A 17/18-36
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 13 June 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
| 1. | No. 110 | - | Correctional Services Children's Education Trust
Report by the Trustee, Financial statements and Report of the Director of Audit for the period from 1 September 2016 to 31 August 2017 |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Security)
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| 2. | No. 111 | - | Report of changes made to the approved Estimates of Expenditure during the fourth quarter of 2017-18
Public Finance Ordinance : Section 8 |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury)
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| 3. | Report No. 15/17-18 of the House Committee on Consideration of Subsidiary Legislation and Other Instruments | ||
| (to be presented by Hon Starry LEE, Chairman of the House Committee)
| |||
II. Questions
1. Hon Tony TSE to ask: (Translation)
In December 1999, the Government signed an agreement with The Walt Disney Company for a joint venture to develop the Hong Kong Disneyland ("HKDL"). The Government reserved a 60-hectare site immediately to the east of HKDL for the second phase development of HKDL ("Phase 2 site"). Under the relevant Option Deed, the Hongkong International Theme Parks Limited ("HKITP"), which develops and operates HKDL, was given an option with a validity period of 20 years to buy the Phase 2 site. However, given the slow pace of HKDL's expansion in recent years, Phase 2 site has all along been left vacant. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the respective estimated and actual attendances of HKDL in each year from 2005, in which HKDL commenced operation, to 2017, and the estimated attendance in each year from 2018 to 2030, as well as the basis for the estimation; (2) whether it has studied ways to better utilize the vacant Phase 2 site before HKITP exercises the aforesaid option; if so, of the details and outcome, and whether it will let the site by way of short-term tenancies; if it has not studied, whether it will expeditiously conduct such a study; and (3) given that the aforesaid option, which will expire in 2020, is subject to two five-year extensions by HKITP according to the provisions in the Option Deed, of the details of the relevant provisions (including the years for using the site once the option is exercised, restrictions on uses, as well as the method and criteria for calculating the land premium); whether the Government will discuss with HKITP the early cancellation of the option, with a view to better utilizing the site for other uses as early as possible?
2. Hon Gary FAN to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that two companies under Guangdong Xin Wenhua, which is a company wholly owned by the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ("LOCPG"), have full control of three major bookstore chains, namely Joint Publishing (H.K.), Chung Hwa Book Co. and The Commercial Press, as well as a number of publishers and publications distributors in Hong Kong, with a market share as high as 80%. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) as Article 22 of the Basic Law ("BL") stipulates that "[n]o department of the Central People's Government ... may interfere in the affairs which the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region administers on its own in accordance with this Law", whether the Government has assessed if LOCPG-owned companies' conducting business in Hong Kong and impacting on the environment of the local publishing industry have constituted a violation of that provision; if it has assessed, of the outcome; (2) given that the three major bookstore chains indirectly held by LOCPG have dominated Hong Kong's publication market (especially in the business area of publishing teaching materials and children's educational books) and those chains have refused to sell in their bookstores books relating to the Umbrella Movement, democratic movements and the relevant subjects, whether the Government has assessed if the freedom of publication enjoyed by Hong Kong residents under Article 27 of BL has been undermined by the aforesaid situation; and (3) whether the Government will discuss with the Central People's Government if it is necessary to draw up criteria for regulating the conducting of business in Hong Kong by the offices set up in Hong Kong by the Central Government and companies under them?
3. Hon HUI Chi-fung to ask: (Translation)
In order to improve the pedestrian environment, the Transport Department ("TD") has set up pedestrian precincts in a number of districts since 2000. In recent years, some researchers and planners have proposed to set up a pedestrian and tram precinct or an open space in a section of Des Voeux Road Central. Meanwhile, some members of the public have criticized the government departments concerned for the unclear delineation of powers and responsibilities in managing pedestrian precincts, which has given rise to environmental hygiene and noise problems in some pedestrian precincts, such as the Mong Kok Pedestrian Precinct. Regarding measures to improve the pedestrian and street environment, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether the Transport and Housing Bureau ("THB") can coordinate the efforts of the Development Bureau, TD, Highways Department and the Police to enhance the management of pedestrian precincts, so as to avoid the bureaux/departments each administering its own way or the emergence of a situation that "comes within nobody's jurisdiction"; (2) given the commissioning of both the MTR Shatin to Central Link and the Central-Wan Chai Bypass as well as the implementation of the Electronic Road Pricing Pilot Scheme in Central and its adjacent areas in the next two to three years, whether THB will, in the light of those new situations, commence a feasibility study on setting up a pedestrian and tram precinct in a section of Des Voeux Road Central; and (3) given that the Transport for London of the United Kingdom has launched the Transport Strategy of Healthy Streets Approach, under which elements will be incorporated into pedestrian precincts to cope with climate change, reduce carbon emission, encourage walking and improve public health, whether THB can break out of the established policy framework to implement a long-term policy on healthy streets with an audaciously innovative attitude?
4. Hon WU Chi-wai to ask: (Translation)
The Policy Address published in January last year stated that industries enjoying advantages in the process of Hong Kong's re-industrialization ("advantageous industries") included biotechnology. It is learnt that quite a number of Mainland and overseas cities have implemented various concessionary measures in respect of land, capital and taxation to attract innovation and technology enterprises to establish their bases there. However, Hong Kong has not implemented similar measures, nor did it provide with concessions in taxation, housing, etc. to attract innovation and technology talents to come to Hong Kong for career development. On the other hand, some academics have pointed out that Hong Kong should leverage its strength in higher education by establishing a higher education institution that aims to nurture students' business start-up capability so as to boost the development of advantageous industries. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it will, by making reference to the practices of Mainland and overseas cities, formulate more competitive measures to attract enterprises in advantageous industries to establish their bases in Hong Kong, and to attract relevant talents to come to Hong Kong for career development; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) whether it has examined if Hong Kong's existing polices on land and taxation, infrastructure facilities, pool of talents, etc. are sufficient to meet the needs of biomedicine enterprises in terms of factory sites and scientific research talents; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) whether it will consider allocating lands in the Lok Ma Chau Loop or other suitable locations for the construction of a superb scientific research base that will bring together the scientific research strengths of various universities in Hong Kong, and for the construction of a business start-up institution to boost the development of advantageous industries; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
5. Dr Hon Priscilla LEUNG to ask: (Translation)
Last year, this Council passed a motion on "Safeguarding animal rights", urging the Government to adopt 26 measures to safeguard animal rights. Moreover, since April this year, dedicated investigation teams have been set up, in the 22 Police districts across the territory which have criminal investigation teams, to handle animal cruelty cases. However, a number of appalling incidents of cruelty to animals still happened in recent months. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) as the Secretary for Food and Health indicated last month that the law would be amended to introduce a concept of positive duty of care of animals on animal keepers, of the details of the proposal and the legislative timetable; whether it will comprehensively review the penalties under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance in order to enhance the deterrent effect; (2) whether the dedicated investigation teams under the Police have strengthened the exchange with each other of the experience in investigating cases of cruelty to animals, and established a close communication and cooperation mechanism with the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Hong Kong) and concern groups on animal interests; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) whether it will consider allocating additional resources to implement an animal caring community ambassador programme to raise public awareness of caring for animals and offer all-round support for animal keepers, so as to reduce the occurrence of incidents of cruelty to animals?
6. Hon CHAN Hak-kan to ask: (Translation)
During the decade from 2005 to 2015, plastic waste discarded at landfills increased by one quarter, and the proportion of plastic tableware in discarded plastic waste increased by three percentage points to 8%. The findings of a survey conducted last year by a green group have shown that two major fast food chains handed out disposable tableware to their customers, irrespective of whether they dined in or took away the food. Based on the survey findings, it is estimated that five major fast food chains handed out a total of more than 420 million pieces of disposable plastic tableware in 2016. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it will discuss with the operators of major fast food chains the setting of a target and an implementation timetable for reducing and ultimately ceasing the use of disposable plastic tableware; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) whether it will issue guidelines to small eateries to encourage and help them to reduce the use of disposable plastic tableware; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) given that the Environment Bureau set out in the Hong Kong Blueprint for Sustainable Use of Resources 2013-2022 published in 2013 a target to reduce the per-capita municipal solid waste disposal rate by 40% by 2022 as compared with 2011, whether it has assessed how far the current situation is off target; of the measures in place to further encourage restaurants and members of the public to reduce the use of disposable plastic tableware, so as to achieve such target expeditiously?
*7. Hon Frankie YICK to ask: (Translation)
In order to optimize the use of limited road resources, the Transport Department has all along been implementing measures which give priority to public transport modes over road use. Among them, the most commonly adopted measure is the designation of "bus-only lanes". However, some members of the public have relayed to me that during busy traffic hours, while the volumes of bus traffic on certain bus-only lanes are considerably low, the adjacent traffic lanes are extremely congested, thus causing a wastage of road resources. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the details of each bus-only lane in Hong Kong at present, including (i) the District Council district to which the lane belongs, (ii) the names of the road and road section on which the lane is located, (iii) the daily operating time, (iv) the length of the lane, (v) the daily average volume of bus traffic and vehicle speed, and (vi) how such average traffic volume and vehicle speed compare with the corresponding figures of the adjacent traffic lane(s) (set out in a table); (2) whether the authorities cancelled in the past five years the designation of a certain bus-only lane on the ground that the volume of bus traffic on the lane was below a certain level; if so, of the details; (3) as the last-term Government made an undertaking to me that it would study the conversion of bus-only lanes into "public transport-only lanes", so that the traffic lanes concerned would be open for use by other public service vehicles such as taxis and public light buses, whether the current-term Government has followed up such task; if so, of the results of the study; if not, the reasons for that; and (4) whether it has studied arrangements in overseas countries for and usage of public transport-only lanes; if so, of the details; if not, whether it will consider conducting the relevant study?
*8. Hon Andrew WAN to ask: (Translation)
The Task Force on Land Supply ("Task Force") launched in April this year a five-month public consultation on 18 land supply options. One of the options is the "tapping into the private agricultural land reserve in the New Territories", which involves about 1&000 hectares of agricultural lands held by various major developers. The Task Force has recommended that the said agricultural lands be better utilized, through public-private partnership ("PPP"), to increase housing supply. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of agricultural lands currently held by various developers and, in respect of each land, the (i) area, (ii) location and (iii) name of the owner (set out such information by District Council ("DC") district and mark on a map the location of each land); (2) among the agricultural lands held by the various developers, of the respective areas and percentages of those with the planned uses as follows: agriculture, green belt, conservation area, country park and site of special scientific interest; the area and percentage of such agricultural lands which overlap with brownfield sites (set out such information by DC district); (3) whether the Government will recommend, during consideration of the planning applications for housing development on the said agricultural lands by the Town Planning Board, the imposition of height restrictions on buildings on such lands; if so, of the details; (4) as it has been reported that the Government has planned to earmark 1&000 hectares of agricultural lands for designation as "Agriculture Priority Areas" to implement a New Agriculture Policy, but there are currently 3&700 hectares of abandoned agricultural lands, whether the Government has put in place measures to ensure that the agricultural lands not currently held by developers will be used for agricultural development; and (5) whether the Government will conduct a freezing survey on the agricultural lands currently held by developers so as to prevent developers from hoarding more agricultural lands for developing such lands through PPP?
*9. Hon Claudia MO to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that all of the three specialized crowd management vehicles (commonly known as "water cannon vehicles") purchased by the Police with a budget of $27 million will be delivered to Hong Kong by the end of this month. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the implications of the introduction of water cannon vehicles on the Police's staffing establishment and operational arrangements, and the details of the public money involved; (2) whether the Police have completed the formulation of a code on the use of water cannon vehicles and guidelines for operating them; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) as some members of the public are worried about the abusive use of the water cannon vehicles by the Police, whether the Police will make reference to the practices of foreign countries and make public the code on the use of water cannon vehicles and guidelines for operating them, in order to enable the public to monitor the use of water cannon vehicles by the Police; if not, of the reasons for that; and (4) whether the Police, at present, have plans to acquire other new accoutrements for handling the various types of public events; if so, of the details?
*10. Hon LEUNG Che-cheung to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the eligibility for receiving the Old Age Allowance ("OAA"), will the Government inform this Council:
(1) as the current eligibility criteria for OAA include the requirement that the applicant must have resided in Hong Kong continuously for at least one year immediately before the date of application, but those elderly people who have moved to reside in Guangdong or Fujian Provinces are not required to meet the requirement, whether it knows the number of Hong Kong elderly people residing in other provinces of the Mainland in each of the past three years who were ineligible for receiving OAA due to their failure to meet the requirement; and (2) whether it will consider afresh lowering the age threshold for receiving OAA from 70 to 65, and whether it has assessed (i) the number of elderly people aged between 65 and 69 to be benefited and (ii) the implication on the public expenditure, as a result of the implementation of this measure?
*11. Dr Hon Pierre CHAN to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the statistics on organ/tissue transplant operations, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
(1) the respective numbers of donors and recipients in respect of the transplant operations, performed in public hospitals in each of the past 10 years on each kind of organs/tissues, including the transplants of liver (living, cadaveric), kidney (living, cadaveric), heart, cornea, skin, bone, bone marrow and lung; (2) the respective numbers of children and adults receiving various kinds of organ/tissue transplants, as well as the medical expenses incurred for each kind of organ/tissue transplant operations, in each of the past 10 years; and (3) the details of funding received, in each of the past 10 years, by the specialties/centres responsible for performing organ/tissue transplant operations at the Queen Mary Hospital, Prince of Wales Hospital, Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital, Tuen Mun Hospital, Kwong Wah Hospital, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Hong Kong Eye Hospital and Grantham Hospital?
*12. Hon SHIU Ka-fai to ask: (Translation)
Some suppliers of air-conditioning ("AC") facilities and practitioners of the AC works trade have relayed to me that the designs of some private buildings newly completed in recent years have not fully taken into account the needs of workers when they carry out replacement works and repair works for AC facilities on the external walls of such buildings in future. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it is aware of the situation that although some private buildings have been installed with gondola working platform systems ("gondolas"), (i) the designs of the buildings concerned have failed to dovetail with the use of the gondolas in practice, resulting in a gondola being unable to reach the location for installation of the facility concerned, and (ii) there is still certain distance between a gondola and the facility on an external wall even if such location is reachable, resulting in the workers having to stretch their bodies out of the gondola in order to carry out the works which poses the risk of workers falling from heights; if it is, of the measures put in place by the Government to improve such a situation; if it does not, the reasons for that; (2) whether the Buildings Department has reviewed how far developers have complied with its Guidelines for Designing Access and Safety Provisions for the Maintenance and Repair of External Air Conditioners at Height issued in December 2016 and the effectiveness of the Guidelines; if so, of the outcome of the review; if not, whether it will conduct such a review expeditiously; (3) whether it will consider the suggestions put forward by the practitioners in the AC works trade of introducing legislation to stipulate that the designs of AC platforms on the external walls of a building to be built must: (i) provide reasonable and adequate space for an AC facility to be placed flat on the platform, (ii) provide safe access for workers to enter and exit, (iii) fit in with various tubes on the external walls, and (iv) install with anchor devices (e.g. "eye bolt") at appropriate locations for workers to attach their safety belts; and (4) as the relevant legislation in Singapore stipulates that developers must take into primary and necessary consideration the needs of future maintenance and repair of building facilities when they draw up designs of buildings, whether the Government will (i) enact legislation to enforce similar requirements, and (ii) introduce common working platforms on external walls to provide workers with reasonable and adequate working space, thereby minimizing their risks of falling from heights?
*13. Hon LEUNG Yiu-chung to ask: (Translation)
It is learnt that there are currently more than 150 000 deaf/hard-of-hearing persons in Hong Kong and over 80% of them are elderly persons (i.e. persons aged 60 or above). At present, a majority of residential care homes for the elderly ("RCHEs") have not put in place a policy which is friendly towards the deaf/hard-of-hearing elderly persons (such as providing sign language training to their staff, providing auditory training to their residents and installing fire alarm lights), making it difficult for the deaf/hard-of-hearing elderly persons to integrate themselves into the environment in RCHEs and to seek assistance when necessary. Some members of the public have pointed out that as the population of Hong Kong is ageing and most people's hearing will deteriorate with age, the Government should provide RCHEs dedicated for the deaf/hard-of-hearing elderly persons. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the number of deaf/hard-of-hearing residents in RCHEs in each of the past five years; (2) whether it knows the number of RCHE staff members across the territory in each of the past five years who knew sign language, with a breakdown by type of RCHEs (i.e. subvented homes, contract homes, non-profit-making self-financing homes and private homes) in which they worked; (3) whether it has implemented a policy under which arrangements are made for the deaf/hard-of-hearing elderly persons to reside centrally in RCHEs with facilities and services that are friendly to the deaf/hard-of-hearing elderly persons; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that, and whether it will implement such a policy and set up such type of RCHEs; (4) whether it has put in place a policy to assist the deaf/hard-of-hearing residents in RCHEs in improving their social life; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that, and whether it will implement such a policy; and (5) as some deaf/hard-of-hearing residents in RCHEs have relayed that because they are unable to communicate with those RCHE staff who do not know sign language, they cannot obtain the necessary assistance immediately when they feel unwell and have urgent needs, whether the authorities have put in place a policy to assist such residents, including providing sign language training to RCHE staff; if so, of the details; if not, whether it will implement such a policy?
*14. Hon Holden CHOW to ask: (Translation)
Some members of the transport sector have relayed that with the continuous growth in the population of Tung Chung in recent years, coupled with the imminent commissioning of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge ("HZMB"), it is expected that the traffic in North Lantau will become busier day by day. Moreover, the road traffic between the Lantau Island/airport and the urban areas will be paralyzed whenever a traffic incident has occurred on the North Lantau Highway and the Lantau Link. On the other hand, the Journey Time Indication Systems ("JTISs") currently neither cover all trunk roads nor provide important information such as the occurrence of traffic incidents on the road ahead, rendering drivers often unable to switch in time to roads with smoother traffic. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that the passenger throughput of the MTR Tung Chung Line is already close to its maximum capacity during peak hours, and passengers departing from and arriving at Hong Kong via HZMB upon its commissioning will add a burden on the Tung Chung Line, whether the authorities will request the MTR Corporation Limited to increase the train frequency of the Tung Chung Line by that time; if so, of the specific arrangements and timetable; (2) whether the Transport Department will (i) study the provision of additional information by JTISs such as the occurrence of traffic incidents on the road ahead, and (ii) install JTISs along the various trunk roads (including Lung Cheung Road) connecting with the Lantau Link and at both ends to the Western Harbour Crossing; and (3) whether it will consider providing ferry services plying the urban areas from the Skypier and Tung Chung Development Ferry Pier whenever a traffic incident has occurred on the North Lantau Highway and the Lantau Link?
*15. Hon Jimmy NG to ask: (Translation)
It is learnt that all public hospitals experience an overflow of patients every year when Hong Kong enters an influenza peak season. It has been reported that since 1997, the total number of public hospital beds has increased only slightly by 2.9%, which is far lower than the 11% growth of Hong Kong's population during the same period. This, coupled with the increasing demand for medical services arising from an increasingly ageing population, has resulted in a persistent short supply of public hospital beds. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the authorities' plans to increase public hospital beds and construct new hospitals in the coming five years and the latest progress of such plans (including the timetable), as well as how such plans will address the increased healthcare needs brought about by the ageing population in Hong Kong; and (2) as the "Hong Kong 2030+: Towards a Planning Vision and Strategy Transcending 2030" projects that special medical facilities (including a Chinese medicine hospital and testing centre) will, in addition, take up about five hectares of land, of the criteria and assumptions adopted by the Government in arriving at that projected figure on land demand, and the relevant details?
*16. Hon Kenneth LEUNG to ask: (Translation)
Pursuant to the guidelines of the International Civil Aviation Organization, the Hong Kong International Airport has implemented new security requirements for cabin baggage since 21 March 2007. Such requirements include: all travellers carrying liquids, gels and aerosols should have them carried in containers with a capacity not greater than 100 ml; any container with a capacity greater than 100 ml, even if it is not fully filled with the aforesaid articles, will not be accepted. Travellers who carry with them articles which do not meet the aforesaid requirement must follow the instructions of security screening officers at the security screening check point by either discarding such articles or checking in the baggage concerned before they may pass the security screening. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of cases in each of the past five years in which travellers insisted on carrying on board an aircraft articles which did not meet the aforesaid requirement; the procedure followed by security screening officers in handling such cases; (2) whether the travellers mentioned in (1) committed any criminal offence; if so, of the penalty concerned, as well as the respective numbers of prosecutions and convictions in each of the past five years and the penalties imposed on the convicted persons; and (3) whether a mechanism is in place to (i) ensure that security screening officers perform duties pursuant to the law and (ii) review the workflow at the security screening check point on a regular basis to ensure that there is no security loophole; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*17. Hon Charles Peter MOK to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that the "Gig economy" has become increasingly popular in recent years. Quite a number of people have switched to freelancing and taken up jobs through Internet platforms or applications. A study has pointed out that Hong Kong's flexible workforce (i.e. temporary employees, part-time employees, self-employed persons/freelance workers, etc.) has grown substantially in the past 10-odd years. However, flexible workers are subject to a greater risk of unemployment, lower employment income and more inferior labour benefits and protection, as compared with permanent employees. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of complaints received by the Labour Department in the past three years, which were made by flexible workers because their labour rights and interests had been undermined, and the respective numbers of related prosecutions and convictions; (2) whether it has compiled statistics on the current size of population taking up flexible jobs, as well as the occupation distribution, average number of working hours per week, average monthly income, and entitlements to labour benefits and protection (including paid sickness days and annual leave, holiday pay, employees' compensation insurance policies and the contributions made by employers to their Mandatory Provident Fund scheme accounts) of those people; and (3) given that the governments of a number of places (including the European Union, the United Kingdom, the United States, Singapore, etc.) have started to study and implement systems for protecting freelance workers, whether the authorities will, by making reference to the practices of such governments, amend the Employment Ordinance (Cap. 57) and other relevant legislation to enhance the protection for flexible workers, as well as conducting relevant studies and public consultations?
*18. Hon Paul TSE to ask: (Translation)
After a number of drinking water samples taken from a number of public rental housing estates were tested and found in July 2015 to have a lead content exceeding the provisional guideline value set by the World Health Organization ("lead in drinking water incident"), the fresh water mains in a number of housing estates (including Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate) have been comprehensively replaced. However, a number of residents of Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate have recently complained to me, claiming that the quality of the drinking water supplied to their units was poor. Based on my on-site observation, the drinking water is turbid and foamy and even looks like cappuccino when put in a coffee cup. It is learnt that the residents of that estate have repeatedly enquired with the contractor engaged for the replacement of the fresh water mains and the Housing Department about the reasons for the drinking water being turbid and foamy, but the personnel concerned merely replied that the drinking water of that estate was of normal quality and advised the residents to run the tap for about half an hour every day before using the water for drinking. On the other hand, rainfall to date this year has been lower than that in previous years, resulting in low water storage and dry bottoms of some reservoirs. The Water Supplies Department also calls on members of the public from time to time to conserve water. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has studied the causes for the drinking water in Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate being turbid notwithstanding the fresh water mains therein have been comprehensively replaced; (2) whether the authorities, following the replacement of fresh water mains for a number of estates in light of the lead in drinking water incident, have conducted regular sample tests on the quality of drinking water therein; if so, of the details, and set out the sampling dates and test results by name of estate; if not, the reasons for that; whether the authorities received complaints in the past three months about turbidity of drinking water in other estates; (3) whether it has assessed, in the event that all of the households of Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate follow the advice to run the tap for half an hour every day before using the water for drinking, (i) the increase in the daily water consumption of that estate, (ii) the increase in the monthly water charge payable by each household on average, and (iii) whether the drying up of reservoirs will be exacerbated; whether it has assessed, when households of other estates who face the same situation of drinking water being turbid and foamy run the tap for half an hour every day before using the water for drinking, if the water consumption will increase substantially and result in the Government having to spend more public money on purchasing Dongjiang water in the next agreement on the supply of Dongjiang water to Hong Kong; and (4) as the advice of running the tap for half an hour before using water is contrary to the Government's advice to conserve water, and members of the public are caught in a dilemma, how the authorities solve the hygiene problem of drinking water?
*19. Dr Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask: (Translation)
Some studies have pointed out that women who have experienced miscarriage often have various negative emotions, such as self-blame, fear, depression and anxiety. However, members of the public in general do not understand much about the needs of women who have suffered a miscarriage and their families, and the Government has failed to provide appropriate support to those people. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of miscarriage cases in each of the past 10 years; whether the Government will proactively provide the following information to women who have suffered a miscarriage and their families: follow-up medical procedures after having miscarriage, approaches and procedure for handling abortuses, the rights of the parents of abortuses, and matters requiring attention after having miscarriage and related support services; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) whether it will establish a website to provide comprehensive knowledge and information about miscarriage to enable members of the public to learn how to console relatives and friends who have suffered a miscarriage and their families; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) whether it will allocate additional resources to provide support for women who have suffered a miscarriage (including a counselling hotline and home visit service); if so, of the details and the timetable; if not, the reasons for that; (4) whether it has issued work guidelines to medical staff and social workers as well as provided them with training on counselling skills, to enable them to express appropriate care for women who have suffered a miscarriage and their families; if not, of the reasons for that; (5) as some studies have revealed that alternative medicine, such as massage, psychological counselling and herbal medicine, may relieve symptoms of depression and anxiety experienced by women who have suffered a miscarriage, whether the Government will allocate funds for studying the development of services on alternative medicine, and whether it will, by making reference to the practice of hospitals in the United Kingdom, provide medical certification to parents of abortuses of less than 24 weeks' gestation to facilitate them to arrange burial for the abortuses and, upon request, provide parents of abortuses of late miscarriages (of 14 to 24 weeks' gestation) with photos as well as hand and foot prints of the abortuses for commemorative purpose; if so, of the details and the timetable; if not, the reasons for that; and (6) as the Government has indicated that for abortuses of less than 24 weeks' gestation, where feasible and provided that relevant legal requirements and such conditions as public health have been met, the Hospital Authority ("HA") will allow the parents concerned to claim the abortuses, whether it knows the criteria adopted by HA for determining the "feasible" conditions; whether the Government will expeditiously amend the legislation and simplify the relevant procedure so as to allow parents of abortuses of less than 24 weeks' gestation to claim the abortuses as quickly as possible for arranging burial; if so, of the details and the timetable; if not, the reasons for that?
*20. Hon Tony TSE to ask: (Translation)
Under section 37(2)(b) of the Legislative Council Ordinance (Cap. 542), a person is eligible to be nominated as a candidate at a functional constituency ("FC") election of the Legislative Council, other than the District Council ("DC") (first) FC and the DC (second) FC, provided the person (i) is both registered and eligible to be registered as an elector for the FC, or (ii) satisfies the Returning Officer for the FC that the person has a substantial connection with the FC ("substantial connection provision"). Currently, it is specified in the eligibility requirements for registration as electors of an FC with individual voting as its electorate base that persons who wish to register as electors must (i) have the specified recognized professional qualifications, or (ii) be members of specified professional bodies who are entitled to vote at the general meetings of such bodies. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the circumstances, other than those provided in section 3 (Interpretation)(2)(b) of Cap. 542 in which a person is considered to have a substantial connection with an FC, based on which the Returning Officer for the FC will be satisfied that a person has a substantial connection with the FC concerned; (2) given that under section 37(2)(b)(ii) of Cap. 542, any person, in respect of an FC with individual voting as its electorate base, can be a candidate at the FC election as long as the person has a substantial connection with the FC, even if that person is ineligible for registration as an elector of the FC, of the reasons why the eligibility requirements prescribed by the authorities for candidates at the elections of this type of FCs are even less stringent than those for the electors for such elections; (3) why it is currently the case that the eligibility requirements for candidates at the elections for the DC (first) FC and the DC (second) FC do not include the substantial connection provision but the eligibility requirements for candidates at other FC elections do, and whether the authorities have examined if such a situation reflects the adoption of double standards; and (4) whether the authorities will amend the legislation to (i) raise the eligibility requirements for candidates at elections for FCs with individual voting as its electorate base, so as to align such requirements with those for registration as electors of the FCs concerned, and (ii) remove the substantial connection provision in relation to the eligibility requirements for election candidates; if so, of the legislative timetable; if not, the reasons for that?
*21. Hon Holden CHOW to ask: (Translation)
Quite a number of tenants of newly completed public housing estates will have decoration works carried out for their new homes before moving in. Under the existing requirements, tenants must dispose of decoration waste in a proper manner, and in order to avoid the accumulation of waste in common areas such as building corridors and lift lobbies, the property service agents ("PSAs") concerned will collect Debris Removal Charges from tenants for disposing of all waste collectively. Under this arrangement, decoration contractors employed by tenants may dispose of decoration waste at the designated debris dumping points set up by PSAs in the housing estates. However, some members of the public have relayed to me that in recent months, large quantities of decoration waste have accumulated in the common areas of several newly completed public housing estates in the New Territories (e.g. Ying Tung Estate at Tung Chung, Yan Tin Estate at Tuen Mun and Kwai Tsui Estate at Kwai Chung), seriously undermining environmental hygiene and jeopardizing the health and safety of tenants. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) how the Housing Department ("HD") currently curbs the improper disposal of decoration waste by decoration contractors in the common areas of housing estates; whether HD has regularly deployed staff members to conduct inspections at newly completed housing estates with a view to curbing such behaviour; if so, of the details and outcome of such inspections; if not, the reasons for that; (2) of the follow-up measures adopted when improper disposal of decoration waste in the common areas of housing estates has been found during the inspections conducted by HD staff members or when such reports are received by them; (3) whether decoration contractors are required to bear legal liability for improper disposal of decoration waste; if so, of the details (including the penalties); whether HD will blacklist such contractors to prohibit them from carrying out decoration works at the units of HD's housing estates for a certain period of time, with a view to enhancing the deterrent effect; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (4) of the number of decoration contractors warned or penalized for improper disposal of decoration waste in housing estates in the past two years?
*22. Hon CHAN Hak-kan to ask: (Translation)
In the light of the recommendations in Report No. 61 of the Director of Audit, the Environment Bureau leased out two sites last year, one adjacent to Tseung Kwan O Area 137 Fill Bank and another at Siu Lang Shui Road in Tuen Mun, by way of short-term tenancies for use by the skips trade for storing skips. It has been reported that the utilization rates of the two skip storage sites have been on the low side. As a result, the problem of unauthorized placement of skips on streets has not improved. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the design capacities for skips of the two aforesaid sites, and whether it knows the average numbers of skips stored daily and monthly thereat since they were leased out; whether the Government has plans to set aside other sites for storing skips; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) of the number and contents of the complaints about skips received by the Government in each of the past three years, as well as the number of warnings issued and the number of skips removed in respect of such cases; the average time lapsed from receipt of the complaints to removal of the skips by the Government, and set out the relevant figures by District Council district; (3) of the following information on the cases handled respectively by (a) the Lands Department and (b) the Police, in the past three years: (i) the respective numbers of cases in which skip operators were prosecuted and convicted, (ii) the average time lapsed from institution of prosecutions to conclusion of the cases, and (iii) the punishments generally imposed on the convicted persons; (4) of the number of traffic accidents involving skips in each of the past three years; the causes for such accidents and the resultant casualties; (5) as it was pointed out in the aforesaid Report that to tackle the problem of unauthorized placement of skips, the government departments concerned and the stakeholders were generally in support of introducing a permit system, of the details of the Government's work on the introduction of the permit system; and (6) given that the Guidelines for Mounting and Placing of Skips formulated by the Transport Department have no legal effect, whether the Government will consider regulating skip operation by way of legislation with a view to reducing traffic accidents caused by skips; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that, and whether the Government has more effective ways to solve the problem of unauthorized placement of skips in the long run?
* For written reply
III. Government Bills
| First Reading and Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)
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| Inland Revenue (Amendment) (No. 5) Bill 2018 | : | Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
|
| Stand-over item (since the meeting of 6 June 2018)
Second Reading (Debate to resume), Consideration by Committee of the Whole Council and Third Reading | ||
| Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (Co-location) Bill | : | Secretary for Transport and Housing
|
| Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG, Hon CHU Hoi-dick, Hon CHAN Chi-chuen, Hon Claudia MO, Hon Gary FAN, Hon Tanya CHAN, Hon Dennis KWOK, Hon Jeremy TAM and Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki to move amendments
(The amendments were issued on 4 June 2018 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 656/17-18) | ||
| (Debate and voting arrangements for the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (Co-location) Bill in committee of the whole Council (issued on 5 and 12 June 2018 under LC Paper Nos. CB(3) 668/17-18(01) and CB(3) 696/17-18(01)) (same as the Appendices to the Scripts of Council meetings of 6 June and 13 June 2018))
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IV. Members' Motions
| Stand-over item: Member's motion no. 1 (since the meeting of 6 June 2018)
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| 1. | Proposed resolution under section 34(4) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance
Hon Dennis KWOK to move the following motion: Resolved that in relation to the Practising Certificate (Solicitors) (Amendment) Rules 2018, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 82 of 2018, and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 16 May 2018, the period for amending subsidiary legislation referred to in section 34(2) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1) be extended under section 34(4) of that Ordinance to the meeting of 4 July 2018. | ||||
| 2. | Proposed resolution under section 34(4) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance
Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki to move the following motion: Resolved that in relation to the Smoking (Public Health) Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule 2) Order 2018, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 81 of 2018, and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 16 May 2018, the period for amending subsidiary legislation referred to in section 34(2) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1) be extended under section 34(4) of that Ordinance to the meeting of 4 July 2018. | ||||
| 3. | Proposed resolution under section 34(4) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance
Hon CHEUNG Kwok-kwan to move the following motion: Resolved that in relation to the - | ||||
| (a) | Securities and Futures (Amendment) Ordinance 2016 (Commencement) Notice, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 96 of 2018;
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| (b) | Securities and Futures (Open-ended Fund Companies) Rules, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 97 of 2018; and
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| (c) | Securities and Futures (Open-ended Fund Companies) (Fees) Regulation, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 98 of 2018,
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| and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 23 May 2018, the period for amending subsidiary legislation referred to in section 34(2) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1) be extended under section 34(4) of that Ordinance to the meeting of 11 July 2018.
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| 4. | Proposed resolution under section 34(4) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance
Hon Holden CHOW to move the following motion: Resolved that in relation to the Securities and Futures (Professional Investor) (Amendment) Rules 2018, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 99 of 2018, and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 23 May 2018, the period for amending subsidiary legislation referred to in section 34(2) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1) be extended under section 34(4) of that Ordinance to the meeting of 11 July 2018. | ||||
| 5. | Proposed resolution under section 34(4) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance
Hon Charles Peter MOK to move the following motion: Resolved that in relation to the - | ||||
| (a) | Telecommunications (Designation of Frequency Bands subject to Payment of Spectrum Utilization Fee) (Amendment) Order 2018, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 103 of 2018;
| ||||
| (b) | Telecommunications (Level of Spectrum Utilization Fees) (Second Generation Mobile Services) (Amendment) Regulation 2018, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 104 of 2018;
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| (c) | Telecommunications (Determining Spectrum Utilization Fees by Auction) (Amendment) Regulation 2018, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 105 of 2018; and
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| (d) | Telecommunications (Method for Determining Spectrum Utilization Fee) (Administratively Assigned Spectrum in the 1800 MHz Band) Regulation, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 106 of 2018,
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| and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 23 May 2018, the period for amending subsidiary legislation referred to in section 34(2) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1) be extended under section 34(4) of that Ordinance to the meeting of 11 July 2018.
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| Stand-over items: Members' motion nos. 6 and 7 (since the meeting of 6 June 2018)
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| 6. | Cross-boundary elderly care
Hon LEUNG Che-cheung to move the following motion: (Translation) That, all along, quite a number of elderly persons in Hong Kong have chosen to spend their twilight years on the Mainland, but the current cross-boundary portability arrangements for welfare benefits made by the SAR Government have a very narrow scope, benefiting only eligible elderly persons who are receiving the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance payments or the Old Age Allowance and have moved to reside in Guangdong or Fujian Province on the Mainland; to facilitate more elderly persons in spending their twilight years on the Mainland, this Council urges the SAR Government to: | ||||
| (1) | extend the arrangements of the Guangdong Scheme and the Fujian Scheme to other provinces on the Mainland;
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| (2) | introduce cross-boundary portability arrangements for the Old Age Living Allowance to support eligible elderly persons who are receiving the allowance and have moved to the Mainland;
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| (3) | abolish the existing absence limit for various welfare benefits under the Social Security Allowance Scheme, and conduct a study on developing an identity verification system with the relevant Mainland departments to obviate the need for elderly persons who have moved to the Mainland to return to Hong Kong for making applications for continuous collection of such benefits on a yearly basis;
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| (4) | introduce cross-boundary portability arrangements for the Disability Allowance such that eligible elderly persons with disabilities aged 65 or above can choose to reside on the Mainland;
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| (5) | optimize the existing Pilot Residential Care Services Scheme in Guangdong by, for example, purchasing residential care places for persons with disabilities from Mainland residential care homes, and purchasing more quality residential care places for the elderly in various major cities on the Mainland, as well as providing needy elderly persons who choose to reside on the Mainland with one-stop escort arrangements for travelling to and from Hong Kong;
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| (6) | conduct a study on the implementation of a scheme for the transfer of medical records of Hong Kong residents under which, with the consent of the elderly persons who have moved to the Mainland, their medical records will be transferred to designated Mainland hospitals so that they can seek medical consultation conveniently;
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| (7) | conduct a study on extending the scope of application of Hong Kong's Health Care Vouchers to cover major hospitals and clinics on the Mainland, with a view to alleviating the burden of medical expenses on elderly persons who have moved to the Mainland;
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| (8) | by drawing reference from the model of the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital, co-establish hospitals in major Mainland cities by Hong Kong and the Mainland and adopt Hong Kong-style management to jointly provide quality healthcare services to elderly persons who have moved to the Mainland; and
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| (9) | by drawing reference from the Pilot Scheme on Community Care Service Voucher for the Elderly, conduct a study on providing elderly persons who have moved to the Mainland with support services for ageing in place.
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| Dr Hon Priscilla LEUNG, Hon WONG Kwok-kin and Hon Alvin YEUNG to move amendments to the motion
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| (The amendments were issued on 18 May 2018
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 606/17-18) | |||||
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| 7. | Developing venues and creating room to support the development of local culture, arts, recreation and sports
Hon MA Fung-kwok to move the following motion: (Translation) That the lack of venues and room has all along been plaguing local cultural, arts and sports groups, and it is also an important barrier to the development of local culture, recreation and sports; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to take every possible means to create more venues and room for the local cultural, arts and sports sector, so as to promote further development of local culture, arts and sports; the relevant measures include: | ||||
| (1) | building more cultural venues and sports facilities, and expeditiously implementing the outstanding leisure and cultural services projects of the former municipal councils;
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| (2) | reviewing the policy on industrial buildings and updating the definition of 'use of industrial buildings', so that cultural, arts and sports groups can operate in industrial buildings in a sensible, reasonable and lawful manner, and ensuring that future policies proposed on revitalizing industrial buildings will be able to cater to the development needs of such groups and safeguard their room for survival;
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| (3) | making better use of vacant school premises and vacant sites for cultural, arts or sports purposes;
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| (4) | opening up more public spaces for cultural and arts purposes;
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| (5) | enhancing the Opening up School Facilities for Promotion of Sports Development Scheme, including providing more assistance to schools that open up their school facilities, and extending the scheme to make it accessible by cultural and arts groups;
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| (6) | enhancing the leasing policy for government venues to make such venues available for full utilization by cultural, arts and sports groups, and curbing the recurrence of touting activities; and
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| (7) | stipulating in the land lease covenants of suitable new development projects that developers should set aside space to develop certain cultural and arts facilities that have been compressed by market and business factors, such as performance venues and bookshops.
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| Hon Mrs Regina IP, Hon Tanya CHAN, Hon LAU Kwok-fan and Hon AU Nok-hin to move amendments to the motion
| |||||
| (The amendments were issued on 21 May 2018
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 607/17-18) | |||||
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