Revised version

OP 95/96-25(1) (Issued at 11.00 a.m. on 22.4.96)

THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
ORDER PAPER

Wednesday, 24 April 1996 at 2.30 p.m.

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I. PAPERS

Subsidiary Legislation
Sessional Papers 1995/96

II. QUESTIONS
III. BILLS

FIRST READING
SECOND READING

• Debates to be adjourned
• Debates to be resumed
COMMITTEE STAGE AND THIRD READING

IV. MEMBER'S MOTIONS

1. ACCESS TO EXECUTIVE COUNCIL PAPERS BY THE PUBLIC ACCOUNTS COMMITTEE
2. ASSISTANCE TO CHRONICALLY ILL PERSONS

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I. PAPERS

Sessional Papers 1995/96

1. No. 74 - Report of changes to the approved Estimates of Expenditure approved during the third quarter of 1995-96

Public Finance Ordinance : Section 8

(to be presented by the Secretary for the Treasury)

2. No. 75 - Mass Transit Railway Corporation

Annual Report 1995

(to be presented by the Financial Secretary who will address the Council)

3. No. 76 - Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation

Annual Report 1995

(to be presented by the Financial Secretary who will address the Council)

4. No. 77 - Report of the Broadcasting Authority

September 1994 - August 1995

(to be presented by the Secretary for Recreation and Culture)

5. No. 78 - Report of the Director of Audit on the results of value for money audits

March 1996 - Director of Audit's Report No.26

(to be presented by the President)

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II. QUESTIONS

1. Mr. LAW Chi-kwong to ask : (Translation)

In regard to the shortage of occupational therapists and physiotherapists in non-governmental rehabilitation institutions, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the establishment, strength and vacancies in various ranks of the occupational therapist and physiotherapist grades in hospitals managed by the Hospital Authority and in the Social Welfare Department as at 31 December, 1995;
2. of the establishment, strength and vacancies in various ranks of the occupational therapist and physiotherapist grades in non-governmental rehabilitation institutions, including early education and training centres, special child care centres and special schools as at 31 December, 1995; and
3. whether consideration has been given to granting a hardship allowance to occupational therapists and physiotherapists in non-governmental rehabilitation institutions in order to make the pay package offered by these institutions more attractive, thereby easing the manpower shortage?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare

2. Mr. Michael HO to ask : (Translation)

It is reported that recently some people have been admitted to hospitals for treatment of intoxication resulted from the taking of the Chinese medicine 'Gwai Kuo' (Podophyllotoxin) by mistake. As the formulation of legislation to regulate Chinese herbal medicines is unlikely to be completed in the near future, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the total number of people admitted to hospitals for treatment of intoxication as a result of taking toxic Chinese medicines by mistake in the past three years;
2. of the number of fatalities in the cases referred to in (a) above; and
3. whether the Government will, before the enactment of the relevant legislation, consider requiring drug manufacturers to label toxic Chinese medicines as well as adopting other administrative measures to prevent people from taking such medicines by mistake?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare

3. Mr. YUM Sin-ling to ask : (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:

1. whether there are any criteria laid down for making recommendations to the Governor for the appointment of persons to various 'committees', 'boards' and 'advisory committees' as unofficial members, and what are the procedures for making recommendations and what is the selection process;
2. whether consideration will be given to requiring that grass-roots representatives (such as District Board Members) be recommended for appointment so that the views of people at the grass-roots level can be reflected in such committees/boards; and
3. how the authority concerned assesses the performance of appointed members; and whether the term of office of any appointed member has been terminated on account of poor performance in the past three years; if so, what is the number?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

4. Mr. Albert CHAN to ask : (Translation)

With regard to the recent spate of traffic accidents involving the overturning of container vehicles which have resulted in injuries and deaths, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the number of such accidents, as well as the number of people who were injured or killed in these accidents, in the past three years; and
2. whether consideration will be given to introducing legislation requiring that the trailer of container vehicles be subject to inspection annually as in the case of the tractor of such vehicles, in order to ensure that the trailer's braking system is in good working order?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport

5. Miss CHAN Yuen-han to ask : (Translation)

Recently, a traffic accident involving the overturning of a container truck occurred at the Route Twisk interchange. The accident has aroused concern over the safe driving of container trucks and road safety in various traffic accident blackspots. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. what are the main causes of accidents involving container trucks, and whether corresponding remedial measures will be adopted;
2. whether consideration will be given to drawing up a set of guidelines on "the use of the road by heavy container trucks" so as to guide drivers on how to drive safely; and
3. whether consideration will be given to improving road safety in various traffic accident blackspots, such as a review of the design of road surface and the installation of "Reduce Speed" signs at an appropriate distance before such blackspots?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport

* 6. Mr. David CHU to ask :

It was mentioned in the Progress Report on Individual Undertakings in the Governor's 1992 Policy Address that a sum of $2.3 billion had been injected into the Lotteries Fund to meet the recurrent expenditure on various social welfare and rehabilitation services up to 1996-97. In this connection, will the Administration inform this Council what arrangements have been made to ensure that the voluntary agencies responsible for providing such services will receive adequate financial support so that they can continue to provide such services in the long run?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare

* 7. Mr. TSANG Kin-shing to ask : (Translation)

With regard to the Consultation Paper on the Review of Industrial Safety in Hong Kong published in July last year, will the Government inform this Council:

1. what measures will be taken by the Administration to enhance the functions and the role of the Occupational Safety and Health Council ("the Council") in the coming year, so as to implement the recommendations set out in the Consultation Paper; and
2. whether an estimate of the expenses required for enhancing the functions and the role of the Council as recommended in the Consultation Paper has been made by the Council and the Government; if so, what are the specific items of expenditure and plans; if not, why not?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

* 8. Mr. Andrew CHENG to ask : (Translation)

It is reported that a large number of non-departmental quarters (NDQs) are left vacant, but on the other hand the Government grants a private tenancy allowance (PTA) to civil servants for renting private residential flats, which incurs expenses amounting to millions of dollars a year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the total amount of PTA granted to civil servants in each of the past three years;
2. how are NDQs left vacant by civil servants leaving the service dealt with;
3. of the current total number of vacant NDQs;
4. of the respective numbers of civil servants living in NDQs and those in receipt of PTA, as well as the ratio between the two sectors; and
5. why the Government continues to grant PTA to civil servants while a considerable number of NDQs are left vacant?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Civil Service

* 9. Mr. Henry TANG to ask : (Translation)

Despite the Government's ban on the import of British beef, British dairy and canned beef products are not covered by the ban. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. how the public can ascertain that non-British made canned beef products or other products for human and animal consumption with a beef constituent are not produced from British cattle;
2. whether the Government has any information on medical and chemical studies which show that the virus of mad cow disease can survive and incubate in canned food;
3. given that the authority concerned will not recall British beef already brought in by restaurants, how it can prevent such restaurants from serving food made from British beef; and
4. whether, given the current practice that no food product can be banned from sale unless it has been proved to have adverse effect on public health, consideration will be given to amending the existing legislation so that it can better meet the actual needs of the community?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare

*10. Mr. Eric LI to ask : (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council whether copies of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region will be put on sale at the Government Publications Centres; if not, why not?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

*11. Mr. LAU Chin-shek to ask : (Translation)

It is learnt that the application for an allocation of $1 million for the compilation of a code of industrial safety pertaining to the toys and plastics industries, which has been submitted to the Industry Department jointly by the Hong Kong Toys Council and the Hong Kong Plastics Manufacturers Association Limited, is still under consideration. In this regard, will the Government inform this Council:

1. whether the application could be made available for examination by this Council and the public;
2. of the criteria adopted by the Industry Department for determining whether funds would be allocated; and
3. whether other bodies may apply for similar funding?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Trade and Industry

*12. Dr. David LI to ask :

In a report to the U.S. Congress on trade barriers, the Office of the US Trade Representative stated that the US music industry estimated that 20 per cent of the recorded music sold in Hong Kong was pirated. Will the Government inform this Council how it plans to strengthen its law-enforcement efforts to crack down on hawkers and retailers as well as the criminal syndicates that supply pirated compact discs in the territory?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Trade and Industry

*13 Mr. Fred LI to ask : (Translation)

The Police has recently revealed that there has been a significant rise in the number of fraud cases involving the selling of properties by culprits claiming to be property owners. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. whether any loopholes have been identified in-
   1. the existing legislation governing the assignment of properties,
   2. the legal procedures relating to property transactions,
   3. the procedures for obtaining and altering particulars on property ownership (such as the registration of business and property ownership) filed with the Government

   which culprits can take advantage of;

whether there are any specific measures to combat such crime so as to safeguard the rights of property owners?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands

*14. Dr. LAW Cheung-kwok to ask : (Translation)

Can the Government inform this Council whether the University Grants Committee is aware of:

1. the difference between "local terms" and "expatriate terms" adopted by each of the universities in the appointment of teaching staff;
2. the respective numbers of teaching staff who are currently appointed on "expatriate terms" in the universities; and
3. the respective policies adopted by the universities in regard to the abolition of "expatriate terms" in the employment of teaching staff?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

*15. Dr. John TSE to ask : (Translation)

Regarding the grant of land by the Government to non-governmental organisations for charity and welfare purposes, will the Government inform this Council:

1. whether it has set any criteria for the granting of land for such purposes;
2. how many organisations have been granted land through such means and what is the total area of land granted to these organisations;
3. how does the Government monitor the actual use of the land granted to ensure that the land use specified in the application is observed;
4. whether the sale of such land requires the approval of the Government; if so, what criteria are adopted by the Government for approving such land sale applications; and
5. of the number of such land sale cases and the value involved in the past three years, and whether the Government has monitored the use of the proceeds from such land sales to ensure that they are used for charity and welfare purposes?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands

*16. Miss Emily LAU to ask :

In view of the large number of people who have applied for naturalisation last month, will the Administration inform this Council:

1. of the number of applications for naturalisation received in each of the past three years as well as in the first three months of this year;
2. how long the applicants have to wait for a decision on their applications given that there are only 433 days left before the transfer of sovereignty;
3. whether the successful applicants will be given adequate time to apply for and be issued with the British National (Overseas) passport; and
4. how many applications have been rejected in the past three years and whether the applicants have been notified of the reasons for the rejection; if not, why not?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

*17. Mr. WONG Wai-yin to ask : (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:

1. whether the Correctional Services Department management has any knowledge of the amount of debts owed by the staff of the Department in the past three years and the reasons for their staff incurring such debts; and
2. what mechanism does the Correctional Services Department management have to prevent the work of their staff from being affected as a result of incurring debts?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

*18. Mr. Eric LI to ask :

Will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the total number of deceased persons registered in the territory, as well as the number of cases where the estate of the deceased is subject to estate duty, in each of the past five years (i.e. from 1991-92 to 1995-96);
2. of the number of cases referred to in (a) above which were outstanding as at 31 March in each of the five years in question, together with a breakdown by age of the deceased and estimated total amount of estate involved;
3. what are the reasons for those cases which have not been settled within two years from the date of filing the application; and
4. what measures have been adopted by the Inland Revenue Department to settle estate duty cases expeditiously so as to avoid causing undue hardship to the families of the deceased?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Treasury

*19. Dr. LAW Cheung-kwok to ask : (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council of:

1. the business development of the three newly-licensed operators since the liberalisation of local fixed telephone networks in July last year; and
2. the specific policies which have been implemented, as well as those which are under planning, on the promotion of fair competition among operators of local fixed telephone networks?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Services

*20. Mr. WONG Wai-yin to ask : (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:

1. whether it is currently undertaking a research project on the use of natural gas to replace diesel oil as bus fuel; if so, what is the progress of the project;
2. what are the technical difficulties involved in requiring local franchised buses to switch to the use of natural gas, and whether it is feasible to put this into effect; and
3. whether the Government has consulted the public transport trade in the course of the research; if not, why not?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands

* For written reply.

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III. BILLS

FIRST READING

1. Plant Varieties Protection Bill
2. Merchant Shipping (Safety) (Amendment) Bill 1996
3. Immigration (Amendment) Bill 1996
4. Consumer Goods Safety (Amendment) (No.2) Bill 1996
5. Toys and Children's Products Safety (Amendment) (No.2) Bill 1996
6. Stamp Duty (Amendment) (No.2) Bill 1996

SECOND READING

Debates to be adjourned

1. Plant Varieties Protection Bill	:	Secretary for Economic Services
2. Merchant Shipping (Safety) (Amendment) Bill 1996	:	Secretary for Economic Services
3. Immigration (Amendment) Bill 1996	:	Secretary for Security
4. Consumer Goods Safety (Amendment) (No.2) Bill 1996	:	Secretary for Trade and Industry
5. Toys and Children's Products Safety (Amendment) (No.2) Bill 1996	:	Secretary for Trade and Industry
6. Stamp Duty (Amendment) (No.2) Bill 1996	:	Secretary for the Treasury

Debates to be resumed

7. Medical Registration (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 1995	:	Secretary for Health and Welfare
8. Leveraged Foreign Exchange Trading (Amendment) Bill 1996	:	Secretary for Financial Services
9. Securities and Futures Commission (Amendment) Bill 1996	:	Secretary for Financial Services

10. Rehabilitation of Offenders (Amendment) Bill 1995	:	Secretary for Security
11. Intellectual Property (World Trade Organization Amendments) Bill 1995	:	Secretary for Trade and Industry
12. Noise Control (Amendment) Bill 1995	:	Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands
13. Road Traffic (Amendment) (No.2) Bill 1995	:	Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands
14. Town Planning (Amendment) Bill 1995	:	Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands
15. Betting Duty (Amendment) Bill 1995	:	Secretary for Home Affairs
16. Law Amendment and Reform (Consolidation) (Amendment) Bill 1995	:	Secretary for Home Affairs

COMMITTEE STAGE AND THIRD READING

1. Medical Registration (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 1995

:

Secretary for Health and Welfare

2. Leveraged Foreign Exchange Trading (Amendment) Bill 1996

:

Secretary for Financial Services

3. Securities and Futures Commission (Amendment) Bill 1996

:

Secretary for Financial Services

4. Rehabilitation of Offenders (Amendment) Bill 1995

:

Secretary for Security

5. Intellectual Property (World Trade Organization Amendments) Bill 1995

:

Secretary for Trade and Industry

6. Noise Control (Amendment) Bill 1995

:

Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands

7. Road Traffic (Amendment) (No.2) Bill 1995

:

Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands

8. Town Planning (Amendment) Bill 1995

:

Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands

9. Betting Duty (Amendment) Bill 1995

:

Secretary for Home Affairs

10. Law Amendment and Reform (Consolidation) (Amendment) Bill 1995

:

Secretary for Home Affairs

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IV. MEMBER'S MOTIONS

1. ACCESS TO EXECUTIVE COUNCIL PAPERS BY THE PUBLIC ACCOUNTS COMMITTEE

Mr. Eric LI :

That having regard to -

1. Government’s acceptance of a paper presented by the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee on 19 November 1986 in this Council that the Committee should make further inquiry in cases where it appears from the Director of Audit’s report that in the setting of policy objectives there may have been a lack of sufficient relevant and reliable financial and other data available and that critical underlying assumptions may not have been made explicit;
2. the need in such cases for the Public Accounts Committee to have sight of documents evidencing what data were made available to Executive Council in its setting of the policy objectives in question and whether critical underlying assumptions had been made explicit in such documents; and
3. the fact that in attempting to make further inquiry into such a case arising out of the Director of Audit’s Report No. 25 the Committee was refused sight of such documents by Government on the ground that they belonged to a class which Government wished to keep confidential;

this Council condemns the Administration for refusing to cooperate with the Committee in the performance of its duties by resorting to claims of class confidentiality for Executive Council documents, rather than considering the actual contents of such documents, in cases where the Public Accounts Committee is seeking to carry out its duty of further inquiry on the Director of Audit’s reports.

Public Officer to attend : Chief Secretary

2. ASSISTANCE TO CHRONICALLY ILL PERSONS

Mr. MOK Ying-fan : (Translation)

That this Council urges the Government to increase community support services for the chronically ill, including increasing the employment opportunities, community medical and rehabilitation services as well as resources for developing self-help groups for these patients, so as to improve their quality of life.

Amendment to Mr. MOK Ying-fan's motion

1. Mr. LEE Cheuk-yan : (Translation)

To delete "as well as" and substitute with ","; to add "as well as abolishing all itemized charges for medical services" after "patients"; and to add "relieve their financial burden and" after ", so as to".

Amendment to Mr. LEE Cheuk-yan's Amendment

2. Dr. C.H. LEONG : (Translation)

The following is Dr. C.H. LEONG's amendment to Mr. LEE Cheuk-yan's amendment to Mr. MOK Ying-fan's motion:

To delete "abolishing" and substitute with "rationalizing"; and to insert "including completely waiving such charges payable by those who have financial difficulties" after "medical services".

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Health and Welfare

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