Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

Revised version
A 97/98-33(1)

Provisional Legislative Council

Agenda
Wednesday 1 April 1998 at 2:30 pm

I. Papers

Subsidiary Legislation	L.N. No.
Air Pollution Control (Vehicle Design Standards) (Emission) (Amendment) Regulation 1998 (L.N. 96 of 1998) (Commencement) Notice 1998	196/98

Sessional Papers

1. No.101-	Audited Financial Statements and Programme of Activities of the Hong Kong Examinations Authority for the year ended 31 August 1997
(to be presented by Secretary for Education and Manpower)
2. No.102	Occupational Deafness Compensation Board Annual Report 1996/97
(to be presented by Secretary for Education and Manpower)
3. No.103-	Securities and Futures Commission Approved Estimates of Income and Expenditure for the financial year 1998/99
(to be presented by Secretary for Financial Services)
4. No.104-	Audited Statement of Accounts of the Director of Social Welfare Incorporated together with the Director of Audit's Report for the year ended 31 March 1997
(to be presented by Secretary for Health and Welfare)
5. No.105-	The Government Minute in response to the Report No. 29 of the Public Accounts Committee dated February 1998
(to be presented by Chief Secretary for Administration, who will address the Council)

Reports

1. Report of the Finance Committee on the examination of the Draft Estimates of Expenditure 1998-99 (April 1998)

(to be presented by Mr Ronald ARCULLI, Chairman of the Finance Committee, who will address the Council)

2. Report of the Panel on Broadcasting, Culture and Sport 1997/98

(to be presented by Mr MOK Ying-fan, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)

3. Report of the Panel on Constitutional Affairs 1997/98

(to be presented by Mr Andrew WONG, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)

4. Report of the Panel on Economic Services 1997/98

(to be presented by Mr James TIEN, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)

5. Report of the Panel on Financial Affairs 1997/98

(to be presented by Mr Paul CHENG, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)

6. Report of the Panel on Transport 1997/98

(to be presented by Mrs Miriam LAU, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)

7. Report of the Bills Committee on Housing (Amendment) (No.3) Bill 1997

(to be presented by Miss CHAN Yuen-han, Chairman of the Bills Committee, who will address the Council)

II. Questions

1. Mr CHAN Wing-chan to ask : (Translation)

It is learnt that the waiting time for first-time appointments at public hospitals for ophthalmic treatment was as long as 23 weeks last year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:

it knows the number of new ophthalmic patients whose eyesight had deteriorated and was lost permanently while waiting for their turn for treatment at public hospitals in the past three years;
the relevant authority has any specific measures to shorten the waiting time for first-time appointments at public hospitals for ophthalmic treatment;
the relevant authority has set any target in respect of the waiting time for first-time appointments for ophthalmic treatment for the next three years; if so, what the target is; if not, why not; and
it will arrange for primary and secondary school students and the elderly to undergo eye checks regularly to prevent eye diseases?

Public Officer to reply

Secretary for Health
and Welfare

2. Mrs Elsie TU to ask :

Will the Government inform this Council of the action being taken to prevent illegal dumping of waste materials in the New Territories and to clear up those areas which have become unsightly and are causing environmental hazard to residents?

Public Officer to reply

Secretary for Planning,
Environment and Lands

3. Mr CHENG Yiu-tong to ask : (Translation)

It is learnt that despite the similar nature of work undertaken by the crews of river trade vessels and inner harbour vessels, the provisions on employment protection under the Employment Ordinance are only applicable to the crew of inner harbour vessels. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:

it is aware of the current number of crewmen working on board river trade vessels in the territory; and
whether it has any plan to amend the Employment Ordinance so as to extend the provisions on employment protection to cover the crew of river trade vessels; if so, what the details of such a plan (including consultation with the trade and the target date of introducing amendments to the Ordinance) are; if not, how the employee rights of the crew of river trade vessels are protected?

Public Officer to reply

Secretary for Education and
Manpower

4. Mr CHENG Kai-nam to ask : (Translation)

The Government states in the "White Paper on Long Term Housing Strategy in Hong Kong" that the remaining five cottage areas in Hong Kong will be cleared by the end of 2001. It is learnt that these cottages were previously built by the occupants at their own expenses with the approval of the Social Welfare Department. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

whether it will consider the historical background of these cottage areas when calculating the compensations to be given to the affected occupants; if not, why not; and
whether it has examined if it is fair to require that these occupants should satisfy means tests before they are allocated public housing flats; if so, what the results are?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing

5. Mr Ambrose LAU to ask : (Translation)

It is reported that more than 12 000 job-seekers registered with the Labour Department in February this year, representing a 50% increase over January, and many of them were middle managers. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

of the trades in which these middle managers were formerly employed;
whether it has studied the reasons for the upsurge in the number of job-seekers (especially middle managers);
compared to the corresponding period last year, of the difference of the unemployment rate of middle managers in the first two months of this year, and the number of middle management vacancies among all the vacancies registered with the Labour Department at present, together with a breakdown of such vacancies by trade;
whether it will take specific measures to assist middle managers with different level of academic qualifications in seeking employment, for instance, by organizing different levels of retraining courses for middle managers with and without post-secondary qualifications; if so, what the details are; and
of the anticipated completion date of the feasibility study on a low-interest loan scheme for unemployed middle managers to pursue further studies, the specific details of the scheme and the timetable for its implementation?

Public Officer to reply

Secretary for Education
and Manpower

6. Dr TANG Siu-tong to ask : (Translation)

It is reported that the historical monuments in the Kam Tin and San Tin areas in Yuen Long of the New Territories attract a large number of visitors during holidays, thus causing traffic congestion and nuisance to residents in the areas. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:

it has any plan to improve the roads and parking facilities in those areas; if so, what the details are; and
it has considered adopting measures to prevent such visits from causing nuisance to the residents; if so, what the details are?

Public Officer to reply

Secretary for Transport

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

It is reported that the Guangdong Provincial Bureau for Water Conservancy and Hydro-power has informed the Water Supplies Department of Hong Kong that it plans to spend $5 billion to construct a dedicated closed aqueduct to replace the present open channel in order to ensure the cleanliness of potable water supplied to Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

whether it knows the details of the plan;
of the corresponding action it will take in response to the plan; and
whether it has studied the implications of the plan and the corresponding measures on the cost of the water supply and water charges in the territory; if so, what the details are?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Works

* 8. Mr HUI Yin-fat to ask : (Translation)

Regarding special education, will the Government inform this Council:

of the respective amounts of funds allocated in 1997-98 and 1998-99 for implementing the recommendations in the Report of the Sub-committee on Special Education of the Board of Education (the Report) published in 1996;
of the recommendations in the Report for which funds will be allocated for their implementation in 1998-99 and the amount allocated for implementing each recommendation;
whether there is any plan to upgrade the posts of programme workers and houseparents in special schools; if so, what the details are; and
whether there is any plan to increase the number of janitor posts in schools for physically handicapped children and severely mentally handicapped children in 1998-99; if so, what the details are?

Public Officer to reply

Secretary for Education and
Manpower

* 9. Mr CHAN Choi-hi to ask : (Translation)

Recently, the Government successively sold a hotel site in Ma On Shan, Shatin, and a former police quarters site at Canton Road by tender. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

of the reasons for selling land by tender recently, rather than by public auction which has long been the practice in land sales for years;
of the circumstances under which a site will be sold by public auction or by tender;
in respect of the sale of the Canton Road site, why the tender result was announced immediately after the deadline for the submission of tender; whether the authority had had sufficient time to thoroughly consider if the price offered by the successful bidder was reasonable, prior to announcing the result; and
whether the developer, who successfully bid for both sites, offered the highest prices among all valid tenders; if not, why the two sites were not sold to the tenderers who had submitted the highest bids in the respective tendering exercises?

Public Officer to reply

Secretary for Planning,
Environment and Lands

*10. Mr Howard YOUNG to ask :

Will the Government inform this Council whether it has received a report that an aircraft breached normal landing procedures when landing at the Hong Kong International Airport on 11 January this year; if so:

whether the authorities have conducted investigations into the incident, and the findings and follow-up actions taken; and
whether the Civil Aviation Department's flight monitoring procedures and systems detected the incident; if not, whether the Department will consider revising the procedures and systems accordingly?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Services

*11. Mr CHAN Choi-hi to ask : (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:

of the growth or reduction in the establishment of various government departments since 1 July last year;
whether it will set up a committee headed by the Chief Secretary for Administration to review the cost-effectiveness of the existing establishment of various government departments; if so, of the time table of the review; if not, why not; and
whether there is any plan to "privatize" certain government departments; if so, of the targets and progress of such a plan?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Civil Service

*12. Mr YUEN Mo to ask : (Translation)

In order to relieve the operating difficulties of the taxi trade, will the Government inform this Council whether:

it will consider opening certain prohibited zones for taxi drivers to pick up or set down passengers, especially those located in districts such as Tsim Sha Tsui and Causeway Bay, which are frequented by tourists; and
it has any plan to consult the relevant district boards on the opening of prohibited zones; if so, when the consultation will be conducted, and whether the results of the consultation will be released?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport

*13. Mr Kennedy WONG to ask : (Translation)

Regarding Article 22 of "The Basic Law of The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the Peoples Republic of China", will the Government inform this Council:

of the names of the offices set up in the territory by departments of the Central Government, provinces, autonomous regions, or municipalities directly under the Central Government, since Hong Kongs reunification with the motherland;
of the measures to be adopted in response to the decision of the Central Government to relax the restrictions on mainland citizens' visits to Hong Kong; and
whether it will consider relaxing the conditions governing the applications of mainland citizens to work in Hong Kong; if so, what the details are?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

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

At present, declaration charges are levied on exported, imported and re-exported goods, and as a result import and export companies have to pay double charges for the same consignment of goods. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:

it will consider reducing declaration charges in the light of Hong Kongs recent economic downturn;
it has any plan to simplify the declaration procedure in respect of goods transported via Hong Kong to the Mainland for processing; if so, what the details are; and
it has any plan to standardize the import and export declaration charges at a rate of 0.035% of the total value of goods; if so, of the impact of such a rate on the declaration charges levied each year?

Public Officer to reply

Secretary for Trade and Industry

*15. Dr YEUNG Chun-kam to ask : (Translation)

In 1998-99, the Financial Services Bureau will increase the manpower and resources for economic analyses, especially at the structural and sectoral levels. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

why the Bureau pays special attention to analyses at the structural and sectoral levels, and whether considerable changes are envisaged at these two levels; if so, which aspects of changes are anticipated;
of the details of the additional staff concerned, including their professions and numbers; and
when such economic analyses will be completed and whether the results will be made public?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services

*16. Mr HUI Yin-fat to ask : (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:

of the statutory organizations whose highest management bodies are chaired by Government directorate officers or their representatives;
of the procedure to be followed by Government directorate officers in delegating other officials according to law to represent them as members of statutory organizations; whether such representatives are required to inform the relevant statutory organizations of the delegation; if not, how the relevant statutory organizations know that other officials have been delegated as representatives;
whether the opinions and voting stances of Government officials expressed at the meetings of the relevant statutory organizations represent those of the Government; if so, whether they may express their personal opinions and stances; and
whether it has formulated any guidelines governing the opinions and behaviour of such officials at the meetings of the relevant statutory organizations; if so, of the contents of the guidelines?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

*17. Dr YEUNG Chun-kam to ask : (Translation)

It is learned that, in order to enhance economic efficiency, the Trade and Industry Bureau is developing an overall competition policy and studying the need to formulate corresponding administrative measures or legislation. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

of the scope and progress of the study, and the expected date of the preliminary conclusions; and
whether public consultation has been or will be conducted in the study; if so, of the target groups who have been or will be consulted?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Trade and Industry

*18. Mr YUEN Mo to ask : (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:

of the progress to date of the pilot scheme on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) taxis;
whether it has consulted the operators and associations of the taxi trade on the switching of all diesel taxis to LPG taxis; if so, what the results are;
of the specific timetable for formulating a policy on LPG taxis; and
whether it has considered providing tax concessions to encourage operators of the taxi trade to switch to LPG taxis by phases when it decides to implement the policy on LPG taxis?

Public Officer to reply

Secretary for Planning,
Environment and Lands

*19. Mr Kennedy WONG to ask : (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council of the number of cases in which criminal prosecution was not instituted against the suspects by the Department of Justice and the former Legal Department due to public interests in the past five years and, among them, the number of cases in which explanations for not prosecuting were given to the public?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Justice

Ü lFor written reply.

III. Bills

Second Reading

(Debates to resume),
Committee Stage and Third Reading

1. Adaptation of Laws (References to Foreign Country, etc.) Bill	:	Secretary for Constitutional Affairs
2. Housing (Amendment) (No.3) Bill 1997	:	Secretary for Housing

IV. Motions

1. Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Ordinance

Secretary for Financial Services :

That the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes (General) Regulation made by the Chief Executive in Council on 10 March 1998, be approved.

Amendments to Secretary for Financial Services' motion

1. Dr LAW Cheung-kwok :

That the motion to be moved by the Secretary for Financial Services under section 46 of the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Ordinance (Cap. 485) at the Provisional Legislative Council meeting on 1 April 1998 be amended

by deleting "be approved." and substituting "subject to the following amendments, be approved ";
by adding
"(a) in section 47(5), by deleting "half" and substituting "30 per cent".".

2. Mr WONG Siu-yee :

by deleting "be approved." and substituting "subject to the following amendments, be approved ";
by adding
"(a) in section 16(1) of Schedule 1, by deleting "30" and substituting "50".".

2. Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Ordinance

Secretary for Financial Services :

That the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes (Exemption) Regulation, made by the Chief Executive in Council on 10 March 1998, be approved.

3. Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Ordinance

Secretary for Financial Services :

That the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes (Amendment of Schedule 6) Notice 1998 made by the Chief Executive in Council on 10 March 1998, be approved.

V. Members' Motions

1. Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance

Mr CHAN Kam-lam :

That the Attachment of Income Order Rules, published as Legal Notice No. 118 of 1998, and laid on the table of the Provisional Legislative Council on 25 February 1998, be amended -

in rule 3(2)(a), by repealing "the name and address of the designated payee" and substituting "the name of the designated payee, and his address for service of documents relating to the application";
in rule 3(2)(i), by adding "if known to the designated payee," before "the name and address";
in rule 9(3)(a), by repealing "the name and address of the designated payee" and substituting "the name of the designated payee, and his address for service of documents relating to the application" ;
in rule 10(3)(a), by repealing "the name and address of the designated payee" and substituting "the name of the designated payee, and his address for service of documents relating to the application"; and
by adding -

"12. Service of documents

Without prejudice to the provisions of the Rules of the Supreme Court (Cap. 4 sub. leg.), District Court Civil Procedure (General) Rules (Cap. 336 sub. leg.), Matrimonial Causes Rules (Cap. 179 sub. leg.) and any other enactment relating to the service of documents and save as is otherwise expressly provided, any document required to be sent to or served on any person for the purposes of these Rules may -

be personally given to or served on that person; or
Be sent -
1. if that person is represented, by post to the solicitor acting for that person, or by leaving the same with the solicitor; or
2. if that person is unrepresented, by post to the address for service given by him or his last known address, or by leaving the same at the address for service or the last known address of that person; or
where it is impracticable to serve a document which has to be served personally, be effected by substituted service if the court so orders; or
be served in such other manner as the court may direct.".

Public Officer to attend : To be confirmed

2. Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance

Mrs Selina CHOW :

That in relation to the Public Health (Animals and Birds) (Amendment) (No.2) Regulation, published as Legal Notice No. 165 of 1998, and laid on the table of the Provisional Legislative Council on 4 March 1998, the period referred to in section 34(2) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1) for amending subsidiary legislation be extended under section 34(4) of that Ordinance to the meeting of 7 April 1998.

3. Editorial independence of Radio Television Hong Kong

Mr Edward HO :

That this Council endorses the re-affirmation by the Government of the editorial independence of Radio Television Hong Kong.

Amendments to Mr Edward HO's motion

1. Mr K K FUNG :

To delete "endorses" and substitute with "urges"; to delete "the re-affirmation by"; to delete "of the editorial independence" and substitute with "to launch the corporatisation" and to add ", so as to ensure that Radio Television Hong Kong can effectively maintain editorial independence as the guiding principle in producing its programmes" after "of Radio Television Hong Kong".

2. Mr WONG Siu-yee :

To delete "re-affirmation by the Government" and substitute with "granting"; to delete "the" from "of the editorial independence"; to delete "of" from "of Radio Television Hong Kong" and substitute with "to"; and to add "by the Government in accordance with the framework agreement reached between the Broadcasting, Culture and Sport Bureau and Radio Television Hong Kong on 15 July 1997 but, at the same time, the Government must fully implement the stipulations relating to the working relationship between and the respective responsibilities of the Director of Broadcasting and the Secretary for Broadcasting, Culture and Sport, as well as other conditions contained in the aforesaid agreement, so as to ensure the production of fair, balanced and objective news, public affairs and general programming by Radio Television Hong Kong" after "Radio Television Hong Kong".

Amendment to Mr WONG Siu-yee's amendment

Mr CHENG Kai-nam :

To delete "granting of"; to delete "to" from "to Radio Television Hong Kong" and substitute with "of"; to delete "by the Government in accordance with the framework agreement reached between the Broadcasting, Culture and Sport Bureau and Radio Television Hong Kong on 15 July 1997 but, at the same time, the Government must fully implement the stipulations relating to the working relationship between and the respective responsibilities of the Director of Broadcasting and the Secretary for Broadcasting, Culture and Sport, as well as other conditions contained in the aforesaid agreement, so as to ensure"; and to add "and" before "the production of fair,".

Public Officer to attend

Secretary for Broadcasting,Culture

and Sport

4. Establishing a Social Welfare Services Development Fund

Mr Eric LI : (Translation)

That, in order to make up for the shortfall and inadequacy in social welfare services in the past and to fulfil the pledges the Government has openly made in regard to social welfare services, this Council urges the Government to make a provision of $3.4 billion for the establishment of a Social Welfare Services Development Fund, so as to cope with the normal growth in the communitys demands on social welfare services in the next five years and to ensure the steady development of social welfare services.

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Health and Welfare

Clerk to the Provisional Legislative Council