A 17/18-19
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 7 February 2018 at 11:30 am
(or immediately after the meeting for the Chief Executive's Question Time
to be held at 11:00 am that day)
I. Tabling of Papers
Other Papers
II. Questions
1. Hon LAM Cheuk-ting to ask: (Translation)
At present, the Hong Kong Amateur Swimming Association ("HKASA") and its affiliated swimming clubs have a relatively higher priority in booking the swimming lanes of public swimming pools for training on swimming. After central coordination by HKASA in advance on the various swimming clubs' use of the swimming lanes available for allocation, the swimming clubs submit their applications to the Leisure and Cultural Services Department ("LCSD") for booking the swimming lanes. While commercial organizations have to pay fees from $166 to $350 per hour for renting swimming lanes, HKASA and swimming clubs, being non-profit-making organizations, only have to pay less than fourth of such fees, i.e. at the concessionary rates from $41.5 to $83 per hour. It has been reported that three swimming clubs which are often allocated the highest numbers of swimming lanes have separately used the swimming lanes rented at concessionary rates for offering training courses on swimming, and they have requested the trainees to deposit the course fees into bank accounts of private companies, arousing suspicion of their reaping profits by exploiting public resources. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has conducted any follow-up investigation into the report of swimming clubs reaping profits by exploiting public resources; if so, of the details and the outcome; whether LCSD has estimated the total amount of loss of public money in the past three years due to such practice, and whether LCSD will hold the persons-in-charge of the swimming clubs criminally liable and recover from them the rents undercharged for the swimming lanes; (2) of the measures put in place to curb swimming clubs reaping profits by exploiting public resources; and (3) whether it will review the existing mechanism for allocation of swimming lanes, including the arrangement whereby HKASA is responsible for coordinating the allocation of swimming lanes, so as to ensure a fair allocation of swimming lanes and prevent swimming lanes from being monopolized by a few swimming clubs, thereby enabling athletes to have more choices in receiving training offered by different swimming clubs and promoting a more healthy development of the sport of swimming?
2. Hon Charles Peter MOK to ask: (Translation)
To curb the growth in the number of private cars, the Government has reduced the first registration tax ("FRT") concessions for electric private cars from full exemption in the past to setting a cap at $97,500 starting from this financial year. It is learnt that since the beginning of the current financial year, the number of newly registered electric private cars has dropped by more than 90% whereas the number of newly registered fuel-powered private cars has increased, as compared with the relevant figures in the same period in the year before. Moreover, an acute shortage of public charging facilities for electric vehicles ("EVs") has caused quite a number of people to give up the idea of purchasing EVs. Regarding the policies and measures to popularize EVs, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that many countries and places around the world (e.g. France, the United Kingdom, Taiwan, Germany, India, Norway and the Netherlands) have drawn up timetables for a total ban on the sale of fuel-powered vehicles, whether the Government will formulate a timetable in this respect, with a view to achieving zero vehicle emissions and improving roadside air quality; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) whether it will consider, starting from the next financial year, raising the cap of FRT exemption for electric private cars, so as to encourage private car owners to switch to EVs; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) given that the Government is planning to upgrade on-street parking meters and install multi-functional smart lampposts, whether the Government will consider incorporating charging facilities for EVs in these public facilities and identify more public places for installing charging facilities; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
3. Hon WONG Ting-kwong to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that early last month, a woman, who was dissatisfied with the court judgment on a certain case, hurled abuses at the magistrate of the case outside the courtroom and was subsequently arrested by the Police for alleged contempt of court. However, there have been people in the past from time to time who were neither arrested nor prosecuted after they had publicly hurled abuses or curses at judges. For example, in October 2016, a former Member of this Council, after having been convicted of a charge of common assault, publicly hurled abuses at the magistrate of the case by calling him a "dog judge" by name, and his supporters even uttered the curse that "the whole family of the magistrate would go to hell". Some members of the public have queried the inconsistent standards on law enforcement adopted by the authorities in respect of acts of contempt of court. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective numbers of persons arrested and prosecuted in the past three years for alleged contempt of court, with a breakdown by the type of acts involved in such cases (e.g. obstructing or refusing the execution of court rulings or orders, acting in a disorderly manner before a court and insulting a judge either inside or outside a courtroom); (2) of the respective criteria adopted by the authorities for determining whether a person who has allegedly committed an act of contempt of court (especially hurling abuses at a judge) should be arrested and prosecuted; whether the considerations involved include the political stance and background of the person involved in the case, the race and nationality of the judge being insulted, and the stance expressed by legal professionals and bodies on the act involved in the case; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) whether the authorities will review those cases that occurred in the past three years in which abuses and curses were publicly hurled at judges and the persons involved were neither arrested nor prosecuted, so as to respond to the queries raised by members of the public regarding the authorities' inconsistent standards on law enforcement; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
4. Dr Hon Helena WONG to ask: (Translation)
The Government spends a huge amount of public money each year on the supply of fresh water to members of the public, with the purchase of Dongjiang water from the Mainland alone costing approximately $4.8 billion a year. However, according to the information for the period from 2006 to 2015, the rate of water loss persistently stood at over 30%. The causes of water loss include leakage from public mains and from the water mains within the areas of some private residences. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the district, among the 18 District Council ("DC") districts across the territory, in which the problem of public mains leakage is most serious at present, and set out in a table the water leakage rate of each district in the past three years; (2) as it has been reported that water mains leakage has been a long-standing problem in certain large-scale housing courts, in which an estimated quantity of 30% of fresh water is lost before the water is delivered to and recorded by the meters of various customers, regarding public rental housing estates, Home Ownership Scheme courts and private housing courts, of the respective names of the 30 housing estates or courts with the highest water loss rates in the past three years, as well as their annual total quantities of water loss and the loss of public money thus incurred; and (3) of the Government's measures to lower Hong Kong's water leakage rate and water loss rate, as well as the implementation timetable for and the objectives and other details of such measures?
5. Dr Hon Pierre CHAN to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that on the 9th of last month, the health authorities of the three places of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao signed a Framework Agreement on Hygiene and Health Cooperation of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area ("the Agreement") and agreements on 26 cooperation projects. The cooperation projects include a training programme for general medical practitioners in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, a training programme for medical specialists in Shenzhen and Hong Kong, and a Guangdong-Hong Kong joint training programme for certified nurse specialists. Regarding the healthcare services in the three places of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it will make public the full contents of the Agreement and the 26 cooperation projects, as well as their details such as the objectives, whether the qualifications of personnel from Guangdong and Macao who have received training in Hong Kong will obtain professional recognition in Hong Kong, and the implementation timetables; if so, when it will do so; if not, of the reasons for that; (2) whether the Agreement covers mutual recognition of training qualifications and professional qualifications for healthcare personnel in the three places of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao; if so, of the details, and whether it has assessed if such arrangements have contravened the provision in Article 142 of the Basic Law, i.e. "[t]he Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall, on the basis of maintaining the previous systems concerning the professions, formulate provisions on its own for assessing the qualifications for practice in the various professions"; and (3) whether it discussed, in the past three years, with the health authorities of Guangdong and Macao plans to facilitate residents in Guangdong and Macao to come to Hong Kong for medical treatments; if so, of the details, and whether it has assessed if the public and private healthcare systems in Hong Kong can cope with the additional service demand?
6. Hon CHAN Han-pan to ask: (Translation)
It is learnt that the regular prenatal check-ups currently provided by public hospitals for local pregnant women with a residential hospital booking mainly include ultrasound examination and basic blood test. However, these procedures cannot accurately and comprehensively detect the various hereditary diseases that foetuses may suffer from, and amniocentesis, which is conducted for some pregnant women, is invasive in nature and is associated with a risk of miscarriage. According to medical research reports, non-invasive fetal trisomy tests ("genetic tests"), the technology of which has matured in recent years, can detect, in a safe and accurate manner, a number of common hereditary diseases in foetuses. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the respective numbers of new-born babies in each of the past five years detected before and after birth to have suffered from hereditary diseases, and set out a breakdown, by whether the detection was made through regular check-ups or genetic tests, of the cases in which babies were detected to have suffered from hereditary diseases before birth; (2) whether the authorities have conducted studies on the effectiveness and applications of genetic tests; if so, of the details; if not, whether they will conduct such studies; and (3) whether it knows the expenditure incurred in each of the past five years on providing regular prenatal check-ups by public hospitals; whether the Hospital Authority has plans to carry out free genetic tests for local pregnant women; if so, of the details, including the projected annual number of foetuses that can be detected to have suffered from hereditary diseases and the expenditure involved; if not, the reasons for that?
*7. Hon CHU Hoi-dick to ask: (Translation)
According to the environmental impact assessment report of the Hong Kong Boundary Crossing Facilities and the Hong Kong Link Road projects of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge ("the projects"), the mitigation measures that must be taken by the authorities include conducting fry release within the boundaries of the newly established Brothers Marine Park as well as the existing Sha Chau and Lung Kwu Chau Marine Park, so as to enhance the fishery resources in such waters. In September 2014, the Highways Department ("HyD") conducted a release trial in the waters near the Brothers, releasing about 40 000 fry of Yellow Croaker and about 60 000 fry of Threadfin. However, it has been reported that as HyD has not taken any post-release actions to monitor the fry released, information on the whereabouts and the mortality and survival rates of the fry was not available. On the other hand, HyD consulted the Country and Marine Parks Board in July last year about the specific arrangements of the fry release, and some Board members expressed concern about the HyD's plan of releasing the fry of Hong Kong Grouper and the fry of Longtooth Grouper because groupers might have an adverse impact on the existing fish community of the aforesaid marine parks. On monitoring of the mitigation measures implemented under the projects, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the dates on which the tendering exercise for the contracts of the fry release were/will be conducted, as well as the names of all tenderers and the successful tenderers; whether the relevant tender documents can be made public; (2) of the details of the aforesaid fry release trial (including the dates, the number of releases and the relevant reports); why the species of fish subsequently suggested to be released by HyD were different from those adopted in the fry release trial; (3) given that a fry release trial was conducted by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department in 2001, whether HyD has, in preparing the contracts for the fry release, made reference to the relevant arrangements and the outcome of the trial; if so, of the lessons learnt; if not, the reasons for that; (4) given that some environmentalists have relayed that the projects will destroy the natural seabed, thereby affecting the marine ecology and fisheries resources, whether HyD has regularly deployed staff to conduct at-sea inspections to collect data on marine ecology and fisheries resources in the waters concerned before and after the works, for assessing the impacts of such works more accurately; if so, of the number and date of such inspections; and (5) whether a mechanism is in place to (i) ensure that the contractors of the projects will adopt the various mitigation measures according to the contractual requirements, and (ii) impose penalties on the contractors who have breached the contractual requirements; if so, of the details; if not, whether it will establish such a mechanism?
*8. Hon Christopher CHEUNG to ask: (Translation)
In order to boost Hong Kong's international trade of precious metals, the authorities established the Precious Metals Depository at the Hong Kong International Airport ("HKIA") in 2009. Some persons-in-charge of companies which engage in the refining and international trade of precious metals have relayed to me that due to the high value of precious metals, the import and export declaration charges on precious metals have put a huge burden on their operating costs and weakened Hong Kong's competitive edge in the international trade of precious metals. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective revenues from declaration charges on imports and on exports of precious metals as well as the year-on-year percentage changes of such revenues in each of the past five years; (2) given that the declaration charges on imports and exports of gold bars of 995.0 fineness or above have been exempted since 2007, whether the Government has assessed the positive effect of such an exemption measure on boosting the import and export trades of such goods; (3) whether it knows the current average storage quantity and utilization rate of the Precious Metals Depository at HKIA; and (4) given that Singapore, a major competitor of Hong Kong, abolished the declaration charges on imports and exports of precious metals in 2012, whether the Government will consider, apart from exempting the declaration charge of gold bars of 995.0 fineness or above, also reducing or waiving the declaration charges on imports and exports of other precious metals (e.g. gold and silver bullions), so as to reduce the operating costs of the relevant trades and enhance the competitiveness of Hong Kong in the international trade of precious metals; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*9. Hon CHAN Chi-chuen to ask: (Translation)
According to paragraph 6(iv) of the Guideline on Pavement Renovation Works and Tree Stability issued in April 2013 by the Greening, Landscape and Tree Management Section of the Development Bureau, the authorities recommend that for the healthy growth of trees in paved area, removable and permeable paving blocks should be used on the sand base around trees. However, I have recently received complaints from members of the public that certain government departments often apply glue to seal up the gaps between paving blocks ("gap sealing") around the trees on pavements. They were concerned that this practice will hinder the tree roots from absorbing sufficient rainwater and air, thus jeopardizing the health of the trees. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) among the gap sealing works carried out in the past two years by various government departments, of the number of those the scope of which covered paving blocks within the canopy spread of trees, with a breakdown by reason for carrying out the works; (2) whether it conducted in the past three years any study on the impacts of sealing up the gaps between paving blocks around trees on the health of the trees; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) whether it will issue guidelines to various government departments to provide that the gaps between paving blocks within the canopy spread of trees must not be sealed up in order to avoid jeopardizing the health of the trees?
*10. Hon IP Kin-yuen to ask: (Translation)
According to the findings of Progress in International Reading Literacy Study ("PIRLS"), the reading attainment score of Hong Kong Primary Four students in 2016 ranked the third among the 50 participating countries and places around the globe. However, the attitudes of Hong Kong students towards reading (including Students Like Reading, Students Confidence in Reading and Students Engaged in Reading Lessons) were unsatisfactory. On the other hand, in the Basic Education Curriculum Guide prepared by the Curriculum Development Council in 2002, "reading to learn" was introduced as one of the four key tasks for achieving learning to learn. Regarding the promotion of a reading culture among students in schools, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the plans and measures implemented in each of the past five school years by the Education Bureau ("EDB") in schools to promote a reading culture among students, and set out the relevant information and expenditure by type of school (i.e. primary, secondary and special); (2) whether a mechanism is currently in place to regularly evaluate the effectiveness of schools in its work on promoting a reading culture among students; (3) whether schools are currently required to submit to EDB, on a yearly basis, a report on their work on promoting a reading culture among students; if so, whether the reports received in the past five school years can be made public; if there is no such a requirement, whether there was in the past; if so, when the requirement was removed; (4) whether it knows, in each of the past five school years, the average figures on the following which relate to school libraries (with a breakdown by type of school): (i) circulation, (ii) library collections, (iii) number of days opened, and (iv) attendances; (5) whether it knows, in each of the past five school years, the following information relating to teacher-librarians (with a breakdown by type of school): (i) the number of teacher-librarians in service (with a breakdown by academic qualification and year of service), (ii) the number of new recruits, (iii) the average number of hours of in-service training received, (iv) the average weekly number of hours of teaching undertaken, and (v) the average weekly number of hours of administrative duties undertaken; (6) whether it knows, in each of the past five school years: (i) the number of schools in which teaching assistants, parent volunteers or student volunteers were engaged to provide students reading support, and (ii) the number of schools in which efforts were made to promote the collaboration of reading with other subjects and to promote a reading culture among students; and (7) given that while it is stated in the chapter on "Reading to Learn" in the Basic Education Curriculum Guide (2014) that schools should deploy teacher-librarians to take up professional duties, EDB at present does not provide any guideline on the teaching load and administrative duties for teacher-librarians, whether EDB will: (i) review the School Library Services Development, including the objectives of school library services and the functions of teacher-librarians; if so, of the details and timetable; if not, the reasons for that; and (ii) specify, in clear terms, the maximum teaching load for teacher-librarians, so that they can focus on the provision of school library services, and to properly perform their roles as an information and media specialist, teachers' teaching partner, curriculum facilitator and teaching resources coordinator; if so, of the details and timetable; if not, the reasons for that?
*11. Hon Kenneth LAU to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that since a major taxi manufacturer will cease the production of liquefied petroleum gas ("LPG") taxis shortly, taxi import agents are now planning to introduce LPG-electric hybrid taxis. On the other hand, it is learnt that the London authorities have introduced petrol-electric hybrid taxis and have proceeded with the provision of charging facilities at some lampposts for charging electric vehicles ("EVs"). On promoting the use of electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows how the hybrid taxis planned to be introduced by the taxi trade compare with the ones in London in terms of design, function, drive mode, etc.; (2) of the respective current numbers of registered electric taxis and hybrid taxis; (3) whether it has plans to encourage taxi, minibus and bus service operators to switch to EVs or hybrid vehicles; (4) of the respective current numbers of the various types of EVs in the government fleet; and (5) as the Chief Executive indicated in the Policy Address she delivered in October last year that a pilot Multi-functional Smart Lampposts scheme would be launched at selected urban locations, whether the Government has assessed if the practice of the London authorities to provide charging facilities for EVs at lampposts is feasible in Hong Kong; if it has assessed and the outcome is in the affirmative, of the implementation timetable and the division of work among the various government departments; if the assessment outcome is in the negative, the reasons for that?
*12. Dr Hon CHENG Chung-tai to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that the problem of Non-eligible Persons ("NEPs") defaulting on payment of public hospital charges has been serious in recent years. The amounts of unpaid medical fees owed by non-local pregnant women after giving birth in public hospitals and written off by the Hospital Authority ("HA") in 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 were $6.1 million and $4.7 million respectively. Besides, in 2015-2016, an NEP did not pay any fees despite having been hospitalized for more than 100 days. On preventing NEPs from defaulting on payment of public hospital charges, will the Government inform this Council if it knows:
(1) the number of cases in each of the past five financial years in which NEPs defaulted on payment of public hospital charges and the total amount involved, with a breakdown by specialty; (2) whether HA has considered adopting new measures to recover arrears from NEPs; and (3) given that HA recorded an operating deficit of $1.5 billion in 2016-2017, whether HA will consider implementing a measure that NEPs "must make payment before receiving treatment", in order to avoid deterioration of the problem of operating deficit caused by bad debts?
*13. Hon LUK Chung-hung to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that since 2004, the Airport Authority Hong Kong ("AA") has invariably included a provision on guaranteed downtown prices in the tenancy agreements for the shops in the airport Under such provision, the retailers pledge to AA that the prices of the items sold at the shops in the airport will not be higher than those of identical items sold at the same retailers' comparable outlets in Hong Kong operating under the same trade name. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows if AA regularly took random samples in the past three years for comparison of the prices of the items sold by the retailers at the shops in the airport and those of identical items sold at their other outlets; if AA did, of the number of such operations and the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) whether it knows the number of cases uncovered by AA in the past three years in which airport retailers had breached the aforesaid provision, and the follow-up actions taken by AA; and (3) as AA has indicated that in the event that a consumer discovers that the price of an item bought in the airport is higher than that of an identical item sold at the same retailer's other outlets on the same day, he may send to AA information such as the original sales receipt and the item purchased within 30 days of the date of purchase and, upon validation, a refund by the retailer will be arranged, whether it knows if AA publicized such arrangement in the past three years; if AA did, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*14. Hon Jimmy NG to ask: (Translation)
The Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation Limited ("HKMC") announced in April last year that its Board of Directors had approved in principle to introduce a life annuity scheme ("the Scheme"), under which an annuitant, after making a lump-sum premium payment, would be provided with lifetime monthly payouts. HKMC expects that the Scheme can be launched by the middle of this year at the earliest. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the latest details of the Scheme, including (i) whether the scale of $10 billion will be expanded in the light of market response, (ii) the method by which annuitants will be selected in case of over-subscription, and (iii) the method for calculating the amount that an annuitant may get back in case of early surrender of his/her policy; (2) given that since HKMC's announcement of its plan to launch the Scheme, various insurance companies in the private sector have introduced one after another annuity products with novel features (e.g. annuity payouts to be increased progressively with age and the minimum entry age set at 30), whether HKMC will consider introducing annuity schemes with similar arrangements for members of the public to choose; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) whether HKMC will introduce an annuity scheme under which monthly payouts are linked with the inflation rate, so as to ensure that the purchasing power of the annuity payouts will not be gnawed by inflation; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (4) whether the premium paid and the monthly payouts under the Scheme will be taken into account when the authorities conduct asset and income tests on beneficiaries of various forms of subsidized housing and social welfare initiatives; if so, of the details?
*15. Hon Paul TSE to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that within less than a year since bike-sharing rental service was introduced into Hong Kong, six service operators have commenced operation in the market, providing a total of 15 000 bicycles. Several members of the Kwun Tong District Council and the Wong Tai Sin District Council have relayed that with the growing popularity of shared bicycles, the problem of illegal parking of bicycles has spread to Kowloon East. As there is a lack of bicycle parking spaces in public housing estates in the urban areas, a large number of shared bicycles have been illegally parked and abandoned in a number of housing estates, causing obstruction to the residents there. They have also pointed out that there are loopholes in the law enforcement approach taken and the legislation invoked by the government departments concerned against illegal parking of bicycles (those departments only post on the illegally parked bicycles statutory notices of clearance and confiscation of such bicycles, and as long as the bicycle owners remove the statutory notices or move the bicycles a bit away, the departments are unable to take any further law enforcement actions), resulting in a lack of efficiency in their law enforcement efforts. Moreover, they have criticized that the various government departments, in handling problems related to shared bicycles, have their responsibilities unclearly delineated and shift their responsibilities to one another from time to time, thus aggravating the problem of "the city being surrounded by bicycles" in various districts. On the other hand, as quite a number of members of the public ride bicycles on narrow pavements in urban areas, pedestrians have to dodge these bicycles, which is very dangerous and endangers pedestrian safety. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective numbers of (i) the aforesaid statutory notices issued and (ii) the shared bicycles confiscated, by the authorities in the 18 District Council districts across the territory in the past six months (set out in a table); (2) as quite a number of members of the public have criticized that the authorities' law enforcement efforts are ineffective, whether the authorities will, in response to public criticism, review the existing policies afresh and formulate performance indicators to ensure effective law enforcement against illegal parking of bicycles; (3) whether it has considered amending the policy on law enforcement against illegal parking of bicycles, and considered enacting regulations that specially address illegal parking of shared bicycles and impose penalties on the service operators concerned, so as to tackle the problem of illegal parking of bicycles more effectively; (4) whether it has assessed (i) the reasons why quite a number of members of the public ride bicycles on pavements and (ii) if the authorities' publicity and education efforts in this respect are adequate; if it has assessed, of the details; if it has not assessed, whether it will do so immediately and explore improvement measures; (5) in view of the sharp increase in the number of shared bicycles in Kwun Tong and Wong Tai Sin districts, whether the authorities have plans to implement the provision of an additional cycle track along the Kwun Tong Promenade and extend such cycle track to the areas near Cha Kwo Ling and Lei Yue Mun; if so, of the details; whether the Government will provide additional cycle tracks at other places in Kowloon East; and (6) of the government departments to which members of the public may lodge complaints about illegal parking of shared bicycles; whether the authorities will, in view of the surge in the number of complaints about shared bicycles in various districts, set up a complaint hotline to centrally handle such complaints?
*16. Hon Kenneth LEUNG to ask: (Translation)
There are currently eight shark species listed in Appendix II to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora ("the Convention") and regulated under the Protection of Endangered Species of Animals and Plants Ordinance (Cap. 586). Members of the public must obtain a permit issued by the Director of Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation before importing, exporting or re-exporting products of regulated shark species; otherwise, they commit an offence. On the other hand, it has been reported that some merchants have deliberately mislabeled the shark species to which their shark fin products belong so as to evade legal liability, resulting in the carriage of regulated shark fin products by airlines and shipping companies without their knowledge. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective quantities of the various types of shark fin products imported, exported and re-exported in each of the past five years, together with a tabulated breakdown by (i) shark species, (ii) place of origin and (iii) destination of the products, as well as (iv) means of transport; (2) of the (i) number of cases, (ii) total value and (iii) weight, of shark fin products being seized, as they were suspected to be of regulated species, by the Customs and Excise Department ("C&ED") in each of the past five years, together with a tabulated breakdown by (a) shark species, (b) mode of trade (i.e. import, export or re-export), (c) place of origin, (d) destination of the products, and (e) means of transport; the penalties generally imposed on the convicted persons in such cases, and the roles played by such persons in the trade (e.g. importer or exporter); if the authorities cannot provide such information, of the reasons for that; (3) of the measures currently adopted by the authorities for regulating the trading of shark fin products in Hong Kong; the number of random sample tests conducted by C&ED on shark fin products imported, exported and re-exported in each of the past five years; whether C&ED has plans to step up law enforcement efforts against the smuggling and illegal trading of shark fin products, including strategically deploying customs officers in various means of transport to conduct sample tests; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (4) whether the authorities currently have measures in place to ensure the accuracy of the information in the cargo manifests submitted by product owners to freight companies and C&ED; if so, of the details; whether the authorities will expeditiously review and amend the Hong Kong harmonized system commodity code currently applicable to shark fin products, such as establishing a separate Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System for shark species which have been listed in Appendix II to the Convention, for identifying the information of those products and their classifications; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (5) as some survey findings have revealed that there are food products of at least 76 shark species on sale in the local market, and nearly one-third of them belong to endangered and vulnerable shark species, whether the authorities have plans to adopt additional measures to strengthen the regulation of the trading of regulated shark food products; whether the authorities will consider establishing a mandatory labelling scheme for shark food products to allow consumers to identify clearly whether the shark food products sold by restaurants and dried seafood merchants belong to regulated species; and (6) as it is learnt that more animal and plant species will be listed in Appendix II to the Convention, whether the authorities have plans to allocate more resources and set up a mechanism to prevent newly listed animal and plant species from being illegally imported into or re-exported from Hong Kong; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*17. Hon Charles Peter MOK to ask: (Translation)
It is learnt that the use of and demand for mobile data have been rising rapidly in recent years. This, coupled with the upcoming introduction of the next generation (i.e. "5G") mobile communications services, has made it necessary for mobile network operators ("MNOs") to install more radio base stations for mobile communications ("base stations") so as to expand the coverage and capacity of their mobile communications networks for providing dependable and stable mobile communications services to members of the public. However, quite a number of members of the public are concerned that the radiation emitted from the base stations affects human health and demand MNOs to remove their base stations. As MNOs have difficulty in identifying suitable locations to install base stations, the coverage of their networks and the services provided by them have been affected. It was reported that two base stations in Lam Tsuen, Tai Po had to be removed at the end of last year due to objections raised by residents in the neighbourhood, resulting in the mobile communications services in the vicinity being paralyzed. Regarding the installation of base stations and the development planning of Hong Kong's mobile communications, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective numbers of complaints received by the authorities in each of the past three years about the coverage and the quality of mobile communications networks, broken down by District Council ("DC") district; (2) whether it knows the number of base stations removed in each of the past three years, with a breakdown by DC district and reason for the removal; (3) of the number of applications received from MNOs by the authorities in each of the past three years for installation of base stations in government properties, and set out by DC district (i) the respective numbers of applications received, approved and rejected, as well as a breakdown of the number of rejected applications by reason for the rejection, and (ii) the average time taken for vetting and approval of such applications; a breakdown by DC district of the current number of applications pending for vetting and approval as well as the average time since these applications were submitted; (4) of (i) the procedure for MNOs to apply for the installation of base stations in the following types of government properties and (ii) the government department(s) responsible for vetting and approval of such applications (set out in the table below); Government properties (i) (ii) Complex Sports centre/sports ground/swimming pool complex Refuse collection point Pumping station/pump house/sewage treatment plant Staff quarters Others (5) whether the Government will (i) streamline the procedure for MNOs to apply for the installation of base stations in government properties and shorten the vetting and approval time, as well as (ii) identify more locations in government properties which are suitable for installing base stations; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (6) as MNOs will need to install base stations which are more densely distributed than that of the present in preparation for the introduction of 5G mobile communications services in 2020, whether the Government (i) has plans to review the situation of the overall infrastructure facilities for communications networks in Hong Kong (particularly in remote and rural areas) and to draw up plans for improving such infrastructure facilities, as well as (ii) has formulated policies and measures to encourage MNOs to expand their mobile communications networks and to assist them in identifying locations for installing base stations; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*18. Hon CHAN Hak-kan to ask: (Translation)
Under the existing Nutrition Labelling Scheme ("the Scheme"), nutrition labels on prepackaged food products must contain information on energy and the seven core nutrients per package/per serving of food products. However, the making of those nutrition claims such as "natural" and "organic" on food product packaging is not regulated under the Scheme. As there are no standardized definitions for such nutrition claims, it is difficult for consumers to judge whether the food products concerned are healthier than other food products of the same type. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective numbers of complaints received in the past three years by the authorities about false and misleading nutrition claims on the packages of prepackaged food products (with a breakdown by type of food product); (2) of the most common cases of non-compliance with the nutrition labelling requirements in the past three years, and the number of food producers/traders convicted as a result; and (3) whether the authorities will consider bringing those nutrition claims such as "natural" and "organic" within the ambit of the Scheme?
*19. Dr Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask: (Translation)
In recent years, quite a number of illegal entrants ("IEs") lodged, immediately upon entry into Hong Kong, torture claims or non-refoulement claims (collectively referred to as "claims") under the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. While handling such claims, the Immigration Department ("ImmD") will issue recognizance forms (commonly known as "going-out passes") to such claimants for them to temporarily stay in Hong Kong. On the other hand, the Castle Peak Bay Immigration Centre ("CIC") is a detention facility specifically for adult offenders who are detained, pending removal from Hong Kong under the Immigration Ordinance (Cap. 115). However, some CIC staff members have relayed to me that they are facing huge work pressure because of an incessant rise in number of detainees and serious manpower wastage in CIC in recent years. While physical confrontations have occurred in CIC from time to time, CIC staff members have not been given adequate relevant training. In addition, some members of the public have relayed to me that some claimants come to Hong Kong for the purpose of seeking medical treatment, thereby straining the public healthcare services of Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the existing procedure adopted by the authorities for removing rejected claimants from Hong Kong; the respective numbers of persons who (i) were removed from Hong Kong and (ii) refused to be removed, in each of the past 10 years; the current per capita expenditure on removing rejected claimants from Hong Kong; (2) as it is learnt that some persons who have refused to be removed are allowed to continue staying in Hong Kong with going-out passes, of the current number of such persons; the annual public expenditure (including humanitarian and legal assistance expenditures) incurred by such persons' continued stay in Hong Kong; (3) given that ImmD has earlier on removed 68 Vietnamese IEs from Hong Kong by means of a chartered flight, of the public expenditure incurred for the entire removal operation; whether the authorities will consider extending the practice of removal by chartered flights to persons who came from other countries (e.g. India, Bangladesh, Pakistan), with a view to expeditiously reducing the number of persons awaiting removal; if so, of the details; if not, the alternatives; (4) of the numbers of claimants and IEs detained in CIC, and the per capita expenditure on providing meals for them, in each of the past 10 years; (5) of the existing establishment of various ranks of staff members in CIC; whether the authorities will establish a supernumerary emergency response team in CIC so as to deal with physical confrontations more effectively; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (6) of the respective numbers of (i) physical confrontations involving detaintees (including torture/non-refoulement claimants) that occurred in CIC, (ii) persons punished as a result of involvement in such confrontations, and (iii) staff members injured when dealing with such confrontations, in each of the past five years; (7) whether the authorities will step up the training for CIC staff members to enable them to deal with order and physical confrontations more effectively; if so, of the details; given that incidents of disturbances caused by detainees have frequently occurred in CIC, but only those CIC staff members who have undergone refresher tactical training organized by the Correctional Services Department four times a year are issued with the "exemption permits for licences for possession of arms and ammunition" on a continuous basis, which authorize them to use anti-riot equipment in the Centre, whether the authorities will (i) bring ImmD within the ambit of the Prisons Ordinance (Cap. 234) to facilitate the discharge of duties by CIC staff members, and (ii) conduct studies on expanding the scope of the Weapons Ordinance (Cap. 217) and the Firearms and Ammunition Ordinance (Cap. 238), so that CIC staff members are automatically authorized to possess arms and ammunition for the purpose of managing the Centre more effectively; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (8) given that a large number of claimants are currently awaiting vetting/appeals in respect of their claims or removal from Hong Kong, and the detention capacity of CIC is very limited (although there has been a decline in the number of persons who have lodged claims in recent months), whether the authorities have plans to increase the capacity in detaining IEs (including torture/non-refoulement claimants) by expanding CIC, or making use of other existing prisons or re-opening vacant correctional institutions; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (9) given that some IEs suffering from Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or other infectious diseases have lodged claims in an attempt to seek medications and treatment in Hong Kong, whether the authorities have compiled statistics on the number of such persons, and of the measures in place to prevent the problem from worsening?
*20. Hon CHAN Han-pan to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that it has been less than a year since the automated bicycle rental service named the bike-sharing service landed in Hong Kong, and six operators have rolled out the service. Indiscriminate parking of shared bicycles is quite common on pavements and at other public places, causing inconvenience to pedestrians and other bicycle users. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the follow-up actions generally taken at present by the relevant government departments upon receipt of complaints about obstructions caused by shared bicycles and the average time taken to complete the handling of such complaints; whether it has assessed which public places are more suitable for parking shared bicycles without causing obstruction, and whether it has made publicity efforts to remind renters of shared bicycles to be considerate when parking bicycles; (2) as some members of the public have pointed out that under the "walk-up-and-hire" mode of operation of the bike-sharing service, no inspections are conducted on the bicycles by professionals to ensure that they are safe for use before they are hired, resulting in such bicycles being more likely than those available for rent under the conventional approach to have accidents due to mechanical failure, whether the Government will clarify with the operators concerned the party which should be held responsible in case of accidents due to mechanical failure of shared bicycles, so as to protect the rights of renters of such bicycles and other road users; and (3) as the bike-sharing service has caused problems such as indiscriminate parking of bicycles, whether the Government has assessed if the current regulation of the bike-sharing service is adequate; if it has assessed, of the outcome; whether it will formulate relevant policies or introduce a licensing regime, so as to properly regulate the bike-sharing service?
*21. Dr Hon CHENG Chung-tai to ask: (Translation)
Over the past decade or so, the Education Bureau ("EDB") has set a long-term vision that Putonghua be used as the medium of instruction ("MOI") for teaching the Chinese Language Subject ("PMIC") in all primary and secondary schools. However, schools may decide by themselves having regard to their own circumstances on whether and how fast PMIC should be implemented. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective current numbers of primary and secondary schools which are implementing PMIC; (2) of the total number of primary and secondary schools to which the Government provided subsidies in the past five years for implementing PMIC in such schools, and the annual total amount of the subsidies; (3) if it has assessed whether, when a school which uses Cantonese as MOI for teaching the Chinese Language Subject ("CMIC") switches to PMIC, the parents of the students in that school have a right to request the school to allow their children to continue to learn Chinese language in Cantonese; if it has assessed and the outcome is in the affirmative, how EDB ensures that these parents can exercise such a right; and (4) given that the findings of the Progress in the International Reading Literacy Study 2016 published in December last year have revealed that, when compared with CMIC, PMIC is not more effective in enhancing students' reading literacy in Chinese, whether EDB will review the aforesaid long-term vision?
*22. Dr Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask: (Translation)
Some persons-in-charge of financial technology ("Fintech") start-up enterprises ("startups") have relayed that they have encountered quite a number of difficulties in starting up their businesses. Firstly, support from the Government for testing new Fintech products is inadequate. At present, the governments in quite a number of regions around the globe have introduced sandboxes and encouraged the participation of startups, so that they can test their products or services under a controlled environment and free from the restrictions under the existing regimes. However, since only banks and their partnering technological companies are allowed to take part in the Fintech Supervisory Sandbox ("FSS") introduced by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority ("HKMA") in 2016, and Fintech companies can have access to FSS only by collaborating with banks, quite a number of startups have been denied access to FSS. Furthermore, startups have also encountered difficulties in opening bank accounts. Not only are the procedures complicated and time-consuming, the success rate is also low, thus significantly reducing the incentive for startups to develop their businesses in Hong Kong. Regarding support for startups, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether access to FSS 2.0 introduced by HKMA in September last year is still restricted to banks and their partnering technological companies only; if so, of the reasons for that; if not, the details; (2) whether the authorities have put in place any measure to encourage startups lacking funds and operating experience to make use of FSS 2.0 to test products and collect market data; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) given that the existing supervisory laws and regulations may impede the introduction of new Fintech products and services, whether the authorities have put in place any measure to help startups that provide such products and services apply for and obtain the relevant licenses under the existing regimes; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (4) given that three regulators, namely HKMA, the Securities and Futures Commission and the Insurance Authority, have introduced their respective sandboxes, and a firm that plans to conduct tests for its cross-sector Fintech products needs only to submit one application for accessing the sandboxes, the regulator concerned will, upon receipt of the application, act as the primary point of contact and assist the firm concerned in contacting the other regulators to enable the firm to access other relevant sandboxes, of (i) the respective numbers of applications received and approved by the authorities, (ii) the average time taken from submission to approval of an application, and (iii) the number of applications rejected and the reasons for the rejection, as at to date; (5) whether the authorities will provide startups with appropriate innovation laboratories and laboratory scenarios to assist them in conducting tests for improving existing products; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (6) whether the authorities know the current success rate of startups in opening bank accounts, as well as the average time taken for opening a bank account; (7) of the number of complaints received by the authorities last year from startups about their applications for opening a bank account being rejected; the types of startups mainly involved in those cases, and the main reasons for the applications being rejected; (8) as some persons-in-charge of startups have relayed recently that although HKMA has reminded banks to refrain from imposing over-stringent customer due diligence procedures for anti-money laundering purpose, quite a number of startups' applications for opening a bank account have been rejected by the banks because they have failed to pass such procedures, whether the authorities have put in place any new measure to address this problem; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (9) as quite a number of persons-in-charge of startups have relayed that since banks are not familiar with the new business processes and models as well as the application of advanced new technologies associated with their businesses, banks tend to reject such startups' applications for opening a bank account for risk-aversion purpose, whether the authorities have put in place any specific measure to address this problem; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (10) of the authorities' measures to assist innovative Fintech companies which are not financial institutions in developing electronic payment services involving transportation and medical services, after such companies have complied with the legal requirements concerned; and (11) whether HKMA has compiled statistics on the respective current numbers of Fintech companies registered locally and overseas, and among them, the respective numbers of startups; if not, how the authorities will assess the future development of Fintech?
* For written reply
III. Government Bills
| Second Reading (Debate to resume), Consideration by Committee of the Whole Council and Third Reading
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| 1. | Road Tunnels (Government) (Amendment) Bill 2017 | : | Secretary for Transport and Housing
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| 2. | Dutiable Commodities (Amendment) Bill 2017 | : | Secretary for Food and Health
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| Secretary for Food and Health to move amendments
(The amendments were issued on 31 January 2018 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 332/17-18) | |||
| (Debate and voting arrangements for Dutiable Commodities (Amendment) Bill 2017 in committee of the whole Council (issued on 6 February 2018 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 356/17-18(01)) (same as the Appendix to the Script of Council meeting of 7 February 2018))
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| 3. | Waterworks (Amendment) Bill 2017 | : | Secretary for Development
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| Secretary for Development to move amendments
(The amendments were issued on 31 January 2018 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 336/17-18) | |||
| (Debate and voting arrangements for Waterworks (Amendment) Bill 2017 in committee of the whole Council (issued on 6 February 2018 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 357/17-18(01)) (same as the Appendix to the Script of Council meeting of 7 February 2018))
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IV. Members' Motions
| Stand-over item: Member's motion no. 1 (since the meeting of 31 January 2018)
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| 1. | Motion under Article 73(5) and (10) of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China
Hon Charles Peter MOK to move the motion in the Appendix. | |
| (The motion was issued on 19 January 2018
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 286/17-18) | ||
|
Public Officer to attend : Chief Secretary for Administration
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| Stand-over items: Members' motions nos. 2 and 3 (since the meeting of 12 July 2017)
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| 2. | Establishing a comprehensive 're-industrialization' policy regime
Hon Jimmy NG to move the following motion: (Translation) That given the new opportunities brought about by global reforms in industrial technologies, many countries or places are proactively developing high value-added advanced manufacturing industries, and Hong Kong is no exception; the Government has already made it clear that re-industrialization is a potential new area of economic growth for Hong Kong, and announced the establishment of a committee on innovation, technology and re-industrialization; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to conduct a timely review and elevate the positioning of the 're-industrialization' policy, with a view to upgrading the existing industrial policy regime led by innovation and technology to a comprehensive industrial policy regime which is more independent, forward-looking and systematic; the Government should also examine the role of industries in the local economic structure and societal development, and study the 'external development' feature of Hong Kong's industries, with the aim of providing tax support for those offshore Hong Kong manufacturers engaging in manufacturing and production industries, thereby consolidating the economic foundation of Hong Kong and promoting the diversification of industries. Hon HO Kai-ming, Hon Kenneth LEUNG, Dr Hon CHIANG Lai-wan, Hon WU Chi-wai, Ir Dr Hon LO Wai-kwok, Hon Charles Peter MOK and Hon Jeremy TAM to move amendments to the motion | |
| (The amendments were issued on 29 June 2017
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 760/16-17) | ||
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Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Innovation and Technology
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| 3. | Conducting a comprehensive review of labour legislation to improve labour rights and interests
Hon HO Kai-ming to move the following motion: (Translation) That this Council urges the Government to make safeguarding labour rights and interests its priority task and expeditiously conduct a comprehensive review of and make amendments to the various legislation relating to labour matters, so as to ensure that such legislation keeps pace with the times. Hon LUK Chung-hung, Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki, Dr Hon Helena WONG and Hon Andrew WAN to move amendments to the motion | |
| (The amendments were issued on 29 June 2017
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 759/16-17) | ||
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Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Labour and Welfare
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