Revised version

OP 95/96-22(1) (Issued at 11.00 a.m. on 25.3.96)

THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
ORDER PAPER

Wednesday and Thursday, 27 and 28 March 1996 at 2.30 p.m.

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I. PAPERS

Subsidiary Legislation
Sessional Papers 1995/96
Miscellaneous

II. QUESTIONS
III. BILL

Debate to be resumed
IV. MEMBER'S MOTIONS

1. LANDLORD AND TENANT (CONSOLIDATION) ORDINANCE
2. INTERPRETATION AND GENERAL CLAUSES ORDINANCE
3. INTERPRETATION AND GENERAL CLAUSES ORDINANCE

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I. PAPERS

Sessional Papers 1995/96

1. No. 68 - Secretary for Home Affairs Incorporated Statement of Accounts for the year ended 31 March 1995

(to be presented by the Secretary for Home Affairs)

2. No. 69 - The Legislative Council Commission

Annual Report 1994-1995

(to be presented by the President)

Miscellaneous

White Paper on the Annual Report on Hong Kong 1995 to Parliament

(to be presented by the Secretary for Constitutional Affairs)

Initial Report of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in respect of Hong Kong under Article 44 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child

(to be presented by the Secretary for Home Affairs)

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II. QUESTIONS

* 1. Mr. Howard YOUNG to ask :

Will the Government inform this Council of:

1. the proportion of staff costs in respect of all medical doctors in the Hospital Authority (HA), including those remaining on civil service terms, to the total expenditure of the HA in the current and previous two financial years; and
2. the proportion of staff costs in respect of medical doctors in the general surgical departments of the hospitals under the management of the HA to the total financial provision allocated to these departments in the current and previous two financial years?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare

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

In recent years, dredging works undertaken in Hong Kong waters have caused substantial reductions in fish catches and this has affected the livelihood of local fishermen. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. how the criteria for granting ex-gratia payment to the affected fishermen are set;
2. whether those in the trade have been consulted widely before setting the criteria; if so, what are the details;
3. how the Government will handle those fishermen who are dissatisfied with the amount of ex-gratia payment granted to them; and
4. whether it will consider increasing the ex-gratia payment; if not, why not?

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

* 3. Dr. CHEUNG Bing-leung to ask : (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the number of government advisory committees at the central level which are chaired by members of political parties (or political groups) and the proportion of the chairmenship of these advisory committees held by each political party (or political group);
2. of the number of members of these advisory committees who are affiliated with political parties (or political groups) and the proportion of the members of these advisory committees who are members of each political party (or political group); and
3. what is the current policy regarding the appointment of persons affiliated with political parties (or political groups) as members of these advisory committees; and whether there is any limit on the proportion of such members in the composition of these advisory committees?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

* 4. Mr. CHOY Kan-pui to ask : (Translation)

A group of teachers and students from the Fung Yiu King Memorial Secondary School in Ma On Shan, Shatin encountered a hill fire when they were hiking in the Pak Sin Leng Country Park, which resulted in over 10 casualties. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) whether the Education Department has a comprehensive set of guidelines for organising extra-curricular activities; if so, whether the guidelines contain safety and contingency measures; and

(b) whether the Education Department will consider citing the acts of the teachers who sacrificed their lives to save the students in this incident as a role model example in its future promotion of civic education?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

* 5. Mrs. Miriam LAU to ask : (Translation)

Despite the transformation of local industries and the relocation of manufacturing processes to China in recent years, there has been an upsurge in the amount of imported industrial diesel oil (commonly known as "marked diesel oil") from 1.46 billion litres in 1990/91 to 3.54 billion litres in 1994/95. Moreover, there has been an increase in the number of diesel-fuelled vehicles but the amount of imported vehicle diesel oil has dropped from 760 million litres in 1990/91 to 720 million litres in 1994/95. In view of this, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the reasons for the above phenomenon;
2. what is the situation regarding the illegal conversion of marked diesel oil to diesel oil for use by vehicles;
3. what is the sulphur content of marked diesel oil as compared with that of vehicle diesel oil, and to what extent the use of marked diesel oil has contributed to air pollution in the territory; and
4. whether the decrease in the amount of imported vehicle diesel oil is in any way related to the illegal use of marked diesel oil and the fact that container trucks and lorries have brought in diesel oil from China; whether it has assessed the amount of diesel oil imported in this manner and its impact on the quality of air in the territory; and whether it will consider adopting measures to reduce the amount of diesel oil brought in by container trucks and lorries from China?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Treasury

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

With regard to the problem of public housing tenants failing to surrender their flats after they have moved out, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the number of tenants who have surrendered their flats to the Housing Department (HD) for reasons of emigration, as well as the number of flats recovered by the HD upon discovering that the tenants have emigrated but failed to surrender their flats, in the past three years;
2. how does the HD come to know that the tenants have emigrated;
3. whether tenants can transfer their tenancy to their relatives; if so, what are the criteria, and how many tenants have successfully transferred their tenancy to their relatives in the past three years; and
4. how many tenants have sublet their flats in breach of the tenancy agreement in the past three years, and what is the punishment normally imposed by the HD on such tenants?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing

* 7. Mr. CHIM Pui-chung to ask : (Translation)

Regarding the conflict amongst spectators, players and the management staff of a soccer club at the Hong Kong Stadium on 12 January 1996, will the Government inform this Council:

1. how the police handle incidents of soccer fans or spectators using foul language cursing or insulting the players or management staff of soccer clubs inside a stadium; and
2. how the police classify a complaint about such an incident lodged by the players or management staff of a soccer club where a third party has indicated willingness to give evidence?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

* 8. Dr. CHEUNG Bing-leung to ask : (Translation)

The Education Commission Report No. 4 published in 1990 recommended that two projects about school curriculum should be undertaken to examine "the feasibility of introducing a modular curriculum at the junior secondary level" and "the feasibility of introducing a Mastery Learning programme" respectively. The recommendations were subsequently accepted by the Government and the relevant posts required to carry out the studies were created within the Curriculum Development Institute of the Education Department (ED). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the number, rank and date of the creation of such posts;
2. whether researches or experimentation relating to these two projects have been carried out by the ED since the creation of such posts; if so, when were they carried out and what were the objectives, contents and findings of such researches and experimentation;
3. whether the ED has compiled any reports on the researches and experimentation mentioned above; if so, whether the ED has published such reports;
4. whether the ED has reached any conclusion with regard to the feasibility and desirability of the two projects mentioned above; if not, when a conclusion will be reached, and what criteria will be taken into account in making the decision; and
5. what follow-up actions will be taken on these two projects in the next two years?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

* 9. Mr. CHAN Kam-lam to ask : (Translation)

As the operation of private hospitals has been affected to a certain extent since the implementation of the semi-private rooms pilot scheme in some public hospitals, will the Government inform this Council:

1. what is the response to the pilot scheme since its implementation, and whether the Government will further extend the scheme to all public hospitals; and
2. whether it has assessed the impact of the scheme on private hospitals; if so, what are the findings; if not, whether it will conduct such an assessment?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare

*10. Mr. Ambrose LAU to ask : (Translation)

With regard to the increasing co-operation between law enforcement officers in Hong Kong and their counterparts in China in combatting cross-border crimes, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the number of visits by local law enforcement officers to China to testify in court and their respective ranks in the past three years;
2. of the number of visits by Chinese law enforcement officers to the territory to testify in court and their respective ranks in the past three years; and
3. whether, given the different legal systems in force in China and Hong Kong, the two governments have jointly organised exchange visits or short-term training courses so as to enable the law enforcement officers of the two places to understand the structure and operation of each other's legal system; if so, what are the details (including such information as the rank of the participants and the number of activities held etc.); if not, whether consideration will be given to organising these activities with the Chinese Government on a joint basis?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

*11. Mr. LEUNG Yiu-chung to ask : (Translation)

When this Council considered the application for fare increase of the Hongkong and Yaumati Ferry Company, Limited (HYF) in January this year, HYF indicated that if the application was not approved, HYF would reduce the frequency of some of its ferry routes. The application was eventually approved by this Council. However, it has been reported recently that HYF is planning to reduce by half the frequency of its three inner harbour ferry routes. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. whether it is aware of HYF's plan to reduce the frequency of these routes when submitting HYF's application for fare increase to this Council for consideration;
2. whether HYF's move to reduce the frequency of these routes constitutes a breach of the agreement reached with the Government when HYF was granted the franchise;
3. whether it will consult this Council when considering if HYF's application for a reduction in the frequency of these routes should be approved; if not, why not; and whether it will take appropriate measures to safeguard the interests of the public in the event of a reduction of the frequency of these routes; and
4. how it will ensure that similar situations will not recur in the future?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport

*12. Mrs. Elizabeth WONG to ask :

Will the Government inform this Council:

1. whether, in the interest of protecting the environment, it is Government's policy to ask the public to separate waste by different types prior to its collection; and
2. whether any measures have been put in place to facilitate the public to obtain information from the relevant Government Department regarding the disposal of certain poisonous substances and chemicals kept at home?

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

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

Will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the contribution of the fishing industry to the territory's economy as a whole;
2. of the general development of the local fishing industry in recent years;
3. of its policy on the provision of subsidies to the industry; and
4. whether it has looked into the reasons why there is an absence of enterprises operating commercial fishing fleet on a large scale in the territory?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Services

*14. Mr. IP Kwok-him to ask : (Translation)

Since the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance will come into effect shortly, will the Government inform this Council:

1. how the Ordinance will be implemented by government departments;
2. what measures it will adopt before the Ordinance comes into effect to assist private and public organisations in observing the Ordinance; and
3. whether the existing land search procedure in the Land Registry will contravene the Ordinance; if so, what measures the relevant authorities will take to address this problem?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

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

With regard to a recent unfortunate incident in which an infant girl was bitten to death by a dog in a public housing estate, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the estimated number of public housing estate tenants who are in breach of the rule stipulated in the tenancy agreement forbidding the keeping of dogs;
2. of the number of public housing estate tenants who were issued warnings by the Housing Department or who had their tenancy agreements terminated in the past two years owing to a breach of the rule;
3. whether there are staff in the public housing estate offices of the Housing Department who are specifically assigned to enforce the rule; and
4. whether, in addition to the termination of the tenancy agreement of the offending tenants, the Housing Department will take other measures to strictly enforce the rule; if not, why not?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing

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

According to existing legislation, public places such as public light buses, cinemas and lifts are designated as no-smoking areas. In this regard, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the number of people who were charged with smoking in no-smoking areas, as well as the number of those who were prosecuted, in each of the past three years;
2. of the highest, lowest and average penalties imposed by the court for smoking in no-smoking areas in the past three years;
3. whether the Government will consider stepping up prosecution as well as imposing heavier penalties; and
4. what long-term measures does the Government have to protect the rights of non-smokers, in particular against the effect of passive smoking in offices?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare

*17. Miss Emily LAU to ask : (Translation)

In line with what is done in the World Health Organisation and the neighbouring countries, the Pharmacy and Poisons Board now requires local drugs manufacturers to implement by stages the Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. how it will monitor the implementation of the GMP by local drugs manufacturers;
2. of the present standards adopted by the relevant government departments in the manufacture of drugs, and whether the Department of Health and the Hospital Authority have any plan to adopt the GMP; and
3. whether the Central Pharmaceutics Manufactory, which will be completed shortly in Chai Wan, will be equipped with the necessary facilities and apparatus for implementing the GMP; and what other measures have been taken by the Government to complement the implementation of the GMP?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare

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

Will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the number of complaints received by the Government about overloading of passenger ferries plying between China and Hong Kong over the past three years;
2. whether there have been any passenger ferry companies prosecuted by the Government arising from such complaints; if so, will the Government provide a list showing the dates of such prosecutions, the names of the companies prosecuted and the penalties imposed; if not, why not; and
3. what measures will the Government adopt to prevent overloading of passenger ferries plying between China and Hong Kong?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport

*19. Mr. CHEUNG Hon-chung to ask : (Translation)

It was reported that on 1 February this year, the United States Congress passed an amendment to the Telecommunication Act prohibiting the communication of pornographic and objectionable information through the Internet. The amendment prescribes that offenders are liable to a fine of US$250,000 and imprisonment for two years. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:

1. there is any plan to amend or introduce legislation to prohibit the communication of pornographic and objectionable information through the Internet in the territory and to impose penalty on offenders; if so, what are the details; if not, why not; and
2. a mechanism will be established to monitor computer networks in the territory in order to trace the sources of pornographic and objectionable information; if so, what are the details; if not, why not?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Recreation and Culture

*20. Mrs. Miriam LAU to ask : (Translation)

It was learnt that Hongkong Telecom revealed early last year that it was planning to launch video-on-demand services in July this year (this has now been postponed to mid-1997). However, it was not until February this year that the Government released the consultation paper on video-on-demand programmes as well as other multimedia services, which included a proposal on how to regulate such services. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. why the proposed regulatory measures were made known to investors at such a late stage, and whether the delay was due to the Government's lack of a comprehensive policy on interactive multimedia services; and
2. whether it will, in the long run, draw a distinction between television programmes and other on-line screen-based multimedia services, so that a fair and comprehensive package of regulatory measures can be formulated for various multimedia services?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Recreation and Culture

* For written reply.

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III. BILL

SECOND READING

Debate to be resumed

Appropriation Bill 1996

:

Financial Secretary

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IV. MEMBER'S MOTIONS

1. LANDLORD AND TENANT (CONSOLIDATION) ORDINANCE

Mr. James TO :

That the Landlord and Tenant (Consolidation) Ordinance be amended by repealing sections 53A(4)(a) and 119F(4)(a) and substituting -

1. The compensation ordered by the Tribunal under subsection (2) shall be -
   1. where the rateable value of the premises does not exceed $90,000, an amount equal to 5 times the rateable value of the premises;
   2. where the rateable value of the premises exceeds $90,000, the aggregate of $450,000 and an amount equal to 1.7 times the rateable value in excess of $90,000.".

Amendments to Mr. James TO’s motion

1. Secretary for Housing :

(See Amendment at Annex I)

2. Dr. LAW Cheung-kwok :

(See Amendment at Annex II)

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Housing

2. INTERPRETATION AND GENERAL CLAUSES ORDINANCE

Mr. Ronald ARCULLI :

That the Hong Kong Airport (Traffic) (Amendment) Regulation 1996, published as Legal Notice No. 72 of 1996 and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 14 February 1996, be repealed.

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Economic

Services

3. INTERPRETATION AND GENERAL CLAUSES ORDINANCE

Dr. HUANG Chen-ya :

That the Hong Kong Airport (Traffic) (Amendment) Regulation 1996, published as Legal Notice No. 72 of 1996 and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 14 February 1996, be amended by repealing section 2(a) and substituting -

"(a) in item 1, by repealing "$16 per hour or part thereof" and "$32" and substituting "$9.50 per half hour or part thereof" and "$38" respectively;".

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Economic

Services

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