Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

Revised version
A 97/98-18(1)
(Issued at 11:00 am on 24.11.97)

Provisional Legislative Council

Agenda
Wednesday 26 November 1997 at 2:30 pm

I. Papers

Subsidiary Legislation	L.N. No.
1. Legislative Council (Registration of Electors) (Appeals) Regulation	541/97
2. Human Organ Transplant Regulation	551/97
3. Family Status Discrimination Ordinance (91 of 1997) (Commencement) Notice 1997	552/97
4. Family Status Discrimination (Proceedings by Equal Opportunities Commission) Regulation (L.N. 497 of 1997) (Commencement) Notice 1997	553/97
5. District Court Equal Opportunities (Amendment) Rules 1997 (L.N. 464 of 1997) (Commencement) Notice 1997	554/97
6. Labour Tribunal (General) (Amendment) Rules 1997 (L.N. 465 of 1997) (Commencement) Notice 1997	555/97

Sessional Papers

1.No.40-	The Hong Kong Industrial Estates Corporation Annual Report 1996-97
(to be presented by Secretary for Trade and Industry)
2.No.41-	Hong Kong Industrial Technology Centre Corporation Annual Report 1996-97
(to be presented by Secretary for Trade and Industry)

II. Questions

1.Prof NG Ching-fai to ask :

(Translation)

The Chief Executive pointed out in his Policy Address that he would set up a high level committee of academics, industrialists, businessmen and officials to advise him on the steps Hong Kong should take and the institutional arrangements needed to turn technological development into commercial products. In this regard, will the Government inform this Council:

when the Chief Executive will appoint members of the committee;
when the committee will hold its first meeting to outline its future work direction in detail;
of the arrangement that will be made regarding transparency and accountability of the committee; and
whether the authority will encourage the committee to communicate with the relevant committees of this Council?

Public Officer to reply

Secretary for Trade and
Industry

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

It is reported that some irradiated "cat's eye" gemstones are found in Thailand with a radiation level exceeding about 50 times the safety limit set by the United States (US) and about 25 times the statutory safety limit of Hong Kong. In this regard, will the Government inform this Council whether it has any measures to prevent irradiated gemstones or other minerals with an excessively high radiation level from being imported into Hong Kong?

Public Officer to reply

Secretary for Trade and
Industry

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

Regarding the employment of temporary and short-term staff in the civil service, will the Government inform this Council of:

the respective numbers of these two categories of staff;
the department from which such staff can seek assistance in the event of employment disputes with the Government; and
the existing principles according to which a temporary post or short-term post is changed into a post of the permanent and pensionable establishment?

Public Officer to reply: Secretary for the Civil Service
4.Mr CHOY Kan-pui to ask :
(Translation)

In respect of companies engaging in debt collection, will the Government inform this Council:

of the total number of companies currently engaging in debt collecting business in Hong Kong;
of the total number of complaints received by the authority in the past 3 years against the means used by the debt collecting companies in recovering debts, the nature of such complaints and, among them, the total number of cases which led to prosecution and conviction; and
whether it will consider enacting legislation to regulate the means used by the debt collecting companies in recovering debts?

Public Officer to reply

Secretary for Security
Secretary for Financial Services

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

Will the Government inform this Council:

whether any government departments will operate as trading funds in the next three years; if so, what these departments are and the expected time when they will start operating as such; and
of the criteria for determining that these government departments should operate as trading funds?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Treasury
6. Dr LAW Cheung-kwok to ask :
(Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:

of the major differences between the Securities (Insider Dealing) Ordinance (the Ordinance) in Hong Kong and the corresponding legislation in the United States and the United Kingdom;
1. of the number of cases in which prosecutions under the Ordinance were successfully instituted, together with the offences involved and the penalties imposed;
2. of the major difficulties encountered in instituting prosecutions; and
3. of its assessment of the effectiveness of the Ordinance in regulating "insider dealing" of listed companies; since the commencement of the Ordinance in 1991; and
whether it will honour its pledge to review the Ordinance in 1998?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services
* 7. Mr WONG Siu-yee to ask :
(Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council of:

the scheduled completion dates of the public housing estates in the south of Ho Man Tin and Phase 1 of the Comprehensive Redevelopment Programme of Ho Man Tin Estate; and
whether, upon the completion of these two projects, sufficient public rental flats can be provided to accommodate those residents who are affected by the redevelopment of Ho Man Tin Estate and Valley Road Estate?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing
* 8. Mr NGAI Shiu-kit to ask :
(Translation)

As Hong Kong exports will be facing keen competition as a result of the recent great devaluation of the currencies of Southeast Asian countries, will the Government consider suspending the levying of sewage charges on various industries in Hong Kong, so as to tide them over the difficult time?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Works

* 9.Mr LEE Kai-ming to ask :

(Translation)

It is learnt that recently the number of people crossing the border via the Lo Wu Immigration Control Point has increased by nearly 20%, resulting in long waiting time for immigration clearance. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

whether it has any contingency plans to increase the manpower for handling immigration clearance at the Lo Wu Immigration Control Point in the near future; if not, why not; and
of the long-term measures to be adopted to solve the problem of manpower shortage at that immigration control point and shorten the waiting time for immigration clearance?

Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Security
*10. Mr Henry TANG to ask :

It is learnt that shippers and freight forwarders are anxious to know the cost of cargo operations at the Chek Lap Kok airport which will open in April 1998. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:

it will refer to the guideline issued by the International Civil Aviation Organization which is that the redevelopment value of the old airport should be applied to assist the development of the new one, and use the income arising from developing the original site of the Kai Tak Airport to meet the development of the new airport; if so, what the plan is; if not, why not;
it will ensure that the purpose-built air cargo terminal at Kai Tak (HACTL Terminal 2) will be tendered out for the purpose of a cargo distribution point;
it knows the price cap per tonne of cargo to be charged by the air cargo terminals under the Scheme of Control in the first year of operation of the new airport; and the basis for determining the price cap; and
the Airport Authority will explain such basis to shippers and freight forwarders; if so, when the explanation will be given; if not, why not?

Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Economic Services
*11.Mr CHAN Wing-chan to ask :
(Translation)

Regarding the discrepancies between the actual saleable area and the saleable area stated in the sales brochure in respect of some of the flats sold by the Housing Society (HS), will the Government inform this Council whether it is aware:

if the HS and the Housing Authority (HA) plan to double-check the actual saleable area of flats to be put up for sale against the saleable area stated in the sales brochure; if so, what the specific plans are;
of the respective criteria adopted by the HS and the HA in measuring the gross floor area and the saleable area of their flats; and whether the two housing bodies have considered formulating a standard set of methods for measuring the two; and
the measures to be taken by the HS and the HA to ensure that similar incidents will not recur?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing
*12. Mr IP Kwok-him to ask :
(Translation)

After Hong Kong reunified with the motherland, professionally qualified doctors and medical school graduates from the Mainland are still required to pass the licentiate examination before they can practise medicine in Hong Kong, whereas local medical school graduates are not required to pass the examination prior to practising in Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

of the rationale for the different practising requirements in Hong Kong in respect of doctors and medical school graduates from the Mainland and local medical school graduates; and
whether it has conducted a review of the policy regarding Mainland doctors and medical school graduates practising in Hong Kong; if so, of the progress of the review; if not, why not?

Public Officer to reply

Secretary for Health and
Welfare

*13.Mr LAU Kong-wah to ask : (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:

of the number of persons who completed the health workers training courses organized by the Social Welfare Department and, among these, the number who worked as health workers in residential care homes, during the year 1996/97;
of the average monthly remuneration currently received by health workers, including fringe benefits and allowances such as housing allowance; and
of the wastage rate of health workers and the reasons for such wastage; and the measures in place to attract more people to work as health workers?

Public Officer to reply

Secretary for Health and
Welfare

*14.Dr David LI to ask :

It is reported that the Wu King Morning Hope School in Tuen Mun is placed next to a refuse collection room and on the ground floor of the Wu King Estate, therefore is subject to unpleasant smell and falling objects from the flats above. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it has any plan to relocate the school to a better and safer place, with standard fittings; if so, when the relocation will take place?

Public Officer to reply

Secretary for Education and
Manpower

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

It is reported that a considerable number of cases involving children being sexually assaulted occurred in new development districts, such as the Tuen Mun district. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

whether it has examined why such cases frequently took place in the new development districts;
of the number of subvented organizations which follow up such cases in various new development districts at present; and
whether it will provide additional resources for conducting educational programmes to prevent children from being sexually assaulted?

Public Officer to reply

Secretary for Health and
Welfare

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

Regarding the recent case in which a woman suspected of suffering from postpartum depression was alleged to have thrown her four-month-old baby girl from a high-rise building to the street after an unsuccessful suicidal attempt, will the Government inform this Council:

of the reasons or justifications for the medical staff on duty that day deciding not to require the woman to stay in the hospital for observation when she was sent to the accident and emergency department for treatment after her unsuccessful suicidal attempt;
whether the woman concerned had received counselling or treatment for postpartum depression provided by public medical institutions before the incident; if not, why not; and
whether it will establish a mechanism to enable women giving birth at non-public medical institutions and their families to have direct access to the antenatal and postnatal counselling services provided by public medical institutions without going through any referral procedure; if not, why not?

Public Officer to reply

Secretary for Health and
Welfare

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

It is reported that the emission from the incinerators administered by the Hospital Authority (HA) discharged during the disposal in the course of processing of clinical waste fails to meet the standards prescribed by the Environmental Protection Department, particularly in terms of heavy metals and hydrochloric acid levels which have been found to be 3 700 times and 100 times higher than the prescribed standards in excess ofrespectively. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:

the distribution of the clinical waste incinerators administered by the HA; whether the authority has assessed the ofenvironmental impact caused by the operation of these incinerators during their operation on the environment; if so, what the findingsresults are; if not, why not; and
the measures it will adopt in the near future to reduce the extent of improve the pollution level ofcaused by the emission from these incinerators?

Public Officer to reply

Secretary for Planning,
Environment and Lands

*18.Mrs Miriam LAU to ask :

Will the Government inform this Council whether it intends to introduce the Land Titles Bill into this Council; if not, whether it has any plan to set up a system of land titles registration in Hong Kong and the details and progress of such plan?

Public Officer to reply

Secretary for Planning,
Environment and Lands

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

Regarding coverage of Hong Kong by overseas media, will the Government inform this Council:

of the total number of media reports on Hong Kong in overseas cities where the Government has set up Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices (HKETOs) over the past three years and, of these reports, the number which was negative or untrue; and the number of response statements issued by the HKETOs concerned to clarify the misunderstandings or state the facts regarding such reports; and
whether there are cases where the media in the host cities refused to publish or report on the statements issued by the HKETOs; if so, of the total number of these cases, the cities involved and the reasons for such refusals?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Trade and Industry
*20. Mr WONG Siu-yee to ask :
(Translation)

The Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK), as a public broadcaster, spends more than $500 million of public fund per annum. Paragraph 2.1 of the "Framework Agreement" between the Broadcasting, Culture and Sport Bureau and RTHK stipulates that "RTHK is editorially independent. The Director as the Chief Editor is responsible for ensuring that a system of editorial control exists which will ensure fair, balanced and objective news, public affairs and general programming that will inform, educate and entertain the public." The Broadcasting, Culture and Sport Bureau states in a booklet that one of its aims in broadcasting matters is "to maintain RTHK as an effective public broadcaster, providing information, entertainment and educational programmes not normally provided by commercial broadcasters". RTHK pledges in its performance pledge that "its overriding purpose is to provide radio and television services that are distinctive and of high quality, and that are or might be at risk in the commercially funded sector of the market. It is editorially independent." In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

if it has undertaken a study on whether the political programmes produced by RTHK, such as "Talk About", "Headliners", "An Hour More", "Open Line, Open View" and so on, have breached the various agreement and pledges; if so, what the findings are; if not, why not;
of the reasons for RTHK stating only its editorial independence in its performance pledge, but not the responsibility of the Director of Broadcasting as the Chief Editor in ensuring that a system of editorial control exists so that RTHK provides fair, balanced and objective programmes;
whether, following the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the authority has conducted a comprehensive review to define RTHK's mission and responsibilities as a public broadcaster, so that its broadcasts fall in line with the overall interests of the Special Administrative Region; and
whether it has authorized or allowed certain members of RTHK staff (including contract staff) to promote their personal political stance through the public broadcaster; if so, what the reasons are?

Public Officer to reply

Secretary for Broadcasting,
Culture and Sport

* For written reply.

III. Bills

First Reading

1. Cross-Harbour Tunnel (Cross-Harbour Tunnel Regulations) (Amendment) Ordinance 1997 (Amendment) Bill 1997

2. Tate's Cairn Tunnel (Tate's Cairn Tunnel Regulations) (Amendment) Ordinance 1997 (Amendment) Bill 1997

3. Provident Fund Schemes Legislation (Amendment) Bill 1997

Second Reading

Debates to be adjourned

1. Cross-Harbour Tunnel (Cross-Harbour Tunnel Regulations) (Amendment)Ordinance 1997 (Amendment) Bill 1997	:	Secretary for Transport
2. Tate's Cairn Tunnel (Tate's Cairn Tunnel Regulations) (Amendment)Ordinance 1997 (Amendment) Bill 1997	:	Secretary for Transport
3. Provident Fund Schemes Legislation (Amendment)Bill 1997	:	Secretary for Financial Services

IV. Motions

Stamp Duty Ordinance

Secretary for the Treasury :

That section 29I(1) of the Stamp Duty Ordinance be amended by repealing "31 December 1997" and substituting "31 December 1999".

Amendment to Secretary for the Treasury's motion

Mr Ronald ARCULLI :

That the motion to be moved by the Secretary for the Treasury under section 29I(2) of the Stamp Duty Ordinance (Cap. 117) at the Provisional Legislative Council meeting on 26 November 1997 be amended by deleting "31 December 1999" and substituting "30 June 1998".

V. Members' Motions

1.Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance

Mr Allen LEE :

That section 22 of the Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden Bylaw, published as Legal Notice No. 504 of 1997 and laid on the table of the Provisional Legislative Council on 5 November 1997, be amended by repealing "Attorney General" and substituting "Secretary for Justice".

2.Review of the operating mechanism of Hong Kong's financial market

Mr Ambrose LAU : (Translation)

That, in view of the recent international financial turmoil, this Council urges the Government, under the principle of maintaining a free and open market, to expeditiously review the operating mechanism of the local financial market, including the chain relationship between the stock, foreign exchange and index futures markets, and in particular to properly regulate stock lending and short selling of index futures, with a view to strengthening the Government's responsiveness to unforeseeable speculative activities and financial crises; furthermore, the Government should adopt effective measures to enhance the general stock buyers' understanding of the operation of the stock market and financial derivatives.

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Financial Services

3.Sale of Flats to Sitting Tenants Scheme

Mr K K FUNG : (Translation)

That, in view of the Government's intention to introduce the Sale of Flats to Sitting Tenants Scheme, this Council urges the Government to adopt the following specific policies:

the construction cost of redeveloping the public rental housing (PRH) flats at the time of sale be used as the selling price of the flats;
the Housing Department should continue to be responsible for the management of the sold PRH flats;
a maintenance fund be established for carrying out the maintenance and improvement works on the housing blocks;
the re-sale of sold PRH flats be restricted to PRH flat owners, PRH tenants and applicants on the General Waiting List;
PRH flat owners, who have genuine financial difficulties, be allowed to re-sell their flats to the Housing Authority and to revert to the status of PRH tenants; and
the Housing Authority should assume the responsibility for redeveloping the sold PRH flats, as well as undertake to compensate and rehouse the PRH flat owners if the flats are to be redeveloped in future.

Amendments to Mr K K FUNG's motion

1.Mr Allen LEE : (Translation)

To delete "view of the Government's intention to introduce the Sale of Flats to Sitting Tenants Scheme" and substitute with "order to ensure the success of the sale of the public rental housing (PRH) flats scheme"; to insert "original" before "construction"; to delete "redeveloping the public rental housing"; to delete "( )" from "(PRH)"; to insert "the" before "PRH"; to delete "at the time of sale"; to add "the basis for determining" after "used as"; to delete "the Housing Department should continue to be responsible for the management of the sold PRH flats;" and "(3)"; to add "(3) PRH tenants be allowed to freely purchase any PRH flats on sale; and" after "housing blocks;"; to delete "resale of sold" and substitute with "buyers of"; to delete "restricted to PRH flat owners, PRH tenants and applicants on the General Waiting List;" and substitute with "allowed to sell their flats in the market without restrictions after a specified time"; and to delete "(5) PRH flat owners, who have genuine financial difficulties, be allowed to re-sell their flats to the Housing Authority and to revert to the status of PRH tenants; and (6) the Housing Authority should assume the responsibility for redeveloping the sold PRH flats, as well as undertake to compensate and rehouse the PRH flat owners if the flats are to be redeveloped in future".

2. Mr CHENG Kai-nam : (Translation)

To add ", offset by a rate of depreciation," after "time of sale"; to add "the base for setting" after "be used as"; to delete "continue to be responsible for the management of the sold PRH flats" and substitute with "take up the responsibility for assisting the PRH flat owners in setting up Owners' Corporations if the number of sold PRH flats reaches a specified proportion of the total number of available PRH flats, and should continue to be responsible for the management of both the sold and unsold PRH flats if the number of sold PRH flats fails to reach the specified proportion"; to insert "the Housing Department should set aside a certain proportion of the proceeds from the sale of PRH flats as the principal of" before "a maintenance fund"; to delete "be"; to delete "the re-sale of sold PRH flats be restricted" and substitute with "three years after purchasing the PRH flats, owners should be allowed to re-sell their flats"; to insert "other" before "PRH flat owners"; to add "or to sell their flats freely in the market after repayment of the land premium; and" after "General Waiting List"; and to delete "; and (6) the Housing Authority should assume the responsibility for redeveloping the sold PRH flats, as well as undertake to compensate and rehouse the PRH flat owners if the flats are to be redeveloped in future".

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Housing

Clerk to the Provisional Legislative Council