A 15/16-11
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 6 January 2016 at 11:00 am
I. Tabling of Paper
Report No. 9/15-16 of the House Committee on Consideration of Subsidiary Legislation and Other Instruments
(to be presented by Hon Andrew LEUNG, Chairman of the House Committee)
II. Questions
1. Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki to ask: (Translation)
Some members of the public have relayed to me that the provision of drinking fountains in public places not only brings convenience to members of the public but also helps reduce plastic waste generated from beverage bottles. While drinking fountains for public use are currently provided in some of the government buildings, sports venues and parks, they may not necessarily supply both hot and cold water to cater for the needs of some members of the public. On the other hand, shopping malls in which drinking fountains are provided are rare in number, and no drinking fountain is provided in any MTR station. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the respective numbers of drinking fountains currently provided for public use in various types of venues under the Government and public organizations (including hospitals and clinics under the Hospital Authority, MTR stations, universities, secondary schools, primary schools, and teaching and learning facilities of the Vocational Training Council) as well as the respective percentages of such numbers in the total number of drinking fountains and, among these drinking fountains, the respective numbers of those which supply both hot and cold water; whether the Government has compiled statistics on the total number of drinking fountains currently provided for public use in various shopping malls as well as the number of those which supply both hot and cold water; of the public expenditure incurred on the provision of drinking fountains and their recurrent costs in the past five years; (2) in the past five years, of the number of waste plastic beverage bottles across the territory, the carbon emission from the manufacturing process of plastic beverage bottles, and the economic loss incurred as a result of the environmental pollution caused by the manufacture and dumping of plastic beverage bottles; whether it has gauged the number of waste plastic beverage bottles and carbon emission that can be reduced per year respectively with the provision of drinking fountains in the premises mentioned in (1); and (3) whether, in the past five years, the authorities regularly took water samples from the drinking fountains in various government facilities and shopping malls for conducting laboratory tests to see if the quality of the drinking water supplied by such drinking fountains conformed to the Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality of the World Health Organization; if they did, of the outcome; if not, the reasons for that, and the measures the authorities have in place to ensure that the quality of such drinking water conforms to the aforesaid guidelines?
| Public Officers to reply | : | Secretary for Development
Secretary for the Environment |
2. Hon CHAN Han-pan to ask: (Translation)
On 25 October last year, a high speed craft departing from Macao for Hong Kong was suspected to have collided with some floating objects in the waters off Siu A Chau and lost power. That incident, which caused 124 injuries, has once again aroused public concern about the authorities' capability for providing maritime ambulance services. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of maritime safety incidents which occurred within Hong Kong waters in the past five years, as well as the number of persons injured in such incidents and taken to the hospital for treatment; in those maritime incidents involving over 10 injuries (including the Lamma Island vessel collision accident and the aforesaid incident), the respective time lapsed from the receipt of the report of the incident to the delivery of the last injured person to the hospital for treatment, and the emergency ambulance services received by the injured persons in the course of delivery; whether there were cases in which deaths were caused by the delayed delivery of the injured persons to the hospital for treatment; (2) of the details of the ambulance service arrangements currently applicable to major maritime incidents, including the routes and the means of transport to be used for conveying the injured persons to the hospital; the respective numbers of injured persons who can be handled per trip respectively by various means of transport, and the time needed; whether healthcare personnel can perform emergency surgeries for seriously injured persons on board such means of transport; and (3) given the increasingly hectic marine traffic, whether the authorities will consider afresh the suggestion repeatedly made by me and a member of the Island District Council for establishing a dedicated ambulance launch fleet?
3. Dr Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that between June 2014 and September last year, the Immigration Department ("ImmD") uncovered 6 000-odd cases of possible abuse of the arrangement for premature termination of contracts for change of employers (commonly known as "job-hopping") by foreign domestic helpers ("FDHs") and, among such cases, ImmD refused 500-odd applications for change of employer. Some concern groups have pointed out that one in every five employers of FDHs indicated that they had encountered the problem of job-hopping by FDHs. Quite a number of employers are of the view that as the existing legislation and arrangements have failed to protect their rights, it is imperative for the Government to amend the relevant legislation. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has reviewed if the existing arrangements are effective in deterring FDHs from job-hopping and whether it will consider amending the relevant arrangements to enhance the protection for employers, such as stipulating that FDHs are required to pay their own costs of returning to home countries in case of premature termination of contracts without justifiable reasons, and that employment visas will not be issued to those FDHs who have repeatedly changed their employers within a year; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) as some employers have pointed out that under the existing Standard Employment Contract, they are required to provide their FDHs with free passages and air tickets from Hong Kong to their places of domicile even if their FDHs have committed criminal offences such as theft, prostitution, drug trafficking, etc. or have made serious mistakes which render them unable to fulfill their contracts, whether the Government has reviewed if that provision is fair to employers and whether it will consider amending such provision; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) as it has been reported that some unscrupulous FDH employment agencies ("EAs") have abetted FDHs to deliberately perform badly with the intent of inducing their employers to take the initiative to dismiss them so that such FDHs can obtain one month's wages in lieu of notice as well as free passages and air tickets to return to their places of domicile while EAs can receive intermediary fees from the new employers of FDHs, whether the Government will step up its regulation on EAs, including disclosing the names of those EAs which have placed a number of job-hopping FDHs, as well as stipulating a heavier penalty for abetting FDHs to violate the law so as to enhance the deterrent effect; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
| Public Officers to reply | : | Secretary for Labour and Welfare
Secretary for Security |
4. Dr Hon Helena WONG to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that an environmental group recently took 10 water samples from five reservoirs storing drinking water for laboratory tests, with test results showing that all samples contained perfluorinated chemicals ("PFCs"), which are hazardous to human health. It has also been reported that the water quality monitoring data of Dongjiang ("DJ") water samples taken from the Muk Wu Pumping Station in Hong Kong by the Water Supplies Department ("WSD") last year indicated that the level of faecal coliforms in the water samples exceeded the standard by six times during the summer and that the total phosphorus level was the highest in the past decade, which had been caused by the discharge of flood water from Shawan River in Shenzhen, which is downstream of DJ, during heavy downpours. Regarding the monitoring of PFCs in drinking water and the environment as well as the quality of DJ water, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) in respect of the levels of PFCs, how the water samples taken in each of the past five years by WSD from reservoirs storing DJ water compare with those taken in the same period from reservoirs storing only rainwater; if the levels of PFCs in the former samples are higher, whether it has looked into the reasons for that; of the details of such water samples’ monitoring data (including the dates and locations for taking such samples, as well as the data of various monitoring parameters); (2) why WSD has not published the monitoring data of PFCs; whether it has any plan to include this substance as one of the regular parameters for monitoring the quality of drinking water and to set the relevant standard values; if it does, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; given that PFCs are widely used in the production of various goods (including waterproof clothes and gears), whether the authorities will introduce legislation to ban or restrict the import or sale of goods such as clothes which contain PFCs, so as to prevent such chemicals from being released into the environment; and (3) given that the Government indicated in its reply to a question raised by a Member of this Council in February 2009 that the Guangdong and Hong Kong sides had, after discussions, implemented four measures and works to mitigate water pollution, namely (i) enforcing more strictly the environmental legislation, regulating the pollution emitters along DJ, as well as strengthening the supervision and monitoring of wastewater discharge points along rivers, (ii) stepping up control over land use planning and environmentally unfriendly activities, (iii) improving progressively the water resource management and real-time monitoring system, and (iv) implementing wastewater interception schemes at Shenzhen Reservoir to ensure no contamination in the reservoir, of the details of the authorities’ implementation of these four measures and works as well as the latest progress, and whether they have other measures in place to further improve the quality of DJ water?
5. Hon CHUNG Kwok-pan to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that a number of incidents of attacks launched by terrorists have occurred recently in various places around the world, and the Mainland and Taiwan are even included in a list of targets for attacks released by an extremist organization. On the other hand, the Government conducted in November last year a large-scale counter-terrorism exercise codenamed "Windgate", jointly participated by 40 policy bureaux, government departments and related industry stakeholders, to test Hong Kong's capabilities in dealing with terrorist attacks and to enhance the counter-terrorism awareness as well as co-ordination and response capabilities of various government departments. Regarding the measures adopted by the Government against terrorist attacks, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether the authorities will step up security screening on foreigners entering Hong Kong in order to intercept terrorists; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) whether the authorities will strengthen the exchange of intelligence on terrorist activities with other countries or places; given that a number of European cities currently under the threat of terrorist attacks are popular tourist destinations for Hong Kong people, whether the authorities will make use of such intelligence to enhance their efforts in reminding Hong Kong people travelling abroad to watch their personal safety, and review the existing Outbound Travel Alert System; and (3) of the number of counter-terrorism and major incident response exercises conducted by the Police in the past three years; whether the various relevant government departments and organizations will conduct more joint counter-terrorism exercises in order to enhance their response and co-ordination capabilities; whether the Police will enhance their mechanism for assessing the risk of terrorist attacks and strengthen their capabilities of collecting intelligence on terrorist activities from the Internet; whether it has assessed the adequacy of the current manpower and equipment for conducting counter-terrorism operations; whether there are plans to increase manpower and purchase additional equipment to cope with the threats of globe-sweeping terrorist activities upon Hong Kong?
6. Hon Martin LIAO to ask: (Translation)
The 21st session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change passed in December last year a new agreement on the global efforts in addressing climate change (the "Paris Agreement"). One of the objectives of the Paris Agreement is to control global emissions of greenhouse gases, with a view to controlling the rise of the global average temperature within two degrees Celsius above the pre-industrialization level, and striving continuously to limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrialization level (collectively known as "the temperature goals"). The Secretary for the Environment welcomes the passage of the Paris Agreement, and describes it as the turning point for addressing climate change and environmental issues in human history. On the other hand, the Government set a carbon reduction target in 2010, planning to reduce the carbon intensity of Hong Kong by 50% to 60% by 2020 from the 2005 level. Regarding the issues on addressing climate change, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that the Paris Agreement has set specific temperature goals, whether the authorities will formulate specific plans to address the different scenarios of global temperature which may emerge in the future; if they will, of the details of such plans, including whether the authorities will regularly report to the public the progress of the implementation of the plans; (2) given that the Paris Agreement has set more aggressive temperature goals and Hong Kong is an international city and advanced economy, whether the authorities will set a more forward-looking carbon reduction target for 2020; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) given that the authorities have indicated that they will discuss with the various sectors of the community on the carbon reduction target beyond 2020 and the issues relating to addressing climate change, and will formulate appropriate options, of the details of the relevant work, including the timetable for implementing the various targets?
*7. Hon Mrs Regina IP to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that earlier on, a member of the public was cut in the neck by the string of a stunt kite while cycling along the main dam of Plover Cove Reservoir in Tai Po, which left a blood scar of half a centimetre wide and more than 10 centimetres long on her neck. It has also been reported that the dam is a popular spot for picnickers and cyclists on holidays and the road there is narrow, but some people still fly kites on the dam, thus causing dangers to others. It is learnt that the string of a stunt kite is much more dangerous than that of an ordinary kite because both the flying speed and string tension of a stunt kite are higher than those of an ordinary kite. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether there are venues currently designated by government departments for kite-flying by the public; if so, of the details of such venues set out according to the 18 District Council districts, including whether flying stunt kites is permitted in such venues; if not, the reasons for that; (2) whether the existing legislation has provided for penalties on members of the public for flying kites at unsuitable locations; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) whether a mechanism is currently in place for members of the public to report kite-flying at unsuitable locations; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (4) whether the authorities have put in place specific regulations for activities of flying stunt kites; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (5) whether the authorities will, in the light of the aforesaid accident of a person being injured by a kite string, step up their inspections of various popular spots for kite-flying and take appropriate actions to prevent the occurrences of similar accidents; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*8. Hon WONG Kwok-hing to ask: (Translation)
The Hong Kong Housing Authority ("HA") introduced in September 2005 the Quota and Points System ("QPS"), which is applicable to non-elderly one-person applicants, to rationalize the priority in the allocation of public rental housing ("PRH") units to these applicants. HA has implemented the refined QPS since 1 February last year to enable older applicants (particularly those who are above the age of 45) to enjoy relatively higher priority in the allocation of PRH units. However, some members of the public have pointed out that in the past nine financial years, not a single one-person applicant below the age of 30 was allocated PRH unit and the number of applicants aged between 30 and 39 accounted for less than 4% of the total number of applicants who were allocated PRH units each year, reflecting that the original QPS was already able to achieve the policy objective of enabling older applicants to enjoy higher priority in the allocation of PRH units. Regarding the allocation of PRH units to non-elderly one-person applicants, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of non-elderly one-person applicants allocated with PRH units since the implementation of the refined QPS, together with their age profile and average waiting time; (2) of the number of new non-elderly one-person applicants since the implementation of the refined QPS; their (i) age and education attainment profiles, and (ii) highest and lowest points accorded to them on submission of applications; (3) of the current number of non-elderly one-person applicants and the average length of waiting period since the time of application, and set out in the table below a breakdown by the age group to which they belong; if such figures are not available, of the reasons for that, and whether it will conduct a relevant analysis to facilitate the study on ways to improve QPS; Age group Number of applicants Average length of waiting period
since the time of application18 to 29 30 to 39 40 to 45 46 to 49 50 to below 60 (4) of the number of applications received in each round of the Express Flat Allocation Scheme in the past five years, and among them, (i) the respective numbers of family and non-elderly one-person applicants and their respective percentages in the total number of applicants, (ii) the number of cases in which the applicants were allocated PRH units, and (iii) the age profile of the non-elderly one-person applicants who were allocated PRH units; (5) given that if the Social Welfare Department is, upon assessment, of the opinion that the applicants concerned have pressing housing needs and their cases have sufficient social or medical grounds, it will recommend to the Housing Department that compassionate rehousing be given to such applicants, in each of the past five years, (i) of the number of applications for compassionate rehousing, and among them, the number of applications made by non-elderly one-person applicants, and (ii) the number of cases in which compassionate rehousing was recommended for non-elderly one-person applicants and their percentage in the total number of cases in which compassionate rehousing was recommended; whether the Government will improve the policy on compassionate rehousing, e.g. by putting in place a mechanism whereby the non-elderly one-person applicants, who have pressing housing needs but whose applications for compassionate rehousing have been rejected, can lodge complaints; and (6) whether it has conducted a study to ascertain if the refined QPS will result in slim chances for non-elderly one-person applicants aged below 45 to be allocated PRH units; if it has conducted such a study and the outcome is in the affirmative, whether the authorities will state the case clearly in the PRH application forms, e.g. the waiting time could be as long as 10 to 20 years; whether the authorities will provide temporary housing units as temporary accommodation for non-elderly one-person applicants whose living environment is poor and whose housing needs are not the most pressing?
*9. Hon Dennis KWOK to ask: (Translation)
In accordance with the requirements of the environmental impact assessment report of the Central-Wan Chai Bypass project ("CWB project") and the Dumping at Sea Ordinance (Cap. 466), inert construction waste such as bentonite must be processed and delivered to appropriate facilities for disposal. Nevertheless, it has recently been uncovered by the press that the contractor of the project has allegedly contravened the aforesaid requirements and dumped bentonite unlawfully into the waters of Victoria Harbour. Some members of the public are of the view that such a situation reflects the existence of loopholes in the mechanism of the Environmental Protection Department ("EPD") for monitoring works contractors' compliance of the aforesaid requirements, resulting in damages to the marine environment and ecology. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) as it has been reported that in spite of a number of inspections conducted at the works site of the CWB project by EPD, EPD has failed to uncover the aforesaid unlawful marine dumping activities, of the criteria adopted by EPD when conducting inspections for judging whether the relevant contractor has carried out such activities, and the justifications for adopting such criteria; (2) given that under Cap. 466, any person must hold a permit issued by the Director of Environmental Protection ("the Director") for carrying out marine dumping operations, whether the Director has issued such a permit to the contractor of the CWB project; if so, of the details of the permit, including whether the contractor is allowed to dump bentonite into the waters of Victoria Harbour; if not, whether the contractor have contravened the requirements under Cap. 466 by carrying out such activities; (3) of EPD's existing procedures for vetting and approving applications for marine dumping permits, and since when EPD has adopted such procedures; whether EPD has plans to update such procedures; if EPD has such plans, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (4) whether the authorities will adopt measures which are more effective (such as increasing the frequency of site inspections, tightening the criteria for vetting and approving marine dumping permits or amending the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance (Cap. 499)), so as to curb unlawful marine dumping activities; and (5) of the Government's existing policies and measures to prevent damages to marine ecology, in particular those concerning the handling of foreign objects (such as waste and rubbish) in the sea; which government departments are responsible for implementing such policies and measures; and whether EPD has carried out joint operations with other relevant department(s) to curb unlawful marine dumping activities; if EPD has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*10. Hon Vincent FANG to ask: (Translation)
According to the Validation Scheme for Unauthorized Signboards ("Validation Scheme"), existing unauthorized signboards that meet the technical specifications for signboards under the minor works items may be validated and, upon validation, their continued use will be allowed. Validated signboards will not be subject to the law enforcement actions of the Buildings Department ("BD"). The validation procedures under the Validation Scheme include safety inspection, strengthening (if necessary) and certification of unauthorized signboards by prescribed building professionals or prescribed registered contractors ("the appointed persons"). On the other hand, some ground floor shop owners in Sheung Wan sought my assistance recently as BD had issued orders to them demanding the removal of the unauthorized signboards on the exterior walls of their shops within a specified period of time, and those signboards were in fact security fixtures used for concealing the roller shutters of their shops. Those shop owners planned to join the Validation Scheme in order to obtain permission for retaining such fixtures, but all of the appointed persons had indicated that they had no time to undertake the validation, which made them feel very helpless. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether BD has compiled statistics on the number of fixtures in the territory which are used for concealing roller shutters; if BD has, of the number; if not, whether it will compile such statistics expeditiously; (2) of the current number of unauthorized signboards in respect of which BD has issued removal orders and, among them, the number of which have not been removed upon expiry of the deadline; whether the authorities will conduct territory-wide operations to remove unauthorized signboards; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; whether the security needs of shops will be taken into account when BD considers issuing orders to remove unauthorized signboards; (3) of the number of cases in which prosecutions were instituted by BD in the past three years against owners of fixtures used for concealing roller shutters who had failed to remove those fixtures pursuant to BD's orders, as well as the number of conviction cases among them; (4) of the number of validation applications received by the authorities since the implementation of the Validation Scheme in September 2013, the respective numbers of cases which have passed the validation and those which have not, as well as the reasons for some cases not passing the validation; whether the authorities have assessed the effectiveness of the Scheme; if they have, of the outcome; and (5) of the number of qualified appointed persons under the Validation Scheme; whether the authorities have assessed the adequacy of the number of appointed persons; for those cases in which owners of the unauthorized signboards are unable to join the Validation Scheme due to the unavailability of appointed persons to undertake the validation, whether BD will grant the relevant signboard owners a grace period during which law enforcement actions will be withheld; if BD will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*11. Hon LEE Cheuk-yan to ask: (Translation)
A number of study reports reveal that foreign domestic helpers ("FDHs") who come to work in Hong Kong have been subjected to abuse by employment agencies ("EAs"), including being forced to pay high intermediary charges. Quite a number of FDHs have incurred huge debt as a result and become "bonded labour". Moreover, some labour groups have relayed to me that the Government has not squarely addressed the aforesaid issue. For instance, the Employment Agencies Administration ("EAA") of the Labour Department instituted prosecutions against only four EAs in 2014, and only one of such cases involved overcharging of intermediary charges, reflecting the ineffective monitoring on the part of EAA. Regarding the protection of the rights and interests of FDHs, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of inspections conducted by the personnel of EAA on EAs in each of the past three years; the existing staff establishment of EAA; whether the authorities will consider increasing the manpower of EAA so as to strengthen EAA's monitoring of EAs; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) as some labour groups have pointed out that the current penalties for overcharging of intermediary charges by EAs are too lenient (e.g. the maximum fine being $50,000 only), and that EAs often make FDHs unable to lodge complaints within the six-month actionable period by delaying the issuance of the receipts of intermediary charges, whether the authorities will consider amending the legislation in order to raise the relevant penalties and extend the actionable period; if they will, of the details, including whether the authorities will conduct public consultation; if not, the reasons for that; (3) given that the Secretary for Labour and Welfare ("the Secretary") has indicated that the drafting of the Code of Practice for EAs will be completed in the first quarter of this year, of the details and progress of such work; (4) given that the Secretary has indicated that a study will be conducted on the offer of compulsory half-day courses for FDHs to enable them to understand their labour rights and interests, and yet I have learnt that the authorities have so far organized only short seminars jointly with the consulates concerned, whether the authorities have given up offering the aforesaid courses; if they have, of the reasons for that; if not, the timetable for launching the courses and the details of the work concerned; and (5) whether the authorities have had any discussions with the consulates of countries other than Indonesia and the Philippines (including India, Thailand, Nepal and Sri Lanka) on how to protect the rights and interests of the FDHs from those countries; if they have, of the number, dates and contents of the meetings held, as well as the follow-up work (set out the information by name of country in a table); if not, the reasons for that?
*12. Hon CHAN Chi-chuen to ask: (Translation)
PMQ, which is a new creative landmark developed from the revitalization and transformation of the former Police Married Quarters on Hollywood Road, opened for business in April 2014. The Development Bureau has entrusted through a tenancy agreement the operation of PMQ to PMQ Management Company Limited ("PMQ Ltd."). Recently, it has been reported that as some tenants of PMQ are dissatisfied that PMQ Ltd. has neither provided adequate support for them nor actively promoted PMQ, which has resulted in their business hardships and dim business prospects, and coupled with the pressure of having to submit monthly business updates to PMQ Ltd., these tenants have openly stated that they will not renew their tenancies upon the expiry of their two-year tenancies next year. Hence, a trend of termination of tenancies may happen at any moment. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the current number of PMQ units which are not rented out, and set out in a table (i) the areas of those units and (ii) the per-square-foot rents of those units determined by PMQ Ltd. as well as how such amounts compare with the open market rents in the same locality; (2) whether it knows the amounts of management fees and other charges (including water, electricity and air-conditioning charges) currently levied by PMQ Ltd. on PMQ tenants; whether PMQ Ltd. has provided any subsidy to encourage the anchoring of new creative entrepreneurs; if PMQ Ltd. has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) whether it knows the respective current numbers of PMQ tenants who have left their rented units unused, who intend to terminate their tenancies prematurely, or who have indicated that they will not renew their tenancies; the reasons for those tenants taking such courses of action; if it does not know the reasons for that, whether it will request PMQ Ltd. to conduct an investigation in this regard and take measures to improve such situation; (4) as I have learnt that some PMQ tenants have cut their operating hours due to low visitor flow, whether it knows the average operating hours per week of PMQ tenants; if it knows, of the details; if not, whether it will request PMQ Ltd. to compile the relevant statistics; (5) whether it knows (i) the average number of visitors per month, (ii) the average number of activities such as exhibitions and performances organized per month, and (iii) the average number of visitors attracted by such kind of activities on each occasion, since PMQ opened for business; (6) as some tenants have relayed to me that during PMQ's initial period of operation, the promotional events organized by PMQ Ltd., including an exhibition of over 1 000 paper mache pandas, did successfully attract quite a number of visitors, but PMQ Ltd. has failed to continue organizing such events to attract visitors to PMQ afterwards, and that since most of the recent activities held in PMQ were targeted at families, such activities could not open up new visitor sources in tune with PMQ's positioning on culture and creativity, and hence were not conducive to addressing the business hardships faced by the tenants, whether the authorities know the strategies currently adopted by PMQ Ltd. for promoting PMQ; whether PMQ Ltd. has any plan to invite different renowned cultural and creative artists to conduct activities there in order to attract visitors; if PMQ Ltd. does, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (7) whether it knows the criteria based on which PMQ Ltd. assesses the business performance of PMQ tenants; whether PMQ Ltd. has provided any assistance to tenants with substandard business performance; if PMQ Ltd. has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (8) as the first batch of tenancies signed between PMQ Ltd. and PMQ tenants will soon expire one after the other, whether the authorities know if PMQ Ltd. has any plan to offer more concessions on rents and other charges to tenants, and undertake to organize more activities which may attract the suitable clientele so as to increase the incentives for tenants to renew their tenancies; if PMQ Ltd. does, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (9) as the present low visitor flow of PMQ has resulted in the poor business of PMQ tenants, whether the authorities have currently put in place any mechanism to penalize PMQ Ltd. for its ineffective operation and even to terminate the relevant tenancy agreement; if the authorities have, of the details; if not, how the authorities will step up its monitoring of the performance of PMQ Ltd.?
*13. Hon NG Leung-sing to ask: (Translation)
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China's Proposal on Formulating the Thirteenth Five Year Plan on National Economic and Social Development ("13th Five-Year Plan"), promulgated by the Xinhua News Agency on 3 November last year, sought to "give full play to the unique strengths of Hong Kong and Macao, elevate the position and role of Hong Kong and Macao in our country's economic development and opening up to the outside world", and "give support to Hong Kong to consolidate its status as an international centre for financial services, shipping and trade for participating in China's two-way opening up, development of ‘Belt and Road' initiative, as well as give support to Hong Kong to reinforce its status as a global hub for offshore Renminbi business, so as to promote the development of financing, commerce and trade, logistics, professional services, etc. to move towards the high-end and high value-added direction". In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether the authorities have made any initial preparations to complement the country's implementation of the 13th Five-Year Plan; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) of the specific measures in place to facilitate Hong Kong in "participating in China's two-way opening up" and "development of ‘Belt and Road' initiative"; and (3) given that the 13th Five-Year Plan has pointed out that "innovation is the primary driving force to spearhead development", how the Innovation and Technology Bureau will spearhead Hong Kong's work in respect of innovation and technology to complement the development of the country?
*14. Hon Christopher CHEUNG to ask: (Translation)
In November last year, a securities company listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong published an announcement on the HKExnews web site, stating that as the company was unable to reach the Chairman of its Board, who was also its Chief Executive Officer, it had appointed an executive director to temporarily discharge the duties of the said person who could not be reached. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council if it knows:
(1) the number of cases in the past five years in which listed companies published announcements stating that their Chairmen or principal officers had gone missing or could not be reached, and the whereabouts of these persons before they had gone missing or before they could not be reached; among such cases, the number of those in which the companies concerned are still unable to reach the missing persons or the persons with whom they have lost contact; (2) whether the Securities and Futures Commission ("SFC") has required that listed companies must publish an announcement within a certain period of time after their Chairmen or principal officers are found missing, or after they have lost contact with these persons; if SFC has, of the details; if not, whether SFC will conduct a review in this respect; and (3) the follow-up actions that SFC will normally take in relation to such cases to ensure that the interests of minority shareholders will not be prejudiced?
*15. Hon YIU Si-wing to ask: (Translation)
According to the Visa Restrictions Index 2015 published by The Henley & Partners, with 152 countries/territories granting visa-free access or visa-on-arrival (collectively known as "visa-free access") to its passport holders, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ("SAR") ranks the 16th, down two places from last year, and such a ranking is also lower than those of South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia. It is learnt that in view of the increasing spending power of Chinese nationals in recent years, more and more countries have granted visa-free access to holders of Chinese passports, but some of such countries (e.g. Myanmar, Cambodia as well as Antigua and Barbuda) have not offered the same treatment to SAR passport holders. Moreover, some countries (e.g. Bolivia and Paraguay) whose nationals have been granted visa-free access by the SAR Government have not offered reciprocal treatment to SAR passport holders. Some members of the public have relayed to me that while the SAR Government was active in lobbying other countries/territories to grant visa-free access to SAR passport holders in earlier years, such lobbying efforts have come to a halt in recent years. Those members of the public consider that with the increasingly frequent economic, trading, cultural and tourism exchanges between Hong Kong and the international community, the SAR Government should resume its lobbying efforts. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the countries/territories which newly granted visa-free access to SAR passport holders in the past 10 years; (2) whether it knows the countries/territories which at present have granted visa-free access to Chinese passport holders but have not offered the same treatment to SAR passport holders, and the reasons for such countries/territories adopting such a practice; (3) of the countries/territories, among those whose passport holders have been granted visa-free access by the SAR Government, which have not offered reciprocal treatment to SAR passport holders at present, and whether it knows the reasons for such countries/territories adopting such a practice; and (4) whether it has plans to resume lobbying efforts so that more countries/territories will grant visa-free access to SAR passport holders, thereby facilitating SAR residents to travel to such countries/territories for trade and tourism activities; if it does, of the details and objectives of its work?
*16. Hon WONG Kwok-kin to ask: (Translation)
The Government will take over the ownership of the Eastern Harbour Crossing ("EHC") upon expiry of the EHC franchise in August this year. Quite a number of members of the public have relayed to me that the Government should then reduce the tolls at EHC, with a view to achieving a more reasonable distribution of the cross-harbour vehicular flows among the three road harbour crossings ("RHCs") (namely EHC, Cross Harbour Tunnel ("CHT") at Hung Hom and Western Harbour Crossing), and to reducing the operating costs of public transport service vehicles to make room for fare reduction, thereby bringing benefits to passengers. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the current average traffic volumes of the connecting roads of the various RHCs on (i) Mondays to Saturdays and (ii) Sundays/public holidays, and the average traffic volume/capacity ratios of each of these connecting roads during rush hours (set out in a table); (2) of the respective average number of southbound and northbound vehicle trips currently made daily by (i) franchised buses, (ii) public light buses ("PLBs") and (iii) taxis using the various RHCs in different time periods (set out in the table below);
Name of RHC: __________Time periods Mondays to Saturdays Sundays/public holidays Southbound Northbound Southbound Northbound (i) (ii) (iii) (i) (ii) (iii) (i) (ii) (iii) (i) (ii) (iii) 00:00-01:00 01:00-02:00 02:00-03:00 .
.
.22:00-23:00 23:00-24:00 (3) given that the authorities announced in February 2014 that the trial implementation of the option of "EHC reduction-CHT increase" (i.e. toll reduction at EHC and toll increase at CHT with a view to diverting some vehicular flows from CHT to EHC, thereby relieving the congestion at CHT) would be held in abeyance, whether the authorities will, in view of the latest traffic condition, consider afresh the trial implementation of the option; if they will, of the details and timetable; (4) with regard to the franchised buses and PLBs using EHC, of their respective (i) numbers of routes and (ii) total numbers of daily trips at present, and (iii) whether the authorities know the total amounts of EHC tolls paid respectively by the operators concerned last year; and (5) whether it will consider lowering the tolls payable by public transport service vehicles for using EHC upon taking over the ownership of EHC, so as to reduce the operating costs of the routes concerned, making room for fare reduction and bringing benefits to passengers?
*17. Dr Hon Priscilla LEUNG to ask: (Translation)
Under the Air Pollution Control (Ocean Going Vessels) (Fuel at Berth) Regulation (Cap. 311AA) ("the Regulation"), ocean going vessels ("OGVs") must not use non-compliant fuel for combustion purposes for operating any of the specified machinery while berthing in Hong Kong, and compliant fuel means low sulphur marine fuel with sulphur content not exceeding 0.5% by weight, liquefied natural gas or any other fuel approved by the air pollution control authority. Apart from fuel switching at berth, a switch to use onshore power supply ("OPS") may also reduce emissions from OGVs at berth. Regarding the measures to reduce the emissions of OGVs at berth, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the measures in place to ensure compliance of OGVs with the Regulation; the number of OGV calls in the waters of Hong Kong since the implementation of the Regulation on 1 July last year, and the number of cases in which the authorities instituted prosecutions for breaches of the Regulation; (2) of the number of cruise calls at the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal ("KTCT") and the concentration of sulphur dioxide recorded by the air quality monitoring station installed in Kwun Tong, since the implementation of the Regulation; whether the air pollution problem in Kwun Tong district has been alleviated as a result of the implementation of the Regulation; and (3) as some community and green groups have pointed out that with occupants moving into the residential and commercial buildings in the vicinity of KTCT one after another, more and more members of the public will be affected by the emission of pollutants from the cruises berthing at KTCT, whether the authorities will, in the light of the strong demand of those groups, review the decision made in June last year that the installation of OPS system at KTCT be suspended; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*18. Hon Frankie YICK to ask: (Translation)
In reply to my question raised on 24 June last year regarding parking facilities, the Government admitted that while the overall number of parking spaces in the territory could meet the demand, there were problems of mismatch of supply and demand in certain districts (I have learnt that the shortage of parking spaces is particularly acute in business districts and the vicinity of popular tourist hotspots). The Government also indicated that, by providing motorists with real-time information on vacant parking spaces in car parks, the instances of motorists driving their vehicles in circles on roads in search of parking spaces, which cause traffic congestion, could be reduced. Besides, the Government has planned to commence a review of parking policy in a timely manner. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that motorists driving their vehicles in circles on roads in search of parking spaces will aggravate the problems of traffic congestion and air pollution, thereby causing economic losses (including loss of productivity and medical expenses), whether the authorities will conduct a study on the financial viability of providing a real-time parking space information system and include, in the scope of the study, the extent to which economic losses can be reduced by such a system; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) whether it will adopt specific measures (such as providing financial incentives) to encourage operators of commercial public car parks to disseminate real-time information on vacant parking spaces to the public via smartphone applications or the Government's information platforms, with a view to preventing aggravation of traffic congestion caused by motorists driving their vehicles in circles on roads in search of parking spaces; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) given that the authorities have indicated that they would consider requesting newly-built commercial public car parks to provide real time information on vacant parking spaces, of the details of the relevant arrangements; and (4) when the authorities plan to commence the review of parking policy?
*19. Hon CHAN Yuen-han to ask: (Translation)
It has been uncovered by the press that the contractor of the Central-Wan Chai Bypass project ("CWB project") had unlawfully dumped construction waste generated from the project into the waters of Victoria Harbour repeatedly. As disclosed by a project stakeholder, the dumping lasted for more than six months and the construction waste involved was an inert construction waste known as "bentonite". This material will reduce oxygen concentration in water, which is non-conducive to the survival of marine organisms and will seriously impact on the water quality of Victoria Harbour that has seen improvement in recent years. According to a paper submitted by the authorities to the Public Works Subcommittee of this Council in June 2009, the construction waste (including inert construction waste) and marine mud generated from the CWB project must be delivered to appropriate facilities for disposal instead of being dumped into the sea. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) since commencement of the CWB project, whether the authorities have deployed staff to conduct regular inspections of the relevant sites to check if the contractors have disposed of construction waste pursuant to the requirements; if they have, of the number and mode of inspections, and whether they have notified the contractors and the consultants responsible for site supervision before conducting such inspections; and (2) whether it has launched a comprehensive investigation into the aforesaid allegation of unlawful dumping, including conducting laboratory tests on the water quality of the relevant waters; if it has not, of the reasons for that; if it has, the details and outcome; if the investigation outcome indicates that the allegation is substantiated, whether the contractor concerned has breached the works contract and relevant legislation because of unlawful dumping; if there is such a breach, how the authorities have followed up the matter, including what remedial measures they have taken and how they have penalized the contractor concerned?
*20. Hon LEUNG Kwok-hung to ask: (Translation)
Some members of the public have queried the commitment of the Secretary for Education ("the Secretary") to his duties. For instance, when the question of whether the Territory-wide System Assessment should be abolished or maintained is under heated debate in the community, the Secretary did not attend the public hearing on the aforesaid topic held by the Panel on Education of this Council on 29 November last year on grounds of leave. Furthermore, the Secretary has been alleged of frequently conducting overseas duty visits which are unrelated to his duties. Regarding the details of the overseas duty visits conducted so far by the Secretary since the beginning of this financial year, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of (i) the date, (ii) the number of days, (iii) the destination, (iv) the main itinerary and (v) the purpose of each overseas duty visit; (2) regarding each of such overseas duty visits, of (i) the number of accompanying personnel from the Education Bureau and their ranks, (ii) the number of other accompanying government personnel and their ranks, and (iii) the number of accompanying non-government personnel and the capacities in which they accompanied the visit; (3) regarding each of such overseas duty visits, of (i) the class of hotel accommodation and the expense incurred, (ii) the mode and class of transport (e.g. aircraft, train and ship) as well as the expense incurred and (iii) other expenses and the total expense incurred; (4) of the flight mileage awards earned by the Secretary in each overseas duty visit, with a breakdown of such flight mileage awards by whether they have been allocated for personal use; (5) whether it has assessed the effectiveness of each overseas duty visit in helping to resolve the existing education problems in Hong Kong; if it has, of the details; and (6) given that when leading a delegation from the education sector to Ningbo of Zhejiang province for exchange activities on 31 July 2014, the Secretary attended the Ningbo-Hong Kong Economic Co-operation Forum 2014 co-hosted by the local government and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, of the purpose of the Secretary's attendance at the forum, as well as the correlation between the Secretary's attendance at the forum and the educational affairs of Hong Kong?
*21. Hon Charles Peter MOK to ask: (Translation)
I have learnt that for many years, the Hong Kong Institute of Planners ("the Institute") has all along been advocating the rezoning of Des Voeux Road Central as a tram and pedestrian area, in a bid to alleviate the air pollution problem in the vicinity of Des Voeux Road Central and improve the road environment. Although the authorities indicated in its reply to the Institute in 2000 that the proposal was technically feasible, they did not subsequently implement it due to a lack of complementary policies. However, when the Institute, in collaboration with other organizations, revisited the aforesaid proposal with the Transport Department ("TD") in 2014, TD pointed out that as the implementation of such proposal would have significant impact on the operation of the traffic and transport facilities in the district as well as the daily living of the residents, and as the proposal involved technical problems, the proposal was not feasible at the current stage. On the other hand, in September last year, Clean Air Network, Designing Hong Kong, Friends of the Earth (HK) and the Conservancy Association jointly submitted an application to the Town Planning Board under section 12A of the Town Planning Ordinance (Cap. 131) for rezoning Des Voeux Road Central as a tram and pedestrian area. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has assessed the impacts to be brought about by rezoning Des Voeux Road Central as a tram and pedestrian area on (i) the pedestrian flow, and (ii) the flow, speed and distribution of vehicles on the sections of the three trunk roads in Central (i.e. Des Voeux Road Central, Connaught Road Central and Queen's Road Central) during peak and non-peak hours; if it has, of the details; if not, whether it will conduct such an assessment; (2) whether it has assessed the impacts to be brought about by rezoning Des Voeux Road Central as a tram and pedestrian area on the (i) road traffic, (ii) public transport services, (iii) boarding and alighting of passengers, (iv) delivery of goods, (v) conveyance of money under guard, (vi) emergency ambulance services, (vii) large-scale outdoor public events and (viii) construction works in the areas along Des Voeux Road Central; if it has, of the details; if not, whether it will conduct such an assessment; (3) given that the Government is consulting the public on the Electronic Road Pricing Pilot Scheme in Central and its Adjacent Areas, whether the authorities have, on the premise of implementing such scheme, assessed the impacts to be brought about by rezoning Des Voeux Road Central as a tram and pedestrian area on the traffic flow, vehicular speed and air quality in Central; (4) given that the authorities indicated in 2000 that the proposal to rezone Des Voeux Road Central as a tram and pedestrian area was technically feasible, of the factors based on which the authorities drew an opposite conclusion in 2014; and (5) given that TD has implemented the Pedestrian Environment Improvement Scheme ("Improvement Scheme") at the busier locations in Central, including designating some streets as pedestrian areas, whether the authorities have assessed the following aspects of the Improvement Scheme in the past five years: (i) its effectiveness in improving the pedestrian and traffic flows in Central; if they have, of the details; if not, whether they will consider conducting such an assessment; and (ii) its effectiveness in alleviating the air pollution problem in Central; if they have, set out in a table the concentrations of the various types of air pollutants in Central, including nitrogen dioxide, ozone, sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, respirable suspended particulates and fine suspended particulates; if not, whether they will consider conducting such an assessment?
*22. Hon WU Chi-wai to ask: (Translation)
In recent years, a number of franchised bus companies ("bus companies") have, through smartphone applications and installation of display panels at bus stops, provided passengers waiting for buses with real-time information such as the departure and estimated arrival times of their buses ("real-time bus service information"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the details (including the commencement dates of the works, the latest progress, the anticipated dates of completion of the works and the facilities involved) of the enhancement works on bus stop facilities proposed by bus companies and agreed by the relevant District Councils ("DCs") in the past three years; (2) regarding the proposals on enhancement works on bus stop facilities which are under consideration by the Transport Department ("TD") and yet to be submitted to DCs for discussion, of the details (including the locations of the bus stops involved, the facilities involved, and the latest progress regarding TD's consideration of the proposals) of them; (3) of the mechanism adopted by TD for vetting and approving applications for installing display panels at en-route bus stops; of the number of such applications received by TD since January last year, and set out the following information for each application: (i) the location of the bus stop, (ii) the bus route involved, (iii) the date of receipt of the application, (iv) the anticipated completion date of the works, and (v) the latest progress of the vetting and approval of the application; whether it knows the average installation cost and monthly recurrent expenditure for each display panel; (4) of the measures put in place by TD to encourage bus companies to expeditiously enhance the provision of real-time bus service information for passengers, and to accord priority to the provision of service information on bus routes with lower frequencies or higher patronage by elderly passengers; (5) as I have learnt that due to technical problems, the Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited ("KMB") is currently still unable to provide real-time bus service information on the cross-harbour routes jointly operated by it and other bus companies, whether TD has assisted KMB in solving the problem; if TD has, of the details, and whether, according to its assessment, the problem can be resolved; if it can be resolved, the expected time for providing real-time bus service information on these jointly operated routes; and (6) whether TD has encouraged public transport operators to open up the real-time data on the arrivals of their transport vehicles to enable TD and other organizations to develop systems for providing real-time information on transport services; if TD has, of the current progress; if not, whether TD will encourage these operators to open up the data?
* For written reply
III. Bills
| First Reading
Fixed Penalty (Public Cleanliness Offences) (Amendment) Bill 2015 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fixed Penalty (Public Cleanliness Offences) (Amendment) Bill 2015 | : | Secretary for Home Affairs
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Second Reading (Debate to resume), Committee Stage and Third Reading
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1. | Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2014 | : | Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
Under Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development | |||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2. | Bankruptcy (Amendment) Bill 2015 | : | Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
| |||||||||||||||||||||
| Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury to move
Committee stage amendments (The amendments were issued on 9 December 2015 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 230/15-16) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Debate and voting arrangements for Committee stage of the Bankruptcy (Amendment) Bill 2015 (issued on 15 December 2015 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 252/15-16(01)))
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
IV. Motion
Proposed resolution under the Road Traffic Ordinance
Secretary for Transport and Housing to move the following motion:
Resolved that the period extended to 20 June 2016 by Legal Notice No. 54 of 2011, and for which there remains in force the limit on the number of vehicles which may be registered as public light buses specified in the Public Light Buses (Limitation on Number) Notice (Cap. 374 sub. leg. K), be further extended to 20 June 2021.
V. Members' Motions on Subsidiary Legislation and Other Instruments
VI. Member's Bill
| First Reading
Bank of Communications (Hong Kong) Limited (Merger) Bill Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned) | ||
| Bank of Communications (Hong Kong) Limited (Merger) Bill | : | Hon NG Leung-sing
|
VII. Members' Motions
| 1. | Actively studying the establishment of a middle class commission
Hon Tommy CHEUNG to move the following motion: (Translation) That this Council requests the Government to actively study the establishment of a middle class commission. | ||||
| Amendments to the motion | |||||
| (i) | Hon Frankie YICK to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add "the middle class has always been an important force for maintaining social stability and promoting economic development, but in recent years, the long-standing concerns in the external economic environment, the seriously lopsided development of Hong Kong's industries, the short supply of housing, the polarization between the rich and the poor, and the never-ending political wrangling have caused the middle class to face problems of housing, taxation, education and healthcare, etc., and created a trend of downward mobility of the middle class; the Government's support for the middle class has all along been limited to one-off relief measures such as providing tax rebates, increasing tax allowances, exempting rates or offering electricity charge subsidies, etc., but these measures are just utterly inadequate for the middle class and have not practically alleviated their plight; in addition, as currently there is no precise definition of the middle class, and the Government does not regularly provide statistics and information specific to the middle class, if the authorities or community organizations use such information to formulate policies or measures to support the middle class, such policies or measures will very often be out of focus, biased and superficial; in this connection," after "That"; and to add "to comprehensively review the policies or measures relating to the middle class from a focused and higher-level perspective, so as to alleviate the various problems faced by the middle class and consolidate the strength of the middle class, thereby promoting afresh economic development and strengthening the momentum of upward mobility of the community as a whole; the relevant measures should include: Definition (1) to lay down a clear and precise definition of the middle class, and regularly publish relevant statistics in respect of the definition; Development of industries (2) to adopt a multi-pronged approach to promote diversified development of industries in Hong Kong, so as to create more jobs at the middle and senior levels as well as business start-up opportunities in various industries and professions; (3) to further strengthen regional economic development for integration with the economic development circles of different regions on the Mainland, so as to provide more and better career development opportunities for middle-class professionals within or outside the territory; Housing (4) to expedite the identification of land for developing new development areas, optimize the use of rock caverns and carry out reclamation on an appropriate scale outside Victoria Harbour, so as to increase the supply of residential land on all fronts; and to increase the transparency of the housing plans as well as the supply of and demand for residential land for the next 10 years, and conduct an interim strategic review of and make corresponding adjustment to the relevant plans every five years; (5) to actively study the exploitation of green belt areas and ‘brownfield sites' for the purpose of residential development; (6) to introduce a tax allowance for rentals for the marginal middle class; Taxation (7) to adjust salaries tax downwards, in particular widening tax bands for salaries tax and lowering the marginal rate, so as to vigorously alleviate the burden of the marginal middle class; (8) to relax the restrictions on the dependent parent or dependent grandparent allowance by relaxing the eligibility requirement from living in the same unit to living in the same housing estate; Education (9) to introduce a tax allowance for children's education to alleviate the burden of children education expenses on middle-class families; (10) to substantially increase the salaries tax deduction for self-education expenses and the subsidy under the Continuing Education Fund; Healthcare (11) to provide tax deduction for medical insurance contributions; and (12) to provide tax deduction for medical examinations to encourage the middle class to undergo such examinations on a regular basis" immediately before the full stop. | ||||
| (ii) | Hon SIN Chung-kai to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add "as the Government has disregarded the needs of the middle class over the years," after "That"; to delete "establishment of a" after "study the" and substitute with "concerns of the"; and to delete "commission" immediately before the full stop and substitute with ", which include: (1) raising the various tax allowances, including the basic allowance for individuals, married person's allowance as well as dependent parent allowance, and widening the tax bands for salaries tax and abolishing the standard rate for salaries tax, so that members of the public pay their salaries tax according to the marginal tax rate, thereby alleviating the tax burden on the middle class; (2) reintroducing the Sandwich Class Housing Scheme to increase the opportunities for the middle class to acquire homes; (3) increasing the numbers of days of paid maternity leave and paternity leave and introducing flexible working hours to perfect family-friendly policies and promote a culture of work-life balance; (4) reviewing the teaching quality of government and subsidized schools, and allocating additional resources for such schools to adopt the teaching mode of Direct Subsidy Scheme schools and the merits of International Baccalaureate programmes, so that children of middle-class families can enjoy quality education; (5) upholding local core values and combating corruption to rebuild a society with integrity and fairness, thereby providing the middle class with an environment with fair competition; and (6) formulating proposals for electing the Chief Executive and the Legislative Council by universal suffrage with equal rights to make nomination, to vote and to stand for election in an open, fair and impartial manner, with a view to forging a consensus on promoting democracy, thereby strengthening the middle class's sense of belonging to Hong Kong". | ||||
| (iii) | Hon Christopher CHEUNG to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add "the middle class, despite being the mainstay of Hong Kong society, has to bear increasingly heavy livelihood and financial burdens and face pressures of downward mobility; in this connection," after "That"; to delete "actively study the establishment of" after "Government to" and substitute with "expeditiously establish"; and to add "to formulate permanent and focused policies and measures, with a view to alleviating the livelihood and financial burdens of the middle class and providing them with more opportunities for upward mobility and room for development" immediately before the full stop. | ||||
| (iv) | Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add "as the Government's measures to assist the middle class in recent years have no merit worth mentioning, the middle class has been unable to resolve their livelihood difficulties; in this connection," after "That"; to delete "actively study the establishment of" after "Government to" and substitute with "expeditiously establish"; and to add "whose functions include studying the following matters: (1) immediately constructing subsidized housing on idle Government land and increasing the number of subsidized sale flats to provide the middle class with a home acquisition ladder, and to enable the middle class to purchase flats for self-occupation at reasonable prices; (2) expeditiously implementing 15-year free education and stepping up the regulation of Direct Subsidy Scheme schools to ensure that the tuition fees of such schools are set at a reasonable level, thereby alleviating the burden of children education expenses on middle-class families; (3) refraining from using a salary-based approach to define the scope of application of standard working hours to ensure that the middle class has more leisure time to enjoy life; and (4) stepping up the regulation of private hospitals, enhancing the service quality of public hospitals, allocating additional land for constructing private hospitals, and immediately abolishing the Drug Formulary system, so as to alleviate the healthcare burden on the middle class" immediately before the full stop. | ||||
| (v) | Hon Starry LEE to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add ", as the middle class is the mainstay of society," after "That"; and to add "to cater for the interests of the middle class and respond to their different demands, as well as to create more opportunities for upward mobility to expand the ratio of the middle-class population, thereby enabling the society to develop in a sustainable, stable and harmonious manner" immediately before the full stop. | ||||
| |||||
| 2. | Reconstructing the image of Hong Kong's tourism industry
Hon YIU Si-wing to move the following motion: (Translation) That according to the Third Quarter Economic Report 2015 published by the Government in November 2015, inbound tourism slackened further in the third quarter of 2015, and overall visitor arrivals to Hong Kong fell by 6.4% as compared to the same period last year, the first decline since the third quarter of 2009; the Report also points out that exports of travel services (covering visitors' spending on shopping, food and beverages, accommodation and entertainment, etc.) fell by 5.6% in real terms in the third quarter, and the average achieved hotel room rate also dropped by 13.1% as compared to the same period last year; as the share of tourists' shopping expenditure in retail sales value has been substantial (around 42% in 2014), the further slackening of inbound tourism has led to a decline in Hong Kong's total retail sales value for seven consecutive months this year, recording the longest downward trend over the past six years; this will also further affect Hong Kong's economy and employment; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to seriously review the reasons for the decline in visitor arrivals to Hong Kong, formulate corresponding measures and allocate additional resources to reconstruct the positive image of the tourism industry, with a view to preventing the continued decline in visitor arrivals to Hong Kong which will affect Hong Kong's economic development. | ||||
| Amendments to the motion | |||||
| (i) | Hon TANG Ka-piu to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add ", the tourism industry has all along brought a large number of middle-level and elementary job opportunities to the hotel, catering and transport sectors, etc.; however," after "That"; to add "to reverse the present development trend of the Hong Kong tourism industry, which emphasizes quantity rather than quality, so as" after "resources"; to delete ", with a view to preventing the continued decline in visitor arrivals to Hong Kong which will affect" after "tourism industry" and substitute with "and enable healthy development of the tourism industry, with a view to creating more job opportunities and promoting"; and to add "; the relevant measures should include: (1) to expeditiously establish a travel industry authority to centrally monitor travel agents, tour escorts and tourist guides; (2) to adopt decisive measures to combat the use of unscrupulous operation practices in the tourism sector such as ‘zero/negative/low-fare' tours and coerced shopping, etc., and step up publicity among visitors to Hong Kong on the need for vigilance against those unscrupulous operation practices and on the channels for lodging complaints; and to examine regulating the proportion and duration of ‘arranged shopping' in the daily itinerary of inbound tours from the Mainland; (3) to formulate an overall development strategy for the tourism industry, which should not only facilitate visitors in retail consumption, but also strengthen the development of exploration tourism, including local in-depth tourism, cultural tourism and eco-tourism, so as to attract visitors of different types (including visitors who are with high spending power, young or stay overnight) to Hong Kong; (4) to promote the development of tourism supporting facilities and scenic spots, such as home-stay lodgings, creativity bazaars and night markets, etc., and to amend existing legislation to support and dovetail with such development; (5) to improve the infrastructural facilities (including water and power supply facilities) and transport links on some outlying islands, such as Po Toi Island and Tung Ping Chau, etc., so as to make good use of their rich tourism resources for developing these places as new tourist spots and benefit the economic development of local residents; (6) to improve the hardware ancillary facilities at existing scenic spots and step up the promotion of a ‘hospitable culture' among the tourism sector and the public, with a view to upgrading the tourism quality of Hong Kong; and (7) to closely keep in view changes in visitor arrivals to Hong Kong and activities of visitors carrying duty-free commodities into the Mainland for sale (commonly known as ‘parallel trading activities'), and to join hands with the Mainland authorities to continuously combat parallel trading activities and formulate timely and appropriate measures, so as to deal with the problem at root and reduce unnecessary conflicts between Mainland visitors and local people" immediately before the full stop. | ||||
| (ii) | Hon POON Siu-ping to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add ", as the Hong Kong tourism industry and related industries employ over 200 000 employees, which is around 7.6% of the overall employment population in Hong Kong, the livelihood of the 200 000-odd employees will directly be affected if the tourism industry development continues to shrink; yet," after "That"; to add "effective" after "formulate"; and to add "enhance the binding effect of the industry directives issued by the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong to ensure protection of the rights and interests of front-line staff in the tourism industry, expeditiously establish a tourism industry authority to balance the rights and interests of the operators and practitioners in the tourism industry, and" after "resources to". | ||||
| (iii) | Hon Gary FAN to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add "the Government has proposed in the 2015-16 Budget that an additional $80 million will be allocated to the Hong Kong Tourism Board to step up its promotion of the tourism industry; however," after "That"; and to add "to develop a greater variety of tourism, including cultural tourism and eco-tourism with local characteristics, etc., to welcome tourists from around the world, and to step up efforts to combat rip-offs such as ‘zero/negative-fare' tours and ‘shadow tour group members', etc., adopted by Mainland travel agencies, so as" after "resources". | ||||
| (iv) | Hon Paul TSE to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add "tourism and related industries are of utmost importance to the economy of Hong Kong, but" after "That"; to add "establish a tourism bureau to consolidate the various tourism-related departments and institutions, and" after "the decline in visitor arrivals to Hong Kong,"; and to delete "and allocate additional resources" after "measures" and substitute with "to conduct studies on effective use of resources and overall planning, execution and regulation". | ||||
| (v) | Hon CHAN Hak-kan to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add "Hong Kong's tourism industry is now facing challenges;" after "That"; and to add "; when formulating measures on promoting the development of the tourism industry, the Government should focus on enhancing the visitor receiving capacity of Hong Kong society, including increasing the number of tourist spots and improving transportation and other ancillary facilities, etc., and take full account of the actual situations in Hong Kong, so as to avoid any adverse impacts on people's daily lives; at the same time, the Government should expeditiously establish a travel industry authority to enhance the regulatory regime for the tourism industry, and step up law enforcement to combat unscrupulous shop operators who rip off visitors" immediately before the full stop. | ||||
| (vi) | Hon Charles Peter MOK to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add "coupled with the fact that Hong Kong lags behind other Asian competitors due to its shortage of large-scale convention facilities," after "past six years;"; and to add "and expedite the expansion of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre and the planning of new convention facilities to enhance Hong Kong's capacity to hold conventions and attract more high value-added business travellers," after "tourism industry,". | ||||
| (vii) | Hon SIN Chung-kai to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add "expeditiously establish a travel industry authority to strengthen the monitoring of local travel agents, tour escorts and tourist guides," after "the decline in visitor arrivals to Hong Kong,"; and to add "step up promotion in the international market and" after "resources to". | ||||
| (viii) | Hon Jeffrey LAM to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add "and" after "the decline in visitor arrivals to Hong Kong,"; to delete "and allocate additional resources to" after "measures" and substitute with ", including giving consideration to examining afresh the entry arrangements and policy for Mainland visitors and relieving Mainland visitors' sentiments, with a view to reversing the decline in visitor arrivals to Hong Kong in the short run; in the long run, the Government should also formulate a comprehensive development strategy and blueprint for the tourism industry, and make stronger efforts to develop different tourism facilities and scenic spots, so as to"; and to delete "continued decline in visitor arrivals to Hong Kong" after "preventing the" and substitute with "persistent shrinkage of visitor arrivals to Hong Kong". | ||||
| (ix) | Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To delete ", with a view to preventing the continued decline in visitor arrivals to Hong Kong which will affect Hong Kong's economic development" immediately before the full stop and substitute with "; the relevant measures include: monitoring visitor arrivals to Hong Kong based on the actual visitor receiving capacity of Hong Kong, so as to attract visitors from different countries to Hong Kong with planning and promote the sustainable development of the tourism industry; and regulating activities of carrying duty-free commodities into the Mainland for sale (commonly known as ‘parallel trading activities') to avoid the impacts of massive parallel trading activities on Hong Kong people's quality of life". | ||||
| |||||
Clerk to the Legislative Council