A 98/99-6(1)

Legislative Council

Agenda

I. Papers

Subsidiary Legislation		L.N.No.
1.	Statutes of the University of Hong Kong (Amendment) Statutes 1998	299/98
2.	Boilers and Pressure Vessels (Exemption) (Consolidation) (Amendment) Order 1998	300/98
3.	Antiquities and Monuments (Declaration of Historical Building) Notice 1998	301/98
4.	Tax Reserve Certificates (Rate of Interest) (No.3) Notice 1998	302/98
5.	Industrial Training (Clothing Industry) (Amendment) (No.2) Ordinance 1995 (31 of 1995) (Commencement) Notice 1998	303/98
6.	Import and Export (Registration) (Amendment) Regulation 1995 (L.N. 544 of 1995) (Commencement) Notice 1998	304/98
7.	Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Passports (Appeal Board) Regulation (L.N. 91 of 1998) (Commencement) Notice 1998	305/98
8.	Road Traffic (Construction and Maintenance of Vehicles) (Amendment) (No.3) Regulation 1998	306/98
9.	Revised Edition of the Laws (Rectification of Errors) Order 1998	307/98
10.	Volunteer and Naval Volunteer Pensions Ordinance (Amendment of Schedules) Order 1998	308/98
11.	Barristers Disciplinary Tribunal Proceedings (Amendment) Rules 1998	309/98

Sessional Papers
1.No.19-	Report on the Administration of the Immigration Service Welfare Fund prepared by the Director of Immigration in accordance with Regulation 10 of the Immigration Service (Welfare Fund) Regulations
(to be presented by Secretary for Security)
2.No.20-	Hong Kong Trade Development Council Annual Report 1997/98
(to be presented by Secretary for Trade and Industry)

Report

Report of the Committee on Rules of Procedure of the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on the Procedural Arrangements for implementing Article 79(6) of the Basic Law

(to be presented by Hon Mrs Selina CHOW, Chairman of the Committee, who will address the Council)

II. Questions

1. Hon CHENG Kai-nam to ask: (Translation)

It is learnt that the Town Planning Board has agreed to designate land in Stanley for the construction of a multi-storey car park in order to solve the problem of insufficient parking spaces in the district. Will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the estimated earliest date at which the carpark will operate; and

2. whether there is any contingency plan for dealing with the difficulties (such as the problem of delay in the timeframe caused by land resumption procedures) which are expected to arise in the course of taking forward the construction project of the carpark?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport

2. Hon Ambrose CHEUNG to ask: (Translation)

It is learnt that the Government proposes to build the Mei Foo Station of West Rail in the Lai Chi Kok Park with the high profile construction method. The park was built after the completion of Container Terminals 5, 6 and 7 as undertaken by the Government upon its consultation with residents of the Mei Foo Sun Chuen. It serves as a buffer zone between residential premises and the infrastructural facilities concerned in the area and provides sports and recreational amenities as well. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. why it proposes to build the Mei Foo Station of West Rail in the Lai Chi Kok Park; whether it has studied if alternative sites (such as the site to the east of the KMB's Lai Chi Kok Depot) are available;

2. whether it has assessed the adverse impact of such a proposal on the Government's credibility in decision-making, and on the living environment as well as sports and recreational amenities of the area; if so, what the details are; if not, why not;

3. whether reclaimed land has been reserved in West Kowloon for the construction of railway when the alignment and works of West Rail were planned; if not, why not;

4. why it does not use the low profile construction method to build the West Rail station, in view of the fact that the residents in the area strongly opposed to the high profile construction method; and

5. why it has refused the request of residents that financial assistance should be provided to them so that they could hire an independent consultant to assess the information supplied by the Government on the siting and construction works of the West Rail station?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport

3. Hon Albert HO to ask: (Translation)

In view of the recent increase in the number of cases of debt collection by unlawful means, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the number of complaints about debt recovery actions of debt collection agencies received by the Police in each of the past 12 months; and of the number of prosecutions initiated in response to these complaints;

2. whether it is aware of the number of complaints about illegal practices of harassment or intimidation by debt collection agencies received each month by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (the Authority) during the same period, as well as the detailed breakdown of these unlawful practices by types;

3. whether it is aware of how the Authority ensures that banks will comply with the guidelines on debt collection practices set out in the Code of Banking Practice, and how it deals with banks not complying; and

4. whether further measures or legislation will be introduced to regulate the debt collection activities of these agencies?

Public Officers to reply

:

Secretary for Security Secretary for Financial Services

4. Prof Hon NG Ching-fai to ask: (Translation)

It is learnt that as the Government has decided to cancel increases to tuition fees for tertiary institutions in 1998-1999, the estimated amount of revenue from tuition fees received by these institutions will hence be reduced by about $130 million in total. In view of that, will the Government inform this Council whether it has any plans to apply to the Finance Committee of this Council for allocation of the amount to these tertiary institutions, in order to cover their estimated loss in tuition fees?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

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

In view of the recent series of serious medical incidents involving human negligence in public hospitals managed by the Hospital Authority (HA), will the Government inform this Council whether:

1. such incidents indicate a shortage of frontline staff in public hospitals as well as inadequacy in their sense of accountability and alertness to dangers;

2. it is aware of any disciplinary actions taken by the hospitals concerned against their staff who are involved in the cases of negligence; if so, what the details are; if not, why not;

3. it is aware of the basis on which HA and public hospitals decide on the appropriate time for disclosing medical incidents and offering explanations to the patients concerned, their families and the public; and whether any review will be conducted on the appropriateness of the current practice; and

4. it is aware of any plans which would be put in place by HA to help improve the risk management measures adopted at present by public hospitals in connection with health care work, for the effective prevention of cases of human negligence; if so, what the details of the plans are; if not, why not?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare

6. Dr Hon LUI Ming-wah to ask: (Translation)

In order to help Hong Kong manufacturers and enterprises solve problems relating to taxation and law, etc. encountered in their operations in the Mainland, will the Government inform this Council whether it will consider playing a coordinating role in establishing a support centre in Hong Kong, and at the same time consulting with the Central People's Government on the setting up of an organization in the Mainland to provide the relevant assistance?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Trade and Industry

*7. Hon Mrs Selina CHOW to ask: (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the total number of operations conducted by the Customs and Excise Department against the smuggling of chilled poultry into Hong Kong over the past three years;

2. of the market value of the chilled poultry seized in the operations concerned; and

3. whether it has estimated the market value of the chilled poultry successfully smuggled into the territory; if so, what the market value is?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

*8. Hon CHAN Wing-chan to ask: (Translation)

It is learnt that an owner of a restaurant located in the basement of a building was not issued building and structural plans after applying to the Buildings Department (BD) for such plans for three years. As a result, the Urban Services Department (USD) refused to issue a licence to the restaurant which was consequently fined more than $500,000 for operating without a licence. It was only after lodging a complaint with the Ombudsman that the restaurant owner received the plans from BD and was subsequently granted a provisional restaurant licence by USD. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the time normally taken to apply for building and structural plans from BD;

2. why it took three years to issue such plans to the restaurant owner in question; whether it is related to the restaurant being located in the basement of a building;

3. why BD issued the plans only after the owner had lodged a complaint with the Office of the Ombudsman; and

4. whether it has examined if the imposition of fines totalling over $500,000 on the owner for operating a restaurant without a licence is related to the delay by BD in issuing the plans; if so, whether BD will offer an apology and compensation for this?

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

*9. Dr Hon LEONG Che-hung to ask:

Regarding the supply of pharmaceutical products during the period when the new Hong Kong International Airport was experiencing a chaotic situation in cargo handling service, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:

1. the number of consignments of pharmaceutical products that have been delayed and for how long;

2. if the Hospital Authority or the Department of Health have been short of supply of pharmaceutical products during the period; and

3. if there is any mechanism or contingency plan in place in the Hospital Authority or the Department of Health to help patients obtain pharmaceutical products which have been in short supply due to delay or loss of the consignments?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare

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

Will the Government inform this Council whether it has any plan to list the government-owned infrastructural facilities (such as road tunnels) on the stock exchange; if so, what the details are?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Treasury

*11. Hon Eric LI to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the bankruptcy cases handled by the Official Receiver's Office, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the respective numbers of new bankruptcy cases received as well as cases completed and not yet completed by the Office in each of the past three financial years;

2. of the average costs borne by the Office in processing one bankruptcy case;

3. whether an estimate has been made of the number of bankruptcy cases still outstanding at the end of this financial year; and

4. whether the Office has any plan to expedite the processing of the outstanding cases?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services

*12. Hon Mrs Sophine LEUNG to ask: (Translation)

As the Government is actively assisting the Hong Kong Industrial Estates Corporation in developing the fourth industrial estate at Tuen Mun, will the Government inform this Council of:

1. the present respective numbers of factory buildings in the three industrial estates at Yuen Long, Tai Po and Tseung Kwan O;

2. the major types of industrial operations to which land has been granted for the construction of factory buildings in these three industrial estates; and among them, the number of small and medium enterprises each employing less than 50 employees; and

3. the planned capacity of the fourth industrial estate to meet the future demand of local industries for industrial land, in terms of years?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Trade and Industry

*13. Hon LAW Chi-kwong to ask: (Translation)

In order to enhance the quality of services provided by multi-service centres and social centres for the elderly, will the Government inform this Council:

1. whether it has any plan to provide full subvention for such centres; if so, of the estimated amount of subvention involved; and

2. as no subvention will be provided by the Community Chest this year for newly-established multi-service centres and social centres for the elderly to make up for the shortfall between their expenditure and the government subvention, how Government will assist these institutions?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare

*14. Hon WONG Yung-kan to ask: (Translation)

It is learnt that as a result of fishing in the water in the vicinity of the new airport, a number of local fishermen have recently been prosecuted for gaining unauthorized entry to a restricted area. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the Ordinance under which those fishermen were prosecuted, the total number of fishermen prosecuted accordingly to date, and the penalty imposed in general by the courts on persons convicted of unauthorized entry to a restricted area;

2. whether the water in the vicinity of the new airport is within the scope of a restricted area; if so, of the coverage of the restricted area, the date at which it was designated as a restricted area, and whether any consultation with the local fishermen had been undertaken beforehand;

3. whether any assessment has been made of the impact on the income of local fishermen in designating the water in the vicinity of the new airport as a restricted area; and

4. whether consideration will be given to offering compensation to those local fishermen affected by such designation; if not, why not?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Services

*15. Hon CHAN Yuen-han to ask: (Translation)

It is reported that quite a number of ethnic Chinese living in Indonesia have come to Hong Kong to seek refuge since rioting erupted in that country in May this year, some of them being Hong Kong residents and their family members. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the number of ethnic Chinese Indonesians who have come to Hong Kong since May this year; the number of them who are Hong Kong permanent residents or holders of Hong Kong Identity Cards; whether there has been an increase in the number of ethnic Chinese Indonesians who have come to Hong Kong as compared with that in the corresponding period of last year;

2. of the circumstances under which holders of Indonesian passports are required to have an entry visa when entering Hong Kong; of the shortest, the longest and the normal periods of time which the Immigration Department needs for processing visa applications by these people; whether the time required to process such visa applications has been shortened since May;

3. whether the Immigration Department conducts questioning or makes special arrangements when considering whether to permit the entry of ethnic Chinese Indonesians into Hong Kong; if so, what the details are;

4. of the respective periods of stay in Hong Kong granted to Indonesian passport holders who are exempted the visa requirement, and those who have been issued an entry visa; whether there has been an increasing trend in the number of cases involving overstaying since May; and

5. of the conditions and procedures for applying for an extension of stay; whether the Immigration Department has received applications for an extension of stay from ethnic Chinese Indonesians so far; if so, of the respective numbers of families and persons involved; whether the Government has provided special assistance to such families; if so, what the details are?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

*16. Hon TSANG Yok-sing to ask: (Translation)

It is learnt that the Immigration Department has been issuing the Certificate of Absence of Marriage Record for nearly 20 years, without the necessary power conferred by law. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. how and when it became aware of the ultra vires acts committed by the department; if the act has just been identified recently, why it has failed to identify it in the past; if the act had already been identified for a long time, why it had not been disclosed until recently; and

2. whether it has been conducting reviews on the legal basis for the exercise of powers by various government departments from time to time or at regular intervals; if not, why not; if so, whether the reviews are conducted by the respective departments concerned or under the co-ordination of one department?

Public Officer to reply : Chief Secretary for Administration

*17. Hon Howard YOUNG to ask: (Translation)

In April this year, two Hong Kong residents travelling abroad with a tour group were injured and killed respectively in a diving accident, and compensation for them has not yet been settled. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:

1. the avenues through which Hong Kong residents involved in accidents while travelling abroad can seek assistance from the Government;

2. the mechanism or the department through which the Government provides assistance to such Hong Kong residents in liaising with the local government, or follows up the development of the case by, for example, obtaining the local government's investigation report on the accident as soon as possible, or pursuing the matter with the institutions or persons concerned over the responsibility for the accident;

3. the avenues through which Hong Kong residents who met with accidents while travelling abroad and received assistance from the local Chinese Consulate can contact the Consulate concerned after they have returned to Hong Kong to follow up the case where necessary; and

4. the protection and assistance that Hong Kong residents travelling abroad may obtain from the Government other than by taking out insurance themselves?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

*18. Hon Andrew CHENG to ask: (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the circumstances under which the Police will prosecute negligent motorists at present and of the legislation that they usually invoke for this purpose;

2. of the number of motorists thus prosecuted successfully by the Police, and of the highest, lowest and average penalties imposed on them by the courts in the past three years; and

3. whether it is carrying out a review on the legislation against driving in a negligent manner; if so, what the details and the proposed schedule for revising the legislation are?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport

*19. Hon Kenneth TING to ask: (Translation)

International speculators have recently engaged in short-selling activities in Hong Kong's financial market. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of the countries which have laws in force prohibiting fund managers and companies with provident fund schemes or pension schemes from lending the stocks and bonds they hold in order to curb short-selling activities?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services

*20. Hon LAU Kong-wah to ask: (Translation)

The weather has been very hot recently and a number of markets managed by the Housing Authority (HA) and the Housing Society (HS) are not provided with air-conditioning systems and sufficient ventilation facilities. The very high temperature inside the markets has resulted in the meat for sale at the stalls turning bad very quickly. In this connection, does the Government know:

1. of the number of HA markets and HS markets which have not been provided with air-conditioning systems to date;

2. whether HA and HS will consider installing air-conditioning systems at these markets; if so, what the details and the timetable for such installation are; if not, why not;

3. of the reasons why approval has still not been granted for installing air-conditioning systems at these markets, despite the repeated requests made by the relevant market stallholders over the years; and

4. of the criteria adopted by HA and HS in determining the priority of markets to be provided with air-conditioning systems?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing

* For written reply.

III. Bills

First Reading

Human Reproductive Technology Bill

Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)

Human Reproductive Technology Bill : Secretary for Health and Welfare

Second Reading (Debate to resume), Committee Stage and Third Reading

Holidays (Amendment) Bill 1998 :Secretary for Education and Manpower

IV. Members' Motions

1. Resolution under Article 75 of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China

Hon Mrs Selina CHOW:

(See Resolution at Appendix)

2. Resolution under Article 79(6) of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China

Dr Hon LEONG Che-hung:

RESOLVED that whereas the Honourable CHIM Pui-chung was convicted on 1 August 1998 in the Court of First Instance of the High Court in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of a criminal offence, and was sentenced on 3 August 1998 by the same Court to imprisonment for one month or more (as particularized in the Schedule), this Council relieves the Honourable CHIM Pui-chung of his duties as a Member of the Legislative Council.

SCHEDULE
Case No.	Court	Offence Convicted	Date of Conviction	Sentence	Date of Sentence
Criminal Case HCCC 133 of 1997	Court of First Instance of the High Court	Conspiracy to Forge, contrary to Common Law and section 71 of the Crimes Ordinance (Cap. 200)	1 August 1998	Imprisonment for 3 years	3 August 1998

3. Attacks on the Hong Kong currency

Hon Bernard CHAN:

That this Council urges the Government to adopt strategic and effective measures to deter further speculative attacks on the Hong Kong currency, which have immensely harmed the local economy. The adopted measures must aim to protect the integrity of the local capital markets, while maintaining investor confidence and market stability.

Amendment to Hon Bernard CHAN's motion

Hon Albert HO:

To add "expeditiously" after "That this Council urges the Government to"; to delete "strategic and effective" and substitute with "appropriate legislative and administrative"; to add "improve the existing regulatory mechanism and operating rules of the financial market, so as to limit" after "measures to"; to delete "deter further speculative"; to delete ", which have immensely harmed the local economy. The adopted measures must aim to protect" and add "and speculative activities in the market; and not to further intervene by trading in the securities and futures markets, thereby protecting"; and to delete "the local capital markets, while maintaining investor" and substitute with "Hong Kong as an international financial centre and restoring local and overseas investors'".

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Financial Services

4. Urban renewal

Hon James TO: (Translation)

That this Council urges the Housing Authority to take part in providing assistance in rehousing the tenants affected by the redevelopment projects of the Land Development Corporation or of the Urban Renewal Authority to be established in the future.

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Housing

Clerk to the Legislative Council