Revised version
A 97/98-30(1)


Provisional Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 11 March 1998 and
Thursday 12 March 1998, at 2:30 pm


I. Papers

Subsidiary LegislationL.N. No.
1. Securities and Futures Commission (Fees) (Amendment) Rules 1998

166/98
2. Food Business (Urban Council) (Amendment) Bylaw 1998

170/98
3. Food Business (Regional Council) (Amendment) Bylaw 1998

171/98
4. Buildings (Amendment) Ordinance 1996 (54 of 1996) (Commencement) Notice 1998

172/98
5. Buildings (Amendment) Ordinance 1997 (36 of 1997) (Commencement) Notice 1998

173/98
6. Building (Administration) (Amendment) (No.2) Regulation 1997 (L.N.441 of 1997) (Commencement) Notice 1998

174/98
7. Building (Administration) (Amendment) (No.4) Regulation 1997 (L.N.514 of 1997) (Commencement) Notice 1998

175/98
8. Building (Demolition Works) (Amendment) Regulation 1997 (L.N.515 of 1997) (Commencement) Notice 1998

176/98
9. Building (Standards of Sanitary Fitments, Plumbing, Drainage Works and Latrines)(Amendment)(No.2)Regulation 1997(L.N.516 of 1997)(Commencement) Notice 1998

177/98
10. Building (Ventilating Systems) (Amendment) Regulation 1997 (L.N.517 of 1997) (Commencement) Notice 1998

178/98
11. Shipping and Port Control (Amendment) Regulation 1997 (L.N.228 of 1997) (Commencement) Notice 1998

179/98

I A. Addresses

Hon Mrs Miriam LAU to address the Council on the nine Orders made under the Port Control (Cargo Working Areas) Ordinance (Cap. 81), which are subsidiary legislation laid on the Table of the Council on 11 February 1998.

II. Questions for Written Replies

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

Under the existing policy, foreign banks newly licensed to operate in Hong Kong are only allowed to open one regional office and one back office. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it has reviewed the economic and financial implications of this policy on the territory; if so, what the findings are; if not, whether it will conduct such a review?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services

2. Mr HUI Yin-fat to ask :

(Translation)

Regarding the implementation of the Social Workers Registration Ordinance (the Ordinance), will the Government inform this Council:

  1. whether it knows the total number of people in Hong Kong who are qualified for registration under the Ordinance; and among these people, the number of those:

    1. who have already become registered social workers;

    2. whose applications for registration are being processed;

    3. who have not submitted their applications for registration yet;

  2. of the existing posts in various government departments and public organizations which are categorized as social work posts as defined under section 2 of the Ordinance; and in respect of those who are currently holding such posts but have not yet applied for registration:

    1. of the number of these people;

    2. of the reasons for their not submitting applications yet;

    3. whether they have breached sections 34 and 35 of the Ordinance;

    4. whether they will be suspended, or ordered to submit applications for registration, or rendered assistance to register according to the provisions of the Ordinance; if not, why not; and

  3. in respect of people who are currently holding subvented social work posts in non-government organizations but have not yet applied for registration:

    1. of the number of these people;

    2. of the reasons for their not submitting applications yet;

    3. whether their employment with the organizations will affect the latter's eligibility for and receivable amount of subvention; and

    4. whether the authority will actively assist them in completing registration expeditiously; if not, why not?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare

3. Mr LAU Wong-fat to ask :

(Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:

  1. of the expenditure incurred (including personal emoluments) in cleaning up environmental black spots in the New Territories each year since the establishment of the Task Force (Black Spots) (TFB) in the Lands Department in 1994, together with the area of land (in hectares) cleared by the TFB each year;

  2. of the present establishment of the TFB; the respective posts in the TFB which have been established by the deletion of other posts in the Department and those that are new;

  3. of the posts in the Department which have been deleted and their original duties; how these duties are being executed and whether they have been delayed as a result;

  4. whether it has set any targets for assessing the effectiveness of the TFB; if so, what these targets are; and

  5. whether it will consider reassessing the value of maintaining the TFB?

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

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

On the day the United Christian Hospital experienced an electricity breakdown, some of the emergency generating units also failed to work, therefore affecting the operation of many departments (including the intensive care unit) in the hospital. In this connection, does the Government know:

  1. the causes of the electricity breakdown and the reasons for some emergency generating units failing to work at the same time;

  2. the total number of electricity breakdowns in public hospitals over the past three years and the causes of these incidents; and

  3. how the Hospital Authority ensures a stable supply of electricity in the hospitals under its management and whether it has formulated a code of practice regarding the inspection of electrical installations in hospitals; if so, what the details are?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare

5. Dr Mrs TSO WONG Man-yin to ask :

(Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council of:

  1. the annual expenditure of the Water Supplies Department on the treatment of raw water from Dongjiang River for use in Hong Kong in each of the past three years; the growth rates in the expenditure in real terms in this respect after inflationary adjustments; and

  2. the impact brought about by the deteriorating water quality of Dongjiang River for use in Hong Kong on the local water treatment systems and water charges?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Works

6. Mr CHAN Choi-hi to ask :

(Translation)

It is reported that there have been cases in which students with poor academic performance are advised by their schools to leave school on their own initiative so as not to affect the overall academic achievement of the schools. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

  1. whether the Education Department has issued guidelines setting out clearly the criteria for schools to dismiss students or to advise students to leave; if so, of the contents of such guidelines and the measures in place to ensure compliance by schools;

  2. of the total number of complaints received by the Education Department over the past five years about students being advised by schools to leave and the results of the investigations into these complaints; whether appropriate action, such as issuing warnings to the schools concerned in substantiated cases, have been taken; if so, of the number of schools concerned; and

  3. how it ensures that similar cases will not recur in future?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education
and Manpower

7. Mr Eric LI to ask : (Translation)

According to the "Quarterly Report on Progress, Financing, Cost Estimate, Funding and Claims of the Airport Core Programme Projects" submitted by the Government to the Finance Committee of this Council, among the claims relating to the major Airport Core Programme construction contracts, 6,047 claims amounting to $2,865 million have been resolved, and 14,876 claims are unresolved. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:

  1. the major reasons (such as design modifications, advancement or catching-up of project completion dates) for claims made by contractors with respect to contracts of Capital Works Reserve Fund projects, the new airport at Chak Lap Kok and the Airport Railway; and

  2. the reasons for the abundance of such claims at present, given that when funding was sought, the Finance Committee had been advised that few claims would arise from the "Build-Operate-Transfer" contract approach?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Works

8. Mr K K FUNG to ask :

(Translation)

According to the findings in a study, of all elderly recipients aged 60 or above of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA), 42.6% were living alone. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

  1. of the numbers of CSSA applications received in each of the past five years from elderly persons living alone; the percentages of these applicants against the total numbers of elderly CSSA applicants in each of the years; whether the number of cases involving elderly CSSA applicants living alone is on the upward trend; and

  2. of the numbers of CSSA applications received in each of the past five years from elderly persons not living alone; and, out of these elderly persons, of the respective numbers of those who live in residential homes; with other family members all aged over 60; and in households with family members aged below 60?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare

9. Mr Eric LI to ask :

(Translation)

In view of a large variety of food products being promoted as health food or slimming food, will the Government inform this Council:

  1. of the measures in place to regulate the advertisements of such food products, so as to prevent any misleading or false contents; and

  2. whether it will consider to introduce legislation enacting laws to the effectstipulate that such kind of food products must be registered before they can be sold,being sold in order so as to protect the health of the public; if not, why not?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare

10. Dr LAW Cheung-kwok to ask :

(Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:

  1. of the total number of meetings held by the Exchange Fund Advisory Committee in 1997, together with the attendance rate of each member;

  2. of the number of incumbent Committee members who possess foreign nationality, and the number of those who are not permanent residents of Hong Kong; and

  3. whether the agenda and minutes of the Committee’s meetings are open documents; if not, why not?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services

11. Mr HUI Yin-fat to ask :

(Translation)

It is reported that a 17-year-old youth receiving the after-care services of the Correctional Services Department (CSD) hanged himself in a police station during his detention for suspected robbery. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

  1. whether the police will immediately notify the CSD after-care officers in charge when young suspects receiving their services are detained; if not, why not;

  2. whether after-care officers have to know the whereabouts and activities of their supervisees at all times;

  3. whether a communication mechanism is in place between the police and the CSD in respect of persons suspected of committing offences during after-care periods; if so, what the details are; if not, why not;

  4. of the training currently provided for police and CSD officers to ensure that they have skills in handling the mental and psychological conditions of young persons suspected of committing offences during after-care periods; and

  5. whether it will consider reviewing the police’s procedures for detaining for investigation young suspects receiving after-care services; if not, why not?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

12. Mr K K FUNG to ask :

(Translation)

According to the findings of some studies, the poor elderly (i.e. persons aged 60 or above) who are not receiving Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) are living a more difficult life than those who are receiving CSSA, and among the poor non-CSSA elderly recipients, the lives of those living alone are even worse. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

  1. whether it has formulated any policy to improve the lives of poor non-CSSA elderly recipients living alone; if so, what the details are; if not, whether it will formulate such a policy; and

  2. whether it has planned to allocate additional resources to strengthen the publicity of the CSSA Scheme among the elderly, particularly those living alone?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare

13. Mr Henry WU to ask :

(Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council, among the items submitted to the Finance Committee of this Council in each of the past five years, of:

  1. the number of those seeking funding for consultancy studies and the total amount of funds involved; and

  2. the number of those seeking funding for public works projects and the total amount of funds involved and, among them, the number of those which included consultancy fees and the total amount of funds involved?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Treasury

14. Dr David LI to ask :

On 21 February this year, a police superintendent collapsed and died of a suspected heart attack shortly after a physical exercise at the police training centre in Fanling. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

  1. of the number of police officers who died during or immediately after training in the past three years and the causes of their deaths; and

  2. whether it will review the existing physical and medical tests held before allowing police officers to take part in training to see if they can effectively prevent the occurrence of similar incidents; if so, what the details are?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

15. Mr Henry WU to ask :

(Translation)

Will the Government:

  1. inform this Council of the respective numbers of elderly people waiting for institutional care places, those allocated such places and the increase of such on the waiting list in each of the past three calendar years; and

  2. provide a breakdown of the number of elderly people in the above three categories by the following age groups:

    1. 60-69;
    2. 70-79;
    3. 80-89; and
    4. 90 and above?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare

16. Dr TANG Siu-tong to ask :

(Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council whether there are indications that the Sydney Influenza type A variant is spreading in Hong Kong; if so, whether it has allocated additional resources for carrying out preventive work?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare

III. Bills

Second Reading

Debate to resume

Appropriation Bill 1998

:

Financial Secretary


Clerk to the Provisional Legislative Council