A 18/19-7
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 14 November 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
| Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments | L.N. No. | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Merchant Shipping (Safety) (INF Cargo) Regulation | 214/2018 |
| 2. | Employment (Amendment) (No. 3) Ordinance 2018 (Commencement) Notice | 215/2018 |
Other Papers
II. Questions
1. Hon Dennis KWOK to ask: (Translation)
Some members of the public have relayed that policy blunders, ineffective monitoring and perfunctory implementation on the part of the Government in the areas of transport and housing are not uncommon in recent years. For example, road transport was paralyzed on the day after the onslaught of super typhoon Mangkhut in Hong Kong, railway construction works were found to be non-compliant and have caused settlement to the buildings in the vicinity, housing and land supply were in severe shortage making it difficult for members of the public to purchase homes and the waiting time for public rental housing hitting record high time and again. Such members of the public consider that it is difficult for the Transport and Housing Bureau to handle the two major policy areas of transport and housing, and that it is unreasonable for the two closely related policy areas of housing and land to be under the charge of two bureaux. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it will consider afresh reorganizing the duties of the Development Bureau and the Transport and Housing Bureau?
| Public Officers to attend | : | Chief Secretary for Administration
Secretary for Transport and Housing Secretary for Development |
2. Hon Charles Peter MOK to ask: (Translation)
In recent years, incidents involving massive leakage of personal data by government departments and private organizations have occurred frequently. Not until half a year after learning of the leakage of the data of about 9.4 million passengers did an airline announced it last month. In addition, in less than a month after the launch of the Faster Payment System, a number of fraud cases occurred in which the fraudsters committed crimes by making use of the personal data of members of the public and taking advantage of the loopholes in the process of setting up direct debit authorization by electronic wallets users, thereby causing financial losses to the members of the public. On enhancing information security and the protection for privacy of personal data, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it will, by making reference to the General Data Protection Regulation of the European Union, study prescribing in the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance the obligations of data processors, and that data users are required, in the event of data leakage incidents, to notify the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data and the data subjects within specified time limits; and (2) whether it will comprehensively assess the information security risks currently faced by government departments, industries such as finance and telecommunications as well as public utilities, formulate a cross-sector information security strategy, and step up the training for information security talents (e.g. by setting up a specialized college)?
| Public Officers to attend | : | Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs
Secretary for Innovation and Technology |
3. Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki to ask: (Translation)
Upon the completion of all the development projects under the "Hong Kong 2030+: Towards a Planning Vision and Strategy Transcending 2030" ("Hong Kong 2030+") published in 2016, Hong Kong can accommodate 9 million people. This figure is about 800 000 higher than Hong Kong's projected peak population of 8 220 000 in 2043, i.e. providing a 10% buffer. One of the proposed development projects in Hong Kong 2030+ is the construction of artificial islands with an area of 1 000 hectares ("ha") in the Central Waters to accommodate 400 000 to 700 000 people. On the other hand, the Policy Address delivered last month put forward the Lantau Tomorrow Vision, proposing the construction of artificial islands with an area of about 1 700 ha in the Central Waters to accommodate 700 000 to 1 100 000 people. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the various items of estimated construction costs in relation to the artificial islands mentioned in the Policy Address, including reclamation, external transport facilities and the public facilities on the islands; (2) of the rationale for setting the buffer population in Hong Kong 2030+ at 800 000; the reasons why the Government has, after a lapse of two years, proposed to increase the reclamation area in the Central Waters by 700 ha to accommodate additional 300 000 to 400 000 people; and (3) given that the Government may invoke the Lands Resumption Ordinance to resume private land for "public purposes", whether the Government will consider, as a replacement for the reclamation plans in the Central Waters, invoking the Ordinance expeditiously to resume sufficient land (including brownfield sites) for the "public purposes" of developing public housing, other public facilities, etc., so that irreversible damage to the environment can be avoided?
4. Hon LUK Chung-hung to ask: (Translation)
Earlier on, an organization invited, through the schools concerned, some 200 primary school students, who were accompanied by 400 parents, to go to Thailand to take part in an international mathematics contest. Some of the students and their parents joined a related group tour arranged by the organization. Some parents have reproached the organization for making inadequate preparation for the contest as well as the inappropriate reception and itinerary arrangements of the group tour, undermining the rights and interests of the parents and students concerned. Regarding the monitoring of extra-curricular activities organized for students, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it received in the past three years requests for assistance and complaints about students taking part in courses and activities held overseas; if so, of the details; how the implementation and quality of such courses and activities are currently monitored, with a view to safeguarding the rights and interests of the parents and students; and (2) given that the Government has put forward in this year's Policy Agenda the setting up of a Student Activities Support Fund with the total amount of $2.5 billion to support, through a subsidy, students with financial needs to participate in out-of-classroom learning activities starting from the next school year, of the authorities' measures to monitor the use of the subsidy by schools; whether it will consider setting up a recognition system for, or a register of, organizations which may collaborate with schools in organizing extra-curricular activities, and issuing guidelines setting out matters such as the scope of use of the subsidy, as well as the issues that schools should bear in mind when organizing extra-curricular activities in collaboration with other organizations; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
| Public Officers to attend | : | Secretary for Education
Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development |
5. Hon Alice MAK to ask: (Translation)
This year's Policy Address has put forward the "Lantau Tomorrow Vision" ("the Vision") which proposes to progressively press ahead several development areas at Lantau Island and the coastal areas of Tuen Mun with the objective of increasing land supply and consolidating the sustainable development of Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) regarding the preliminary planning of the Vision, how the Government will take on board the public views on the option of reclamation in the Central Waters set out in the report to be submitted by the Task Force on Land Supply; of the implementation timetable for the various phases and project scopes of the reclamation works, as well as the estimated costs of the first phase of reclamation and other works; (2) as quite a number of members of the public are concerned whether the reclamation works in the Central Waters will damage the environment and whether the facilities on the artificial islands can withstand extreme weather, of the technologies and measures the Government will adopt to ensure that the various works concerned will strike a balance between development and conservation; how the Government will convince the public of the necessity of land formation by reclamation for Hong Kong; and (3) as the Government will study the transport infrastructure facilities for linking up the artificial islands with districts such as Lantau Island, Hong Kong Island, Tuen Mun, Tsuen Wan and Kwai Tsing, whether the Government will concurrently conduct a comprehensive transport study for those districts?
6. Prof Hon Joseph LEE to ask: (Translation)
Since 2009, the Hospital Authority ("HA") had implemented a hospital accreditation programme ("the accreditation programme") by phases in public hospitals, with a view to enhancing the accountability of hospitals for service quality and safety. Some healthcare workers have relayed that while the accreditation programme put much emphasis on the procedure, it disregarded the manpower shortage problem (i.e. the so-called "accrediting the procedure but not the manpower"). Healthcare workers were worn out by the large amount of paperwork generated by the accreditation programme, which conversely affected the quality of clinical services. After discussing with the Secretary for Food and Health, HA decided in January this year to suspend the accreditation work, so as to alleviate the work pressure on healthcare workers during the influenza surge and to allow them more time for taking care of patients. It has been reported that HA suddenly terminated the accreditation programme last month and indicated that it was exploring a new model for implementing the accreditation programme. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
(1) the details of the new accreditation programme to be implemented, including the implementation date, the expenditure and manpower involved, as well as how the accreditation of both the procedure and manpower will be achieved; and (2) how HA will ensure that the implementation of the new accreditation programme will neither increase the work pressure of healthcare workers nor affect the quality of healthcare services?
*7. Hon WONG Ting-kwong to ask: (Translation)
With the recent commissioning of the Hong Kong Section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, as well as the imminent opening of the Liantang/Heung Yuen Wai Boundary Control Point, the cross-boundary infrastructure facilities between Hong Kong and the Mainland is becoming more comprehensive. The Government anticipates that there will be an incessant rise in the number of inbound Mainland tourists. On the other hand, the patterns of inbound Mainland tourists' activities in Hong Kong have become increasingly diversified and their engagement in some activities (e.g. hiking and camping in the countryside and using public cultural and recreational facilities) has impacted on the daily lives of Hong Kong people. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has studied the impacts of the improvements in recent years in cross-boundary infrastructure facilities on the various aspects (including the number of tourists) of the tourism industry, and whether it has reviewed the effectiveness of the various measures which aim to enhance Hong Kong's tourist receiving capacity and if such measures need to be strengthened; if it has, of the outcome; if not, the reasons for that; (2) of the person-time, in each of the past three years, of inbound tourists using public cultural and recreational facilities, with a breakdown of such numbers by (i) type of facilities and (ii) place of origin of such tourists and their percentages in the total numbers; (3) whether it will step up the management of those locations where tourists usually gather, such as (i) allocating additional resources and manpower for maintaining order and keeping such locations clean and (ii) planning for the provision of more tourism facilities; and (4) whether it has conducted any investigation into the cases in which tourists occupied designated camp sites in country parks and caused damage to the ecological environment; if so, of the outcome, and the measures put in place to raise tourists' awareness of caring for the nature?
*8. Hon KWONG Chun-yu to ask: (Translation)
It is learnt that the incidence of atrial fibrillation ("AF") increases with age, the risk of AF patients having a stroke is five times higher than that of an ordinary person, and strokes caused by AF are more severe and have a higher mortality rate than other types of strokes. A medical research has revealed that currently there are more than 70 000 individuals in Hong Kong suffering from AF, and one-fourth of the local stroke cases were caused by AF. Regarding the prevention of AF and the strokes caused by it, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the current number of confirmed AF patients in public hospitals, and the measures taken by public hospitals to prevent such patients from having a stroke; (2) whether it knows the number of stroke patients receiving treatment in public hospitals, the number of such patients whose stroke was caused by AF, and the expenditure incurred for providing rehabilitation treatment to the latter, in each of the past five years; (3) whether it will consider launching, in the near future, a community-wide AF screening programme for early identification and treatment of AF patients, so as to reduce their risk of stroke; if so, of the specific timetable, and whether such a programme will be implemented by (i) adopting a public-private partnership approach and (ii) entrusting the programme to the District Health Centres; if it will not consider, of the reasons for that, and whether it will set up an expert group to study the pros and cons of such a programme; (4) whether it knows if the general and specialist outpatient clinics in the public sector will, for the purpose of early identification and treatment of AF patients, (i) use a checklist of AF high-risk factors and (ii) conduct relevant check-ups for those people who have such risk factors; if they will, of the specific timetable; if not, the reasons for that; and (5) as the District Health Centres in Kwai Tsing, Kwun Tong and Island East will be commissioned shortly, whether the Government will request the non-governmental organizations which operate such Centres to step up their efforts in (i) identifying AF patients and (ii) educating AF patients on stroke prevention; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*9. Hon SHIU Ka-fai to ask: (Translation)
Some hairy crab sellers have relayed to me that while hairy crabs are in season each year after the Mid-Autumn Festival, this year up to early this month, no hairy crabs (save for a small batch of hairy crabs in August) were issued with approval documents by the Mainland authorities for export to Hong Kong. This has greatly affected the sellers' business. On the other hand, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department ("FEHD") found, during sampling checks conducted on hairy crabs in 2016, that two of the samples contained an excessive level of dioxins, and hence prosecuted two hairy crab sellers by summons. The magistrate acquitted the sellers and cited an expert's advice that only if, within four months, an ordinary person consumed 47, or one with high health risk consumed 10, hairy crabs involved in the cases which had an excessive level of dioxins, would there be adverse effects on such person's health, not to mention that ordinary people would not consume the aforesaid quantities of hairy crabs with an excessive level of dioxins. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) as I have learnt that the Mainland authorities have been issuing approval documents for export of hairy crabs to other places, whether it has gained an understanding from the Mainland authorities as to why they have not issued this year approval documents for export of hairy crabs to Hong Kong; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) whether it has maintained good communication and negotiated with the Mainland authorities with a view to resolving, as soon as possible, the issues concerning the supply of hairy crabs to Hong Kong; if so, of the details as well as the policy bureaux and government departments responsible for such work; (3) given that the action level adopted by FEHD's Centre for Food Safety for dioxins and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls in hairy crabs stands at 6.5 picograms toxic equivalent per gram of the sample, whether it knows how this action level compares with those relevant levels adopted by the Mainland and other jurisdictions (set out in a table); whether there are differences between the levels adopted by those jurisdictions for the hairy crabs cultured locally and for those imported; and (4) given the aforesaid expert advice, whether the Centre for Food Safety has studied relaxing the aforesaid action level; if so, of the outcome; if not, the reasons for that?
*10. Hon Tanya CHAN to ask: (Translation)
The land needed for the operation of the Hong Kong Section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link ("XRL") and the related interests have been vested in the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation ("KCRC") by the Government. KCRC has granted the MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL") a concession to operate XRL under a supplemental agreement to the service concession agreement ("SSCA"). On 23 August this year, the Government submitted to the Panel on Transport of this Council a paper on the operating arrangements for XRL ("the Paper"), and MTRCL issued, on the same day, an announcement explaining the relevant arrangements ("the Announcement"). Details of the operating arrangements for XRL include: (i) the average daily patronage ("patronage") forecast for XRL in 2018 is 80 100 (set out in Annex 2 to the Paper), (ii) the projected operating profit and operating margins of XRL based on the patronage forecasts in Annex 2 to the Paper are set out in Annex 5 to the Paper, (iii) SSCA has provided for a "Patronage Cap-and-Collar Mechanism", i.e. if the actual patronage deviates from the projected patronage by more than 15%, MTRCL and KCRC will bear the risk or share the return according to a specified ratio, (iv) the total amount of Additional Concession Payments to be paid by MTRCL to KCRC over the ten-year concession period will be a net of $2.7 billion, which comprises an amount of $10.7 billion to be paid by MTRCL to KCRC, and an amount of around $8 billion to be paid by KCRC to MTRCL, and (v) SSCA provides that the Additional Concession Payments will be paid in the form of "fixed annual payments" and "variable annual payments". In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the daily patronage of XRL since its commissioning on 23 September this year, with a tabular breakdown by whether the passengers were (i) Hong Kong residents, (ii) business visitors, and (iii) travelling northbound or southbound; (2) whether the patronage forecasts adopted in SSCA ("the former") are consistent with the patronage forecasts in Annex 2 to the Paper ("the latter"); if not, (i) set out the former in a table of the same format as that in Annex 2 to the Paper; if such figures may not be disclosed, whether the patronage forecasts for 2018, 2021 and 2031 in SSCA are lower than the corresponding figures in Annex 2 to the Paper, as well as of a rough estimate of the extent of the difference between the two; (ii) of the method for arriving at the former and the reasons for adopting such a method; (iii) of the purpose and effect of setting out in Annex 2 to the Paper patronage forecasts which are different from those in SSCA; (iv) of the relation between these two sets of figures; (v) of the reasons why an account of the difference between the two was not given in the Paper; and (vi) of XRL's projected operating profit and operating margins based on the former (set out in a table of the same format as that in Annex 5 to the Paper); if such figures may not be disclosed, whether XRL's projected operating profit and operating margins based on the former are lower than the projected figures in Annex 5 to the Paper and whether they are positive figures, as well as of a rough estimate of the extent of the difference between the two; (3) of the respective upper and lower limits under the Patronage Cap-and-Collar Mechanism as set out in SSCA; the respective numbers of days on which the patronage touched the upper or the lower limit during the first 30 days of operation of XRL; for how long the patronage touching the upper or the lower limit has last before MTRCL and KCRC will bear the risk or share the return according to the specified ratio; (4) as it is mentioned in the Paper that MTRCL will pay KCRC $10.7 billion, whether that amount is equivalent to the total "variable annual payments" to be paid by MTRCL to KCRC each year during the ten-year concession period, as calculated by the method set out in the Announcement; whether the method for arriving at that amount is based on the patronage forecasts in SSCA or the patronage forecasts in Annex 2 to the Paper; and (5) as it is mentioned in the Paper that the total amount of Additional Concession Payments to be received by KCRC from MTRCL will be a net of about $2.7 billion, whether that amount is equivalent to 90% of the Discounted Net Cashflow of the XRL project; whether the method for arriving at the amount of around $8 billion of "fixed annual payments" to be paid by KCRC to MTRCL is as follows: by deducting from the aforesaid $10.7 billion an amount equivalent to 90% of the Discounted Net Cashflow of the XRL project?
*11. Hon WONG Kwok-kin to ask: (Translation)
Quite a number of start-up enterprises, small and medium enterprises ("SMEs") as well as overseas enterprises have relayed that they have encountered difficulties when they applied to the banks for opening accounts ("account opening"). In view of this, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority ("HKMA") issued a circular on De-risking and Financial Inclusion to all banks across the territory in September 2016, requesting that banks should ensure a reasonable and fair treatment of the existing and prospective customers. In addition, HKMA issued a circular entitled Guideline on Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Address Verification Requirements in October 2017 to streamline account opening procedure and requirements. It is learnt that banks have put in place a review mechanism to re-examine unsuccessful applications for account opening. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the respective numbers of account opening applications from new corporate customers received, approved and rejected by banks each month since the issuance of the circular in October 2017, and the average time taken for processing such applications; how the success rate and the average processing time for such applications compare with the relevant figures before the issuance of the circular; if there have been unsuccessful applications, of (i) a breakdown of such applications by reason for the rejection, and (ii) the respective numbers of such applications in which the applicants were start-up companies, SMEs and overseas enterprises; (2) whether it knows the total number of applications, received by banks in each month of the past three years, for reviewing their decisions to reject account opening and, among them, the respective numbers of cases in which such decisions were reversed and maintained; of the average time taken for the review process; regarding those cases in which the decisions were maintained, of a breakdown of the number by reason for maintaining such decisions; and (3) whether it will study standardizing the account opening procedure and requirements for all banks; if so, of the details and timetable of such a study; if not, the reasons for that?
*12. Hon Paul TSE to ask: (Translation)
A statistical report on breast cancer published by an organization has pointed out that breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is one of the regions in Asia with high incidence of breast cancer, with an incidence of breast cancer of one in every 16 women, which is much higher than those of cervical cancer (which is one in every 128 women) and colorectal cancer (which is one in every 34 women). Besides, the number of cases of women diagnosed with breast cancer in Hong Kong increased by about three times in the past two decades. In 2015, 3 900 women were diagnosed with breast cancer and, among them, more than 900 had reached either the advanced stage or the terminal stage when they were diagnosed. The organization has pointed out that with early treatment, the survival rates of breast cancer patients is as high as 90%. While the governments of 34 countries and regions (including those in Europe, the United States and Canada) have long implemented breast cancer screening programmes, the Hong Kong Government has for a protracted period of time not implemented such a programme. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has compiled statistics on the number of patients diagnosed with breast cancer in each of the past two years and, among them, of the number of those who had reached Stage III and Stage IV when they were diagnosed; if it has not, of the reasons for that; (2) given that (i) the Government implemented the cervical cancer screening and colorectal cancer screening programmes in 2004 and 2016 respectively, but both cancers have a lower incidence than breast cancer, (ii) the results of a study conducted by the Singapore Government in 1996 reportedly revealed that population-based screening effectively lowered the occurrence of advanced breast cancer, and (iii) breast cancer screening programmes have long been implemented by the governments of 34 countries and regions worldwide, whether the Government has assessed if the following conclusion reached earlier by the Cancer Expert Working Group on Cancer Prevention and Screening is still valid: there is at present insufficient evidence to support the implementation of population-based breast cancer screening; (3) as it has been reported that a computer algorithm failure lasting 10 years since 2009 on the part of the United Kingdom authorities has resulted in 450 000 women missing out the breast cancer screening opportunity, which may have caused the deaths of hundreds of women, whether it has estimated the annual number of Hong Kong women who (i) may die from breast cancer because they have missed out the opportunity for receiving timely treatments as a result of not receiving breast cancer screening services and, and (ii) can be identified as suffering from early breast cancer through screening services; and (4) as the findings of a survey have revealed that, among the 802 female respondents, over half of them did not know that breast cancer is the most common cancer among women, over 70% of them did not receive mammography on a regular basis, and nearly 80% of those respondents who were aged above 40 were willing to receive free screening, whether the Government will, in the light of the relevant situation, consider afresh the introduction of the relevant services through the public-private partnership approach, or the provision of subsidies under the Community Care Fund for women to receive such services?
*13. Hon Kenneth LAU to ask: (Translation)
According to the 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. To cater for the housing needs of the indigenous villagers who do not own any land, the Government introduced a Village Expansion Area ("VEA") scheme in 1981. Under the scheme, the Government will form suitable sites on the government lands and resumed private lands within a VEA, and eligible indigenous villagers may apply for Private Treaty Grants of the lands there to build small houses. However, the Government has frozen the scheme since 1999, pending a review of the Small House Policy. Some indigenous villagers have relayed that among the 10 VEAs currently frozen, land resumption procedure has yet to be initiated for eight of them, rendering the indigenous villagers unable to apply for building small houses even though they hold the private lands there; and land resumption has been completed for the remaining two VEAs (namely Pai Tau and Sheung Wo Che VEA and Ha Mei San Tsuen VEA), but there has been no progress for twenty years. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it will consider unfreezing the private lands of the eight aforesaid VEAs in respect of which land resumption has yet to be initiated, and allow indigenous villagers to apply for building small houses on the private lands they hold; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) when it will submit funding applications to the Finance Committee of this Council to take forward the scheme in the two aforesaid VEAs in respect of which land resumption has been completed; and (3) whether it will study suitably increasing the development intensity of the sites for small houses (e.g. constructing multi-storey "small buildings") so as to achieve more efficient use of the limited land resources; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*14. Hon YIU Si-wing to ask: (Translation)
Since the beginning of this year, the automatic vending machines in government venues have ceased to sell plastic bottled drinking water measuring one litre or less. In addition, the Chief Executive announced in the Policy Address she delivered last month that the Government would install more water dispensers in government venues, with a view to reducing waste at source. Nevertheless, it has been reported that Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus were detected in some water samples taken from the water dispensers in venues managed by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, arousing public concern about the quality of water from the water dispensers in government venues. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has established any mechanism for providing sufficient water dispensers in government venues according to the number of users of the venues concerned; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (2) whether it has issued guidelines to require various government departments to arrange, in respect of the water dispensers in the venues under their management (i) regular maintenance and repairs to ensure the proper functioning of such water dispensers; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (ii) regular water quality tests to ensure that the drinking water from such water dispensers meets hygiene standards; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*15. Hon LAM Cheuk-ting to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that the former Director General of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office ("TECO") (the Taiwan authorities' representative office in Hong Kong) left Hong Kong at the end of July this year upon completion of his term of office, and his successor has so far been unable to come to Hong Kong to take office because he has not been granted an employment visa by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ("SAR") Government. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether the SAR Government is required to consult the Central Authorities beforehand on matters relating to the granting of employment visas to TECO's personnel; if so, of the details; (2) whether it has explained to the Taiwan authorities why it has not granted an employment visa to the Director General-designate of TECO; if not, of the reasons for that; and (3) whether it has assessed the impacts of leaving the office of TECO's Director General vacant for several months on (i) the operation of TECO, (ii) the economic, trade and cultural exchange activities between Taiwan and Hong Kong, and (iii) the relationship between the authorities of both places; if it has assessed, of the outcome; if not, whether it will conduct such an assessment expeditiously?
*16. Hon SHIU Ka-chun to ask: (Translation)
When processing applications for Old Age Living Allowance ("OALA"), the Social Welfare Department ("SWD") regards any payout from an annuity scheme as an applicant's income, but does not regard the one-off lump-sum premium payment for the annuity scheme as the applicant's asset. Regarding the impacts of participation in public and private annuity schemes and insurance schemes on the eligibility for social welfare and subsidized housing, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether SWD, when it processes OALA applications: (i) regards as an applicant's asset the cash value of an insurance scheme with investment elements; (ii) regards as the applicant's income the bonuses and interests disbursed under the insurance scheme mentioned in (i); and (iii) regards as an applicant's asset the premium payments, payable by installment, for an annuity scheme; and (2) whether the one-off lump-sum premium payment for a public or private annuity scheme is regarded as an asset of a person applying for (i) public rental housing and (ii) comprehensive social security assistance; if so, of the reasons for that?
*17. Hon MA Fung-kwok to ask: (Translation)
In 2007, the Education Bureau ("EDB") submitted a funding application to the Finance Committee ("FC") of this Council for the Vocational Training Council ("VTC") to construct a new campus at Tiu Keng Leng to accommodate the newly established Hong Kong Design Institute ("HKDI"). EDB informed FC then that the student sports and amenity facilities at HKDI's campus would be open for public use during non-school hours, and the Auditorium there would also be available for hire by the public when it was not in use. However, as pointed out in the Director of Audit's Report No. 69 published in October 2017, HKDI's tennis court had not been open for public use, and the availability rate of its multi-purpose hall (which had two badminton courts) for public use was on the low side. It was reported last month by the media that although the Government had specified in the relevant land grant that HKDI was required to open up its sports facilities to outsiders with the relevant modus operandi and hire charges being subject to the regulation of EDB, HKDI's tennis court had not been open to outsiders, its badminton courts charged exorbitant hire charges, and the availability rate of its sports facilities for public use had all along been on the low side. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the number of hours, in each of the past three years, for which each sports facility of HKDI was hired by members of the public; (2) whether it knows the respective numbers of hours, in each of the past three years, for which HKDI's multi-purpose hall was (i) used for learning and teaching, (ii) used for lessons and activities held by HKDI and VTC, (iii) hired by outside organizations, and (iv) left idle; (3) whether it knows the respective numbers of days, in each of the past three years, on which HKDI's Auditorium and other venues (e.g. HKDI Gallery, d-mart and Lecture Theatres) were hired by outside organizations for holding activities, with a breakdown by type of organizations and activities; (4) whether it knows the hire charges of each sports facility, the Auditorium and other venues of HKDI; (5) as it has been reported that HKDI has planned to open up its tennis court for hire by youth groups and other visiting groups during after-school hours starting from this academic year, whether the Government knows the specific arrangements concerned, and whether it has assessed if such arrangements meet public expectation; (6) whether it knows what measures HKDI has adopted to (i) publicize among members of the public (in particular residents nearby) the availability of its sports facilities for public hire and the relevant details (including the time slots available for hire and the charges), and (ii) promote its Auditorium and other venues for hire by outside organizations; and (7) whether it will regulate, pursuant to the terms of the relevant land grant, the rental matters in relation to the venues of HKDI, including requiring HKDI to set the venue hire charges at reasonable rates and streamlining the hiring procedure?
*18. Hon HO Kai-ming to ask: (Translation)
Quite a number of households in public rental housing ("PRH") estates have relayed that the lifts in the buildings in which they live have been in use for many years and are often out of service pending repairs. On the other hand, the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department promulgated in 2011 the Guidelines for Modernising Existing Lifts ("the Guidelines"), introducing improvement proposals on enhancing the safety level of aged lifts and recommending the retrofitting of safety devices to aged lifts. Regarding the repair and maintenance of lifts in PRH buildings, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective numbers of lifts (i) for which replacement works were carried out and (ii) to which safety devices were retrofitted according to the Guidelines, in each of the past five years (with a breakdown by name of estate); (2) of the current number of aged lifts to which safety devices have yet to be retrofitted (with a breakdown by name of estate); whether it has plans to carry out the relevant works for such lifts; if so, of the anticipated completion date; and (3) whether it will (i) specify a requirement on the minimum number of hours to be spent on carrying out routine repair and maintenance works for each lift by registered lift contractors ("the contractors"), (ii) require the contractors to regularly record the conditions of the core safety components of lifts, and (iii) engage independent third parties to review the quality of such repair and maintenance works; if so, of the details?
*19. Hon Vincent CHENG to ask: (Translation)
A university conducted a sample test last year on the pool water at six public swimming pool complexes ("complexes") and the findings revealed the presence of urine in the pool water at five of the complexes. Among them, the outdoor toddlers' pool at the Kowloon Park Swimming Pool had the highest quantity of urine, which was as high as 82.1 litres (equivalent to 411 times of urine discharges by adults). The findings of another study revealed that the chemical reaction between urine/sweat and chlorine in the pool water mix would generate carcinogenic substances such as trihalomethane. On the other hand, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department ("LCSD") has refused to include urine and trihalomethane contents as parameters for monitoring the quality of pool water on the grounds that the World Health Organization has no such practice. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether LCSD will consider afresh including urine and trihalomethane contents as parameters for monitoring the quality of pool water; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) whether it will conduct a comprehensive review of the Swimming Pools Regulation (Cap. 132CA), which has been in operation for many years, to ensure that the requirements pertaining to pool water quality, changing of water and emptying of swimming pools, etc., keep pace with the times; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) whether LCSD implemented in the past three years water quality improvement measures (such as enhancing the pool water filtration system) at complexes with higher attendances; if so, of the details and the effectiveness of those measures; (4) whether it will make reference to the experience of other jurisdictions and introduce specific measures to reduce urine and sweat contents in pool water, such as (i) advising parents and swimming coaches to encourage children to exit the water and go to the toilet every 30 to 60 minutes, and (ii) stepping up publicity to call upon swimmers to rinse their body before entering the water and not to urinate in the swimming pool; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (5) as there are views that some complexes are often full, resulting in deteriorating pool water quality and swimmers not being able to swim freely, whether LCSD has reviewed if the supply of swimming pools in the districts housing the three complexes with the highest attendances last year (i.e. Kwun Tong Swimming Pool, Kowloon Park Swimming Pool and Lai Chi Kok Park Swimming Pool) meets the standards stipulated in the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines ("HKPSG"); if LCSD has reviewed and the result is in the negative, of the details; whether the Government will, apart from making reference to HKPSG, take the attendance at the existing complexes as one of the considerations for supplying additional complexes?
*20. Hon Holden CHOW to ask: (Translation)
It is now nearly two months since the onslaught of super typhoon Mangkhut in Hong Kong, but fallen trees and broken branches awaiting clearance can still be seen in various places throughout Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the total number of workers involved in handling fallen trees and broken branches at public places after the onslaught of Mangkhut, with a breakdown by (i) the work procedure which they perform/performed (e.g. sawing trees, removing trunks and branches), (ii) the government department and the service contractor engaged by the government department under which such workers are/were employed, and (iii) whether such workers are/were additional manpower recruited; (2) of the types and quantities of tools and machines currently used by various government departments and their service contractors for handling fallen trees and broken branches; and (3) whether it will consider procuring advanced machines (e.g. large chippers) to save the manpower and time needed for clearing fallen trees and broken branches?
*21. Dr Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that quite a number of outdoor signboards and advertising screens emit dazzling light, giving rise to serious light pollution as well as causing nuisance to the residents nearby and harm to their health. Although the Environment Bureau released the Guidelines on Industry Best Practices for External Lighting in 2012 and launched the Charter on External Lighting ("the Charter") in 2016 inviting owners/persons-in-charge of external lighting installations to sign up for the Charter, the light pollution problem has persisted. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of (a) the number of complaints received about light nuisance, with a breakdown by (i) whether the complainee is a public organization or a private organization, and (ii) type of follow-up actions taken by the authorities, (b) the number of such complaints in respect of which advice was given to the complainee and, among such cases, the number of those in which the nuisance was subsequently mitigated, and (c) the targeted measures taken against those persons who had repeatedly been alleged to have caused light pollution, in each of the past five years; (2) of the number of inspections conducted on the black spots of light pollution by government officers in each of the past five years, as well as the Government's short, medium and long term measures to mitigate the impacts of light pollution on the residents; (3) whether it knows when the Working Group on External Lighting will (i) complete the review of the effectiveness of the Charter and (ii) release the findings and recommendations of the review; (4) of the respective numbers of occasions in each of the past five years on which government officers (i) participated in the activities held by community organizations on reduction of light pollution and (ii) liaised with such organizations to collect their views, as well as the views collected; and (5) as the Charter is not legally binding, whether the Government will, by making reference to the relevant regimes and experience of other jurisdictions in regulating external lighting, step up the regulation of external lighting, including considering the enactment of legislation to that effect; if so, of the details and timetable; if not, the reasons for that?
*22. Hon CHAN Hak-kan to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the protection of animal rights, interests and welfare, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that the Police will roll out the "Animal Watchers Scheme" in the next financial year, of the details of the scheme (including the specific work initiatives and timetable, manpower required, estimated expenditure, and what types of persons may take part in the scheme); (2) of the Government's initiatives for protecting animal rights, interests and welfare as well as the expenditure involved, in each of the past three years and in the coming year (set out by work initiative); (3) as the Government plans to amend to section 56 of the Road Traffic Ordinance (Cap. 374) (which provides that where an accident involving a vehicle on a road occurs whereby damage is caused to an animal, the driver of that vehicle shall stop and report the accident to the Police as soon as possible) to bring cats and dogs within the ambit of the section, of the relevant details (including the legislative timetable); whether it will (i) set up a hotline for drivers to report to the Police such accidents or for eyewitnesses to report to the Police hit-and-run drivers involved in such accidents, and (ii) enhance its support for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Hong Kong) in handling injured animals; (4) as a study report has pointed out that the number of cats and dogs kept as pets in Hong Kong will increase from about 297 100 in 2005 to about 545 600 in 2019, whether the Government will explore the establishment of a public hospital for animals, so as to provide pet owners with an option other than private veterinary clinics; (5) as the Police announced in April this year that dedicated investigation teams had been set up in the 22 Police districts across the territory with criminal investigation teams to handle cases of animal cruelty, of (i) the training received by members of such teams and (ii) the number of cases that such teams have handled so far; and (6) whether it will consider afresh the proposal to establish an animal police team and, by way of amending the relevant legislation, vest in the Police more power to handle cases of animal cruelty; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
* For written reply
III. Government Bills
| First Reading and Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)
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| 1. | Waste Disposal (Charging for Municipal Solid Waste) (Amendment) Bill 2018 | : | Secretary for the Environment | ||||||||
| 2. | Inland Revenue (Amendment) (No. 7) Bill 2018 | : | Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
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| Second Reading (Debate to resume), Consideration by Committee of the Whole Council and Third Reading
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| 1. | Inland Revenue (Amendment) (No. 5) Bill 2018 | : | Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
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| 2. | Ferry Services (Amendment) Bill 2018 | : | Secretary for Transport and Housing
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| 3. | Private Healthcare Facilities Bill | : | Secretary for Food and Health
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(Debate and voting arrangements for Private Healthcare Facilities Bill in committee of the whole Council (issued on 13 November 2018 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 132/18-19(01)) (same as the Appendix to the Script of Council meeting of 14 November 2018)) | |||||||||||
IV. Government Motion
| Proposed resolution under the Loans Ordinance
Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury to move the motion in Appendix 1. |
| (The motion was issued on 31 October 2018
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 91/18-19) Hon WU Chi-wai, Hon AU Nok-hin and Hon CHU Hoi-dick to move amending motions to the proposed resolution (The amending motions were issued on 12 November 2018 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 125/18-19) |
| (Debate and voting arrangements for proposed resolution and amending motions under the Loans Ordinance (issued on 13 November 2018 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 133/18-19(01)) (same as the Appendix to the Script of Council meeting of 14 November 2018)) |
V. Members' Motions on Subsidiary Legislation and Other Instruments
VI. Member's Bill
| First Reading and Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)
| ||
| Professional Accountants (Amendment) Bill 2018 | : | Hon Kenneth LEUNG
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| Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury | ||
VII. Members' Motions
| Stand-over items: Members' motion nos. 1 and 2 (since the meeting of 24 October 2018)
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| 1. | Motion under the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance
Hon Claudia MO moved the motion in Appendix 2. | ||||
| (The motion was issued on 8 October 2018
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 19/18-19) | |||||
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| 2. | Motion under the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance
Hon LAM Cheuk-ting to move the motion in Appendix 3. | ||||
| (The motion was issued on 15 October 2018
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 27/18-19) | |||||
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| Stand-over item: Member's motion no. 3 (since the meeting of 11 July 2018)
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| 3. | 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;
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| (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;
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| (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;
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| (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;
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| (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;
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| (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
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| (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.
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| Hon LUK Chung-hung, Hon CHAN Han-pan, Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki and Hon LAM Cheuk-ting to move amendments to the motion
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| (The amendments were issued on 6 July 2018
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 810/17-18) | |||||
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| Stand-over item: Member's motion no. 4 (since the meeting of 24 October 2018)
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| 4. | Studying the formulation of policies for homosexual couples to enter into a union
Hon CHAN Chi-chuen to move the following motion: (Translation) That this Council urges the Government to study the formulation of policies for homosexual couples to enter into a union so that they can enjoy equal rights as heterosexual couples. Dr Hon Priscilla LEUNG, Hon AU Nok-hin and Hon Gary FAN to move amendments to the motion | ||||
| (The amendments were issued on 19 June 2018
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 704/17-18) | |||||
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