A 15/16-25
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 11 May 2016 at 11:00 am
I. Tabling of Papers
Other Papers
| 1. | No. 95 | - | Financial Reporting Council
Annual Report 2015 |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury)
| |||
| 2. | No. 96 | - | Language Fund
Financial statements for the year ended 31 August 2015 |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Education)
| |||
II. Questions for Written Replies
1. Hon Alice MAK to ask: (Translation)
As stipulated in the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines ("HKPSG"), "optimum use should be made of existing parking facilities and the demand for such facilities should be carefully managed. In those situations where demand for facilities still exceeds supply consideration should be given to providing additional facilities provided that such provision would not be contrary to the Transport Strategy and that it would not overload the road system." Some members of the public have relayed to me that as there is currently a long-standing shortfall of various types of parking spaces in quite a number of districts, some commercial vehicles need to park illegally, and the problem is particularly severe at night-time. They are of the view that the Government should address the shortage of parking spaces expeditiously. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective numbers of fixed penalty tickets issued by the Police for illegal parking in daytime and at night-time in the past three years, with a breakdown by police district; (2) of the following information concerning each of the public car parks owned by the Government at present: (i) the address, (ii) the government department(s) responsible for its management, (iii) the opening hours, and (iv) in respect of each type of parking spaces, the number of them, the fees charged for them, as well as their average monthly utilization rate last year, and set out such information by District Council ("DC") district; (3) whether it knows (i) the total current number of public car parks operated by the private sector, and (ii) in respect of each type of parking spaces in each car park, the number of them, the fees charged for them, as well as their average monthly utilization rate last year, and set out such information by DC district; (4) whether the authorities conducted, in accordance with the standards stipulated in HKPSG, any regular review in the past three years on the adequacy of the numbers of various types of parking spaces in various districts and the parking spaces provided in various public facilities in various districts; if they did, of the details; and (5) of the addresses of the above-ground/underground multi-storey public car parks in the Government facilities newly constructed in the past three years and the numbers of public parking spaces provided therein, and set out such information by DC district; whether the authorities have any plan to conduct studies and public consultation on the feasibility of making the parking spaces in newly constructed public facilities/government buildings available for public use round the clock in order to ease the shortfall of parking spaces; if they do, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
2. Hon IP Kwok-him to ask: (Translation)
Tourism is one of Hong Kong's four economic pillars, accounting for 5% of gross domestic product and providing about 270 000 jobs. However, under the influence of global economy downturn and other external factors, Hong Kong recorded a total of nearly 59.31 million visitor arrivals last year, representing a year-on-year decrease of 2.5%. Although the number of visitor arrivals from the Mainland on the first two days of this year's "Labour Day Golden Week" has posted a year-on-year increase of 10%, it has been reported that the number of Mainland tour groups was only half of that in the same period of last year. On the other hand, it has been reported that a South Korean-produced television drama series "Descendants of the Sun" has gained wide popularity in various places across Asia and generated over HK$50 million in royalty income alone. The South Korean Government has even transformed the filming locations of the drama into tourist attractions to enhance understanding of South Korea by people of other countries and attract overseas tourists. Regarding the promotion of Hong Kong tourism with the aid of television dramas and films, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it will encourage local producers to produce quality television dramas or films and conduct filming at local spots with beautiful scenery (such as Sai Kung, Tai Long Sai Wan, etc.), so as to promote those tourist attractions through the broadcast of such works outside Hong Kong; if it will, of the details and implementation timetable; if not, the reasons for that; and (2) whether it will study ways to achieve synergy between the television and film industries and the tourism industry of Hong Kong for the development of new economic industries; if it will, of the details and implementation timetable; if not, the reasons for that?
3. Hon KWOK Wai-keung to ask: (Translation)
Some women have relayed to me that the majority of the public places in Hong Kong are not fitted with babycare rooms and employers also rarely implement breastfeeding friendly policy in the workplace, which have caused them much inconvenience in taking care of their babies. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the current number of public places fitted with babycare rooms, and the increase in such number in each of the past three years; (2) of the current number of government premises fitted with babycare rooms, broken down by type of premises and the District Council district in which the premises are located; (3) whether it knows if all public hospitals are currently fitted with babycare rooms which are open round the clock; if the answer is in the affirmative, of the average number of babycare rooms in each public hospital; if the answer is in the negative, whether the Hospital Authority ("HA") will have babycare room(s) fitted in each public hospital; if HA will, of the details; (4) whether it knows the total number of babycare rooms fitted in the shopping malls under Link Asset Management Limited as well as in the shopping malls and railway stations under the MTR Corporation Limited, in each of the past three years, together with the year-on-year increase; (5) whether the authorities will review the existing Practice Note on the Provision of Babycare Rooms in Commercial Buildings, and provide incentives to encourage owners or developers of public places to have babycare rooms fitted in their premises; whether the authorities will consider enacting legislation to require that babycare rooms and breastfeeding rooms of designated size be fitted in newly constructed commercial buildings and public places; (6) whether, when conducting inspections of commercial buildings and public places in the past three years, the personnel of the government departments concerned also inspected the babycare rooms in those premises, in order to ensure that the facilities concerned complied with the standards stipulated in the Practice Note on the Provision of Babycare Rooms in Commercial Buildings and the Advisory Guidelines on Babyare Facilities; if so, of the details, and the number of cases in which the facilities concerned were found not up to standard during the inspections; if not, the reasons for that; (7) whether it will, by making reference to overseas experience, expeditiously formulate policies and measures to safeguard the interests and rights (including interests and rights of breastfeeding babies and taking maternity leave for a longer period, etc.) of post-natal women, and provide women with better conditions and environment for taking care of babies; and (8) of the measures the authorities will put in place in the next three years to promote the provision of more babycare rooms in both private and public places and improvement of the facilities in such rooms, as well as to bring about a social atmosphere that supports and respects breastfeeding; the expenditure involved in implementing such measures?
4. Hon WU Chi-wai to ask: (Translation)
With the redevelopment and transformation of the Kwun Tong District in recent years, the five MTR stations in the District (i.e. Kowloon Bay, Ngau Tau Kok, Kwun Tong, Lam Tin and Yau Tong stations) have become very crowded during peak hours, particularly at the train platforms of such stations and the pedestrian links to them. Last month, in reply to a question raised by me in examining this year's Estimates of Expenditure, the Government advised that it had conducted studies which included improvement of the pedestrian facilities near such MTR stations. Moreover, in reply to a question raised by a Member of this Council on the 20th of last month, the Government indicated that in respect of the Kwun Tong Town Centre redevelopment project, the Urban Renewal Authority ("URA") was exploring options for improving the public transport facilities in the area (including the passageway with the MTR Kwun Tong Station), in conjunction with the MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL") and the relevant government departments, and at that time MTRCL had no plan to redevelop the Kwun Tong Station. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the respective design maximum passenger throughputs of (i) the entrances and (ii) the train platforms, of each of the five aforesaid MTR stations; the respective daily average actual passenger flows (iii) at the entrances and (iv) on the train platforms of each of those stations, during the busiest hour in the morning and that in the afternoon in each of the past five years (set out in a table); if such figures are unavailable, why the Government could provide relevant passenger flow figures on 9 May 2012 in reply to a question raised by a Member of this Council, and how the Government currently monitors the passenger flows in MTR stations, which enables it to request MTRCL to take improvement measures when necessary; (2) whether it knows the number of occasions in the past five years on which MTRCL implemented crowd control measures under circumstances other than unexpected events, at the five aforesaid MTR stations for passengers heading towards the train platforms, with a breakdown and the relevant details by date, station name and reason for implementing such measures; (3) whether it knows the new measures taken by MTRCL in the past five years to alleviate the crowdedness at the five aforesaid MTR stations, together with (i) the relevant station names and exit numbers, (ii) the commencement date, (iii) the details and (iv) the effectiveness of each of such measures; (4) whether it knows if the aforesaid exploration by URA with MTRCL includes studies on alleviating the crowdedness at Kwun Tong Station; if so, of the details and progress; (5) whether the relevant government departments, MTRCL and URA have assessed the projected utilization of MTR Kwun Tong Station and the other four stations in the next decade; if they have, of the respective details, as well as the measures to be taken by the Government and MTRCL to cope with the passenger growth arising from the redevelopment and transformation of the Kwun Tong District; and (6) given that the Government has indicated that the Energizing Kowloon East Office is working with the Highways Department ("HyD") to carry out a consultancy study for constructing a new footbridge near MTR Kowloon Bay Station Exit B, and that HyD has commenced a technical feasibility study on the improvement proposals for Shun Yip Street, Lai Yip Street and How Ming Street, of the details and the estimated completion date for these two studies as well as the respective estimated commencement and completion dates for the works concerned?
5. Hon Paul TSE to ask: (Translation)
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority announced on the 29th of last month that the number of residential mortgage loans in negative equity in the first quarter of this year was as high as 1 432, representing a sharp increase by 14 times when compared with that in the fourth quarter of last year. Some members of the industry expect that the number of such cases will further increase following the adjustments in property prices. Moreover, according to the survey findings of the "Standard Chartered Hong Kong SME Leading Business Index" for the latest quarter released by the Hong Kong Productivity Council on the 27th of last month, the business index concerned has dropped to a new record low. Nearly 20% of the small and medium enterprises ("SMEs") surveyed have indicated that they might wind up their businesses within one year should the economic downturn continue. Some reports have projected that probably some 60 000 SMEs would close down within this year and about 260 000 employees would join the unemployed population. There are views that the economic downturn will have a negative impact on job seeking by university students who will soon graduate. According to some academics' analyses, the reasons for SMEs being gloomy about their business prospects include, apart from the sluggish external economy, the tightening of issuance of Individual Visit Endorsements to Shenzhen permanent residents for visiting Hong Kong by the Mainland authorities, the implementation of various demand-side management measures by the SAR Government for the property market (commonly known as "harsh measures"), and the current unstable political situation in Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether, apart from the retail sector whose business prospects are being regarded as gloomy, the Government has studied the business indexes of the four major industries (i.e. financial services, logistics services, tourism and professional services) for the present time and the coming year; if it has, of the study outcome and whether those business indexes are regressing; (2) whether it has assessed if the various relief measures implemented for various industries in this year's Budget are sufficient to help enterprises tide over the economic trough; if it has assessed and the outcome is in the negative, whether the Financial Secretary will roll out more relief measures; (3) whether it has assessed the impacts of the economic downturn on fresh graduates, and how the discontent with society bred among fresh graduates facing employment difficulties will affect the results of the Legislative Council Election in September this year; if it has, of the assessment outcome; (4) whether it will consider reviewing the Non-means-tested Loan Scheme for Full-time Tertiary Students, with a view to extending the repayment period or waiving loan interests, so as to alleviate the financial burden on fresh graduates; and (5) given that property prices have been falling gradually since September last year, whether the authorities will consider cancelling the various harsh measures and granting concessions on government rents to alleviate the financial burden on prospective home buyers and business operators; if they will, of the details?
6. Hon CHAN Hak-kan to ask: (Translation)
Some members of the public have relayed to me that while trampolining has become popular in Hong Kong in recent years, the venues for playing trampolines (commonly known as "trampoline parks") are not subject to any regulation. Some trampoline coaches have pointed out that as there is always a lack of safety awareness among trampoline players, the number of cases in which members of the public sustained injuries while trampolining ("trampoline injury cases") has risen incessantly in recent years. For example, subsequent to the commencement of operation of a trampoline park in North Point in July 2014, the Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital, situated in the vicinity of that trampoline park, received eight trampoline injury cases within less than two months between late July and early September of the same year and, among such cases, the person injured in the most serious case suffered from spinal fracture and needed to use an orthosis. Another trampoline park in Kowloon Bay was open for business in July last year, and the United Christian Hospital, situated in the vicinity of that trampoline park, received 16 trampoline injury cases between July and December of the same year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the number of trampoline injury cases received by public hospitals each year since January 2014; (2) whether business operators are required to apply for any specific licence for operating trampoline parks; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) whether it knows the current number of coaches in Hong Kong who have obtained trampolining coaching certificates awarded by institutions accredited by the Government; whether the Leisure and Cultural Services Department has issued guidelines to such coaches to ensure that trampoline players are given proper safety instructions, thereby minimizing the risk of their sustaining injuries; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (4) given that a number of trampoline injury cases have happened, whether the authorities have reviewed the safety requirements for trampoline parks; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; whether they will require that a staff member holding a certificate of competency in first aid must be stationed at a trampoline park so as to ensure that injured persons may receive first aid treatment on the spot in case of an accident; and (5) given that trampolining involves public safety and that in the United Kingdom, trampoline park operators are required to obtain relevant licences and comply with the relevant requirements, whether the Government will follow the practices of the United Kingdom and enact legislation to regulate matters relating to the operation of trampoline parks so as to safeguard the safety of consumers; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
7. Hon Claudia MO to ask: (Translation)
On 8 July 2014, the Food and Health Bureau briefed the relevant Panel of this Council on legislative proposals on enhancing the regulation of animal trading, including the breeding and selling of dogs by amending the Public Health (Animals and Birds) (Animal Traders) Regulations (Cap. 139 sub. leg. B), with a view to promoting animal health and rights. At the meeting, some members pointed out that the proposed threshold for application for animal breeder licences was too low, making it easy for commercial breeders to conduct illegal animal trading activities under the disguise of private animal owners, and I also suggested that the authorities should standardize the various types of animal breeder licences. It is learnt that the authorities have finalized the drafting of proposed amendments to the aforesaid Regulations and will soon introduce them to this Council. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that at the aforesaid meeting, I moved a motion to call upon the authorities to consider afresh the issuance of a standardized licence with a high threshold instead, and the motion, albeit not being passed, was supported by five members, how the authorities respond to my motion and how they react to the objections raised by some stakeholders against the proposed licensing regime; (2) as some animal rights organizations are worried that the monitoring role of this Council will be undermined if amendments to the Regulations are subject to "negative vetting" procedure, whether the authorities will consider adopting the "positive vetting" procedure in proposing amendments to the Regulations; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) as the authorities have indicated that additional resources and manpower have been earmarked to cope with the law enforcement work upon implementation of the new regulatory framework, of the details of the resources and manpower concerned; and (4) whether the authorities will regularly review the manpower deployment so as to ensure that there is adequate manpower for handling the existing work on protection of animal rights, and at the same time for coping with the additional law enforcement work upon implementation of the new regulatory framework?
8. Hon Alan LEONG to ask: (Translation)
Under the Arrangements on the Establishment of a Reciprocal Notification Mechanism between the Mainland Public Security Authorities and the Hong Kong Police ("the Notification Mechanism") that has been in operation since 1 January 2001, the scope of matters of which the Mainland Notification Unit shall notify the Hong Kong Police includes: the imposition of criminal compulsory measures (including summons for questioning, putting on bail, residence under surveillance, detention and arrest) by the public security authorities (including the investigations into smuggling activities handled by the customs authorities) on Hong Kong residents suspected of having committed crimes, and unnatural deaths of Hong Kong residents on the Mainland. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) among the notifications received by the Police since the implementation of the Notification Mechanism, of (i) the number of Hong Kong residents on whom criminal compulsory measures were imposed on the Mainland and, among them, (ii) the number of those who subsequently sought assistance from the Hong Kong Government, and set out in Table 1 a breakdown by the offences they were suspected to have committed;
Table 1
Offences suspected to have been committed (i) (ii) Fraud Smuggling Personal injury (murder, wounding, etc.) Offences relating to national security Others (please specify) (2) whether it knows, among the Hong Kong residents mentioned in (1), (i) the number of those subsequently convicted and sentenced to imprisonment on the Mainland, and (ii) the longest imprisonment sentence imposed, and set out in Table 2 a breakdown by the offences they have committed;
Table 2
Offences committed (i) (ii) Fraud Smuggling Personal injury (murder, wounding, etc.) Offences relating to national security Others (please specify) (3) whether it knows, among the Hong Kong residents mentioned in (2), (i) the number of those who are still serving their sentences on the Mainland at present, and (ii) the number of those sentenced to imprisonment for "crimes of endangering national security", and set out in Table 3 a breakdown by length of sentence imposed on them; and
Table 3
Length of sentence imposed (i) (ii) Less than one year One year to three years More than three years Life imprisonment (indeterminate prison sentence) (4) of the number of unnatural deaths of Hong Kong residents on the Mainland the notifications of which were received by the Police since the implementation of the Notification Mechanism, and set out in Table 4 a breakdown by cause of death?
Table 4
Cause of death Number of deaths Accident Murder Uncertain cause Others (please specify)
9. Hon TAM Yiu-chung to ask: (Translation)
Section 30(1)(b) of the Money Lenders Ordinance (Cap. 163) provides that any person who by any false, misleading or deceptive statement, representation or promise, or by any dishonest concealment of material facts, fraudulently induces or attempts to induce any person to borrow money from a money lender commits an offence. However, at present, quite a number of money-lending advertisements highlight that loans may be "borrowed and repaid easily" with "no income proof or identity card required". On the other hand, according to the relevant requirements under sections 17B and 27A of and the Schedule to the Housing Ordinance (Cap. 283), owners of flats under the Home Ownership Scheme ("HOS") must not mortgage or remortgage their flats before paying a premium or obtaining approval from the Director of Housing. However, some advertisements on property lending disregard the requirement and boast that "applications may also be made in respect of HOS flats for which a premium has not been paid". Some members of the public have pointed out that the aforesaid advertisements have, to a certain extent, concealed the burden of loan repayment on the borrowers in future, as well as the legal risks they may face when applying for such loans. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective numbers of cases of alleged breach of section 30(1)(b) of Cap. 163 in respect of which the authorities conducted investigations and instituted prosecutions in the past five years; among such cases, the number of cases in which the persons involved were convicted; and (2) whether the authorities proactively examined in the past five years if the various types of money-lending advertisements had contravened such provision; if they did, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
10. Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG to ask: (Translation)
The Equal Opportunities Commission ("EOC"), established in 1996, is responsible for enforcing the Sex Discrimination Ordinance (Cap. 480), the Disability Discrimination Ordinance (Cap. 487), the Family Status Discrimination Ordinance (Cap. 527) and the Race Discrimination Ordinance (Cap. 602). Regarding the credibility of and recommendations made by EOC, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given the comments that as the mechanism for appointing the chairperson of EOC is not in line with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the protection and promotion of human rights ("the Paris Principles"), which have been adopted by the United Nations ("UN"), the independence of ECO and its capability to monitor the Government and public organizations have been called into question as a result, and that several UN treaty bodies have recommended the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to set up a statutory, independent and autonomous human rights commission with a broad mandate in accordance with the Paris Principles, whether the Government will consider the recommendation afresh; if it will, of the details of the relevant work and the implementation timetable; if not, the reasons for that; (2) given that EOC submitted to the Government its recommendations on amending the provisions of the Sex Discrimination Ordinance and the Disability Discrimination Ordinance in 1999 and 2011 respectively, of the progress of the Government's work in implementing such recommendations (set out the information by ordinance and recommendation in a table); and (3) given that EOC, after conducting a comprehensive review of the four aforesaid ordinances and a public consultation exercise, submitted to the Government the Discrimination Law Review-Submissions to the Government on 29 March this year, whether the Government will adopt the 73 recommendations put forward by EOC in its Submissions, as well as introduce legislative amendments and conduct public consultation with regard to the recommendations; if it will, of the details of the relevant work and the implementation timetable; if not, the reasons for that?
11. Hon Tommy CHEUNG to ask: (Translation)
In July 2007, the Food and Health Bureau and the State Ministry of Commerce reached a consensus on opening up the market for supply of live pigs to Hong Kong and bringing in competition. Since October of the same year, apart from Ng Fung Hong Limited ("Ng Fung Hong") which was originally the sole agent for supplying Mainland live pigs to Hong Kong ("import agent"), two more import agents, namely Guangnan Hong Company Limited ("Guangnan Hong") and the Hong Kong Agriculture Special Zone Limited ("ASZ"), have been appointed. Some members of the trade have relayed to me that although it has been some years since the introduction of competition in respect of import agents, the prices of live pigs and the retail prices of pork have not come down, and the operation of the slaughterhouses has all along been monopolized. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the respective numbers of live pigs imported by the three aforesaid import agents in each of the past 10 years (set out in Table 1);
Table 1
Year Number of live pigs imported Ng Fung Hong Guangnan Hong ASZ 2006 2007 ... 2015 (2) whether it knows the respective average auction prices of live pigs imported by the three aforesaid import agents in each of the past 10 years (set out in Table 2);
Table 2
Year Average auction prices of live pigs imported Ng Fung Hong Guangnan Hong ASZ 2006 2007 ... 2015 (3) whether it knows the respective (i) average purchasing prices offered and (ii) amounts of commission charged, by the three aforesaid import agents in purchasing live pigs from the Mainland in each of the past 10 years (set out in Table 3); if such figures are not available, of the reasons for that;
Table 3
Year Ng Fung Hong Guangnan Hong ASZ (i) (ii) (i) (ii) (i) (ii) 2006 2007 ... 2015 (4) whether it has reviewed the impacts on the supply and prices of live pigs in Hong Kong brought about by the opening up of the market and bringing in competition, and the reasons why the prices of live pigs have not come down; and (5) of the names of the existing operators of the three slaughterhouses in the territory (i.e. Sheung Shui Slaughterhouse, Tsuen Wan Slaughterhouse and Cheung Chau Slaughterhouse), and the respective expiry dates of their operation and management services agreements; whether the authorities have examined if the existing mode of operation of the slaughterhouses is one of the reasons for retail prices of pork not having come down?
12. Dr Hon Helena WONG to ask: (Translation)
At present, kindergarten-cum-child care centres ("KG-cum-CCCs") provide education and care services for children aged six or below. According to the information provided by the Government in reply to a question raised by a Member of this Council on 6 November 2013, the utilization rate of whole-day places offered by KG-cum-CCCs across the territory was around 80% in 2012. However, upon seeking verification from such KG-cum-CCCs, I have found that the utilization rate does not reflect the fact that there has all along been an acute shortfall of whole-day child care places for children aged two to three as the Government has not stipulated the number of places to be allocated to children of different age groups. Some parents have expressed their worries that once the policy of free kindergarten education is implemented, KG-cum-CCCs will reduce the care services to be provided for children aged two to three, thereby aggravating the shortfall in such services. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the number of whole-day places provided by KG-cum-CCCs for children aged two to three and their utilization rate in each of the past three financial years, broken down by District Council district; how the authorities have arrived at such figures; (2) of the measures put in place to ensure that the number of whole-day places being provided by KG-cum-CCCs for children aged two to three are sufficient to meet the demand, and the details of such measures; and (3) whether it has assessed the impacts of the implementation of the policy of free kindergarten education on the provision of care services for children aged zero to three, including aspects such as the number of places, manpower and charges for the services; if it has assessed, of the outcome; if not, the reasons for that?
13. Hon Steven HO to ask: (Translation)
It was reported that the contractor for the restoration works of the Pillar Point Valley Landfill in Tuen Mun had allegedly lowered the temperature for the flaring of landfill gas in the leachate treatment plant during the period between November last year and January this year in order to save fuel expenditure, resulting in the discharge into the sea of landfill leachate with pollutants therein not effectively eliminated ("discharged water"). It has also been reported that the estimated daily discharge volume of the discharged water exceeded 800 tonnes, and the relevant water samples were found by laboratory tests to have a total nitrogen concentration over 300 milligrams/litre, exceeding the limit stipulated in the licence (i.e. 200 milligrams/litre) by more than 50%. However, the Environmental Protection Department ("EPD") has pointed out that as shown by the water quality data recorded by the marine monitoring stations near the landfill from 2014 to the first two months of this year, there was no abnormality in the concentrations of inorganic nitrogen and unionized ammonia nitrogen, and the nearby coastal water and the ecological condition have all along been normal. Some fishermen have relayed to me that the aforesaid situation reveals that there are serious loopholes in EPD's existing monitoring mechanism. They are therefore worried that under the circumstances where it is difficult for EPD to effectively monitor the water quality of the discharged water, their health and livelihood as well as those of fish farmers and the relevant stakeholders will be dealt a further blow, and the fisheries resources will also be affected. Regarding the monitoring of contractors' processing of landfill leachate, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the current procedure for processing landfill leachate, and the water quality standards to be met by the discharged water; (2) of the working procedure adopted and the quantities of manpower and other resources deployed by the authorities in the past three years to monitor the aforesaid contractor's processing of landfill leachate; whether the authorities have assessed if it was manpower shortage, perfunctory work of public officers or mistakes in administrative procedure that resulted in their failure to detect the aforesaid malpractice of the contractor; if they have, of the relevant details; (3) whether the authorities have studied the impacts of the aforesaid malpractice on the fisheries resources in nearby waters, as well as the losses inflicted on the fishermen, fish farmers and stakeholders concerned; if they have, of the study outcome, and how the authorities will compensate those people for their economic losses; (4) of the respective details of the water quality data of the discharged water samples from various landfill leachate treatment plants managed by the aforesaid contractor, and the water quality data (including the concentrations of inorganic nitrogen and unionized ammonia nitrogen) recorded by the marine monitoring stations near those landfills, in the past three years; (5) of the names of the public and private organizations responsible for managing various sewage treatment facilities (including those involving landfills, power plants and other works), the volume of the discharged water concerned, and the water quality data of the discharged water samples, in the past three years (set out such information by name of the plant); (6) as some fishermen have relayed that the worsening water quality within Hong Kong waters in recent years has led to a decline in fish catch, whether the authorities have, in addition to monitoring over-fishing and damages to the ecological environment caused by marine works, studied the fisheries resources in various stretches of waters in Hong Kong in the past three years (with a breakdown by stretch of waters) and if the discharged water with pollutants exceeding the limits is one of the major reasons for the dwindling fisheries resources; if they have, of the study outcome; if not, the reasons for that; (7) whether the authorities detected in the past three years that the concentration of pollutants contained in the discharged water samples was high enough to cause fishes to be poisoned to death or unfit for human consumption; and (8) whether the authorities will step up efforts in monitoring the processing of landfill leachate by the aforesaid contractor, and whether they will review the procedure for monitoring the water quality of discharged water, so as to avoid the occurrence of similar incidents and thereby protect the fisheries resources?
14. Dr Hon CHIANG Lai-wan to ask: (Translation)
The Consumer Council ("CC") published in March this year the results of a major test on vegetables. Of the 75 samples claimed to be organic vegetables, 28, or more than one-third, contained pesticide residues. One sample of purple sweet potato was found to contain chlorpyrifos, a pesticide, at a level of 0.07 mg/kg, which had exceeded the statutory maximum residue limit (i.e. 0.05 mg/kg). Besides, a white cabbage sample was found to contain 0.06 mg/kg of lead. Some members of the public have pointed out that the aforesaid test results have reflected that there are potential food safety risks associated with organic produce, and public health is therefore not adequately safeguarded. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) as it has been reported that the Hong Kong Organic Resource Centre ("HKORC") found after a survey that some vegetable stalls had displayed HKORC organic certification seals without its permission and some traders had displayed invalid certificates of organic certification, in order to sell non-organic vegetables disguised as higher-priced organic vegetables, whether the authorities will step up efforts to combat the abuse of these certification seals and certificates; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) as some members of the public have pointed out that "organic food" is not defined under the existing legislation and the certification system for organic produce also lacks transparency, whether the authorities will consider reviewing the relevant legislation to regulate the planting, certification and marketing systems in respect of organic produce; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) as CC has recognized that there is room to tighten the maximum permitted concentration of lead in food and suggested that the authorities should refer to relevant legislation on metal contents in food in various places in the world and consider amending the legislation of Hong Kong to enhance food safety, whether the authorities will consider such suggestion; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
15. Hon TANG Ka-piu to ask: (Translation)
In recent years, with the growing popularity of electronic products such as smart phones and tablets, students have been using those products for learning and entertainment since a very young age. Some healthcare professionals have pointed out that prolonged screen time will make children more vulnerable to myopia or astigmatism, and will increase their risk of developing severe eye diseases such as glaucoma, cataract and macular degeneration. It is learnt that the health assessments, provided for eligible secondary and primary students by the Student Health Service Centres under the Department of Health since 1995, include a vision screening test. However, as the screening test is rather simple, it is ineffective in protecting the visual health of students. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective numbers and percentages of pre-school children, primary one students and primary school graduates suffering from (i) myopia, (ii) astigmatism, and (iii) both myopia and astigmatism in each of the past 10 years (set out in a table); (2) of the respective average degrees of myopia and astigmatism among the primary students suffering from myopia and/or astigmatism in each of the past 10 years; among such students, the respective numbers and percentages of those with 600 degrees of myopia or above ("high myopia") and those with 200 degrees of astigmatism or above ("high astigmatism"); the respective numbers of students diagnosed with various types of eye diseases induced by high myopia or high astigmatism in each of the past 10 years; (3) whether it will consider enhancing the vision screening tests offered by Student Health Service Centres; if it will, of the details, and whether it will consider including an astigmatism test; of the measures taken by the authorities to raise students' awareness of visual health, and to provide support for those grassroots students who suffer from high myopia, high astigmatism or various types of eye diseases; and (4) whether it will consider providing a comprehensive vision screening for eligible students in Hong Kong and launching a better eye care education programme to prevent the visual problems of students from worsening; if it will, of the details and timetable of the relevant work; if not, the reasons for that?
16. Prof Hon Joseph LEE to ask: (Translation)
Will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
(1) the respective annual numbers of public hospital patients in 2014 and 2015 who remained in hospital for three months or more after being diagnosed to be clinically fit to be discharged, and set out in the table below a breakdown by the age and condition of such patients;
Age (a) number of patients with impairment at mild level and were in need of some forms of personal care assistance (b) number of patients with impairment at severe level and were completely dependent (c) number of patients receiving Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (including both (a) and (b)) below 60 60 and above Total (2) a breakdown of the number of patients mentioned in (1) by reason for overstaying in hospitals; among these patients, the number of those who still remain in hospital at present, with a breakdown by the year in which they were diagnosed to be clinically fit to be discharged; and (3) the measures currently adopted by the Hospital Authority or relevant government departments to assist patients overstaying in public hospitals to be discharged as soon as possible, and the expenditure so incurred in the past two years; among the patients mentioned in (1), the number of those who, with the assistance provided under such measures, have already been discharged or have committed to a definite discharge date so far?
III. Government Bills
| Committee Stage and Third Reading
| |||||||||||
| Appropriation Bill 2016
| : | The Financial Secretary
| |||||||||
| Amendments to Heads of Estimates in
committee of the whole Council on the Appropriation Bill 2016 | |||||||||||
| Hon Claudia MO, Hon Albert CHAN, Hon CHAN Chi-chuen, Hon Emily LAU, Hon James TO, Hon Albert HO, Dr Hon Helena WONG, Hon Gary FAN, Hon WONG Yuk-man, Hon CHEUNG Kwok-che, Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG, Hon LEUNG Kwok-hung, Hon LEE Cheuk-yan, Hon Cyd HO, Hon IP Kin-yuen and Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki to move the Committee stage amendments in the Appendix.
(These amendments were also issued on 19 April and 10 May 2016 under LC Paper Nos. CB(3) 532/15-16 and CB(3) 575/15-16) (Debate and voting arrangements for Committee stage of the Appropriation Bill 2016 (issued on 19 April, 3 May, 4 May and 10 May 2016 under LC Paper Nos. CB(3) 536/15-16, CB(3) 561/15-16, CB(3) 565/15-16 and CB(3) 576/15-16)) | |||||||||||
| Other Public Officers to attend the Committee stage
| : | The Chief Secretary for Administration
The Secretary for Justice Secretary for Transport and Housing Secretary for Labour and Welfare Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Secretary for Security Secretary for Education Secretary for Food and Health Secretary for the Environment Secretary for Development Secretary for Innovation and Technology Secretary for Home Affairs Secretary for the Civil Service Under Secretary for Home Affairs Under Secretary for the Environment Under Secretary for Transport and Housing Under Secretary for Security Under Secretary for Food and Health Under Secretary for Education Under Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Under Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Under Secretary for Development Under Secretary for Labour and Welfare Under Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Under Secretary for Innovation and Technology | |||||||||
| Second Reading (Debate to resume), Committee Stage and Third Reading
| |||||||||||
| 1. | The Hong Kong Institute of Education (Amendment) Bill 2016
| : | Secretary for Education
| ||||||||
| 2. | Eastern Harbour Crossing Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2015
| : | Secretary for Transport and Housing
| ||||||||
|
Secretary for Transport and Housing to move Committee stage amendments
(The amendments were issued on 13 April 2016 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 515/15-16) | |||||||||||
| 3. | Inland Revenue (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2016
| : | Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
Under Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury | ||||||||
| 4. | Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes (Amendment) Bill 2015
| : | Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
Under Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury | ||||||||
| |||||||||||
| (Debate and voting arrangements for Committee stage of the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes (Amendment) Bill 2015 (issued on 17 March 2016 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 483/15-16(01)))
| |||||||||||
| 5. | Property Management Services Bill
| : | Secretary for Home Affairs
| ||||||||
| Secretary for Home Affairs to move Committee stage amendments
(The amendments were issued on 29 January 2016 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 345/15-16) | |||||||||||
| (Debate and voting arrangements for Committee stage of the Property Management Services Bill (issued on 1 March 2016 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 435/15-16(01)))
| |||||||||||
| 6. | Chinese Permanent Cemeteries (Amendment) Bill 2015
| : | Secretary for Home Affairs
| ||||||||
| Secretary for Home Affairs to move Committee stage amendments
(The amendments were issued on 13 April 2016 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 512/15-16) | |||||||||||
| 7. | Inland Revenue (Amendment) (No. 4) Bill 2015
| : | Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
Under Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury | ||||||||
| Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury to move Committee stage amendments
(The amendments were issued on 13 April 2016 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 516/15-16) | |||||||||||
| 8. | Promotion of Recycling and Proper Disposal (Product Container) (Amendment) Bill 2015
| : | Secretary for the Environment
| ||||||||
| Secretary for the Environment to move Committee stage amendments
(The amendments were issued on 13 April 2016 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 514/15-16) | |||||||||||
| 9. | Companies (Winding Up and Miscellaneous Provisions) (Amendment) Bill 2015
| : | Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
Under Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury | ||||||||
| Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury to move Committee stage amendments
(The amendments were issued on 13 April 2016 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 513/15-16) | |||||||||||
| 10. | Electoral Legislation (Miscellaneous Amendments) (No. 2) Bill 2015
| : | Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs
| ||||||||
| 11. | Judiciary (Five-day Week) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2016
| : | The Chief Secretary for Administration
| ||||||||
| 12. | Interception of Communications and Surveillance (Amendment) Bill 2015
| : | Secretary for Security
| ||||||||
| |||||||||||
| 13. | Kai Tak Cruise Terminal Bill
| : | Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
| ||||||||
| Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development to move Committee stage amendments
(The amendments were issued on 22 April 2016 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 543/15-16) | |||||||||||
IV. Government Motions
| 1. | 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. |
| 2. | Proposed resolution under the Public Bus Services Ordinance
Secretary for Transport and Housing to move the following motion: Resolved that the franchise granted on 22 September 2015 under section 5 of the Public Bus Services Ordinance (Cap. 230) to Citybus Limited (城巴有限公司) and published in the Gazette as G.N. 7692 of 2015 is not subject to sections 27, 28, 29 and 31 of that Ordinance for the entire period of the franchise. |
| 3. | Proposed resolution under the Public Bus Services Ordinance
Secretary for Transport and Housing to move the following motion: Resolved that the franchise granted on 22 September 2015 under section 5 of the Public Bus Services Ordinance (Cap. 230) to New Lantao Bus Company (1973) Limited (新大嶼山巴士(1973)有限公司) and published in the Gazette as G.N. 7693 of 2015 is not subject to sections 27, 28, 29 and 31 of that Ordinance for the entire period of the franchise. |
| 4. | Proposed resolution under the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Ordinance
Secretary for Security to move the following motion: Resolved that the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters (Sweden) Order, made by the Chief Executive in Council on 16 February 2016, be approved. |
|
(The Order is in Appendix I and was also issued on
14 April 2016 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 518/15-16) | |
| 5. | Proposed resolution under the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Ordinance
Secretary for Security to move the following motion: Resolved that the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters (Argentina) Order, made by the Chief Executive in Council on 16 February 2016, be approved. |
| (The Order is in Appendix II and was also issued on
14 April 2016 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 518/15-16) | |
V. Members' Motions on Subsidiary Legislation and Other Instruments
VI. Members' Bills
| 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
|
| Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
Second Reading (Debate to resume), Committee Stage and Third Reading | ||
| Kowloon Tong Church of the Chinese Christian and Missionary Alliance Incorporation (Amendment) Bill 2014 | : | Dr Hon Priscilla LEUNG
|
VII. Members' Motions
| 1. | Motion under the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance
Hon WONG Yuk-man to move the following motion: That this Council appoints a select committee to inquire into the clashes between the Police and members of the public in Mong Kok from the night of 8 February to the early morning of 9 February 2016 which caused injuries to many people, and other related matters; and that in the performance of its duties the committee be authorized under section 9(2) of the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance (Cap. 382) to exercise the powers conferred by section 9(1) of that Ordinance. Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Security | ||||
| 2. | Motion under the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance
Hon WONG Yuk-man to move the following motion: That this Council appoints a select committee to inquire into the incident of the alleged airport security breach by the family members of Chief Executive LEUNG Chun-ying during the period from the night of 27 March to the small hours of 28 March 2016, and other related matters; and that in the performance of its duties the committee be authorized under section 9(2) of the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance (Cap. 382) to exercise the powers conferred by section 9(1) of that Ordinance. Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Security | ||||
| 3. | 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. | ||||
| |||||
| 4. | 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". | ||||
| |||||
| 5. | Motion for the adjournment of the Council under Rule 16(4) of the Rules of Procedure
Hon Claudia MO to move the following motion: (Translation) That this Council do now adjourn for the purpose of debating the following issue: the successive 'forced disappearance' of the shareholders and managers of Causeway Bay Books. Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Security | ||||