A 15/16-30
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 15 June 2016 at 11:00 am
I. Tabling of Papers
II. Questions
1. Dr Hon CHIANG Lai-wan to ask: (Translation)
It is learnt that one of the reasons why many Hong Kong people like travelling abroad during holidays is that there are quite a number of tourist attractions overseas. On the other hand, some members of the tourism industry have relayed to me that Hong Kong's tourism industry has entered a harsh winter and is now facing acute competition from such places as Japan, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, etc. As such, Hong Kong should develop more tourist attractions to, on the one hand, provide Hong Kong people with more leisure places to spend their holidays, thereby encouraging them to stay and spend in Hong Kong and, on the other, to attract more tourists to visit Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) as the "LED Rose Garden Display" at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul, Korea has been very well-received and the "Light Rose Garden - Hong Kong" held locally in February this year also attracted tens of thousands of people viewing the exhibition, whether the authorities will consider collaborating with local artists or arts organizations to produce LED lighting or art installations in other media forms and display them permanently at locations such as the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal, the West Kowloon Cultural District, etc., which will not only provide more room for the development of local creative arts but also attract tourists to visit Hong Kong; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) as quite a number of overseas cities have used murals to beautify their cityscapes in recent years (e.g. the artistic murals in Penang, Malaysia, the Ihwa-dong Mural Village in Seoul, Korea and the Rainbow Military Dependents' Village in Taiwan), which are well-received by tourists, whether the authorities will consider transforming local street murals and mural villages currently found in districts such as Stanley, Sheung Wan, Sham Shui Po, Kwun Tong, Ping Che, etc. into new attractions, with a view to developing mural art, adding charm to old districts and promoting local culture; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) as "flower viewing" and "flower photo-taking" have become popular in Hong Kong in recent years, with quite a number of members of the public visiting various places in the territory to appreciate and take pictures of flowers (e.g. the Bougainvillea Alley at Un Chau Estate, Cheung Sha Wan as well as the tabebuia chrysantha in Sha Tin Park and Nam Cheong Park) during the blooming season, whether the authorities have plans to plant various types of special flowers, complemented by designs of flower or tree galleries, in various parks and on roadsides for appreciation by the general public and tourists; if they do, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
| Public Officers to reply | : | Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
Secretary for Home Affairs |
2. Hon Tony TSE to ask: (Translation)
On the 20th of last month, the entire green roof of the Chan Tai Ho Multi-purpose Hall, covering an area of more than 1 000 square metres, at the City University of Hong Kong collapsed abruptly. Some professionals have pointed out that accidents of such type are rare, and the roof being covered by green vegetation and thus being overloaded may be one of the causes of the accident. The accident has aroused concerns among various sectors of the community about the regulation and maintenance of various types of greening projects (including rooftop greening projects) for buildings and related matters. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the main government departments which are responsible for the regulation of the construction, vetting and approval of works, works supervision, acceptance, maintenance and environmental protection-related issues, etc., of greening facilities/features (including green rooftops) for buildings, and the main ordinances regulating such matters; whether it conducted inspections of completed greening projects regularly in the past three years; if it did, of the details, including the number of staff members from various departments tasked with the inspection work, the number of inspections conducted by them, whether such inspections were carried out on a sampling basis, and the follow-up actions taken (including the respective numbers of verbal and written warnings issued and the number of cases in which prosecutions were instituted) each year; if it did not conduct any inspection, the reasons for that and whether it will do so; whether it has provided guidelines and practice notes on the maintenance and management of greening facilities/features for property owners and property management companies; (2) as the authorities have indicated that there are different ways of handling and different arrangements for greening projects (including rooftop greening projects) for uncompleted and existing buildings, of the differences between the two in regard to vetting and approval of works, works supervision, acceptance and maintenance, etc. as well as the reasons for such differences, and whether the authorities will review and revise the relevant arrangements; and (3) whether there is a requirement that greening projects for buildings (including rooftop greening projects) must be carried out under the supervision and monitoring of authorized professionals, and the acceptance of related works must be done by them; if there is such a requirement, of the types of professionals involved and whether they include landscape architects; if there is no such requirement, the reasons for that?
3. Dr Hon Kenneth CHAN to ask: (Translation)
Recently, some community groups have relayed to me their grave concerns about the progress of projects of the Reassembly of the Queen's Pier ("RQP") and Revitalization of the Former Central Police Station Compound (commonly known as the "Big Station"), as well as their dissatisfaction with the performance of the Government in handling the two projects. On the other hand, an external wall of the former married quarters for inspectors located inside the Big Station collapsed suddenly on the 29th of last month ("the incident"), which has stunned the public. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that after the incident, the authorities only entrusted the investigation work of the incident to the Hong Kong Jockey Club, which is responsible for the revitalization project of the Big Station, of the reasons why the authorities have not taken the incident and RQP project to the Antiquities Advisory Board ("AAB") for discussion; whether the authorities will, in light of public concerns, expeditiously take the two projects to AAB for discussion and recommendations; if they will not, of the reasons for that; (2) given that when the authorities earlier conducted a public consultation on various options for RQP, the views received which were in support of RQP at or nearest to its original location ("in-situ reassembly option") far exceeded those in support of the three reassembly options proposed by the authorities, whether the authorities will consider afresh the in-situ reassembly option; if they will not consider, of the justifications for that; if they will consider, whether the authorities will conduct relevant studies and consultation anew for this option; and (3) whether the authorities concerned will consider, in addition to inspecting the structural safety of various buildings inside the Big Station, inspecting the structural safety of all the outdoor public places of the Big Station concurrently; if they will, of the details of the inspection work; if not, the reasons for that; whether the authorities concerned will, upon the completion of various investigation and inspection work, make public the full report and identify in the report the party to be held responsible; if they will, of the specific arrangements; if not, the reasons for that?
4. Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki to ask: (Translation)
In April this year, a boy infected with severe influenza was admitted to a public hospital at night, but he was not given a quick testing on influenza nor prescribed Tamiflu right away. The boy died of influenza-induced encephalitis within 24 hours after admission to the hospital. Upon review of the incident, the Hospital Authority ("HA") has decided that, starting from this month, the laboratories of two designated public hospitals will provide quick influenza testing services during non-office hours for various public hospitals. Besides, some doctors have pointed out that the immunization coverage rate of children in Hong Kong is relatively low among the developed regions, and infection preventive measures have yet to be put in place in the medical wards in public hospitals during peak seasons of influenza. Such situations may accelerate the spread of influenza. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows if HA has, upon implementation of the above new arrangements, compiled statistics on the respective average durations from the public hospital doctors deciding on arranging quick testing on influenza for patients at night-time to the samples concerned being delivered to the laboratories, and from the latter to the test reports being delivered to the doctors; how such average durations compare with those in respect of the process for similar tests at daytime; (2) given that the bed occupancy rate in various public hospitals is extremely high (e.g. the bed occupancy rate of paediatric wards in Tuen Mun Hospital was about 140% early last month or even 300% at its peak, and during the last winter surge of influenza, the average bed occupancy rate of various medical wards was more than 110% and even exceeded 130% in some hospitals), whether it knows if HA has evaluated the probabilities of patients getting infectious diseases through cross-transmission when the wards are fully occupied; whether the Government has long-term measures to improve the situation of the wards in public hospitals being always fully occupied; if it does, of the measures; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) given that the Government has indicated its intention to cover primary school students under the Childhood Influenza Vaccination Subsidy Scheme in the next financial year, of the relevant details and implementation timetable?
5. Hon WONG Yuk-man to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that during the trial of a case in which a secondary school student was prosecuted for assaulting a police officer, the magistrate criticized the testifying police officer as a dishonest witness, and the student was subsequently acquitted and compensated for his litigation costs of $500. Moreover, in May last year, an autistic man with moderate intellectual disabilities was arrested and charged with manslaughter by the Police. The family members of the man reproached the Police for handling the case improperly, including taking the first statement from the said mentally incapacitated person in the absence of his family member or guardian, and asking leading questions that caused him to make a statement against himself. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the measures in place to ensure that police officers collect evidence honestly during criminal investigations, and testify honestly during trials; (2) whether it will set up a mechanism to impose punishment on police officers who are proven to have testified dishonestly in trials; and (3) given that some police officers have been criticized by judges for testifying dishonestly in criminal cases, whether the authorities will consider exercising discretion to make compensations to persons who have been acquitted in such cases for their losses in terms of time and money, as well as their mental suffering arising from those cases; if they will not, of the reasons for that?
6. Dr Hon LAM Tai-fai to ask: (Translation)
There have been comments that Hong Kong is facing intensified social dissension and an unprecedentedly poor relationship between the executive authorities and the legislature. The Chief Executive ("CE") stated earlier that the existing problems would remain unresolved even with the replacement of CE. When CE was asked by a reporter why he did not honour the promise he had made upon assumption of office (i.e. he will continue to go to the people with his governing team to listen to the people's views, bringing with him a stool, a notepad and a pen), CE replied that if there was any occasion which did not need a massive deployment of two to three hundred police officers outside the meeting venue to cordon off the area and stop people from running onto carriageways or hurling objects, and if at the meeting venue the attendees could have communications on supporting or opposing views, he would be very willing to visit districts to listen to public views. He also said that he had been creating opportunities for communications with the pan-democratic Members of this Council, but he was snubbed by some of them. Yet, when CE earlier issued invitations to a farewell banquet to be held for Members of this Council, some pan-democratic Members were not invited. On the other hand, according to the survey findings released earlier by the Public Opinion Programme of The University of Hong Kong, the popularity rating of CE is 36.2, which is an all-time low in his term of office and a net popularity of negative 46 percentage points, which is a new record low since he delivered the Policy Address in January this year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has assessed why it is the case that whenever the incumbent CE visited districts, there were a large group of people trying to surround and charge at him, as well as hurling abuses at, insulting and making personal attacks on him using vulgar languages, necessitating the authorities' massive deployment of two to three hundred police officers for maintaining order; if it has assessed, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; whether it has sought to understand from CE whether he has no intention to visit districts again during his remaining term of office as long as the aforesaid situation has not improved; (2) whether it has assessed the reasons why pan-democratic Members have snubbed CE by declining his invitations to the banquet, and whether it has sought to understand from CE the reasons why individual pan-democratic Members were not invited to the farewell banquet and if he has given up communicating with the pan-democratic Members; if it has assessed and sought to understand, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) whether it has assessed if the long-standing low popularity ratings of CE and the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region are attributable to the political accountability team being disunited, incapable, failing to do real work for Hong Kong, and unable to gain support and trust from the public; if it has assessed and obtained the findings, of the details, and how the authorities will make improvements; if not, the reasons for that?
*7. Hon Andrew LEUNG to ask: (Translation)
The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department launched the "Organic Farming Conversion Scheme" in December 2000 to encourage conventional farmers to switch to organic farming. As at February 2016, there were 556 organic farms in Hong Kong, including traditional family-operated farms, self-claimed organic farms, enterprise-operated farms, and educational/leisure farms. Last month, the Finance Committee of this Council approved the setting up of a $500 million Sustainable Agricultural Development Fund to provide financial assistance to farmers, so as to enhance the promotion of technological research and manpower training in the agriculture industry, etc. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether there are new policies and measures to increase the number of organic farms; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (2) in the coming three years, how the authorities will effectively promote organic farming and provide assistance to those organizations and bodies (such as schools, commercial organizations) which intend to practise organic farming?
*8. Hon Michael TIEN to ask: (Translation)
The Government has provided sites for dedicated liquefied petroleum gas ("LPG") filling stations ("dedicated filling stations") at nil land premium in order to support the launch of the LPG Taxi Scheme. Under the relevant contracts signed between the operators of dedicated filling stations and the Government, LPG pump prices ("pump prices") at dedicated filling stations are required to be capped by a Pricing Formula whereas non-dedicated filling stations are free to adjust their pump prices. There are currently 12 dedicated filling stations and 67 non-dedicated filling stations in Hong Kong. Quite a number of drivers of taxis and pubic light buses ("PLBs") have relayed to me that LPG filling stations are highly insufficient and their geographical distribution is extremely uneven at present. As a result, quite a number of drivers often have to wait for a long time for refilling services, especially during peak hours. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective current numbers of (i) LPG PLBs, (ii) LPG taxis and (iii) diesel PLBs; the respective current numbers of dedicated and non-dedicated filling stations in each District Council district; (2) whether it has regularly monitored the pump price gaps between dedicated and non-dedicated filling stations; if it has, of the details; (3) given that some taxi drivers have relayed that refilling services at some LPG filling stations are frequently suspended due to regular inspections, whether the authorities have grasped the situation concerned; if they have, of the details; (4) whether the authorities will coordinate the schedules for various LPG filling stations to undergo regular inspections, in order to avoid concurrent suspension of refilling services due to inspections at a number of LPG filling stations in the same district, thereby reducing the inconvenience caused to the drivers concerned; and (5) given that some Lantau taxi drivers have complained to me that as there is no dedicated filling station on Lantau Island, they can only go to non-dedicated filling stations where pump prices are higher to have their taxis refilled, whether the Government has plans to set up dedicated filling stations on Lantau Island; if it does, of the details and implementation timetable?
*9. Hon Gary FAN to ask: (Translation)
The Government has leased certain lands at nil or nominal premium to private sports clubs ("clubs") to develop sports and recreational facilities for use by their members, and such leases for sports and recreational purposes are commonly known as private recreational leases ("PRLs"). I have repeatedly received complaints from members of the public that some lessees used club facilities for profit-making purposes, thus allegedly breaching the conditions of PRLs. On the other hand, the Home Affairs Bureau set up an inter-departmental working group in June 2014 to review the policy on PRLs. It is expected that the working group will complete the review in this year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the information of the lands that are currently granted under PRLs, including (i) the names of lessees, (ii) the addresses of the clubs, (iii) the uses specified in the PRLs, (iv) the site areas, and (v) the expiry dates of the PRLs; (2) of the respective numbers of the following, in each of the past five years, (i) the complaints received by the authorities about lessees allegedly breaching the restrictions on uses specified in PRLs ("lease-breaching") by conducting commercial activities or subletting club facilities, (ii) the suspected lease-breaching cases uncovered by the authorities during proactive inspections of these clubs, and (iii) substantiated lease-breaching cases; (3) of the details of and the procedure for the authorities' following up substantiated lease-breaching cases; whether the existing PRLs generally contain any provision empowering the Government to penalize lease-breaching lessees, such as charging land premiums and resuming the land; and (4) whether it has assessed if the aforesaid working group can complete the review on schedule, and whether the authorities will consult the public on the recommendations of the review report?
*10. Hon NG Leung-sing to ask: (Translation)
Credit data released by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority shows that the total domestic loans from banks in Hong Kong in March 2016 dropped year-on-year by 1.5% for the first time since September 2009. Total trade finance registered negative growth since the fourth quarter of 2014, while total loans to three major sectors (namely trade financing, manufacturing, as well as wholesale and retail trade) all reported declines in the first quarter of this year as compared to the last quarter, and only the total property lending maintained a steady growth. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has explored the main causes for the recent decline in total domestic loans; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) whether it has projected the movements in total domestic loans in the medium and short term; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) whether it has assessed the impact of the decline in total domestic loans on Hong Kong's overall economic performance this year; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*11. Hon CHAN Chi-chuen to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that several days before the visit by a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee cum Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress ("the Chairman") came to Hong Kong last month for inspection, contractors engaged by the Highways Department applied glue to seal the joints of the slabs on the pavements along Tim Mei Avenue in Admiralty and Harbour Road in Wan Chai ("joint sealing works"). It is learnt that as the joints of the slabs had been sealed with glue, puddles of water appeared on the surfaces of the slabs when it rained (including the period during which the Red Rainstorm Warning Signal was issued last month), increasing the chances for pedestrians to slip and fall. In addition, large quantities of white powder on the surfaces of such slabs, allegedly originating from the glue, drifted with the wind from time to time, thereby causing inconvenience to pedestrians. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) regarding the joint sealing works, of the area of pavements and expenses involved, the number of workers deployed, as well as the composition and quantity of various types of materials used; (2) of the objective and effectiveness of the joint sealing works carried out by the authorities; (3) prior to carrying out the joint sealing works, whether the authorities have taken into account the fact that the drainage capability of the surfaces of the slabs will be reduced by the use of glue; if they have, of the details; whether the authorities have reviewed the effectiveness of such type of glue following the rainstorm last month; if they have, of the details; whether such type of glue has been used in similar works by the authorities; (4) as there are views that the joint sealing works were related to the security arrangements for the Chairman's visit to Hong Kong, and that the carrying out of such works reflected that the authorities blew up the visit and were too anxious about it, whether the authorities have responded to such views; if they have, of the details; (5) of the policy bureaux and government departments that participated in making the decision to carry out the joint sealing works; whether the decision was related to the security arrangements for the Chairman's visit to Hong Kong; and (6) regarding the various joint sealing works carried out by the authorities in each of the past three years, of the respective streets and roads involved, works implementation methods, expenses incurred, numbers of workers deployed, types of materials used and reasons for carrying out such works (set out in a table)?
*12. Hon CHAN Han-pan to ask: (Translation)
It is learnt that the number of people who lodged torture claims/non-refoulement claims under the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment immediately upon entry into Hong Kong unlawfully has been on the rise recently. Some members of the public have relayed to me that some of the claimants are actually "bogus refugees" who have abused the mechanism for making such claims in order to stay in Hong Kong to engage in illegal activities that endanger the personal safety of members of the public and undermine the law and order, such as taking up illegal employment, stealing and trafficking drugs. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective average, shortest and longest time taken by the authorities to handle the aforesaid claims in each of the past three years; (2) of the respective numbers of cases in which the aforesaid claimants were prosecuted and convicted, in each of the past three years, for allegedly having committed crimes; (3) given that the authorities are conducting a study on setting up a closed camp for detaining claimants to reduce their incentives to come to Hong Kong, of the progress of the study; (4) whether it will consider introducing legislative amendments to empower the authorities to repatriate claimants to their countries of origin immediately upon conviction; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (5) given that the claimants are mainly from South Asian countries such as Pakistan and Bangladesh, whether the authorities will implement measures to encourage and help local ethnic minorities to apply for vacancies of police officers with a view to handling crimes involving claimants more effectively; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*13. Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG to ask: (Translation)
The new Urban Renewal Strategy promulgated in February 2011 stipulates that the aim of the Urban Renewal Authority ("URA") in carrying out redevelopment is to "reduce the number of inadequately housed people", and the principles to which URA strictly adheres in carrying out redevelopment include the one that "tenants affected by redevelopment projects should be provided with proper rehousing". Since the establishment of URA in 2001, the Hong Kong Housing Authority ("HA") has been able to provide URA with an annual quota of up to 1 000 public housing/interim housing flats for the purpose of rehousing households affected by redevelopment projects. URA is required to pay to HA monthly reservation fees and also the cost of the flats concerned when the rehousing of households actually takes place. In addition, given that in the past, quite a number of tenants affected by redevelopment projects had been requested by their landlords to move out upon the expiry or termination of their tenancies before URA acquired the affected properties successfully ("evicted tenants"), URA launched the Domestic Tenants Compassionate Assistance Programme ("DTCAP") in 2011 to enable affected tenants to receive an ex-gratia payment after the completion of URA's acquisition or government resumption of the affected properties. Tenants who are ineligible for DTCAP but are in hardship may be granted the Relocation Assistance by URA at its discretion after they have been assessed by the Urban Renewal Social Service Team for the project concerned. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council if it knows:
(1) the following information of each redevelopment project commencing in each of the financial years from 2001-2002 to 2015-2016: (a) the total number of households at the time of the Freezing Survey, with a breakdown by category of households, i.e., (i) owner-occupiers, (ii) domestic tenants, (iii) occupiers of rooftop structures and (iv) occupiers of other categories, and (b) the number of households who were offered rehousing or compensation, with a breakdown by rehousing/compensation arrangement, i.e., (v) those rehoused to public housing flats provided by HA, (vi) those rehoused to public housing flats provided by the Hong Kong Housing Society, (vii) those rehoused to flats provided by URA, (viii) those being offered the basic ex-gratia payment and a cash incentive, (ix) those being offered an ex-gratia payment equivalent to the Government's Ex-Gratia Allowance because they were ineligible for basic ex-gratia payment and (x) those who moved in after the date of the Freezing Survey and were offered a compensation in the form of ex-gratia payment equal to two times the prevailing ex-gratia allowance offered by the Lands Department on resumption, and set out such information in Table 1 by project name; if the aforesaid information is not available, whether it can provide the relevant information on the redevelopment projects commencing in the financial years from 2011-2012 to 2015-2016;
Table 1: Information on households affected by redevelopment projectsFinancial year Project number Project name Number of households of various categories at the time of the Freezing Survey Number of households offered rehousing or compensation (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) Total (v) (vi) (vii) (viii) (ix) (x) 2015-2016 DL-11: YTM Ash Street, Tai Kok Tsui ...... 2001-2002 K3 Cherry Street, Tai Kok Tsui (2) the following figures relating to the PRH flats provided by HA in each of the financial years from 2001-2002 to 2015-2016 (set out in Table 2): (i) the total number of public housing flats disposable by URA (i.e. the sum total of the flats which had been reserved in the past but not yet used for rehousing plus those which were newly reserved in that year), (ii) the aggregate number of PRH flats reserved by HA, (iii) the number of PRH flats actually used by URA, (iv) the number of PRH flats returned to HA by URA, (v) the amount of reservation fees paid by URA to HA, and (vi) the amount of money paid by URA to HA when rehousing of households actually took place; and Table 2: Figures relating to the public housing flats provided by HA to URA over the years Financial year (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (vi) 2015-2016 ...... 2001-2002 (3) the following figures relating to evicted tenants in respect of the redevelopment projects commencing in each of the financial years from 2010-2011 to 2015-2016 (set out in Table 3 by project name): (i) the number of tenants who applied for DTCAP, (ii) the number of tenants who were rehoused, (iii) the number of tenants who received compensation in the form of ex-gratia payment, and (iv) the number of tenants who were ineligible for DTCAP but were granted the Relocation Assistance? Table 3: Figures relating to evicted tenants Financial year Project number Project name (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) 2015-2016 DL-11: YTM Ash Street, Tai Kok Tsui ...... 2010-2011 KC-006 Pak Tai Street/
San Shan Road, Ma Tau Kok
*14. Hon Albert CHAN to ask: (Translation)
In reply to my question at the meeting of this Council on 27 May last year, the Government indicated that to reduce the impact of aircraft noise on the districts near the flight paths, the Civil Aviation Department had implemented a series of aircraft noise mitigating measures in accordance with the balanced approach to aircraft noise management promulgated by the International Civil Aviation Organization ("ICAO"), and the measures included requiring aircraft to avoid overflying populated areas, to adopt the noise abatement departure procedures prescribed by ICAO during take-off and the Continuous Descent Approach for landing, etc., in the small hours as far as possible. Yet, I have learnt that aircraft noise during the period between 11 pm to 7 am the next day still often causes nuisance to the residents of quite a number of housing estates to date, making it difficult for them to fall asleep. In recent months, I have even received complaints from quite a number of members of the public pointing out that quite a number of aircraft still overfly Ma Wan at an altitude of less than 5 000 feet after take-off, in contravention of the authorities' undertaking made years ago that all departing aircraft will overfly Ma Wan at an altitude of not less than 7 000 feet. In addition, some aircraft overfly the urban areas at an altitude of less than 7 500 feet, resulting in residents in the urban areas suffering greatly from aircraft noise nuisance. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective numbers of departing aircraft overflying Ma Wan last year at altitudes of (i) less than 5 000 feet, (ii) 5 000 to 7 000 feet, and (iii) more than 7 000 feet (set out in a table); (2) of the monthly data recorded between May 2015 and May 2016 by the various aircraft noise monitoring terminals on aircraft noise levels which reached 70 to 74, 75 to 79, and 80 decibels ("dB") or above during the aforesaid period; (3) among last year's departing aircraft, of the types of those aircraft with noise levels reaching 80 dB or above, and the names of the airline companies to which such aircraft belonged; and (4) whether it will further enhance the existing aircraft noise mitigating measures to reduce the nuisance caused to residents in the districts concerned; if it will, of the details?
*15. Hon Frankie YICK to ask: (Translation)
The Eastern Harbour Crossing Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2015 passed by this Council on the 19th of last month provides the legal basis for Government's takeover of the Eastern Harbour Crossing ("EHC") when EHC's franchise expires on 7 August of this year. EHC's prevailing toll levels will not be affected when the Government takes over it. On the other hand, the Secretary for Transport and Housing has stated on several occasions that upon taking over EHC, the Government will immediately commence a study on the rationalization of the traffic distribution among EHC, Cross Harbour Tunnel ("CHT") and Western Harbour Crossing ("WHC"), collectively referred to as the three road harbour crossings ("RHCs"). The study will be completed in 2017-2018 and the toll adjustment proposals will be submitted to the Panel on Transport of this Council for discussion. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the specific plans for and work schedule of the aforesaid study; (2) whether the Government has formulated any new plans and measures, to be implemented before the implementation of the toll adjustment proposals, to alleviate the traffic congestion problem in Central and its adjacent areas; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) given that in respect of daily throughput, CHT is currently running over its design capacity and EHC's capacity is near saturation, while WHC has only reached about half of its design capacity, of the authorities' specific measures to improve the traffic distribution among the three RHCs prior to the implementation of the toll adjustment proposals; and (4) whether the Government will consider afresh buying back WHC so as to facilitate its integrated adjustment of the traffic distribution of the three RHCs; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*16. Hon Steven HO to ask: (Translation)
Currently, law enforcement officers may institute prosecutions, by way of summons under section 4A of the Summary Offences Ordinance (Cap. 228), against those persons who cause obstruction of public places ("street obstruction"). When the relevant amendments to the Fixed Penalty (Public Cleanliness Offences) (Amendment) Ordinance 2016 (Ord. No. 4 of 2016) come into operation on 24 September this year, law enforcement officers may also issue fixed penalty notices to the aforesaid offenders. Some members of the public are concerned that if the authorities take law enforcement actions vigorously, quite a number of shop operators may have difficulties in doing businesses and even close down their businesses, which may result in the districts concerned losing their distinctiveness. Hence, they consider that the Government should improve the planning of such districts, and strike a balance between addressing the problem of street obstruction caused by shop operators and maintaining spaces for operators of small shops to do businesses. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it will consider consulting various stakeholders, as soon as possible and before the commencement of the aforesaid legislative amendments, on the following proposals: on specified days (e.g. Valentine's Day and Lunar Year End) and on the premise of not causing danger to road users, to grant discretionary permission for operators of flower retail shops at the flower market in Mong Kok ("Flower Market") to use their shop-front areas for placing flowers, and to prohibit access of vehicles to that area for temporary designation of that area as pedestrian precinct and flower distribution area, so as to maintain and enhance the distinctiveness of that area; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) as the Government indicated in March this year that the law enforcement departments concerned had embarked on formulating law enforcement guidelines in respect of the implementation of the aforesaid legislative amendments with a view to avoiding unnecessary confrontations between law enforcement officers and shop operators, and that it would carry out publicity work on such amendments before they came into operation, of the relevant details and work progress; (3) as flowers grown locally accounted for about 27% of the fresh flowers consumed in the territory in 2015, whether the Government will consider setting up a wholesale market for local flowers near the Flower Market or in other locations, so as to provide sufficient spaces for conducting flowers wholesaling activities and creating new and unique tourist attractions; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (4) whether the authorities will consider allocating idle spaces (e.g. those underneath flyovers or at street corners) with good pedestrian flows to operators of small and unique businesses (such as cobblers, watch repairers, knife sharpening service providers and locksmiths) who cannot afford high rents to enable them to set up shops; if the authorities will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (5) as the shop operators from the Flower Market and other similar areas have relayed to me that business spaces of their shops had shrunk as a result of street widening works carried out by the authorities in such areas years ago, and they are forced to place flowers and goods in their shop fronts, thus causing street obstruction, whether the authorities will conduct replanning for such areas in order to strike a balance between the needs of shop operators and road users?
*17. Hon Mrs Regina IP to ask: (Translation)
Some members of the Hong Kong Auxiliary Police Force ("auxiliary police officers") have relayed to me that they are required to receive Statutory Efficiency Training each year, and those who have completed such training will be eligible for a bounty award. However, these auxiliary police officers consider that as the amount of the bounty award, which has remained unchanged for more than 20 years, is too small, coupled with the incessant increase of volume and hazard of work in recent years, the current amount of bounty award is not conducive to encouraging their active participation in the work of auxiliary police force. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the existing size of the staff establishment of the Hong Kong Auxiliary Police Force, and its percentage in the size of the overall staff establishment of the Police Force (i.e. auxiliary and regular police officers); (2) of the minimum and maximum working hours, pay rates and overtime allowances (if any) of auxiliary police officers at present, set out on a monthly average basis; (3) of the initial purpose and background of providing the aforesaid bounty award; the current amount of the bounty award; and (4) as some auxiliary police officers have indicated that their work has become increasingly complicated and dangerous in recent years, whether the authorities will consider adjusting, on a regular basis, the pay rates of auxiliary police officers and the amount of the aforesaid bounty award so as to reasonably reflect the contribution of auxiliary police officers; if they will, of the specific details; if not, the reasons for that?
*18. Hon CHAN Kin-por to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that according to the findings of a recent survey, nearly 90% of the practitioners in the tourism industry were "worried" or "very worried" about the prospect of the tourism industry in Hong Kong. There are views that in addition to increasing the percentage of overnight visitors in the total number of tourists, the development of tourist night markets may also help to promote local gourmet culture, thereby creating low-skilled employment opportunities and boosting the economic development. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that the Secretary for Food and Health said in March last year that he was studying with the 18 district councils ("DCs") the setting up of night markets, of the latest details of the discussions (including the views put forward by various DCs), the progress of the study and the completion date; of the time required for conducting the relevant consultation exercise and the implementation timetable of the entire programme, as estimated by the authorities; whether the authorities have conducted surveys to find out the potential demand of members of the public in Hong Kong and overseas tourists for tourist night markets and their views in this respect; (2) of a breakdown by DC district of the number of prosecutions instituted by the authorities last year against unlicensed hawkers selling cooked food; whether it has studied the impact caused by unlicensed hawkers selling cooked food on the environmental hygiene of the areas and streets with a higher concentration of such unlicensed hawkers; of the hygienic requirements the authorities have planned to impose on night markets, and whether they will formulate the hygienic criteria specifically for the food sold at night markets; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) given that during the celebrations of the birthdays of Zhen Jun and Tin Hau in recent years, Tsing Yi Bamboo Theatre would be set up in Tsing Yi, and that it is learnt that the night market inside the Theatre consisting of a few dozen traditional food stalls was very popular among members of the public and tourists alike, whether the authorities will make reference to the successful example of Tsing Yi Bamboo Theatre and study the economic boosters and growth that tourist night markets may bring to the local catering industry, tourism industry or hotel industry, etc.; whether the authorities will apply the experience of Tsing Yi Bamboo Theatre to the development of Lunar New Year night markets or other tourist night markets in various districts; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*19. Hon LEUNG Che-cheung to ask: (Translation)
It was uncovered last year that the staff of a private residential care home for the elderly ("RCHE") frequently gathered female residents who lacked self-care skills on an outdoor podium and took off all their clothes for bathing them one by one. Subsequently, the RCHE failed to have its licence renewed by the Social Welfare Department. It has been reported that a new operator intends to operate an RCHE afresh at the premises concerned in July this year but the old and new operators are alleged to have a close relationship. Some members of the public have relayed to me that the predecessor of the RCHE had a record of non-compliance, so the authorities should strengthen their inspection and monitoring of the RCHE, in order to safeguard the rights and interests of the residents and ensure that they are taken care of properly. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether the authorities, in vetting and approving applications for RCHE licences at present, will consider the past performance in operating RCHEs and non-compliance records of the operators and related persons; (2) regarding those RCHEs whose licences were not renewed on the ground of non-compliance, how the authorities ensure that non-compliance will not recur in such RCHEs upon takeover by new operators; (3) of the number of non-compliant cases uncovered by the staff of the Licensing Office of Residential Care Homes for the Elderly during their inspections of RCHEs in each of the past three years and the follow-up actions taken; and (4) whether the authorities have plans to formulate measures which are more effective so as to strengthen the monitoring of the service quality of RCHEs; if they do, of the details of such measures and the implementation timetable?
*20. Dr Hon Priscilla LEUNG to ask: (Translation)
In 2014, the World Health Organization issued a report proposing to bring electronic cigarettes ("ECs") under regulation. Since then, a number of countries have enacted legislation to regulate ECs. Earlier on, the media captured photographs of a girl smoking a fruit-flavoured EC in a public place, causing some members of the community to worry about the increasing popularity of smoking ECs among young people and children in Hong Kong. They are of the view that there is an urgent need to regulate the manufacture, import, sale, distribution and publicity of ECs (including ECs not containing nicotine). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) as the Food and Health Bureau ("FHB") submitted a paper to the Panel on Health Services of this Council in as early as May last year indicating that the Government would study the enactment of legislation to regulate ECs, and the officials from the Bureau have reiterated such intention to the media in recent months, and quite a number of members of the community have also requested for expeditious enactment of legislation, of the timetable and details of such legislative work, and whether the authorities will undertake to introduce the relevant bill to this Council within this year; (2) given that quite a number of ECs and e-cigarette liquid are currently sold on the Internet, how the Government has planned to regulate the online sale of ECs; (3) whether it has studied how overseas legislation and relevant initiatives regulate EC products not containing nicotine; if it has, of the details, as well as the provisions and initiatives which are of reference value to Hong Kong; and (4) as it was discovered in a survey commissioned by FHB and conducted by the University of Hong Kong in the past two years that 2.6% of primary school students and 9% of secondary school students indicated that they had smoked ECs before, whether the authorities have launched publicity exercises targeting both secondary and primary school students on the perils of smoking ECs; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*21. Prof Hon Joseph LEE to ask: (Translation)
On the 20th of last month, the entire greened roof of the Chan Tai Ho Multi-purpose Hall at the City University of Hong Kong collapsed abruptly, and it has been reported that this accident is attributable to the greening works on the roof of the building. Some members of the public have pointed out that, apart from roof greening works, vertical greening works on the external walls of buildings may also pose safety hazards to the public. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the current number of buildings in Hong Kong on which vertical greening works have been carried out; and how the authorities regulate such works; (2) of the measures to ensure the structural safety of buildings on which vertical greening facilities/installations have been retrofitted; whether the authorities inspect on a regular basis the safety of the relevant works and facilities/installations; if they do, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) whether the authorities will comprehensively review the current regulatory arrangements for vertical greening facilities/installations; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*22. Hon KWOK Wai-keung to ask: (Translation)
Section 31G of the Employment Ordinance (Cap. 57) stipulates the formula for calculating severance payments but, pursuant to section 31I, the amount calculated according to the formula has to be reduced by the accrued benefits derived from the employer's contributions made to Mandatory Provident Fund schemes in respect of the employee concerned ("offsetting") in order to arrive at the net amount of severance payment due to the employee. On the other hand, the employee may apply for ex gratia payments from the Protection of Wages on Insolvency Fund ("PWIF") to cover the outstanding wages, severance payment, etc. that the employer fails to pay. Limit on the amount of an ex gratia payment payable to an employee in relation to severance payment in arrears is calculable by applying the formula set out in section 16(2)(f)(i) of the Protection of Wages on Insolvency Ordinance (Cap. 380). Over the years, the authorities have taken the amount calculated under section 31G as an applicant's "entitlement to severance payment" in section 16(2)(f)(i) and, by applying the formula set out therein, computed the limit of such entitlement, and then made the offsetting to arrive at the amount of ex gratia payment payable to an employee in relation to severance payment in arrears. Last month, the Court of Final Appeal held that the calculation approach adopted by the authorities was wrong and the amount of "entitlement to severance payment" in section 16(2)(f)(i) should be the actual amount of severance payment, and therefore the offsetting should first be made before arriving at a net amount, which will then be put into the formula to calculate the ex gratia payment payable to an employee. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of applications for ex gratia payments received by PWIF and the amounts involved, in each of the past five years; (2) of the number of people who made applications to PWIF in the past five years in relation to severance payment in arrears but were not granted ex gratia payments after the offsetting was made; (3) whether it has assessed, among the applications made to PWIF in relation to severance payment in arrears in the past five years, the number of those in which the amounts of ex gratia payments calculated according to the approach set out by the Court of Final Appeal in the aforesaid judgment are higher than those calculated under the original approach, and the total amount of the relevant shortfalls; whether the authorities have plans to repay the shortfalls to the applicants concerned; if they do, of the details; and (4) whether the authorities will, in the light of the aforesaid judgment, conduct a comprehensive review of the relevant regulations in the existing Protection of Wages on Insolvency Ordinance; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
* For written reply
III. Government Bills
| Committee Stage and Third Reading
| |||||||||||||
| Interception of Communications and Surveillance (Amendment) Bill 2015 | : | Secretary for Security
Under Secretary for Security | |||||||||||
(Debate and voting arrangements for Committee stage of the Interception of Communications and Surveillance (Amendment) Bill 2015 (issued on 31 May 2016 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 653/15-16(01))) Second Reading (Debate to resume), Committee Stage and Third Reading | |||||||||||||
| Inland Revenue (Amendment) Bill 2016 | : | Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
Under Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury | |||||||||||
| Hon James TO to move Committee stage amendments
(The amendments were issued on 6 June 2016 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 672/15-16) | |||||||||||||
| (Debate and voting arrangements for Committee stage of the Inland Revenue (Amendment) Bill 2016 (issued on 7 June 2016 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 676/15-16(01))) | |||||||||||||
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) | |
| 6. | Proposed resolution under the Criminal Procedure Ordinance
Secretary for Home Affairs to move the following motion: Resolved that the Legal Aid in Criminal Cases (Amendment) Rules 2016, made by the Criminal Procedure Rules Committee on 4 May 2016, be approved. |
| (The Rules are in Appendix III and were also issued
on 13 May 2016 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 591/15-16) | |
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.
| ||||
| 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.
| ||||
| 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". | ||||
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VIII. Request for Special Leave of the Council to Give Evidence of Council Proceedings
Request made under section 7 of the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance (Cap. 382) and Rule 90 of the Rules of Procedure for special leave of the Council to give evidence of Council proceedings
The request of Hon WONG Yuk-man is in Appendix IV and was also issued on 3 June 2016 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 664/15-16.
IX. Motion for the Adjournment of the Council
| 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. | ||||
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