned; if HA has and the outcome is in the negative, how HA will resolve that problem; (4) whether HA has considered improving the work arrangement, such as exempting nurses over the age of 55 from night shift duties, so as to retain talents; if so, whether HA has assessed the additional manpower it will need to recruit for the implementation of such a measure; if not, of the reasons for that; and (5) given that HA is implementing the continuous night shift scheme to provide incentive allowance for nurses to undertake continuous night shift duties so as to reduce the frequency of their night duties, whether HA has assessed if such a measure is conducive to retaining talents; if HA has, of the details?
*16. Dr Hon LEUNG Ka-lau to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that in last month, the drinking water samples taken from several drinking fountains in The Prince Philip Dental Hospital were found to have a lead content exceeding the provisional guideline value set out in the Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality published by the World Health Organization. Regarding the safety of drinking water, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the progress and outcome of the investigation conducted by the Hospital Authority ("HA") into the above incident, including the category and number of persons affected and the remedial measures taken by HA for the health of the affected persons; (2) given that the health of pregnant women and children is more likely to be affected by lead in drinking water, whether it knows if HA will deploy personnel to take water samples from the gynaecological and obstetric wards as well as the paediatric wards of public hospitals for lead testing ("water sampling tests") so as to ensure the safety of the drinking water for patients' consumption; if HA will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) whether it knows if HA will deploy personnel to conduct water sampling tests for the nursing homes, medical rehabilitation centres and hospice centres under HA's purview so as to ensure the safety of the drinking water for patients' consumption; if HA will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (4) whether the Social Welfare Department will deploy personnel to various types of residential care homes for the elderly to conduct water sampling tests so as to ensure the safety of the drinking water for consumption by the long stayers there; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (5) whether it knows if HA has conducted a comprehensive risk assessment for the Hong Kong Children's Hospital under construction in respect of the materials used, the methods of construction (including the use of prefabricated components), etc. for its water supply system so as to ensure the safety of drinking water upon the commissioning of the Hospital; if HA has conducted such an assessment, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (6) whether it knows if HA will deploy personnel to conduct water sampling tests for the staff quarters of public hospitals so as to ensure the safety of the drinking water for consumption by its staff?
*17. Hon MA Fung-kwok to ask: (Translation)
At present, the MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL") has borrowed some of the sites of the West Kowloon Cultural District ("WKCD") project for use as the works sites for the project to construct the Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link ("XRL"), including the works sites for the XRL West Kowloon Terminus and the temporary barging facility. Due to the delay of the XRL project, the handover of some of these works sites to the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority ("WKCDA") may have to be deferred. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective (i) areas, (ii) locations, (iii) originally scheduled dates of handover to WKCDA, and (iv) actual handover dates (if handed over already) or expected handover dates (if not yet handed over) of the various works sites; (2) of the actions taken, upon learning that the handover of the works sites to WKCDA would need to be deferred, by the authorities to urge MTRCL to hand over those sites expeditiously; (3) of the impact of the deferred handover of the works sites to WKCDA on the development of WKCD (including its construction works, construction costs, etc.), according to the authorities' latest estimation; the measures to be taken by the authorities to alleviate the impact; whether they have conducted studies to find out if the extra expenditure caused to the WKCD construction works by the deferred handover of the works sites should be borne by MTRCL, the Government or WKCDA, and of the justifications for the conclusion concerned; and (4) as it has been reported that the idea of suspension of work is brewing among a number of XRL project contractors, whether the authorities have formulated contingency plans to alleviate the possible impact on the WKCD project should such a situation occur; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*18. Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki to ask: (Translation)
At present, only authorized sellers of poisons ("ASPs") (commonly known as "pharmacies") are allowed to sell drugs which require doctors' prescriptions. It has been reported that some pharmacies are selling drugs, including the anti-cancer drug Herceptin and Sovaldi for the treatment of hepatitis C, to members of the public without doctors' prescriptions. These pharmacies sell these drugs at very low prices (e.g. around HK$20,000 only for Sovaldi, which is sold at the price of HK$650,000 in the United States), raising suspicion as to whether these drugs are fake. Regarding law enforcement by the authorities on the sale of drugs, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has compiled statistics on the current number of shops which are not ASPs but with their Chinese names comprising the character "藥"; if it has, of the number; if not, the reasons for that; (2) of the respective numbers of inspections conducted by the authorities in the past five years on shops whose Chinese names comprise (i) the term "藥房", (ii) the term "藥行" and (iii) the character "藥" but not the terms "藥房" or "藥行", as well as the respective numbers of cases in which the persons concerned were prosecuted and convicted for contravention of the law, and among the convicted persons, the respective numbers of those who were (i) registered pharmacists and (ii) ASPs; (3) of the respective numbers of complaints or reports about the sale of fake or spurious drugs received by the authorities in the past five years, as well as the respective numbers of prosecutions and convictions in connection with them; (4) of the respective numbers of patients who fell sick and were admitted to hospitals for treatment in the past five years after taking (i) prescription drugs bought from pharmacies without doctors' prescriptions and (ii) drugs that were fake or spurious; and (5) whether it will review and amend the existing legislation to raise the penalties for selling prescription drugs without doctors' prescriptions and for selling fake or spurious drugs; whether it will require that only shops which are ASPs are allowed to use Chinese names comprising the character "藥", so as to avoid causing confusion to members of the public?
*19. Hon Claudia MO to ask: (Translation)
At present, among the posting boxes available on the streets for the public to post mail, 59 were cast in the colonial era and engraved with British crown markings and royal cyphers (the "markings and cyphers"). It has been reported that Hongkong Post ("HKP") plans to cover the markings and cyphers with iron plates showing HKP's corporate logo of a white humming bird on the grounds that it is inappropriate to display the markings and cyphers on posting boxes that are still in service. However, according to a former Postmaster General, the Government decided by the time of reunification of Hong Kong not to remove those posting boxes because they were still usable. He has also criticized that the attempt to cover the markings and cyphers only serves to attract more attention to them. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the specific timetable for implementing the plan to cover the markings and cyphers and the relevant details; (2) as it has been reported that a former Senior Controller of Posts stated publicly at the time of reunification of Hong Kong that there was no plan to replace those posting boxes as they were practical stuff not meant for pledging allegiance to anyone, why HKP, after a lapse of quite some years, considers it inappropriate to display the markings and cyphers, and what well-founded justifications it has for reversing the previous decision; (3) whether HKP's decision to cover the markings and cyphers was made out of professional judgment or under external pressure; of the role played by the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau ("CEDB"), to which HKP is subordinated, in the incident and whether CEDB has given any advice; (4) as it has been reported that HKP had made the decision in as early as March this year to cover the markings and cyphers, but it has all along not announced the decision, whether HKP had fully consulted the public and taken into account public views before it made the decision; if it had, of the details; if not, whether HKP will consider shelving the plan and consulting the public before making a decision; and (5) how the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development will respond to public concerns about covering the markings and cyphers, so as to realize the spirit of the Accountability System for Principal Officials?
*20. Hon KWOK Wai-keung to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that as the prices of raw plastics have dropped continuously due to the persistently low prices of crude oil, manufacturers of plastic products purchase less plastics produced from recycled waste plastics. In such a situation where the demand for waste plastics is decreasing and their recovery prices are dropping, the operation of the recycling industry of waste plastics has almost come to a halt in the recent six months. As a result, large quantities of waste plastics have been disposed of at landfills. The situation has not only increased the burden on the landfills, but at the same time has also led to wastage of resources that could have been recovered and recycled. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the quantities and rates of waste plastics recovered in Hong Kong in each of the past five years; the measures adopted by the authorities for increasing the recovery rates of waste plastics, so as to avoid the disposal of large quantities of plastic wastes at landfills; (2) whether the authorities compiled statistics on the recovery prices of waste plastics and the export prices of recycled plastics in the past five years; if they have compiled such statistics, of the details; (3) whether, in the past five years, the authorities monitored and studied the operation of the recycling industry of waste plastics in Hong Kong, including the recovery costs and the problems faced by the industry, etc.; if they did, of the details; (4) as I have learnt that quite a number of recyclers have now stopped collecting waste plastics, and as a result, large quantities of waste plastics segregated are sent to landfills together with other garbage for disposal, whether the authorities have grasped the situation concerned; if they have, of the remedial measures; and (5) given that in comparison with the recovery of scrap metals and waste paper, the costs for recovering waste plastics are higher but the profits are lower, recyclers are therefore less keen on engaging in the recycling business of waste plastics, whether the authorities will draw up a long-term plan for the development of the recycling industry of waste plastics (such as setting up a dedicated fund, implementing recycling schemes in collaboration with the business sector and setting targets for the quantities of recovered waste plastics)?
*21. Hon IP Kin-yuen to ask: (Translation)
According to the Code of Aid for Aided Schools, the Incorporated Management Committee should give advice and support to a teacher whose performance is unsatisfactory and, if there is no improvement in performance, may serve the teacher a written warning. If there is still no improvement after two written warnings have been served, the appointment of the relevant teacher may be terminated after a sufficient period of notice has been given. The Incorporated Management Committee must forward copies of the aforesaid written warnings to the Permanent Secretary for Education, so that the Education Bureau ("EB") may take note and/or follow up where necessary. Some stakeholders have relayed to me that schools often take disciplinary actions (e.g. serving the aforesaid written warnings) against the teachers concerned without giving them adequate opportunities of being heard. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of (i) the number of copies of the aforesaid written warnings received by EB, (ii) the number of cases in which EB took follow-up actions after receiving such copies, (iii) the number of cases in which EB concluded upon assessment that the written warning was inappropriately served by the schools (with a breakdown of the numbers of cases and the relevant reasons by whether EB requested the schools to withdraw written warnings), and (iv) the number of schools which withdrew the written warnings in accordance with EB's requests and the number of such cases involved, in each of the past three years; and (2) whether EB will, in order to safeguard the interests of the teachers concerned, comprehensively improve the disciplinary procedure against teachers whose performance is unsatisfactory by, for example, putting in place a mechanism similar to the civil service disciplinary mechanism to require schools to hold hearings before penalizing the teachers concerned to enable the teachers to make representations on the allegations, and allow their lawyers and representatives to accompany them to the hearings to offer them legal advice or assistance, thereby protecting the rights of the teachers concerned?
*22. Hon Kenneth LEUNG to ask: (Translation)
To improve roadside air quality and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the Government has been proactively promoting the use of electric vehicles ("EVs"), with the policy objective of making Hong Kong "one of the cities where EVs are most widely used". However, some EV owners have relayed that the some 1 200 EV chargers currently available for public use ("public chargers") are far from adequate, and ancillary facilities are gravely insufficient as well. Moreover, an internationally uniform set of conductive charging standards for EVs is currently unavailable. The conductive charging standards most commonly adopted by various major EV manufacturers include: the International Electrotechnical Commission ("IEC"), Society of Automotive Engineers ("SAE") of the United States, GuoBiao ("GB") of China and CHAdeMO DC quick charging standard of Japan. As different charging methods and plugs are used by different models of EVs, EV owners find it very inconvenient when using public chargers to charge their EVs, and this in turn has posed an obstacle to the popularization of EVs. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has considered drawing up a set of official charging standards for EVs in Hong Kong; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) of a breakdown, by conductive charging standard, of the existing numbers of public chargers and registered private EVs (set out in the table below);
Charging speed Conductive charging standard Number of public chargers Number of registered private EVs Standard BS1363 Medium IEC 62196 (less than or equal to 20 kilowatts) SAE J1772 Others Quick CHAdeMO GB 20234.2 CCS DC Combo IEC 62196
(exceeding 20 kilowatts)Others (3) whether it has assessed (i) if the existing respective numbers of standard, medium and quick public chargers can allay vehicle owners' concern about charging issues and boost their confidence in switching to EVs, and (ii) how these numbers compare with the current and future demands for chargers; whether it has any specific plans to install additional public chargers; if it does, of the details (including the conductive charging standards involved); if not, the reasons for that; (4) whether it has formulated comprehensive development strategies concerning the management and payment methods of public chargers, as well as the information technology security involved in the systems concerned, etc.; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (5) given that the Government has been encouraging developers to install EV chargers in the car parks of newly constructed buildings through granting concessions on Gross Floor Areas for car parks, and it has written to owners' corporations and owners' committees to appeal for their positive responses to requests for installing EV charging facilities in the properties under their management, whether the Government knows, since the implementation of the aforementioned measures, the respective numbers of private residential properties in which EV charging facilities were installed upon the properties' completion and those in which EV charging facilities were retrofitted after the properties' completion, together with a list (set out in the table below) of such properties' names, the number of units in the properties and the number of chargers installed; whether the Government has considered offering more incentives to encourage managers of private properties to install EV charging facilities; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
Names of the private residential properties Number of units Number of chargers (6) given that the number of registered electric taxis has dropped from 48 as recorded at the end of last year to 29 in June this year, exhibiting a downward trend, and that the relevant figures are far less than the 3 000 originally anticipated by an electric taxi supplier, whether the authorities have looked into the reasons behind the situation; if they have, whether one of the reasons is that there are insufficient charging facilities; whether, in addition to granting exemption from first registration tax, the Government will enhance public charging facilities to encourage the taxi trade to switch to electric taxis; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
* For written reply
III. Bills
| First Reading
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| Second Reading (Debate to resume), Committee Stage and Third Reading
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| Peak Tramway (Amendment) Bill 2015 | : | Secretary for Transport and Housing
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| (Debate and voting arrangements for Committee stage amendments to the Peak Tramway (Amendment) Bill 2015 (issued on 27 October 2015 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 82/15-16(01)))
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