LegCo Panels on Transport and
Environmental Affairs

Follow up to the joint meeting on 6 July 1999

Liquefied Petroleum Gas Taxi Scheme

I enclose for members' information a written question raised by Hon CHAN Wing-chan on the captioned subject together with a copy of the Administration's reply to the question.

(Andy LAU)
for Clerk to Panel

Encl.

c.c.	Hon Martin LEE Chu-ming, SC, JP
	Hon Fred LI Wah-ming, JP
	Hon MA Fung-kwok
	Hon James TO Kun-sun
	Hon Jasper TSANG Yok-sing, JP
	Hon Emily LAU Wai-hing, JP
	ASG1
	CAS(1)2
	ALA1
	ALA3

LegCo Panel on Transport and
LegCo Panel on Environmental Affairs

Joint Meeting on 6 July 1999

"Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Taxi Trial Scheme"

Follow-up question raised by Hon CHAN Wing-chan

It is learnt from members of the vehicle maintenance trade that more servicing time is required by LPG vehicle maintenance workshops than regular workshops, thus resulting a loss of one to two working days of the drivers concerned. To comply with the stringent standard specified in the Gas Safety Ordinance, a huge sum of money have to be spent by small-scale vehicle workshops to have their garages modified into qualified workshops servicing LPG vehicles. With the introduction of the LPG Taxi-Scheme, small-scale vehicle workshops will gradually be phased out. In this connection, will the Government inform the two Panels:

(a)	of the policy concerning small-scale vehicle workshops;
(b)	whether it will consider providing financial assistance or interest-free loan to small-scale vehicle workshops; and
(c)	of the estimated number of small-scale vehicle workshops which will be phased out after the implementation of the LPG Taxi Scheme?

ELB(E) 55/01/120(98) Pt.17

Tel: 2848 2981 Fax: 2234 9106

28 September 1999
Legislative Council Secretariat
Clerk to Panel
Legislative Council Building
8 Jackson Road
Central
Hong Kong


Attn.: Mr Andy Lau


Dear Mr Lau,




Thank you for your letter of 19 July 1999 on the follow-up enquiries from Hon Chan Wing-chan. our comments are as follows:

(1)	All existing vehicle workshops can continue to provide regular services such as replacement of tyres, air filters, lubricants and brakes to all vehicles, including LPG ones. Restrictions are only applied to repair and maintenance works related to the fuel system of LPG vehicles. Any vehicle workshops which wish to work on the fuel system of LPG vehicles, will need to comply with the requirements under the Gas Safety Ordinance and obtain approval from the Gas Authority (i.e. Director of Electrical and Mechanical Services). Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) has prepared relevant guidelines and widely explained their requirements to the trade. A copy of the requirements is Annexed. The basic criteria are good ventilation (usually by mechanical means) and provision of a gas detection system. These are not technically difficult to comply with. So far, EMSD has approved 2 applications and is processing seven cases for that purpose. As existing vehicle workshops will continue to provide repair and maintenance service to all types of vehicles and all those parts of LPG vehicles which are unrelated to the fuel system (brakes, steering, tyres, interior-fittings, bodywork etc), significant impact on small scale vehicle workshops as a result of the LPG taxi scheme is not anticipated.
(2)	The decision of individual workshops on whether or not to provide service for the fuel system of LPG vehicles is a commercial decision. There is no intention to provide subsidies to small workshops for the purpose of the LPG taxi scheme.
(3)	As mentioned in (1), there is little reason to expect that the LPG taxi scheme will have significant adverse impact on the trade.

	Yours sincerely
	(Miss Agnes Kwan) for Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands

c.c.	DEP (Attn.: Mr C W Tse)
	DEMS(Attn.: Mr S Y Wong)