Revised version
A 97/98-16(1)
(Issued at 11:00 am on 10.11.97)

Provisional Legislative Council

Agenda
Wednesday 12 November 1997 at 2:30 pm

I. Papers

Sessional Papers

1.No. 32-	The audited Statements of Accounts of the Regional Council for the financial year ending 31 March 1997 and the Director of Audit's Report
(to be presented by Secretary for Broadcasting, Culture and Sport)
2.No.33-	Regional Council Annual Report 1996-97
(to be presented by Secretary for Broadcasting, Culture and Sport)
3.No.34-	The audited Statement of Assets and Liabilities, Statement of Receipts and Payments and Statement of Revenue and Expenditure by Select Committees of the Urban Council for the year ended 31 March 1997 and the Director of Audit's Report
(to be presented by Secretary for Broadcasting, Culture and Sport)
4.No.35-	Urban Council Annual Report 1996/97
(to be presented by Secretary for Broadcasting, Culture and Sport)

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

Will the Government inform this Council if it knows:

1. the basis for determining the train fare for the section of the Kowloon-Canton Railway between Sheung Shui Station and Lo Wu Station;

2. whether the fare for this section, which is higher than those of other sections, includes a passenger departure tax; and

3. since Hong Kong has reunified with the motherland, and to facilitate residents commuting between the two places, whether the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation will consider lowering the fare for this section?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport

2.Mr Ambrose LAU to ask :(Translation)

In recent years, many people from the Mainland have come to settle in Hong Kong. As their employment situation has a direct bearing on their living standards, will the Government inform this Council of:

1. the total number of persons who have come from the Mainland to Hong Kong for settlement over the past three years, together with a statistical breakdown of them by sex, age and occupation groups;

2. the current employment situation of these people, including whether they are unemployed or under-employed; and

3. the major problems encountered by these people in their daily life, and the specific measures in place to assist them in solving such problems?

Public Officers to reply:

Secretary for Home Affairs Secretary for Education and Manpower

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

In connection with the recent incident in which a police constable on duty shot and killed a citizen who was being investigated in a police station, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the number of cases in which police officers suffered from psychological pressure and mental disturbance arising from law enforcement duties or the working environment in each of the past three years, the main causes of these cases and, of these cases, the number of police officers in need of psychological counselling and therapy, or psychiatric treatment in each year;

2. of the number of police clinical psychologists responsible for providing psychological counselling and therapy to police officers;

3. whether it will review the guidelines on the carrying of guns and other equipment by police officers while investigating citizens in police stations; and

4. of the measures in place to ensure that the morale of the police force will not be adversely affected by this incident?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

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

Under the existing regulations of the Housing Authority (HA), in order to become eligible for allocation of public rental housing (PRH) units, a family must meet the requirement that half or more of its members have resided in Hong Kong for at least seven years. While this residency requirement is not applicable to children born in Hong Kong, it applies to mainland-born children who have the status of permanent residents of Hong Kong and come lawfully to Hong Kong for settlement in accordance with Article 24(3) of the Basic Law. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the criteria adopted by the HA in determining that this residency requirement is not applicable to children born in Hong Kong;

2. of the reasons why, after 1 July this year, this residency requirement is still applicable to children born in the mainland who enjoy the same status of permanent residents of Hong Kong;

3. whether it will consider amending the existing regulation regarding the residency requirement to make it applicable to all children who have the status of permanent residents of Hong Kong; if not, why not; and

4. of the number of families on the General Waiting List which have not been allocated PRH units because their children members fail to meet this residency requirement?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing

5. Mr Paul CHENG to ask :

Will the Government inform this Council whether there are established channels through which Hong Kong businessmen and investors can seek advice, assistance and informative support when they encounter problems involving law and administrative regulations in respect of their economic activities in the Mainland; if not, whether there are plans to set up such channels?

Public Officer to reply :

Secretary for Constitutional Affairs

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

It is learned that out of the land that the Government has hitherto granted to the Housing Authority (HA) since the early 1990s, 25% was formed land and 75% was unformed land. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. whether there is an agreement between the Administration and the HA specifying the amount of formed land to be granted to the HA each year; if so, what the details are;

2. of the annual expenditure on land formation incurred by the Government in respect of the land granted to the HA over the past five years, and of the annual expenditure on land formation incurred by the HA over the same period;

3. of the respective percentage of formed and unformed land out of the land granted to the HA by the Government for the construction of public rental housing flats in each of the past five years; and

4. of the respective percentage of formed and unformed land out of the land granted to the HA by the Government for the construction of Home Ownership Scheme flats in each of the past five years?

Public Officer to reply :

Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands

* 7.Mr Henry WU to ask :(Translation)

In view of a recent incident in which a driver was injured by the inflating air bag in a traffic accident, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the number of incidents of this nature and the casualties involved, in each of the past three years;

2. of the number of incidents in which the air bags of cars inflated not because of accidents and the casualties involved, in each of the past three years; and

3. how the authority monitors and tests the installation of air bags in cars, so as to ensure the safety of users?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport

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

It is reported that there is an increasing number of children suffering from mental illness in Hong Kong. Among these children, many are new arrivals, with the youngest one being only 18 months old. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the present number of children suffering from mental illness in Hong Kong and, of these, the proportion of those who are new arrivals in the past 5 years;

2. how these figures compare with those five years ago; and

3. of the measures in place to prevent children (particularly new arrival children) from developing mental illness, and the kinds of services that are available for assisting such children?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare

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

Will the Government inform this Council whether:

1. it will review the existing equipment of the police force, such as whether the horsepower of police vehicles should be increased or whether police officers should carry foldable metal batons while on duty; and

2. it will consider improving the uniform of the police force, particularly the materials of summer uniform, the design of police caps and police shoes?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

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

In November last year, the Government undertook to review whether legislation should be introduced to prohibit parents from or penalize them for leaving their children alone at home, and whether the then relevant educational and publicity measures were effective. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:

1. the progress or the outcome of the review; and

2. the total number of incidents in which children lost their lives or sustained injuries whilst staying alone at home since November last year, together with a brief account of each incident?

Public Officer to reply :

Secretary for Health and Welfare

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

It is reported that while more than 60 primary schools set up their own libraries last year, they have yet to obtain funding from the Government for the purchase of books and the employment of librarians. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the reasons for these primary schools not having been granted the funds required;

2. of the total number of primary schools with libraries in Hong Kong and, of these schools, the number with full-time librarians;

3. of the total number of full-time primary school librarians in Hong Kong and, of these librarians, the number of those who have received professional training in librarianship; and

4. whether it has plans to set up libraries in more government and aided primary schools?

Public Officer to reply :

Secretary for Education and Manpower

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

The Health and Welfare Bureau has informed this Council that out of the 102 recommendations made in the Report of the Working Party on Primary Health Care published in December 1990, 99 have either been implemented or are under planning. In this connection, will the Government list out the specific details of the implementation or planning of these 99 recommendations, as well as the progress in this regard?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare

*13. Mr YEUNG Yiu-chung to ask : (Translation)

It is set out in the Policy Address that the Government will formulate a five-year strategy to promote information technology education. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the progress in the formulation of the strategy;

2. in view of the limited space available in secondary school premises, what arrangements will be made by the authority to ensure the availability of adequate space to install new computers next year; and

3. which institutions or government departments are responsible for enhancing information technology training among teachers and the measures to take?

Public Officer to reply :

Secretary for Education and Manpower

*14. Mr MA Fung-kwok to ask : (Translation)

The Education Department has recently released a CD-ROM on traditional Cantonese opera and set up the Working Group on the Teaching of Cantonese Opera (the Working Group) to study revisions to the music syllabus as well as providing more support facilities for teachers in this respect. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the contents of the current music syllabus pertaining to Cantonese opera, and the expected completion date of the study of the Working Group;

2. how the Education Department is going to incorporate the relevant syllabus into the tightly-packed secondary school curriculum;

3. whether this CD-ROM can be read by the computer software currently used in schools; if not, whether there is any plan to upgrade the software and how much it will cost; and

4. whether it has studied the feasibility of using CD-ROMs as a teaching aid in other subjects; if so, what the details are?

Public Officer to reply :

Secretary for Education and Manpower

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

Will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the total number of accidents in the past three years in which the mooring ropes of franchised ferries and licensed ferries suddenly snapped and, of the number of such incidents which caused casualties; and

2. whether it has issued guidelines to ferry companies on the measures to be adopted to prevent mooring ropes of ferries from snapping, hence causing injuries to passengers; if so, what the details are; if not, whether it will consider drawing up such guidelines?

Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Economic Services

*16.Dr David LI to ask :

A senior ICAC official has been reported as saying that triads are responsible for half of the reported crimes committed in Hong Kong and that ICAC intelligence showed that 50 per cent of crimes was not reported. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. how effective is "intelligence" in detecting unreported crimes;

2. of the measures in place to encourage reporting of triad-related crimes to the police; and

3. whether it has undertaken any study on the adequacy of the existing police resources for combating triad-related crimes; if so, what the findings are?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

*17.Dr Mrs TSO WONG Man-yin to ask : (Translation)

It is reported the wetland in North West New Territories will be affected by a series of public works projects to be undertaken in future. Will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the public works projects which will affect the wetland;

2. whether it has formulated a set of long-term policy to prevent the loss of wetland; if not, why not; and

3. whether any measures are in place to reduce the impact of such projects on the ecology of the wetland; if so, what the details are?

Public Officer to reply :

Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands

*18. Mr Howard YOUNG to ask :

Under the Travel Agents Ordinance, travel agents providing outbound tours are required to obtain a licence whereas those providing tours to inbound visitors are not required to obtain such licence. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the reasons for such difference; and

2. whether it will consider requiring travel agents which provide tours to inbound visitors to be licensed; if so, when such a licensing system will be implemented?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Services

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

It is reported that some banks in Hong Kong lent large sums of Hong Kong dollars to speculators to engage in speculative activities. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it will take measures to step up the monitoring of financial institutions in Hong Kong in regard to their involvement in high-risk speculative activities, and whether it will conduct a comprehensive review of the existing monitoring mechanisms and legislation concerned; if so, what the details are?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services

*20. Mr Howard YOUNG to ask :

Will the Government inform this Council whether there are companies operating as outbound travel agencies without licence, if so:

1. what the estimated number is; and

2. whether the authority has taken actions against them; if so, what the actions are; if not, why not?

Public Officer to reply :

Secretary for Trade and Industry

* For written reply.

III. Bills

Second Reading

Debate to resume

Sex Discrimination (Amendment) Bill 1997 :

Secretary for Financial Services

Committee Stage and Third Reading

Sex Discrimination (Amendment) Bill 1997 :

Secretary for Financial Services

IV Members' Motions

1.Recruiting native English-speaking teachers of English for Hong Kong secondary schools

Mrs Elsie TU :

That this Council requests the Government to take into consideration the views of Members of the Provisional Legislative Council on the proposal to provide more than 700 additional native English-speaking teachers of English for Hong Kong secondary schools.

Public Officer to attend :

Secretary for Education and Manpower

2.The Building Safety Inspection Scheme

Mr TSANG Yok-sing :

(Translation)

That, in view of the fact that a large number of private property owners will be affected by the mandatory Building Safety Inspection Scheme to be implemented by the Buildings Department, this Council urges the Government to undertake the responsibility for the inspection of buildings, and to establish a building maintenance fund to provide assistance to building owners having difficulty meeting the repair costs; furthermore, the implementation of the Scheme should first be targeted at the oldest or the most dangerous buildings.

Amendments to Mr TSANG Yok-sing's motion

1. Mr Edward HO :

(Translation)

To delete "undertake the responsibility for the inspection of buildings" and substitute with "offer an alternative to property owners by providing an inspection and certification service to be charged at cost"; to delete ";" from "meeting the repair costs;" and substitute with "."; to delete "furthermore" and substitute with "Furthermore"; to delete "first" and "targeted at" from "the Scheme should first be targeted at"; and to add "for buildings over 30 years old and priority should be given to" before "the oldest or the most dangerous buildings".

2.Mr K K FUNG :(Translation)

To delete "the implementation of the Scheme should first be targeted at the oldest or the most dangerous buildings" and substitute with "the Scheme should first be targeted at buildings over 40 years old and be implemented by phases according to the age of the buildings, and the duration of inspection cycles should be increased from 7 to 10 years, so as to achieve the aim of systematically eliminating the potential dangers posed by aged buildings".

Public Officer to attend :

Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands

for Clerk to the Provisional Legislative Council