Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

Revised version
A 97/98-26(1)

Provisional Legislative Council

Agenda
Wednesday 11 February 1998 at 2:30 pm

I. Papers

	Subsidiary Legislation	L.N. No.
1.	Public Health (Animals and Birds) (Amendment) Regulation 1998	44/98
2.	Road Traffic Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule 8) (No.2) Order 1998	50/98
3.	Dangerous Drugs Ordinance (Amendment of Second Schedule) (No.3) Order 1997 (L.N.599 of 1997) (Commencement) Notice 1998	51/98
4.	Telecommunication (Amendment) Regulation 1998	52/98
5.	Hong Kong Air Navigation (Fees) (Amendment) Regulation 1998	53/98
6.	Port Control (Public Cargo Working Area) Order 1998	54/98
7.	Port Control (Public Cargo Working Area) (No.2) Order 1998	55/98
8.	Port Control (Public Cargo Working Area) (No.3) Order 1998	56/98
9.	Port Control (Public Cargo Working Area) (No.4) Order 1998	57/98
10.	Port Control (Public Cargo Working Area) (No.5) Order 1998	58/98
11.	Port Control (Public Cargo Working Area) (No.6) Order 1998	59/98
12.	Port Control (Public Cargo Working Area) (No.7) Order 1998	60/98
13.	Port Control (Public Cargo Working Area) (No.8) Order 1998	61/98
14.	Port Control (Public Cargo Working Area) (No.9) Order 1998	62/98
15.	Immigration (Amendment) (No.2) Regulation 1997 (L.N.593 of 1997) (Commencement) Notice 1998	63/98
16.	Lifts and Escalators (Safety) (Fees) (Amendment) Regulation 1998	64/98
17.	Road Traffic (Registration and Licensing of Vehicles) (Amendment) (No.2) Regulation 1998	65/98
18.	Telephone (Repeal) Regulation 1998	66/98
19.	Places for Autopsies (Amendment) Order 1998	67/98
20.	Animals and Plants (Protection of Endangered Species) (Exemption) (Amendment) Order 1998	68/98
21.	Animals and Plants (Protection of Endangered Species) Ordinance (Amendment of Schedules) Notice 1998	69/98
22.	Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance (9 of 1997) (Commencement) Notice 1998	70/98
23.	Environmental Impact Assessment (Appeal Board) Regulation (L.N.455 of 1997) (Commencement) Notice 1998	71/98
24.	Environmental Impact Assessment (Fees) Regulation (L.N.456 of 1997) (Commencement) Notice 1998	72/98
25.	Inland Revenue (Qualifying Debt Instruments) (Amendment) Order 1998	73/98

Sessional Papers

1.No.69-	Report of the Director of Audit on the Accounts of the Government and the Trading Funds 1 April to 30 June 1997
(to be presented by Chief Secretary for Administration who will address the Council)
2.No.70-	Report of the Public Accounts Committee on the Reports of the Director of Audit on the Accounts of the Hong Kong Government for the year ended 31 March 1997 and the Results of Value for Money Audits (Report No.29) (February 1998 - P.A.C. Report No.29)
(to be presented by Mr Eric LI who will address the Council)
3.No.71-	Legal Aid Services Council Annual Report 1997
(to be presented by Chief Secretary for Administration who will address the Council)

II. Questions

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

The Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) suggested to members of the public openly the other day that they might consider switching their property mortgage loans denominated in the local currency to loans denominated in US dollars so as to reduce payment of interest. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:

it is the Governments established long-term policy to encourage the public to borrow loans in US dollars instead of Hong Kong dollars; if not, whether it knows the reasons for the Chief Executive of the HKMA to make the suggestion;
it has studied the impact of an upsurge in public demand for US dollar-denominated loans on the linked exchange rate; if so, what the findings are; and
there is any mechanism for monitoring the public statements made by the Chief Executive of the HKMA; if so, what the details are?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services
2. Mr Eric LI to ask :
(Translation)

As the opening of the new airport has been deferred to 6 July this year, will the Government inform this Council:

whether the Airport Authority (AA) has compensated or made additional payments to the project contractors of the new airport to enable completion of relevant projects in April this year; if so, of the number of projects and amounts involved;
of a breakdown of the $1 billion loss in revenue of the AA due to the deferred opening of the new airport; and
whether there are other causes (such as slippage in the provision of navigation systems, back-up or commercial facilities), apart from the Airport Railway not being able to commence operation in April, which have led to the Government's sudden announcement of the deferred opening of the new airport?

Public Officers to reply

Secretary for Economic Services Secretary for Transport Secretary for the Treasury Secretary for Works

3. Mr K K FUNG to ask : (Translation)

It was reported that on account of an agreement regarding the development of commercial and residential properties in Tin Shui Wai reached between the Government and a developer a number of years ago, the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC) can only join hands with that developer in developing properties atop the Tin Shui Wai Light Rail terminus. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

of the contents of the agreement between the authority and that developer regarding the development of commercial and residential properties in Tin Shui Wai;
whether it knows if the KCRC has any plan to invite public tenders for developing properties atop the Tin Shui Wai Light Rail terminus; and
whether it has reached similar agreements regarding property development with other developers; if so, of the names of those developers and the contents of the agreements?

Public Officer to reply

Secretary for Planning,
Environment and Lands

4. Mrs Peggy LAM to ask : (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:

of the effectiveness of the services provided by the three woman health centres in Lam Tin, Chai Wan and Tuen Mun established under the Department of Health;
of the respective numbers of women who have undergone medical examinations at these centres so far;
whether it is stipulated that the services at these centres are provided exclusively for women aged between 45 and 64; if so, of the reasons for such a stipulation;
of the fees that these centres are currently charging for medical examinations for women;
whether it has considered setting up woman health centres in districts with a large female population (such as Shatin); if so, what the plans are; if not, why not; and
whether it has studied the feasibility of including the services of these centres into the range of services provided by maternal and child health centres; if so, what the findings are?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare

5. Mr CHOY Kan-pui to ask :

(Translation)

It is learnt that some overseas medical personnel have pointed out that the use of mobile phones may lead to brain tumour. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

of the number of people known to be suffering from brain tumour in each of the past three years;
whether there is any information regarding the use of mobile phones among these brain tumour patients; if so, the number of frequent users of mobile phones among them; and
to ensure that the health of mobile phone users will not be jeopardized, whether the Administration has studied the effect of the use of mobile phones on the health of users; if so, what the details are; if not, whether such studies will be conducted?

Public Officers to reply

Secretary for Health and Welfare
Secretary for Economic Services

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

It is reported that 108 Hong Kong people have been injected with a medical reagent possibly contaminated by the pathogen which causes Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (the human form of mad cow disease) and thus have the possibility of contracting the disease; and that the UK manufacturer concerned asked the supplier in Hong Kong to recall the product at the end of last year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

whether it knows why the Hospital Authority did not announce this case until January 22 this year;
whether, since the recall of the reagent by the relevant supplier at the end of last year, any person has been injected with the reagent in Hong Kong;
whether it will compensate the persons injected with the reagent, or help them seek compensation from the manufacturer or supplier;
of the examining and monitoring mechanism on the safety of imported reagents and imported medicine, and the accuracy of their labels; and
of the measures adopted to prevent the recurrence of similar cases?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare
* 7. Mrs Elsie TU to ask :

Will the Government inform this Council whether it knows if the Housing Authority will consider giving priority in the allocation of public housing to those households receiving a rent allowance under the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance Scheme, meeting the eligibility criteria for public housing and having no likelihood of financial improvement, in order to improve the living conditions of these households and save the taxpayers money?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing

* 8. Dr YEUNG Chun-kam to ask :

(Translation)

In connection with the illegal importation of livestock into Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council:

whether the Customs and Excise Department has seized any illegally-imported livestock over the past year; if so, of the types and numbers thereof;
how it handled the livestock thus seized; and
whether it has considered reviewing the relevant legislation to increase the penalty, so as to deter the public from importing livestock into Hong Kong illegally?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

* 9. Dr David LI to ask :

The survey conducted by an associate professor of the University of Hong Kong points out that primary school teachers who studied Chinese Language as the main subject at the educational institutions do not necessarily possess a good standard of or are not proficient enough in the language for using it as a medium of teaching, and that secondary school teachers may not even possess the requisite standard or proficiency. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether in-service training on teaching Chinese and using Chinese as the medium of teaching is available to teachers; if so, of the details of such training; if not, of the reasons for not providing it?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

*10. Dr C H LEONG to ask :

Will the Government inform this Council whether there are any rules or regulations governing the pricing of life saving medicines, particularly those produced by only one manufacturer, to ensure that the prices of such medicines are affordable to members of the public; if not, whether it will consider introducing such rules or regulations?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare

*11. Mr HUI Yin-fat to ask :

(Translation)

Chapter 5 of the Report of the Working Party on Primary Health Care published by the Government in 1990 contains a number of recommendations on immunization, control of communicable diseases, and maternal and child health services. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:

the effectiveness of the measles immunization programme launched for Primary One school children; whether it has reviewed the implementation of the programme; if so, what the results are;
the progress to date of the measles immunization programme implemented by the authority since last summer vacation for the 1.2 million people aged 19 or below; among these people, how many have already been vaccinated; whether and how it will encourage those who have not been vaccinated to undergo vaccination;
the progress of implementing the three recommendations on improving the control of communicable diseases; and
the progress of implementing the three recommendations on improving maternal and child health services?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare
*12. Dr LAW Cheung-kwok to ask :
(Translation)

Does the Government know:

the original policy and scale of construction formulated by the Housing Authority on the provision of interim housing; and
whether there have been any significant changes in the policy and scale of construction so far; if so, the reasons for and the details of the changes?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing
*13. Mr HUI Yin-fat to ask :
(Translation)

The Report of the Working Party on Primary Health Care (the Report) published by the Government in 1990 had put forward three policy directions in respect of health education: the adoption of a well-defined policy, systematic planning, and the setting of priority in various areas in respect of health education and promotion. Some other related recommendations had also been made in the Report. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

of the present policy on health education and promotion; whether the policy has met the various targets as recommended in the Report;
how systematic planning can be adopted for educating the public on a healthy lifestyle and self-care;
whether priority has been given to certain areas in health education; if so, what the specific details are, and how the Government is pushing ahead with the work; and
of the progress to date in the implementation of the recommendation to strengthen mental health education both at the undergraduate and postgraduate level in medical education?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare
*14. Mr CHAN Choi-hi to ask :
(Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council whether:

it has any plan to review the Memorandum of Administrative Arrangements signed in 1973 between the Government and the Urban Council at that time; if so, when the review will be conducted; if not, why not;
it has considered lowering the service fees that government departments are currently charging the Provisional Urban Council (such as the 16% on-cost charged by the Architectural Services Department); and
it has considered revising its current funding policy to the Provisional Urban Council from an allocation amounting to 2.6% of the urban area rates to an annual fixed-sum allocation?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Treasury
*15. Mr Eric LI to ask :
(Translation)

The Government has committed that as from the year 1999/2000, 85,000 new flats will be provided each year, including about 35,000 flats to be built by private developers. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

whether it plans to impose compulsory administrative measures on private developers in order to achieve the production target;
if so, the measures involved and how to avoid intervention of the free market economy; and
if not, how the above-mentioned production target can be achieved?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing
*16. Mr CHAN Choi-hi to ask :
(Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council of:

the number of complaints received by the Complaints Against Police Office (CAPO) each year since 1992, and of the complaints received in each year:
1. the number of cases subsequently withdrawn on the complainants own initiative and the main reasons for the withdrawal;
2. the number of cases which were not pursuable and the main reasons for not pursuing the cases;
3. the number of cases which were investigated with substantiated results, the proportion of these cases to the total number of complaints received in the year, and the disciplinary actions taken against the police officers concerned;
4. the number of cases which were further investigated by the CAPO as directed by the Independent Police Complaints Council (IPCC), and the proportion of these cases to the total number of complaints received in the year; and
the mechanism in place to ensure that the IPCC is monitoring matters relating to complaints against the police in an independent and effective manner?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security
*17. Mr TAM Yiu-chung to ask :
(Translation)

While the population of the Yuen Long District is as many as 350 000, the only hospital in the District, namely the Pok Oi Hospital, does not provide general medical services and has only 400-odd beds. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it is aware of any plan on the part of the Hospital Authority to improve hospital services and facilities in the Yuen Long District, for example, by redeveloping the premises of the Pok Oi Hospital in order to increase the number of beds there, or building a new hospital?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare

*18. Mr MA Fung-kwok to ask :

(Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:

of the types of personal data in respect of Hong Kong citizens stored in the computer databases of the Police Force;
whether, for the purpose of protecting the privacy of individuals, any guidelines on the procedures for access to such data by police officers have been laid down by the Police Force; if so, what the procedures are; and
whether there were any cases in the past three years in which police officers were suspected of making unauthorized use of such data to assist the investigations of private detective agencies; if so, the number of such cases and the findings of police investigations; and what disciplinary actions have been taken against the police officers confirmed to have made such unauthorized use?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

*19. Mr Henry WU to ask :

(Translation)

It is learnt that the number of fraud cases involving the use of forged rent receipts and other fraudulent practices to obtain Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) payment has been on an upward trend. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:

the number of fraud cases involving the use of forged rent receipts to obtain CSSA payment and the amount of CSSA payment involved over the past three years;
the types of cases involving the use of other fraudulent practices to obtain CSSA payment, the number of each type of such cases and the respective amounts of CSSA payment involved, over the past three years;
the mechanism in place to prevent the above fraudulent acts so as to ensure that public funds will not be abused; and
the existing punitive measures against such fraudulent acts and whether heavier penalties are needed to achieve a deterrent effect?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare

* For written reply.

III. Bills

First Reading

1. Adaptation of Laws (Courts and Tribunals) Bill

2. Legal Practitioners (Amendment) Bill 1998

3. Adaptation of Laws (References to Foreign Country, Etc.) Bill

4. Road Traffic (Validation of Collection of Fees) Bill

5. Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (Amendment) Bill 1998

6. Adaptation of Laws (Crown Land) Bill

7. Town Planning (Amendment) Bill 1998

8. Merchant Shipping (Registration) (Amendment) Bill 1998

9. Building Management (Amendment) Bill 1998

Second Reading

Debates to be adjourned

1. Adaptation of Laws (Courts and Tribunals) Bill	:	Chief Secretary for Administration
2. Legal Practitioners (Amendment) Bill 1998	:	Secretary for Justice
3. Adaptation of Laws (References to Foreign Country, Etc.) Bill	:	Secretary for Constitutional Affairs
4. Road Traffic (Validation of Collection of Fees) Bill	:	Secretary for Transport
5. Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (Amendment) Bill 1998	:	Secretary for Transport
6. Adaptation of Laws (Crown Land) Bill	:	Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands
7. Town Planning (Amendment) Bill 1998	:	Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands
8. Merchant Shipping (Registration) (Amendment) Bill 1998	:	Secretary for Economic Services
9. Building Management (Amendment) Bill 1998	:	Secretary for Home Affairs

IV. Motions

1. Bankruptcy Ordinance