Revised version
A 97/98-6(1)
(Issued at 11:00 am on 25.8.97)

Provisional Legislative Council

Agenda
Wednesday 27 August 1997 at 2:30 pm

I. Papers

Sessional Papers

1. No. 4 -

Urban Council A list of revised works for the quarter ended 31 March 1997

(to be presented by the Secretary for Broadcasting, Culture and Sport)

2. No.5 -

Revised list of works annexed to the Regional Council's Revised Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for 1996/97

(to be presented by the Secretary for Broadcasting, Culture and Sport)

3. No. 6 -

Pneumoconiosis Compensation Fund Board Annual Report 1996

(to be presented by the Secretary for Education and Manpower)

Report

Report of the Bills Committee on the Electoral Affairs Commission Bill

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

II. Questions

1. Mr TAM Yiu-chung to ask :(Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council of:

1. the number of persons who received assistance under the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance scheme on account of unemployment in each of the past three years, together with a breakdown of these persons by sex, age, job last held and family size; and

2. the measures in place to assist unemployed persons in securing employment or encourage them to take up part-time work, so as to enable them to become employed again as early as possible and thereby increasing their income?

Public Officer to reply	:Secretary for Health and Welfare

2. Mrs Miriam LAU to ask :(Translation)

In order to relieve existing traffic congestion along the waterfront in the northern part of Hong Kong Island, the Government has planned to construct the Central-Wan Chai Bypass and the Island Eastern Corridor Link. However, the recently enacted Protection of the Harbour Ordinance provides that there shall be a presumption against reclamation in the central harbour. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the specific impact of the Ordinance on these two road projects; and

2. whether the Government will proceed with the construction works of these two projects notwithstanding the provision in the above-mentioned Ordinance regarding the presumption against reclamation in the central harbour?

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

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

A Subject Officer of the Hong Kong Examinations Authority (HKEA) was found guilty of stealing the examination papers for his son who was a candidate for this year's Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination. The officer concerned was now awaiting sentencing by the court. The incident has aroused wide public concern and caused negative impact on the credibility of the HKEA. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council what measures will be adopted by the HKEA to step up the regulation of, as well as improve, the HKEA's monitoring system?

Public Officer to reply:

Secretary for Education and Manpower

4. Mr CHOY Kan-pui to ask :(Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council of:

1. the number of industrial accidents involving students undertaking summer jobs, and the number of casualties thereof, in each of the past three years;

2. the types of trades in which the above-mentioned industrial accidents occurred; and

3. whether the authority concerned has conducted any investigations into the causes of industrial accidents involving students undertaking summer jobs; and what measures will be adopted by the authority concerned to prevent the occurrence of such incidents?

Public Officer to reply:

Secretary for Education and Manpower

5.Mr CHAN Kam-lam to ask :(Translation)

It was reported that another incident of mismatched blood transfusion occurred recently in a public hospital. In this connection, does the Government know:

1. of the time when the hospital concerned knew of the above incident;

2. of the follow-up actions (such as notifying the family of the victim, giving a public account of the incident, conducting an investigation and finding out who should be held responsible... etc) taken by the hospital;

3. whether any measures have been taken by the Hospital Authority following the incident to strengthen the monitoring of blood transfusion procedures of public hospitals;

4. whether the Hospital Authority will review the existing guidelines on blood transfusion issued to public hospitals; and

5. of the proceedings and findings of the investigations held after the occurrence of the previous two incidents of mismatched blood transfusion; whether disciplinary actions have been taken against any medical staff and, if so, what such actions are?

Public Officer to reply:

Secretary for Health and Welfare

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

In connection with the Government's decision to clear all the remaining 13 Temporary Housing Areas (THA) by the end of March 2000, will the Government inform this Council:

1. whether a timetable has been drawn up for clearing the above-mentioned 13 THAs; if so, what the details are;

2. of the number of residents currently residing in the above-mentioned THAs; and

3. of the Government's plan on the proposed usage of the sites following the clearance of the THAs; and of the number of THA sites cleared which will be used for the construction of public rental housing flats, Home Ownership Scheme flats and Sandwich Class Housing Scheme flats, together with the estimated number of flats to be provided and the timeframe for the provision of these flats?

Public Officer to reply:

Secretary for Housing

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

In his speech delivered at the ceremony to celebrate the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region held on 1 July this year, the Chief Executive mentioned that the world was entering an information era and that positive measures must be adopted to encourage investment in the information industry and related infrastructure, as well as nurture expertise in this area. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:

1. the details and scope of "investment in the information industry and related infrastructure" mentioned by the Chief Executive; and

2. the specific measures which the Government will adopt to encourage investment in the information industry and related infrastructure?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Services

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

The Chairman of the Land and Building Advisory Committee indicated the other day that, based on the information available, it is estimated that there is now a shortage of 10 hectares of land earmarked for the construction of schools to meet the educational needs of the 66 000 mainland-born children of Hong Kong permanent residents when they come to settle in Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the plans to solve the problem of land shortage mentioned above, and the earliest possible time that the Government is expected to provide the land required;

2. whether the shortage of land will further delay the implementation of such measures as the introduction of whole-day primary schooling and the reduction of floating classes; and

3. in the event that the Government fails to provide sufficient land in the next five years for the construction of the number of secondary and primary schools required, what measures will be adopted to solve the education problem of school-age new arrivals from the mainland?

Public Officer to reply:

Secretary for Education and Manpower

* 9.Mr CHIM Pui-chung to ask : (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council of the lists of all the guests invited to attend the farewell ceremony held on 30 June 1997 and the ceremony of the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong held at midnight on the same day?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

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

In order to facilitate the installation and maintenance of public utilities such as water mains and electric wires, a large number of pavements in the territory are paved with floor slabs which are not secured with concrete. However, after continuous periods of heavy rain, the road surface of these pavements becomes rugged as a result of the mud being washed away, thus causing inconvenience and potential hazard to the public. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the existing arrangements adopted by the relevant department to maintain this type of pavements;

2. of the remedial and improvement measures taken by the relevant department to tackle the problem of rugged road surface of these pavements; and

3. whether the Government has any plans to replace the method of constructing pavements mentioned above?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Works

*11.Mr NGAN Kam-chuen to ask : (Translation)

Currently there is a shortage of coins in circulation, in particular coins of 10-cent and 20-cent denominations, and certain shops have adopted the practice of using small-denomination stamps in place of coins for giving changes. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the current quantities of coins of 10-cent and 20-cent denominations in circulation respectively;

2. what means does the relevant authority have to resolve the problem of shortage of coins; and

3. whether the use by shops of small-denomination stamps in place of coins for the purpose of giving changes constitutes an offence; if so, of the penalty of such an offence?

Public Officer to reply :

Secretary for Financial Services

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

Regarding the "chevron markings" trial scheme implemented by the Transport Department at the section south of Lam Kam Interchange on Tolo Highway in July last year, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the effectiveness of the trial scheme;

2. whether the Transport Department will consider implementing the "chevron markings" scheme on Tolo Highway on a full-scale basis, as well as extending the scheme to other expressways which are regarded as traffic accident black spots such as Tuen Mun Road; and

3. given that a number of recent traffic accidents were caused by tail-gating, whether any other measures, apart from adopting the "chevron markings" trial scheme, are put in place to increase drivers* awareness of keeping a safe distance from other vehicles?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport

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

As most of the secondary schools in Hong Kong adopt the floating-class system at the sixth and seventh-form levels, will the Government inform this Council whether there are plans to abolish the floating class system; if so, of the specific timetable for the implementation of such plans?

Public Officer to reply :

Secretary for Education and Manpower

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

Recently many public housing tenants have complained about the design of their iron door gates being far too simple and that the gates can be easily forced open, resulting in frequent occurrence of burglary cases. The Housing Department has undertaken to study the problem and make improvements in this regard. In this connection, does the Government know:

1. of the findings of the study undertaken by the Housing Department;

2. whether the Housing Authority will replace these iron gates free of charge for these tenants in order to step up security; and

3. whether the Housing Authority has any established guidelines for determining the adoption of door gate design?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing

*15.Mrs Elsie TU to ask :

With regard to illegal immigrants serving prison terms in Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the number of illegal immigrants who were sentenced to serve prison terms for entering and taking up work in Hong Kong illegally in each of the past three years;

2. of a breakdown of the above illegal immigrants who are currently serving prison terms according to:
   1. nationality;
   2. age (below and above the age of 18);
   3. duration of prison terms (serving less than 15 months, 15 months and above);

3. of the proportion of the above illegal immigrants currently serving prison terms to the total prison population; and

4. whether the above illegal immigrants below the age of 18 serving prison terms are placed in juvenile or adult prisons?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

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

The Director of Social Welfare recently announced that in the consultancy report on residential services for the elderly soon to be released, the Government recommends promoting the concept of "providing the elderly with a sense of belonging" so as to avoid as far as possible relocating the elderly from the districts in which they reside, thus enabling them to enjoy life in their old age in familiar surroundings. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. whether a public consultation exercise will be conducted after the release of the above report; if not, why not;

2. how the concept of "providing the elderly with a sense of belonging" is embodied in the present and future allocations of resources for residential services for the elderly, and whether the Government will make any pledge to achieve this objective;

3. whether the recommendations of the above report will include:
   1. shortening the waiting time for the allocation of residential places in various elderly institutions;

   2. requesting the elderly in a better health condition to move out of the elderly hostels and homes so as to make available residential places for accommodating those with poorer health; if so, whether the consent of the elderly persons concerned will be sought prior to requesting them to move out; and

4. whether the Government will consider extending the concept of "providing the elderly with a sense of belonging" to cover the single and two-person elderly households affected by the Comprehensive Redevelopment Programme of the Housing Authority, in order that these elderly persons can be rehoused in the same locality; if not, why not?

Public Officer to reply :Secretary for Health and Welfare

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

Tourism has all along played an important role in the economy of Hong Kong. However, the tourism industry has recently experienced a downturn, with the hotel occupancy rate standing at only 50% in July and August this year. In this regard, will the Government inform this Council whether it will adopt measures to assist the tourism industry in overcoming the present downturn in the industry; if so, what the details are?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Services

*18.Dr David LI to ask :

It is reported that more than 40 per cent of the students who sat for the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination this year failed in the Chinese Language and English Language subjects. As a result, the Hong Kong Examinations Authority will consider introducing easier language examinations for the academically weak students. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of the reasons for the Hong Kong Examinations Authority's intention to introduce easier language examinations instead of adopting measures to improve the language proficiency of students?

Public Officer to reply :

Secretary for Education and Manpower

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

Among the 131 000-plus candidates who sat for the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination this year, only 24 000 of them can proceed to Form Six while the rest may have to take up employment. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. how it will help young people to prepare themselves for the challenge of joining the workforce in view of increasing competition in the society; and

2. whether it has formulated any long-term training programmes for young people?

Public Officer to reply :

Secretary for Education and Manpower

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

It is learnt that in its proposal to the Provisional Urban Council to cut the construction costs of the Central Library, the Architectural Services Department (ASD) has suggested deleting two lifts specially for the use of the disabled. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the facilities included in the architectural design of the Central Library which are provided for the use of those who are physically handicapped, and those who have visual or hearing impairment;

2. of the reasons for the deletion of the two lifts, and whether there are no other alternative options;

3. what effects the deletion of the two lifts will have on the disabled using the Central Library;

4. what other facilities can replace the functions of the two lifts or remedy the inconvenience caused to the disabled using the Library; and

5. whether the ASD's proposal is in breach of the provisions in the Disability Discrimination Ordinance (Cap. 487) governing the provision of facilities for the disabled?

Public Officer to reply :

Secretary for Broadcasting, Culture and Sport

* For written reply.

III. Bills

Second Reading

Debates to resume

1. Electoral Affairs Commission Bill :	Secretary for Constitutional Affairs
2. Inland Revenue (Amendment) (No.3) Bill 1997 :	Secretary for the Treasury
3. Dutiable Commodities (Amendment) (No.2) Bill 1997 :	Secretary for the Treasury

Committee Stage and Third Reading

1. Electoral Affairs Commission Bill :	Secretary for Constitutional Affairs
2. Inland Revenue (Amendment) (No.3) Bill 1997 :	Secretary for the Treasury
3. Dutiable Commodities (Amendment) (No.2) Bill 1997 :	Secretary for the Treasury

IV. Motions

Public Bus Services Ordinance

Secretary for Transport :

That the franchise conferring the right on the Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited to operate a public bus service on the routes specified in the Schedule of Routes (Kowloon Motor Bus Company) (No.2) Order 1997 (L.N.394 of 1997) and in any subsequent order made by the Chief Executive in Council shall not, for the entire period of the franchise, be subject to sections 27, 28, 29 and 31 in Part V of the Public Bus Services Ordinance.

V. Members' Motions

1.Assisting Hong Kong's farming and fishing industries

Mr LO Suk-ching : (Translation)

That this Council urges the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to formulate a long-term farming and fishing policy, so as to support the development of farming and fishing industries in the territory.

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Economic Services

2.Resolving the flooding problem in the Northwest New Territories

Dr TANG Siu-tong : (Translation)

That, as the flooding problem in the northwest New Territories has remained very serious in recent years, this Council urges the Government to:

1. speed up the progress of drainage improvement works in the northwest New Territories;

2. provide adequate resources for the stepping up of maintenance and clearance works of watercourses and other drainage systems at flooding blackspots before the rainy season; and

3. communicate closely with the Shenzhen authorities on the early notification to the territory of the time of flood-discharges, so that residents can make adequate preparation, thereby reducing loss in lives and property.

Public Officer to attend :

Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands

LAW Wing-lok
for Clerk to the Provisional Legislative Council