A 98/99-8(1)

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 23 September 1998 at 2:30 pm

I. Papers

Subsidiary Legislation		L.N.No.
1.	Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule) (No.3) Order 1998	313/98
2.	Official Languages (Alteration of Text under Section 4D) (No.2) Order 1998	315/98
3.	Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Public Pleasure Grounds) (Amendment of Fourth Schedule) (No.3) Order 1998	316/98
4.	Employees Retraining Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule 2) Notice 1998	317/98

Sessional Papers

1.	No.24	-	Schedule of revisions to the 1997/98 Estimates approved by the Provisional Urban Council during the fourth quarter of the 1997/98 financial year
(to be presented by Secretary for Home Affairs)
2.	No.25	-	Revised list of works of the Provisional Regional Council for the 1998/99 financial year (during the first quarter ended 30 June 1998)
(to be presented by Secretary for Home Affairs)
3.	No.26	-	Initial Report on the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region under Article 18 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
(to be presented by Secretary for Home Affairs)

II. Questions

1. Hon James TIEN to ask: (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:

of the total number of applications received since the Special Finance Scheme for small and medium enterprises has been brought into operation, together with a breakdown of the number of applications approved and the sizes of the loans involved in respect of each type of trade; and
whether it has reviewed the Scheme to identify the areas requiring improvement; if so, what the details are?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Trade and Industry

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

The power failure in most areas in Tai Po on 28 July 1998 for over 10 hours had inflicted losses on quite a number of consumers. However, on the basis of its Supply Rules, the China Light and Power Company Limited (CLP) refused to compensate the affected consumers on the ground that the incident was not caused by negligence on the part of the Company. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

of the number of complaints received by the Administration about power failures of CLP over the past three years;
whether it knows when the Supply Rules were formulated; and whether it will consider urging CLP to review and revise the provisions in the Supply Rules which are unfair to customers, so as to safeguard the interests of the consumers; and
which person or organisation should determine whether an electricity company shall be held responsible for compensation in respect of the losses suffered by consumers in case of power failure?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Services

3. Hon Kenneth TING to ask: (Translation)

It is learnt that Hongkong Telecom was in breach of the provisions of its licence some time ago by offering discounts to its IDD call customers without the prior authorization of the Telecommunications Authority. A financial penalty was imposed on Hongkong Telecom as a result and the company was required to recover the shortfalls between the approved rates and the unauthorized discounted rates from the customers concerned. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:

what proposals Hongkong Telecom has put forward to the Office of the Telecommunications Authority after the imposition of the financial penalty in order to reduce the impact of this matter on the customers concerned; whether the Office of the Telecommunications Authority has accepted such proposals; if not, why not;
the number of the business customers involved and the total amount of the shortfalls in question; and
whether the Consumer Council has received complaints from the business customers concerned about this matter?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Information Technology and Broadcasting

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

Experts have pointed out that the weight of the schoolbag carried by a primary school student should not exceed one-tenth of the student's body weight. However, according to a sample survey on the weight of schoolbags carried to schools by primary school students conducted at the beginning of the current school term, 82% and 56% of half-day and full-time primary school students respectively carry schoolbags which exceed the weight limit suggested by experts. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

whether it will stipulate a ratio between the body weight of primary school students and the weight of schoolbags; and
whether it has assessed if the measures now being adopted, such as suggesting improvements to the design of textbooks, providing students with lockers at schools, and issuing guidelines to schools on the quantity of textbooks and exercise books to be brought to schools by students, have effectively address the issue; if the measures are not effective, the reasons for this; and whether it has other effective measures to thoroughly address the issue?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

5. Hon Ambrose CHEUNG to ask: (Translation)

In January 1997, the Government undertook to allocate $18.7 billion from the rates income to the then Urban Council (now the Provisional Urban Council) to meet its expenditure for the three financial years from 1997 to 2000. Compared with the requested $22.5 billion of the then Urban Council, the allocation was short of $3.8 billion. In order to maintain the quality of and the public's demand on its service, the Provisional Council decided to allocate all the $3.1 billion in its reserve, and to implement a series of measures to increase income and to reduce expenditure in the three financial years, in order to make up for the short fall in its operating expenditure. In August 1998, the Government estimated that the amount of allocation from rates income would be reduced from $18.7 billion to $18.3 billion. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of the rationale for reducing the allocation further?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Treasury

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

In order to reduce their operating costs in the wake of the downturn in the economy, quite a number of employers have asked their employees to accept pay reductions. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

of the number of complaints lodged with the Labour Department by employees concerning reductions by employers in the past year; the trades, number of employees involved in these complaints and the extent of the pay reductions involved;
of the policy and principles based on which the Labour Department handles these complaints; and
whether it will make reference to other countries' practice and consider establishing a minimum wage system, so as to ensure a decent life for employees; if it does not plan to establish such a system, what the reasons are?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

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

Regarding the applications for the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) by persons from Mainland China who have resided in Hong Kong for less than seven years, will the Government inform this Council:

of the total number of such applications received by the Government over the past three years; and
among such applications, whether the Government has discovered cases of obtaining CSSA by deception; if so, of the number of cases in which the applicants did not disclose their assets outside Hong Kong?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare

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

Regarding the security services provided by private security contractors on contract terms in public housing estates of the Housing Department, is the Government aware of:

the total number of contractors currently providing such security services to the Housing Department;
the total number of security guards employed by these contractors to provide security services in public housing estates, and the details of their terms of employment, including the following:
1. the maximum and minimum hours of work per day;
2. the maximum and minimum hourly or monthly wage for security guards working on day shift and night shift respectively;
3. the number of days of leave as well as leave pay the security guards are entitled to, and the difference between their leave pay and their on-duty pay;
whether the Housing Department has taken any measures to ensure that the security guards can enjoy their leave entitlement as provided for in their employment contracts, and what actions it will take against those contractors who have contravened labour legislation; and
whether a minimum wage for security guards has been stipulated in the security service contracts signed between the Housing Department and the security contractors; if so, what the amount is; if not, whether consideration will be given to adding such a provision in the new contracts?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing

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

With regard to the operation of the Protection of Wages on Insolvency Fund (the Fund) in the past year, will the Government inform this Council of:

the number of applications for ex gratia payments received from employees and, of these, the number of cases approved by the Fund;
the main reasons for disapproving the applications for ex gratia payments made by employees; and
a breakdown of the different categories of applications which have been granted the statutory maximum ex gratia payments by the Fund; and the percentage of these cases in the total number of successful applications for ex gratia payments in each category?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

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

It is learnt that quite a number of taxi owners have had their taxi licences and taxis taken over by their creditors due to their inability to repay the mortgage loans in respect of their taxis. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:

it has estimated the number of taxis which will be taken over in the next three months and, among them, the respective numbers owned by taxi dealers and by individuals holding only one taxi licence;
it has received any request for assistance from the taxi trade and its response; and
it has estimated the impact of such takeovers by creditors on the taxi service?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport

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

It is reported that as the prices of dangerous drugs on the Mainland is 20% to 30% lower than those in the territory, quite a large number of local youngsters go to the Mainland to purchase methylamphetamine (commonly known as "ice"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

of the quantity of the dangerous drug "ice" seized at various cross-border control points by the Customs and Excise Department in the past three years;
whether the Customs and Excise Department will step up the interception measures at these control points; if so, what the details are; if not, why not; and
whether it has estimated the number of local youngsters who frequently took "ice" in each of the past three years?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

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

In the Parking Demand Study Report published by the Government in December 1995, it was pointed out that there was a total deficit of 5200 parking spaces for public and private light buses. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of the measures that have been taken by the Government to resolve the shortage of parking spaces for light buses, since the publication of the report?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport

*13. Hon Mrs Sophie LEUNG to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the leasing of public flatted factory buildings, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:

the gross floor areas and occupancy rates of these factory buildings respectively in each of the past three years;
the major types of trades in which the tenants are engaged at present; and the number of enterprises among them with less than 50 employees each;
the existing criteria for determining the level of rents of these factory buildings and the changes in rents per square metre in the past three years; and
whether there were any cases in which the tenants terminated their tenancies due to rent increases in the past three years; if so, the percentage of such tenants who have terminated their tenancies in the total number of tenants?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing

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

It is learnt that the Government is currently charging rates on advertising stations on the external walls of buildings. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

whether it has consulted the advertising industry before formulating the policy to charge rates on such advertising stations;
of the criteria adopted by the Government, in implementing the policy, for determining the advertising stations that are liable to be charged rates;
of the rates percentage charge concerned and the basis on which such a percentage charge is determined; and
of the avenues for those affected to lodge appeals against this policy as well as the amounts of the assessed rates?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Treasury

*15. Dr Hon HO Chung-tai to ask: (Translation)

In view of the fact that the Director of Water Supplies and four of the five Assistant Directors of the Department will retire in succession next year, will the Government inform this Council of the measures in place to ensure that the contingency-handling capability and the performance of the Department will not be affected by these staffing changes?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Works

*16. Dr Hon David LI to ask:

The Chief Executive announced in his Policy Address last year that each public sector secondary school would be provided with one additional native-speaking English teacher to enhance English Language teaching. Recently, the Education Department admitted that many schools would be short of such teachers, at least for several months because of the fact that a quarter of the job offers had been turned down by overseas recruits. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

whether it knows the reasons why the offers were turned down; and
how the Education Department will assist the schools in recruiting native-speaking English teachers?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

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

Regarding the new quarantine measures on import and slaughter of poultry and pigs for local consumption, will the Government inform this Council of:

the respective numbers of tests conducted on local and imported poultry since the introduction of new quarantine measures; among them, the respective numbers found positive for avian flu virus;
the respective numbers of tests conducted on local and imported pigs since the introduction of new quarantine measures; among them, the respective numbers found positive for the asthma drug Clenbuterol;
the prohibitive measures and penalty on pig feed suppliers for supplying pig feed with the asthma drug Clenbuterol; and
the manpower and financial resources for enforcing the new quarantine measures for poultry and pigs respectively?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Services

*18. Hon Christine LOH to ask:

In early 1997, a subcommittee of the Home Affairs Panel of the former Legislative Council compiled a report entitled "Review of Advisory and Statutory Bodies" and recommended, among other things, a more transparent system of boards and committees, which the Government agreed to pursue then. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of the action which it has taken so far to:

encourage these bodies to hold open meetings; and
provide greater transparency in making appointments of members to such bodies?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

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

With regard to the placement referral and the planning of places in various kinds of special schools, will the Government inform this Council of the following:

the number of school children registered with the Education Department (ED) for placement in various kinds of special schools through its referral in each of the past three school years; the respective numbers of school children who were successfully referred and placed by ED according to their needs in special schools, schools for social development, practical schools and skills opportunity schools;
the respective numbers of places available for male and female students, the respective numbers of male and female students already placed, and of boys and girls waiting for placement in each of the schools for social development (including primary and secondary schools); whether the Administration has any plan to review the adequacy of such places for boys and girls; and
the technical subjects currently offered in schools for social development which are eligible for subject grants; and the criteria that are adopted to determine their eligibility for such grants?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

*20. Hon LEE Kai-ming to ask: (Translation)

It is reported that a passenger suffered a heart attack on a plane when it landed at the new airport at Chek Lap Kok, but the ambulance arrived at the scene only 20 minutes after receiving the emergency call. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

why the ambulance failed to arrive at the scene within the target travel time of 10 minutes, as set down in the Performance Pledge of the Fire Services Department; and
whether it has any plan to set up a first aid station in the restricted area of the airport; if so, when such a station will be set up; if not, why not?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

* For written reply.

III. Bills

First Reading

Securities (Insider Dealing) (Amendment) Bill 1998

Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)

Securities (Insider Dealing) (Amendment) Bill 1998 : Secretary for Financial Services

IV. Members' Motions

1. Relationship between the executive authorities and the legislature

Hon Ambrose CHEUNG: (Translation)

That this Council urges the Government to actively improve the relationship between the executive authorities and the legislature by faithfully adhering to the principle of the executive authorities being accountable to the legislature on the constitutional basis of the Basic Law, enhancing communication and co-operation between the executive authorities and the legislature to foster mutual trust and partnership, and expeditiously instituting a co-operation mechanism for improving the relationship between the two, which should include holding regular executive-legislature coordination meetings; setting up a policy consultative committee system to enable the legislature to participate in policy discussion and formulation; as well as strengthening the decision-making structure of the executive authorities, including enlisting outside experts to serve as principal officials and making political appointments of principal officials, so that the officials concerned will assume the political responsibility and accountability commensurate with their authority.

Amendments to Hon Ambrose CHEUNG's motion

1. Hon LEE Cheuk-yan: (Translation)

To delete "urges the Government to actively improve the relationship between the executive authorities and the legislature by faithfully adhering to the principle of the executive authorities being accountable to the legislature on the constitutional basis of the Basic Law, enhancing communication and co-operation between the executive authorities and the legislature to foster mutual trust and partnership, and expeditiously instituting a co-operation mechanism for improving the relationship between the two, which should include holding regular executive-legislature coordination meetings; setting up a policy consultative committee system to enable the legislature to participate in policy discussion and formulation; as well as strengthening the decision-making structure of the executive authorities, including enlisting outside experts to serve as principal officials and making political appointments of principal officials, so that the officials concerned will assume the political responsibility and accountability commensurate with their authority" after "That this Council", and substitute with "considers that the recent tension in the relationship between the executive authorities and the legislature is caused mainly by the various forms of 'executive hegemony' the executive authorities have over the scope of the Legislative Council's work, undermining the power of Legislative Councillors in monitoring the Government, so as to exert complete executive powers; besides, the Basic Law does not provide an effective framework for the executive authorities and the legislature to exercise checks and balances on each other and be accountable to the public; in this regard, this Council urges the Government to expeditiously introduce bills to amend the Basic Law so as to achieve the following objectives: 1. the Chief Executive and all Members of the Legislative Council be elected by universal suffrage to make both the executive authorities and the legislature accountable to the Hong Kong public; 2. the provisions which restrict the introduction of bills by Members of the Legislative Council and which require Members' proposals to be voted in groups be repealed, to enable the Legislative Council to exercise more effective checks and balances on the acts of the executive authorities; and 3. the Chief Executive makes political appointments of principal officials and the legislature may, by passing a vote of no confidence, impeach officials for dereliction of duties, so as to fulfil the objective that principal officials should assume political responsibility".

2. Hon CHENG Kai-nam: (Translation)

To add "and" after "on the constitutional basis of the Basic Law,"; to delete "foster" from "to foster mutual trust and partnership" and substitute with "promote"; and to delete ", and expeditiously instituting a co-operation mechanism for improving the relationship between the two, which should include holding regular executive-legislature coordination meetings; setting up a policy consultative committee system to enable the legislature to participate in policy discussion and formulation; as well as strengthening the decision-making structure of the executive authorities, including enlisting outside experts to serve as principal officials and making political appointments of principal officials, so that the officials concerned will assume the political responsibility and accountability commensurate with their authority".

Public Officer to attend :Secretary for Costitutional Affairs

2. Restoring confidence in Hong Kong's air cargo service

Hon Mrs Miriam LAU: (Translation)

That, as the air cargo terminals at the Hong Kong International Airport at Chek Lap Kok failed to operate normally at the commencement of the operation of the airport and brought Hong Kong's air cargo service almost to a standstill, resulting in substantial losses for Hong Kong's air cargo industry and the overall economy as well as seriously tarnishing the territory's reputation as an air cargo centre, this Council urges the Government and the Airport Authority to formulate expeditiously measures to strengthen supervision over the air cargo terminal and ensure that adequate contingency measures are in place to prevent the occurrence of incidents at the terminal from affecting Hong Kong's air cargo operations; at the same time, the Government should review the franchise for air cargo services at the new airport and consider the introduction of positive competition as a long-term objective, so as to enhance the quality and competitiveness of Hong Kong's air cargo service in the international arena; furthermore, the Government should also adopt expeditiously a comprehensive strategy to restore the confidence of the local and international communities in Hong Kong's air cargo service, thereby further consolidating the territory's position as a global air cargo hub.

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Economic Services

Clerk to the Legislative Council