A 17/18-41

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 11 July 2018 at 11:00 am

I. Tabling of Papers



Subsidiary Legislation / InstrumentsL.N. No.
1.Air Pollution Control (Fuel for Vessels) Regulation135/2018
2.Pharmacy and Poisons (Amendment) (No. 4) Regulation 2018136/2018
3.Construction Workers Registration (Levy) (Amendment) Notice 2018137/2018
4.District Court Ordinance - Resolution of the Legislative Council (Commencement) Notice138/2018
5.Small Claims Tribunal Ordinance - Resolution of the Legislative Council (Commencement) Notice139/2018
6.Small Claims Tribunal (Fees) (Amendment) Rules 2018140/2018

Other Papers

1.No. 125-The Standing Committee on Legal Education and Training Annual Report 2017
1 January 2017 to 31 December 2017
(to be presented by Secretary for Justice)

2.No. 126-Clothing Industry Training Authority
Annual Report 2017
(to be presented by Secretary for Labour and Welfare)

3.No. 127-Hong Kong Deposit Protection Board
Annual Report 2017-2018
(to be presented by Financial Secretary)

4.No. 128-Prisoners' Welfare Fund
Report by the Commissioner of Correctional Services on the administration of the Fund, Financial statements and Report of the Director of Audit for the year ended 31 March 2018
(to be presented by Secretary for Security)

5.No. 129-Report of the Public Accounts Committee on Report No. 70 of the Director of Audit on the Results of Value for Money Audits (July 2018 - P.A.C. Report No. 70)
(to be presented by Hon Kenneth LEUNG, Deputy Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, who will address the Council)

6.Committee on Rules of Procedure of the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Progress Report for the period October 2017 to July 2018
(to be presented by Hon Paul TSE, Chairman of the Committee on Rules of Procedure, who will address the Council)

7.Report No. 18/17-18 of the House Committee on Consideration of Subsidiary Legislation and Other Instruments
(to be presented by Hon Starry LEE, Chairman of the House Committee)

8.Report of the Bills Committee on Human Organ Transplant (Amendment) Bill 2018
(to be presented by Dr Hon Pierre CHAN, Chairman of the Bills Committee)

9.Report of the Panel on Food Safety and Environmental Hygiene 2017-2018
(to be presented by Hon Steven HO, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)

10.Report of the Panel on Manpower 2017-2018
(to be presented by Hon KWOK Wai-keung, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)

11.Report of the Panel on Commerce and Industry 2017-2018
(to be presented by Hon WU Chi-wai, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)

12.Report of the Panel on Constitutional Affairs 2017-2018
(to be presented by Hon Martin LIAO, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)

13.Report of the Panel on Housing 2017-2018
(to be presented by Hon Alice MAK, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)

14.Report of the Panel on Welfare Services 2017-2018
(to be presented by Hon SHIU Ka-chun, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)

15.Report of the Panel on Transport 2017-2018
(to be presented by Hon Frankie YICK, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)

16.Report of the Panel on Education 2017-2018
(to be presented by Dr Hon CHIANG Lai-wan, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)

17.Report of the Panel on Economic Development 2017-2018
(to be presented by Hon Jeffrey LAM, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)

18.Report of the Panel on Administration of Justice and Legal Services 2017-2018
(to be presented by Dr Hon Priscilla LEUNG, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)

19.Report of the Panel on Health Services 2017-2018
(to be presented by Prof Hon Joseph LEE, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)

20.Report of the Panel on Financial Affairs 2017-2018
(to be presented by Hon Kenneth LEUNG, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)

II. Questions



1. Hon KWONG Chun-yu to ask: (Translation)


Last month, the media uncovered that the MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL") had discovered in 2013 that two viaduct piers of the Yuen Long section of West Rail Line showed subsidence of up to 20 millimetres, allegedly due to the construction works nearby. MTRCL had forthwith informed the Buildings Department ("BD") but had not made public the incident. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)of the relevant government departments and policy bureaux which BD had informed after learning of the incident of the subsidence of the viaduct piers; the follow-up actions taken by such departments and bureaux, and the reasons for not making public the incident;

    (2)given that BD and MTRCL had learnt of the incident of the subsidence of the viaduct piers as early as in 2013, why the remedial works did not commence until last year; and

    (3)of the mechanism in place for dealing with similar railway works problems in future?
Public Officers to reply:Secretary for Transport and Housing
Under Secretary for Development

2. Hon Vincent CHENG to ask: (Translation)


It has been reported that 13 "rocking chairs", play equipment for children located in a public housing estate, were in a dilapidated state, but the Government merely replaced them with the same number of new "rocking chairs". Some members of the public have criticized that such play equipment was monotonous and uninteresting, and the spending of $210,000 on such equipment appeared to be a waste of public money. On the other hand, one of the tasks of the Commission on Children, which was established by the Government in May this year, is to review the designs of children's playgrounds throughout the territory with a view to making playgrounds more interesting. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)whether it will comprehensively review and improve the designs and play equipment of the existing and the newly built playgrounds; if so, of the details and the implementation timetable;

    (2)whether it will change the current standardized designs for children's playgrounds under the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and the Housing Department by collecting ideas of creative designs through design competitions or public engagement exercises, so as to introduce in various playgrounds more thematic designs and special features, add play equipment which makes use of various natural materials such as water and sand for provision of sensory experience, as well as introduce play equipment which offers more challenges to children while complying with safety standards; and

    (3)as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child stipulates that a child has the right to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child, and as the findings of an opinion survey conducted by a local group have shown that parents generally consider that the designs of the existing public playgrounds for children have failed to cater for the intellectual and physical development needs of children of different ages, whether the authorities or the Commission on Children will examine if the existing facilities in children's playgrounds are able to cater for this right of the child, and whether they will revise the guidelines for designing playgrounds; if they will, of the details?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

3. Hon Tony TSE to ask: (Translation)


According to the Transport Planning and Design Manual, the bus stop spacing in urban areas should be around 400 metres and it may need to be increased to 600 metres in the light of traffic congestions. However, the current bus stop spacing of certain bus routes in urban areas is only 130 to 200 metres, and the frequent pick-up/drop-off of passengers by buses has prolonged the journeys as well as aggravated traffic congestions and air pollution. Besides, some members of the public have criticized that the bus stops are lacking facilities which are friendly to passengers and passers-by. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)of the bus stops in urban areas with a spacing of less than 300 metres at present, and set out the details, such as the District Council districts in which the bus stops are situated, the bus stop spacing, as well as the names of the franchised bus companies, the bus route numbers and the start and end points of the bus routes concerned; whether the Government will discuss with the franchised bus companies and members of the local communities the consolidation of bus stops that are too close;

    (2)of the regulatory measures it has put in place to ensure that a balance is struck among the following considerations in the design of bus stops: the generation of advertising income for franchised bus companies, the provision of a comfortable waiting environment for passengers, and the avoidance of causing obstruction on the pavements; and

    (3)given that the Government announced in the 2016 Policy Address that it would allocate $80 million to subsidize franchised bus companies in installing seats and panels for display of real-time bus arrival information at bus stops, of the latest progress of such work?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

4. Hon IP Kin-yuen to ask: (Translation)


Located in the Anderson Road Development Area ("Development Area"), On Tat Estate, the intake of which was completed in 2016, and On Tai Estate, the intake of which will be completed within this year, can accommodate a total of 50 000 residents. While the authorities have planned to provide four kindergartens, three primary schools and one secondary school within the Development Area, so far only one half-day kindergarten has been completed and commissioned. This has resulted in quite a number of newly moved-in residents scrambling, for several months, for places in nearby schools for their children. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)of the authorities' projection on the population of children in the aforesaid estates who are of ages for attending kindergartens and primary and secondary schools; the criteria adopted for planning the number of kindergartens and primary and secondary schools within the Development Area; the original and latest schedules for the commissioning of those school premises, and the number of places to be offered to new students at each of the levels;

    (2)of the specific measures to be put in place to assist the students concerned in obtaining school places pursuant to the "principle of vicinity"; the number of applications made by residents in the Development Area for change of schools for their children and the outcome of them; and

    (3)of the reasons why the construction progress of the school premises within the Development Area is lagging behind; whether it will review the relevant arrangements and expedite the progress of the works; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education

5. Dr Hon Helena WONG to ask: (Translation)


On the 21st of last month, the Department of Health ("DH") received a report from the Queen Mary Hospital that "Enzyplex", a commonly used drug for treatment of digestive disorders, was suspected of having been contaminated by mould. On the following day, the supplier of that drug requested all its clients to suspend the supply and sale of the drug to patients or customers, and the Hospital Authority also immediately ceased dispensing the drug in public hospitals. On the 26th of last month, DH endorsed the supplier's recall of all batches of the drug from the market due to a quality issue, and called on members of the public to stop taking the drug. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)since when the clinics under DH have ceased dispensing the drug concerned;

    (2)of the reasons why not until five days after the receipt of the report did DH call on members of the public to stop taking the drug; whether DH has reviewed if such a response was too slow; if DH has reviewed and the outcome is in the affirmative, of the improvement measures to be put in place; and

    (3)whether it will establish a system under which sampling checks will be conducted on imported pharmaceutical products at import, wholesale and retail levels, in order to better protect public health; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

6. Hon Holden CHOW to ask: (Translation)


Regarding the parking arrangements at the Hong Kong Port ("HK Port") of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge upon the latter's commissioning, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)among the 661 private car parking spaces at HK Port, of the number of those which will be made available for online booking, and the relevant parking fees and the maximum parking time allowed;

    (2)of the number of vehicles which may be parked temporarily at the waiting area of HK Port; how the authorities will handle prolonged occupation of the waiting area by vehicles, and whether the authorities will issue warnings and fixed penalty tickets to the drivers concerned and tow away the vehicles concerned; and

    (3)of the measures formulated by the authorities to deal with the situation in which a large number of vehicles need to make use of the waiting area to pick up and drop off passengers during peak travel seasons, in order to aovid the occurrence of serious traffic blockages?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

*7. Hon AU Nok-hin to ask: (Translation)


Reuters reported on 6 June this year that the Chinese enterprise Tencent had been discussing with the Mainland authorities issues relating to the establishment of an electronic customs clearance system. The system uses biometric data to create an "e-Card" system and uses WeChat and virtual documents stored in mobile phones to replace traditional travel documents (including Hong Kong Identity Cards and Home Visit Permits) for Mainland and Hong Kong residents commuting between the two places to go through customs clearance procedure. It was reported that the Chief Executive had watched a demonstration of the "Scan-WeChat-to-cross-border". It is learnt that quite a number of Mainland academics have said that streamlined customs clearance arrangements may bring convenience to the cross-boundary activities of residents in the various cities of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area ("the Bay Area"), and given the significant problems arising from the differences in the customs clearance systems, "separate location of boundary control for different places" is not a desirable option. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)whether any government department discussed with Tencent or the Mainland authorities the aforesaid electronic customs clearance system in the past five years; if so, of the name(s) of such government department(s) and the progress of the relevant work;

    (2)as the Finance Committee of this Council approved in May this year the allocation of funding for the Government to set up an electronic identity ("eID") system which allows members of the public to access public and commercial e-services with a single digital identity and authentication, whether the Government has plans to incorporate electronic customs clearance function into the eID system so that Hong Kong residents may use their smart phones to go through customs clearance procedure;

    (3)whether it has assessed if, upon the implementation of the aforesaid electronic clearance system, the storage of biometric data (e.g. the captured data on fingerprints, iris and facial information) of Hong Kong residents in the computer systems of the Mainland immigration departments will give rise to the risk of privacy leakage, and the facial recognition system of the Mainland will access such data for the purpose of monitoring the whereabouts of Hong Kong residents on the Mainland;

    (4)as the Government has indicated that it will strengthen the "mutual access" to the financial services of Hong Kong and the cities in the Bay Area, whether the relevant arrangements cover customs clearance and taxation matters; if so, whether the Government has assessed if those arrangements may give rise to issues relating to "the identity of Hong Kong residents" and "integration of Shenzhen and Hong Kong", and whether the Government will conduct public consultation on those arrangements; and

    (5)whether it has made reference to the technologies and relevant experience of the governments of other places in using virtual documents in mobile phones for customs clearance; if so, of the details?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

*8. Hon Alvin YEUNG to ask: (Translation)


Some employers have relayed to me that the applications they made in recent years for employing foreign nationals to come to work in Hong Kong under the General Employment Policy ("GEP") have been rejected. Such employers wondered if the reason for their applications being rejected was that the salaries offered to the prospective employees were too low. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)of the (i) range and (ii) median value, of the monthly salaries offered by employers to persons who were admitted to work in Hong Kong under the Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals in each of the past five years;

    (2)of the (i) range and (ii) median value, of the monthly salaries offered by employers to persons who were admitted to work in Hong Kong under the Immigration Arrangement for Non-local Graduates in each of the past five years (with a breakdown by Mainland graduates and non-Mainland graduates);

    (3)of the (i) range and (ii) median value, of the monthly salaries offered by prospective employers to persons who applied to work in Hong Kong under GEP in each of the past five years (with a breakdown by whether the applications were approved);

    (4)among the applications made under GEP in the past five years, of the number of applications rejected by the authorities on the grounds that the monthly salaries offered to the prospective employees were too low; and

    (5)of the five most common reasons for applications made under GEP being rejected in the past five years, and the number of cases in relation to each reason?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

*9. Hon SHIU Ka-chun to ask: (Translation)


Last year, the Secretary for Labour and Welfare ("the Secretary") pointed out that in some two decades to come, there would be about one elderly person (i.e. a person aged 65 or above) in every three Hong Kong people, and that any retirement protection measure should have due regard to fiscal sustainability, in order not to impose a heavy burden on public finances and the next generation. Regarding the planning for retirement and health protection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)of (i) the latest projected elderly population, (ii) the projected expenditure for the Elderly Health Care Voucher Scheme and (iii) the projected expenditure on public healthcare services, in each year from now to 2066;

    (2)among the elderly persons, of the respective numbers and percentages of those receiving the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance, the Old Age Allowance, the Normal Old Age Living Allowance ("OALA") and the Higher OALA in each year from now to 2066, as well as the respective percentages of such expenditures in public expenditure;

    (3)as the Secretary indicated earlier that as far as OALA was concerned, public annuities would not be counted as assets but the monthly payouts received would be regarded as an income, whether the authorities have estimated (i) the number of elderly persons who will participate in the public annuity scheme each year from its launch to 2066 and (ii) the number of elderly persons who are ineligible for OALA owing to their receipt of monthly payouts from the public annuity scheme, as well as the amount of public expenditure saved as a result; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (4)as the Commission on Poverty pointed out in its consultation paper published in 2015 that elderly expenditure in 2064-2065 would be two to four times of that in 2014-2015, and the Working Group on Long-Term Fiscal Planning pointed out in its report published in 2014 that a structural deficit could strike in as early as 2021-2022 under the public service enhancement scenario, of the measures to be put in place by the Government to ensure that retirement and health protection is financially sustainable in the long run?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

*10. Hon Dennis KWOK to ask: (Translation)


It has been learnt that educational psychologists ("EPs") play a rather important role under the policy on integrated education. Their tasks include conducting psycho-educational assessments for children suspected to have special educational needs, as well as providing counselling services and accommodation arrangements for them. At present, the University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University take turn each year to run local master degree programmes for training EPs, which are funded by the University Grants Committee ("UGC"). Meanwhile, the Government announced in the 2016 Policy Address that it would enhance the School-based Educational Psychology Service by progressively improving the ratio of educational psychologist to school to 1:4 in respect of public sector primary and secondary schools which admit a large number of students with special educational needs. As a result, the demand for EPs will increase gradually. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council if it knows:
  • (1)(i) the number of places, (ii) the number of graduates, (iii) the unit cost and (iv) the amount of subsidy, in respect of UGC-funded educational psychology pragrammes in each of the past five years;

    (2)the criteria adopted by UGC for vetting and approval of funding applications from tertiary institutions for (i) running new master degree programmes and (ii) increasing the number of places of those programmes, as well as the procedures concerned; and

    (3)whether UGC has received funding applications from the two aforesaid institutions for increasing the number of funded places of their master degree pragrammes in educational psychology; if UGC has, of the details; whether UGC will invite and provide funding to other tertiary institutions to run similar programmes; if UGC will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education

*11. Hon Martin LIAO to ask: (Translation)


Hong Kong is the world's largest trading centre for shark fins. Food products of as many as 76 shark species are on sale in the local market, with nearly one-third of them belonging to endangered or vulnerable shark species. Although the quantity of imported shark fin products declined by 50% in the past decade, the number of cases of seizure of controlled shark fin products by the Customs and Excise Department ("C&ED") surged by 4.5 times in the past four years. While there were a total of 23 such cases in the past four years, C&ED did not institute prosecution in respect of any of such cases on grounds of insufficient evidence. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)in respect of the shark fin products involved in the aforesaid 23 cases, of their weights, species, places of origin, destinations and modes of import; the concrete evidence the lack of which has rendered the authorities unable to institute prosecutions in respect of those cases; how C&ED will step up evidence gathering efforts in future to enable instituting prosecutions;

    (2)given that some unscrupulous merchants use misleading labels in consignments of shark fins (such as seafood, dried seafood products and fishery products), or mix the fins of endangered shark species with those of shark species that are not subject to control, of the number of training courses organized for their staff in the past three years by the law enforcement departments on the identification of shark species, and the number of staff members trained; and

    (3)as the findings of a questionnaire survey conducted by a concern group on endangered shark species have revealed that with no resemblance between the names of the shark fins sold in the retail market and the official names of the controlled shark species, it is difficult for consumers to identify shark fins belonging to controlled shark species, whether the Government will step up publicity in order that consumers can tell, among the names of shark fins sold in the retail market and those used in shark fin dishes, the ones related to controlled shark species; whether, apart from stepping up publicity, the Government will consider putting in place a mechanism to assist consumers in identifying shark fins belonging to controlled shark species?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment

*12. Dr Hon Priscilla LEUNG to ask: (Translation)


Kai Tak Development ("KTD") is a large-scale project encompassing the ex airport site together with the adjoining three districts of Kowloon City, Wong Tai Sin and Kwun Tong, spanning a total planning area of over 320 hectares. KTD features a mix of community, housing, business, tourism and infrastructural uses. With the intake of the residential flats and the commissioning of the public facilities within KTD one after another, the traffic flow within the area has been increasing. Quite a number of Kai Tak residents and the operator of the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal have relayed to me recently the slow progress of the development of the roads and transport systems connecting the facilities within the area (e.g. the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal and the forthcoming Hong Kong Children's Hospital). For example, the target completion date of the detailed feasibility study for the Environmentally Friendly Linkage System ("EFLS") for Kowloon East has been postponed from the original third quarter of 2017 to this year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)of the latest progress of the road development within KTD and the specific timetable;

    (2)of the latest progress of EFLS and the relevant timetable;

    (3)whether it will allocate additional manpower and resources to expedite the construction of the roads and transport systems within KTD; if so, of the details; and

    (4)whether the Government will introduce environmentally friendly modes of transport (e.g. eco-buses or eco-minibuses) as a temporary transport measure before the commissioning of EFLS; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

*13. Hon Tanya CHAN to ask: (Translation)


According to the New Territories small house policy, a New Territories male indigenous villager over 18 years old is entitled to one concessionary grant during his lifetime to build one small house ("small house concessionary right"). Lands zoned for "Village Type Development" ("V zone lands") are primarily reserved for development of small houses. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)of the number of holders of unexercised small house concessionary right as at 30 June this year, and among them, (i) the number of those who had never lodged applications for building small houses and (ii) the number of those who were at the time residing abroad; the estimated number of those who might have the intention to lodge such applications in the coming decade; if such figures are not available, whether it will compile such statistics;

    (2)of (i) the number of holders of unexercised small house concessionary right, and (ii) the respective numbers of applications for building small houses which were (a) received, (b) approved, (c) being processed and (d) rejected, by the Lands Department, in each of the past 10 years (set out in Table 1);

    Table 1

    Year(i)(ii)
    (a)(b)(c)(d)
    2008     
    ...     
    2017     
    Total     

    (3)of the respective numbers of small houses which were (i) under construction and (ii) completed, in each of the past 10 years (set out in Table 2);

    Table 2

    Year(i)(ii)
    2008  
    ...  
    2017  
    Total  

    (4)(i) in respect of V zone lands, of (a) their total area, (b) the total area of those on which small houses had been built, and (c) the total area of those available for small house development, as well as (ii) the total area of sites zoned for other planning uses and on which small houses had been built, in each of the past 10 years (set out in Table 3); and

    Table 3

    Year(i)(ii)
    (a)(b)(c)
    2008    
    ...    
    2017    
    Total    

    (5)of (i) the number of approved applications for premium assessment and (ii) the number of cases of transfer of titles, in respect of small houses in each of the past 10 years (set out in Table 4)?

    Table 4

    Year(i)(ii)
    2008  
    ...  
    2017  
    Total  
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

*14. Hon LAU Kwok-fan to ask: (Translation)


Regarding the minor works projects implemented by District Councils ("DCs") under the District Minor Works ("DMW") Programme, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)of the number of works projects proposed by each DC in each of the past two years and the first half of this year, with a breakdown by project progress (including (i) the relevant feasibility study/design work being under way, (ii) project found to be infeasible after study, (iii) project already endorsed by DC for implementation, and (iv) project completed);

    (2)of (i) the average construction cost and (ii) the average construction period of the works projects completed in each of the past two years and the first half of this year; among such projects, the number of those the span of which from inception to completion straddled two DC terms (broken down by DC district);

    (3)of the account balance of the DMW Programme in each of the past five years; and

    (4)as it has been more than six years since the Finance Committee of this Council approved an increase in the financial ceiling of the delegated authority for Category D works projects (including DMW projects) to $30 million in July 2012, and as the construction costs of works projects have been rising incessantly during the period, whether the Government will propose to the Finance Committee the raising of such financial ceiling according to the cumulative inflation over the years; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

*15. Hon Wilson OR to ask: (Translation)


It has been reported that when the Hong Kong Housing Authority ("HA") divested in 2005 certain retail and car parking facilities of its public rental housing ("PRH") estates to The Link Real Estate Investment Trust, which has been renamed as Link Real Estate Investment Trust ("Link REIT"), it sold in the same lot the titles to some common areas in certain housing estates. If such common areas are involved in the public facilities the addition of which is intended by HA or the owners' corporations of the housing estates concerned, the relevant works may be carried out only after the consent of Link REIT (or the new owners) has been obtained. At present, a number of works projects for retrofitting public facilities cannot commence as such consent has not been obtained. For example, the lift and escalator projects at Po Tak Estate, Kwun Tong, have dragged on for 10 years, and no date has been fixed for implementing the lift retrofitting works for a centre for the elderly in Lower Wong Tai Sin Estate, resulting in the elderly with impaired mobility having to walk up and down tens of steps to commute to and from the centre every day. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)of the number of complaints, received by the Government since 2005, alleging that HA's selling the titles to some common areas in PRH estates has resulted in a failure to retrofit public facilities to those estates; the mechanism currently in place to handle such cases;

    (2)whether the Government has, since 2005, conducted any study on the impact on the residents caused by the sale by HA to Link REIT of the title to some common areas in PRH estates; if so, of the outcome; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (3)whether the Government will consider invoking the Lands Resumption Ordinance (Cap. 124) to resume the titles to the common areas concerned so as to retrofit the relevant public facilities; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

*16. Hon Steven HO to ask: (Translation)


Regarding the Government's control for food safety of fruits and vegetables, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)given that the Centre for Food Safety under the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department ("FEHD") conducts sampling checks on fruits and vegetables imported by sea, land and air at its Kwai Chung checkpoint, Man Kam To office ("MKT office") and airport office respectively, of the details of the sampling check procedure (including the methods for taking samples of fruits and vegetables for laboratory tests); in respect of each type of imported fruits and vegetables, the current average daily quantity going through each checkpoint as well as the quantity and percentage of such quantity taken for laboratory tests (set out in a table);

    (2)of the quantities of fruits and vegetables imported from the Mainland in each of the past five years; the criteria currently adopted at MKT office for conducting sampling checks on fruits and vegetables imported from the Mainland, as well as the quantities and percentages concerned;

    (3)whether it will proactively improve the procedure for conducting sampling checks on imported fruits and vegetables, so that checks on fruits and vegetables fully packed in lorries are conducted in a more effective and expeditious manner; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (4)given that many lorries carrying imported fruits and vegetables enter Hong Kong through MKT office every day, of the maximum number of lorries per hour in respect of which the sampling checks on the fruits and vegetables carried can be handled by the MKT office's staff, and the approach for handling the situation where the number of lorries that arrive exceeds that number; whether the Government will study (i) how sampling checks on fruits and vegetables can be conducted more flexibly and expeditiously at the MKT office, and (ii) the reprovisioning of the MKT office at a suitable location with a view to developing a centre that combines the functions of conducting sampling checks on fruits and vegetables with wholesale functions; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (5)as it has been reported that some traders, after mixing organic vegetables with imported vegetables or other vegetables which have not gone through sampling checks and with unknown places of origins, sell such mixed vegetables as organic vegetables, of the measures to be put in place by the Government to combat such trade practice and ensure food safety; of the number of prosecutions instituted in the past five years by the Government in this regard, and the penalties imposed on the convicted persons; and

    (6)given that the Office of The Ombudsman made eight recommendations in its direct investigation report entitled "Food and Environmental Hygiene Department's System of Safety Control for Imported Fruits and Vegetables" released in November last year, of the latest progress of FEHD's follow-up work on each of these recommendations?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

*17. Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki to ask: (Translation)


In 2017, the Environmental Protection Department ("EPD") released A Waste Reduction Guidebook for Large Scale Event Organisers ("the Guidebook"), to assist event organizers in formulating waste management measures so as to achieve waste reduction and promote clean recycling. EPD indicated that it had appealed to the organizers of quite a number of events (including the Lunar New Year fairs, the Hong Kong Flower Show and the Hong Kong Sevens) to implement the waste management measures recommended in the Guidebook. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)how EPD assists organizers of large scale events in implementing the measures recommended in the Guidebook;

    (2)of the number of large scale events in respect of which EPD has, since the release of the Guidebook, assisted their organizers in implementing the measures recommended in the Guidebook, as well as the names of such events and their organizers;

    (3)whether EPD has compiled statistics on the quantity of waste generated in the events mentioned in (2), so as to gauge the effectiveness of the waste reduction initiatives; if so, set out the relevant statistics in a table; if not, how EPD monitors the effectiveness of the Guidebook; and

    (4)given that some organizations organized festive activities in the bamboo theatres at Tsing Luk Street, Tsing Yi in April and May this year, whether EPD assisted the organizers of such activities in implementing waste management measures; if so, of the details and the effectiveness; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment

*18. Hon Frankie YICK to ask: (Translation)


Under section 93 of the Road Traffic Ordinance (Cap. 374), the Commissioner for Transport ("the Commissioner") may suspend the licence of a motor vehicle concerned in respect of the offences specified in Schedule 4 (including section 52 (in contravention of the restriction on the use of vehicles)). The period of suspension for the first offence is three months and that for subsequent offence in respect of the same motor vehicle is six months. Any person who uses a private car without a valid hire car permit to carry passengers for reward (commonly known as "white licence cars' service") is in breach of section 52. Some members of the public have pointed out that as white licence cars' service has become rampant in recent years, the authorities should amend the legislation to lengthen the period of suspension of the licences of white licence cars or even cancel their licences permanently to enhance the deterrent effect. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)of the number of vehicles the licence of which was suspended under the aforesaid provision in each of the past three years and the periods of suspension concerned, together with a breakdown by vehicle class and the offence involved;

    (2)of the respective numbers of cases in each of the past three years in which the registered owners of vehicles, under section 90 of Cap. 374, (i) made representations in writing to the Commissioner and (ii) applied in writing to the Commissioner for a hearing before a Transport Tribunal ("Tribunal") to show cause why the vehicle licences should not be suspended; among such cases, the respective numbers of cases ruled by the Tribunal that the owners concerned had shown the cause, with a breakdown by vehicle class and the offence involved; and

    (3)given that in reply to a question raised by a Member of this Council in May this year in respect of the permanent cancellation of licences of white licence cars, the authorities indicated that the Transport Department was then reviewing the need to raise the penalty for the relevant offences and would consult the trade concerned, of the details and timetables of the review and the consultation exercise?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

*19. Hon LEUNG Che-cheung to ask: (Translation)


An organization in the horticulture industry has relayed that the development of the industry has all along been neglected over the years. The horticulture industry is not regarded as a separate trade in the construction industry, and there is currently no registration system for practitioners in the industry, rendering such practitioners being regarded as general workers only. Moreover, as it is difficult to attract new blood to join the industry due to its remuneration being on the low side, coupled with an ageing workforce, the industry has been beset by a shortage of manpower. The organization has also pointed out that horticulture contractors often face financial difficulties arising from default on payments by the principal contractors of public works projects ("PWPs"). On the other hand, the proportion of greening projects in the all PWPs has been rather low in recent years. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)whether the authorities have compiled statistics on the added value of horticulture-related industries, and its percentage in Gross Domestic Product, in each of the past three years,;

    (2)of the amount of resources allocated by the authorities in the past three years to assist in and promote the development of the horticulture industry;

    (3)whether the authorities have projected and planned for the manpower requirements of the horticulture industry; if so, of the details, including a tabulated breakdown by trade of the number and age distribution of the practitioners in the past three years, as well as the manpower requirements in the coming three years; if not, whether the authorities will consider conducting relevant projections and planning;

    (4)whether the authorities have plans to implement the initiative of "designated workers for designated skills" to stipulate that only registered workers in the trades of the horticulture industry may undertake the relevant work, so as to assist the industry in moving towards professionalization; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (5)whether the authorities know if the Construction Workers Registration Board received in the past three years written applications for designating the trades of the horticulture industry as registered trades; if the Board did, of the relevant vetting and approval outcome;

    (6)of the proportion of contracts of greening projects among the PWP contracts awarded in each of past three years;

    (7)whether the authorities will, in the long run, increase the proportion of greening projects in the all PWPs, so as to promote greening; and

    (8)whether the authorities will consider separately awarding contracts of greening projects, so as to avoid horticulture contractors being defaulted on payments by principal contractors?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

*20. Hon SHIU Ka-fai to ask: (Translation)


At present, operators of money changers must possess a licence granted by the Commissioner of Customs and Excise for operating money changing service, a kind of money service. Some operators of money changers have relayed to me that in recent years, some banks have not only rejected their applications for opening new accounts but also suddenly frozen or cancelled the existing accounts of money changers and the personal accounts of their operators, dealing a serious blow to their business operations. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)of the number of licensed money changers in each of the past five years;

    (2)of the number of complaints or requests for assistance about the opening/maintenance of bank accounts received by the authorities from operators of money changers in the past five years; whether the authorities have taken follow-up actions, including gaining an understanding from the banks of the reasons for that; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (3)whether the authorities intend to eradicate the money changing service operated by money changers; if so, why they have not made any announcement on this; if not, why the authorities have all along allowed banks to refuse the opening/maintenance of bank accounts by money changers;

    (4)whether it knows (i) the respective numbers of accounts of money changers and personal accounts of their operators which were cancelled by banks in each of the past five years, and (ii) the number of existing bank accounts belonging to money changers; if it does not know, whether it will request banks to provide the relevant information;

    (5)whether the Hong Kong Monetary Authority has issued guidelines regarding the circumstances under which banks may refuse to open new accounts for money changers and cancel/freeze their existing accounts; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; whether the authorities will request banks to give an explanation for such decisions to the affected operators of money changers; if so, of the details; if not, how the authorities safeguard the proper interests of operators of money changers; and

    (6)given that the Customs and Excise Department ("C&ED") will examine the records of new applicants for a licence of money service operator or those of applicants for renewal of the licence every two years, and will issue/renew the licence only after it has ascertained that such applicants have met all the requirements, and that C&ED will conduct compliance inspections on existing money changers, whether the authorities will consider assisting those operators with good records in opening bank accounts; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

*21. Hon Jeremy TAM to ask: (Translation)


Some residents in Lam Tin have relayed to me that MTR is the major external means of transport for them. They usually commute to and from the concourse of MTR Lam Tin Station using the two sets of escalator systems ("escalator systems") which connect Hong Tin Court and Lei Yue Mun Road respectively with the Sceneway Plaza. However, the escalator systems are overcrowded during peak hours in recent years and their services are frequently suspended pending repairs, causing inconvenience to the residents. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)whether it knows (i) the design capacity and (ii) the peak-hour loading of the escalator systems; if it does not know the peak-hour loading, whether it will compile statistics in this respect;

    (2)whether it knows (i) the manufacturers and (ii) the repair and maintenance contractors of the escalator systems;

    (3)whether it knows (i) the number of hours spent on repairing the escalator systems and (ii) the number of days on which services of the escalator systems were suspended, in each of the past three years;

    (4)whether it will follow up the problem of frequent suspension of service of the escalator systems for a prolonged period of time pending repairs, including giving advice to the persons concerned, with a view to shortening the time taken and reducing the need for repairs; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (5)whether it has studied the retrofitting of escalators or lifts at the passageway connecting Kai Tin Road with Lei Yue Mun Road, so that whenever the service of any one of the aforesaid escalator systems is suspended, the residents may commute to and from the station concourse conveniently via the new facilities and the other set of escalator system; if so, of the outcome; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

*22. Hon HO Kai-ming to ask: (Translation)


In June last year, a well-known person was suspected of having intimidated a reporter while the latter was reporting news. The Department of Justice ("DoJ") has so far not decided whether or not to institute prosecution against that person. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)whether, in handling criminal cases that involve well-known persons, DoJ needs longer time to examine the particulars of the cases in order to make prosecution decisions; if so, of the reasons for that; if not, why DoJ has so far not yet made any prosecution decision in respect of the aforesaid case;

    (2)of DoJ's considerations in making a prosecution decision in respect of the case, and whether such considerations include the possible impacts of instituting prosecution on the community and public interests;

    (3)whether DoJ has assessed if the fact that it has so far not made any prosecution decision in respect of the case has any social repercussion, such as undermining the morale of the journalists; if it has assessed and the outcome is in the affirmative, whether DoJ will expedite its handling of the case;

    (4)as the Victims of Crime Charter stipulates that "[s]o far as can be done without prejudicing the progress or outcome, victims of crime shall be kept fully informed of the progress of the case", of the number of enquiries received by DoJ in each of the past two years from reporters as victims about the progress of the cases concerned, the number of occasions on which DoJ failed to make a reply within the pledged time (i.e. 14 working days) and the reasons for that, as well as the improvement measures to be put in place; and

    (5)whether DoJ will compile statistics on a regular basis in respect of cases involving the threatening of freedom of news coverage, and make prosecution decisions expeditiously so as to demonstrate its determination to safeguard freedom of news coverage?
Public Officer to reply:Solicitor General
(in the absence of the Secretary for Justice)

* For written reply

III. Government Bills



First Reading and Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)

1.Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation (Amendment) Bill 2018

:Secretary for Home Affairs

2.Electoral Legislation (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2018

:Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs

Second Reading (Debate to resume), Consideration by Committee of the Whole Council and Third Reading

Human Organ Transplant (Amendment) Bill 2018:Secretary for Food and Health

IV. Motions



Two proposed resolutions under the Fatal Accidents Ordinance

Secretary for Justice's motion in Appendix 1.
(to be moved by the Solicitor General, in the absence of the Secretary for Justice, by virtue of section 7 of the Legal Officers Ordinance (Cap. 87))

Hon HUI Chi-fung's motion in Appendix 2.

(The two motions were issued on 28 June and 3 July 2018
under LC Paper Nos. CB(3) 771/17-18 and CB(3) 785/17-18)

(Debate and voting arrangements for two proposed resolutions under the Fatal Accidents Ordinance (issued on 6 July 2018 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 817/17-18)

V. Members' Motions



1.Proposed resolution under section 34(4) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance

Hon WONG Ting-kwong to move the following motion:

Resolved that in relation to the Employment (Amendment) (No. 2) Ordinance 2018 (Commencement) Notice, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 116 of 2018, and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 13 June 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 first sitting (within the meaning of section 34(6) of that Ordinance) of the next session of the Legislative Council.

2.Two proposed resolutions under section 34(2) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance

Hon James TO's first motion in Appendix 3.

Hon James TO's second motion in Appendix 4.

(The two motions were issued on 5 July 2018
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 803/17-18)

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

3.Motion under the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance

Hon LAM Cheuk-ting to move the motion in Appendix 5.

(The motion was issued on 28 June 2018
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 775/17-18)

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Transport and Housing

4.Vote of no confidence in the President of the Legislative Council

Prof Hon Joseph LEE to move the following motion: (Translation)

That this Council has no confidence in the President of the Legislative Council, Andrew LEUNG.

5.Restructuring the governance of MTR Corporation Limited

Hon Michael TIEN to move the following motion: (Translation)

That the MTR Corporation Limited ('MTRCL') has built and operates 11 railways in Hong Kong, and in the future, seven new railway projects will most likely be assigned to MTRCL; the people of Hong Kong heavily rely on the railway system as a mode of transport, but in recent years, there have been strong views in society on the service quality, corporate governance and supervision of works of MTRCL; the Hong Kong SAR Government as the majority shareholder of MTRCL has a major responsibility of monitoring MTRCL in providing to the public the safest railway services and infrastructure of the best quality; in this connection, this Council urges the SAR Government to adopt the following measures to restructure the governance of MTRCL to restore public confidence in MTRCL:

(1)setting up an independent railway development department-given that at present, a railway from planning to construction involves various government departments, including the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department, the Civil Engineering and Development Department, the Buildings Department and the Highways Department, resulting in fragmentation of responsibilities and inefficiency; besides, responsible for all the works of roads, tunnels, bridges, etc. in Hong Kong, the Highways Department can hardly attend to everything at the same time, thus giving rise to problems in the regulation of railways; hence, the SAR Government should set up an independent railway development department dedicated to railway works and directly responsible to the Secretary for Transport and Housing;

(2)planning new development areas in tandem with their ancillary railway facilities-in planning some of the new development areas in the past, since the SAR Government did not concurrently consider ancillary transport facilities, serious traffic problems arose in such areas, and the SAR Government then constructed railways in a rush, thus causing the works quality to fall; hence, new development areas and ancillary railway facilities should be planned in tandem in order to prevent the quality of railway projects from being affected by very tight work schedules;

(3)urging MTRCL to regularly review its investment strategy of updating the signalling system-in the past, repeated serious disruptions of MTR train services were caused by the ageing signalling system; hence, MTRCL should regularly upgrade the signalling system to the latest version, rather than refusing to upgrade the signalling system on the ground of the cost being the prime factor of consideration, so as to ensure provision of stable and reliable public transport services to passengers;

(4)rationalizing the appointment of the Chairman and the Chief Executive Officer of MTRCL-to cope with the foreseeable railway projects, either of the Chairman and the Chief Executive Officer of MTRCL, being the two highest persons-in-charge, should have an engineering background to facilitate monitoring of the works progress at the highest level;

(5)supervising MTRCL in reviewing the criteria of its internal tendering system-when drawing up the criteria of its internal tendering system, MTRCL should study following the criteria of the tendering system of the SAR Government which draw greater reference from the past performance, cooperative attitude, accountability performance of tenderers, etc., rather than overstressing the principle of 'the lowest bid wins' and the number of times the tenderers were awarded railway projects in the past as priority considerations, so as to avoid monopolization;

(6)requiring MTRCL to strengthen the project management notification system-MTRCL should draw up specific and transparent notification criteria and make improvements on two levels: on the first level, requiring frontline site staff to report to the management in higher ranks the site conditions, including but not limited to issuing to contractors non-conformance notices/reports for any work that does not comply with plans and works requirements, and on the second level, reporting to the Government all construction problems in respect of repeated mistakes without rectification, delays in resolving such problems and suspected violations of statutory requirements; and

(7)raising MTRCL's requirements for supervision of the works of contractors-MTRCL should draw reference from the requirements of the SAR Government in supervising public works, including considering the introduction of the Contractor Management Handbook for public works to conduct regular assessments on the quality, progress and safety of works, environmental protection, management and attitude of the persons-in-charge of projects, subcontracting of works, performance of procurement, etc., and requiring resident site staff to conduct thorough on-site supervision, thereby effecting more stringent supervision of railway projects.

Hon LUK Chung-hung, Hon CHAN Han-pan, Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki and Hon LAM Cheuk-ting to move amendments to the motion

(The amendments were issued on 6 July 2018
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 810/17-18)

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Transport and Housing

Clerk to the Legislative Council