A 98/99-36(1)

Legislative Council

Agenda
Wednesday 12 May 1999 at 2:30 pm

I. Papers

Subsidiary LegislationL.N. No.
1.District Councils (Subscribers and Election Deposit for Nomination) Regulation113/99
2.Maximum Scale of Election Expenses (District Councils) Order 1999114/99
3.Electoral Affairs Commission (Nominations Advisory Committees (District Councils)) Regulation115/99
4.Nurses (Registration and Disciplinary Procedure) (Amendment) Regulation 1999116/99
5.Enrolled Nurses (Enrolment and Disciplinary Procedure) (Amendment) Regulation 1999117/99
6.Lifts and Escalators (Safety) (Amendment) Ordinance 1999 (4 of 1999) (Commencement) Notice 1999118/99

II. Questions

1. Hon CHEUNG Man-kwong to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the composition and representativeness of the governing councils in the eight tertiary institutions funded by the University Grants Committee ("UGC-funded institutions"), will the Government:

  1. provide, in the form of a list, the numbers of members of the governing councils in each of the UGC-funded institutions, broken down by the following categories: ex officio members, members appointed by the Chancellor; members nominated by the Vice-Chancellor; members of the public; Members of the Legislative Council; representatives of the teaching staff, students and graduates; and also inform this Council how the qualifications of "ex officio members" and "members of the public" are defined by the UGC-funded institutions; and

  2. adopt measures to enhance the representativeness of the governing councils of the UGC-funded institutions, so that their decisions are more in line with the long-term interests of the institutions; show more regard for the reasonable rights of their teaching staff; and better reflect the overall interests of the community as a whole?
Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Education and Manpower

2. Hon Emily LAU to ask:

Will the Executive Authorities inform this Council whether they know if genetically-modified foods are being sold in Hong Kong; if so:

  1. whether they have conducted any tests to determine if such foods are safe for human consumption; and the results of these tests; and

  2. whether there are plans to regulate the manufacture and sale of such foods?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare

3. Hon Fred LI to ask: (Translation)

It is reported that in January this year, a 70-year-old man died at home, leaving his elderly mother unattended. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:

  1. it has any information on cases in which the aged have to care for their elderly family members at home ("aged carers"); if so, the details of that; if not, whether such information will be gathered to facilitate the formulation of policies on services for the elderly;

  2. it has assessed if the existing outreaching services for the elderly can cover all the "aged carers" who need assistance; and

  3. it has assessed if the services for the "aged carers" currently provided by the Administration and by the Carer's Support and Resource Centres are comprehensive and adequate; the resources involved and the number of people who have received assistance therefrom?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare

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

In respect of the terms of deeds of mutual covenants, the Building Management Ordinance (Cap. 344) stipulates that if an Owners' Corporation seeks to terminate the property manager's appointment, a general meeting must be convened to pass a resolution by not less than 50% of ownership shares in the building. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

  1. of the criteria and justifications used in setting such a percentage in the Ordinance; whether it has assessed if such a percentage is too high, resulting in many cases in which Owners' Corporations were unable to gather sufficient shares to terminate the appointment of incompetent property managers; if so, the results of the assessment;

  2. whether it will review if such a percentage is still appropriate; if so, the timetable for the review; if not, the reasons for that; and

  3. whether it has assessed if the assistance offered to Owners' Corporations in respect of the termination of the property managers' appointment is adequate; if it has, the result of the assessment?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

5. Hon Mrs Selina CHOW to ask: (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:

  1. whether there are plans to designate certain areas with heavy pedestrian traffic as pedestrian precincts; if so, the details of them;

  2. whether it will consult owners of retail shops in the district concerned before designating an area as a pedestrian precinct; and

  3. of the established procedure for designating an area as a pedestrian precinct?
Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Transport

6. Hon YEUNG Yiu-chung to ask: (Translation)

A two-year pilot project on integrated education was launched in September 1997 to assist students with special education needs to integrate into ordinary schools. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:

  1. it has reviewed the implementation and effectiveness of the project; if so, the findings of the review;

  2. it knows if the nine schools currently participating in the project will continue to take part in it, and of the number of other schools which have indicated their interest in joining the project; and

  3. it has formulated measures and has plans to allocate additional resources for the promotion of the project; if so, the details of them?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

*7. Hon David CHU to ask: (Translation)

It is reported that one in every five senior citizens suffers from eye diseases. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:

  1. the existing average waiting time between a senior citizen's first treatment on eye diseases in a public hospital or a Health Department clinic and his/her admission to hospital for ophthalmic operation or treatment;

  2. the policy and measures in place to shorten the above-mentioned waiting time; and

  3. its long term policy on the provision of ophthalmic services for senior citizens?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare

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

In connection with the installation of the Octopus system, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:

  1. the progress of various public transport service companies in installing the Octopus system;

  2. the total number of Octopus add value machines ("AVMs") at present; the number of AVMs installed in stations along the railways; the major locations of AVMs installed other than in railway stations;

  3. the respective numbers of AVMs with Electronic Paying System function and those with such function put to use now; the major locations and number of the latter which are installed other than in railway stations;

  4. if the company managing the Octopus system plans to increase the number of AVMs other than in railway stations; if so, the details of it; and

  5. details of the company's feasibility study on passengers using bank autopay as a means for adding value to Octopus cards?
Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Transport

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

The Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance (Cap. 59) regulates matters relating to industrial safety in various trades. As the use of heavy machinery is usually not involved in manufacturing operations and serious industrial accidents seldom occur in the manufacturing sector, will the Government inform this Council whether it will consider enacting separate legislation to regulate matters relating to industrial safety in the manufacturing sector, so as to reduce the operating costs of the industries concerned; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Education and Manpower

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

Will the Government inform this Council of:

  1. the respective current numbers of Government property blocks which are wholly or partially vacant; please give details concerning the name, gross floor area, vacant area and duration of vacancy of each block; and

  2. the total number of Government property blocks which had been left vacant for one year before they were rented to non-Government organizations since 1995; the locations of such properties and the names of their sitting corporate tenants?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Treasury

*11. Hon Albert HO to ask: (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:

  1. of the number of complaints or reported cases of suspected child abuse received in the past three years; among them, the number of cases which have been followed up by the Police or the Social Welfare Department;

  2. whether the Administration have given instructions to various government departments and non-governmental organizations requiring them to report suspected child abuse cases; if not, the reasons for that;

  3. of the number of abused children, their families and abusers who have received psychological counselling services in Hong Kong in the past three years;

  4. of the professional qualifications which such psychological counsellors must obtain for providing such services; and the percentage of these professionals who have received special training in the skills required for providing counselling to the victims of child abuse;

  5. of the number of cases involving repeated child abuse offences in the past three years; and the measures in place for preventing these cases, such as keeping an abused child away from the abuser; and

  6. whether the Administration will consider making laws to require abusers to receive compulsory psychological counselling in order to prevent the recurrence of child abuse?
Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Health and Welfare

*12. Hon Mrs Sophie LEUNG to ask:

In view of recent concerns that chlorinated water may be harmful to the environment and human health, will the Government inform this Council whether it will use safer alternatives, such as ozone and bromine, in the treatment of water; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Works

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

Will the Government inform this Council of the total number of cases in which Comprehensive Social Security Assistance ("CSSA") recipients aged 60 or above were granted fee waivers for out-patient and in-patient treatment at the public-funded clinics and hospitals in the past five years, and the total amount of medical fees waived in respect of such CSSA recipients during the period?

Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Health and Welfare

*14. Hon LEUNG Yiu-chung to ask: (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council of:

  1. the provisions in the existing occupational safety-related legislation that are not applicable to Government employees; the types of work involved and the number of Government employees involved, broken down by the provisions and the types of work;

  2. the reasons for Government employees engaged in such types of work not being subject to such provisions; and

  3. the number of industrial accidents involving employees engaged in such types of work in various Government departments, and the number of casualties in the past three years?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

*15. Dr Hon David LI to ask:

It is reported that in line with the plan to downsize the establishment of the Hong Kong Auxiliary Police from 5 721 to 4 500 through natural wastage in the next three to five years, all patrol duties previously undertaken by the Auxiliary Police officers have been taken over by their regular counterparts. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

  1. whether it has assessed the effect of the plan on the morale of the Auxiliary Police officers; if so, the details of it; and

  2. how it will ensure that the downsizing plan will not undermine the personal and property safety of the public?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

*16. Hon Christine LOH to ask:

Will the Administration inform this Council:

  1. whether there is any evidence that the University Grants Committee ("UGC") and the UGC-funded tertiary institutions have regarded women studies as a major area of academic research; if there is no such evidence, the reasons for that; and

  2. of the amount of grants and other resources allocated to this area of research in the past three years?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

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

The Mass Transit Railway Corporation has reduced the frequency of trains running on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays since 24 April, which results in longer waiting time for passengers and more crowded train compartments than in the past. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:

  1. it knows the criteria adopted by the Corporation in determining the frequency of trains;

  2. it will assess the impact of the Corporation's reduction of train frequency on the public; and

  3. it will set minimum requirements regarding train frequency for all railways?
Public Officer to reply:Secretary for Transport

*18. Hon CHEUNG Man-kwong to ask: (Translation)

With regard to the compulsory retirement and dismissal of teaching staff of tertiary institutions funded through the University Grants Committee, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:

  1. the retirement ages set for the teaching staff of these institutions;

  2. the conditions to be met by the teaching staff who have reached the retirement age in order to extend their services;

  3. which institutions have legislation or statutes to govern the retirement age of the teaching staff and the extension of service, and the details of these; and the criteria used by other institutions in governing the above aspects and the details of these;

  4. the specific mechanism, handling procedure and assessment criteria that individual institution has adopted for dealing with the dismissal of teaching staff; and

  5. whether there is any mechanism for lodging appeals against such dismissal in these institutions; if so,

    1. how such mechanism operates;

    2. the criteria adopted by such mechanism in assessing the dismissal decisions concerned; and

    3. the representativeness of the members and the size of membership of such mechanism, and whether management staff of the institutions, representatives of the teaching staff and outsiders are included?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

*19. Hon YEUNG Yiu-chung to ask: (Translation)

It was stated in the 1998 Policy Address that in the three academic years from 1998 onwards, teacher training places at degree or above level would replace some 900 sub-degree teaching training places. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

  1. of the tertiary institutions which will provide such teacher training programmes at degree or above level, and the number of such places to be provided by each tertiary institution;

  2. whether there is any plan to reduce the number of places of other degree programmes so that the total number of degree places remains unchanged; if so, of the tertiary institutions, programmes and the number of places involved; and

  3. whether there is any plan to gradually replace other sub-degree programmes at the Hong Kong Institute of Education by programmes at degree or above level; if so, the specific timetable for such a plan?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

*20. Hon Emily LAU to ask:

In view of public concerns over the high incidence of industrial accidents, particularly on construction sites, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:

  1. of the number of prosecutions instituted by the authorities for breach of industrial safety legislation in the past three years;

  2. of the number of convictions and the average penalties imposed by the courts during the period, and among these cases, the number of appeals lodged by the convicted and the results of appeals; and

  3. whether there are plans to strengthen the deterrent effect by proposing heavier penalties stipulated in relevant legislation?
Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Education and Manpower

* For written reply.

III. Bills

First Reading

Telecommunication (Amendment) Bill 1999

Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)

Telecommunication (Amendment) Bill 1999: Secretary for Information Technology and Broadcasting

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

Merchant Shipping (Prevention and Control of Pollution) (Amendment) Bill 1999:Secretary for Economic Services


IV. Motions

Proposed resolution under the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Ordinance

Secretary for Financial Services to move the following motion:

RESOLVED that the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes (Fees) Regulation, made by the Chief Executive in Council on 9 March 1999, be approved.

(The Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes (Fees) Regulation is at Appendix)

V. Members' Bills

First Reading

Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital Incorporation (Amendment) Bill 1999

Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)

Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital Incorporation (Amendment) Bill 1999:Hon Eric LI

VI. Members' Motions

Condemning NATO

Dr Hon LEONG Che-hung: (Translation)

That this Council strongly condemns NATO for bombing our Embassy in Yugoslavia.

Public Officer to attend: Chief Secretary for Administration

Clerk to the Legislative Council