A 99/00-13(1)

Legislative Council

Agenda
Wednesday 5 January 2000 at 2:30 pm

I. Tabling of Papers

Subsidiary Legislation		L.N. No.
1.	Shipping and Port Control (Amendment) Ordinance 1999 (70 of 1999) (Commencement) Notice 1999	319/99
2.	Provision of Municipal Services (Reorganization) Ordinance (78 of 1999) (Commencement) Notice 1999	320/99
3.	Specification of Public Office	324/99
4.	Overseas Lawyers (Qualification for Admission) (Amendment) Rules 1999	325/99
5.	Banking Ordinance (Amendment of Third Schedule) Notice 1999	326/99
6.	Merchant Shipping (Liability and Compensation for Oil Pollution) (Amendment) Ordinance 1997 (46 of 1997) (Commencement) Notice 1999	327/99
7.	Antiquities and Monuments (Declaration of Historical Building) Notice 1999	328/99
8.	Antiquities and Monuments (Declaration of Historical Building) (No. 2) Notice 1999	329/99
9.	Declaration of Change of Titles (Planning, Environment and Lands Bureau and Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands) Notice 1999	330/99
10.	Declaration of Change of Titles (Agriculture and Fisheries Department, Director of Agriculture and Fisheries, Deputy Director of Agriculture and Fisheries and Assistant Director of Agriculture and Fisheries) Notice 1999	331/99
11.	Tax Reserve Certificates (Rate of Interest) (No. 9) Notice 1999	332/99

Other Papers

1. Report of the Bills Committee on Arbitration (Amendment) Bill 1999

(to be presented by Hon Margaret NG, Chairman of the Bills Committee)

2. Report of the Bills Committee on Electronic Transactions Bill

(to be presented by Hon SIN Chung-kai, Chairman of the Bills Committee)

II. Questions

1. Hon James TIEN to ask: (Translation)

In view of China's imminent accession to the World Trade Organization and the increasingly frequent commercial and trading activities between the Mainland and Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council:

1. whether it will consider setting up a one-stop information centre in Hong Kong dedicated to collecting, analyzing and publicizing information about the legislation, policies and stipulations related to operating businesses in the Mainland, as well as information on the commercial and trading activities in various provinces and cities, in order to facilitate local businessmen in grasping the business opportunities arising from the opening up of the Mainland market; if it will, of the details of it; if not, the reasons for that; and
   
   
2. of the specific achievements of the first meeting of the Mainland and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade held in November 1999, in regard to the promotion of cross-border investment?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Trade and Industry

2. Hon SZETO Wah to ask: (Translation)

The Education Commission Report No.5 published in June 1992 recommended the School Improvement Programme ("SIP") under which alteration or extension works would be carried out by phases in schools built to old planning standards. The Report was endorsed by the Executive Council in February 1993 and it was stated in the 1997 Policy Address that the SIP was expected to be completed by 2004. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the implementation timetables set for Phases 4 to 8 of the SIP, and whether it has assessed if the whole SIP could be completed on schedule; if the result of the assessment is in the negative, of the reasons for that;

2. among the schools included in the feasibility study conducted for Phase 4 of the SIP, of the names and respective numbers of schools that it has decided so far to include and not to include in that Phase of the SIP, and the specific criteria used for making such decisions; and

3. whether it will honour its undertaking to ensure that all school improvement works will be completed as soon as possible?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

3. Hon CHAN Kwok-keung to ask: (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the number of known cases since January last year in which contractors or sub-contractors of public works projects defaulted on the payment of wages to construction workers; among them, the number of cases mediated by the Labour Department, and the results of the mediation; and
   
   
2. whether it has adopted measures to prevent contractors or sub-contractors from defaulting on the payment of wages to workers when it awards construction projects; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that, and if it will consider formulating measures to prevent such situation occurring?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Works

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

At present, the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre ("HKCEC") is managed by a profit-making private operator. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:

1. it knows how the venue rental charges of the HKCEC compare with those of comparable venues in Singapore, Taipei, Bangkok and Melbourne, and whether the Hong Kong Trade Development Council ("TDC") has assessed the potential rate of reduction in the venue rental charges of the HKCEC if it is directly managed by the TDC;
   
   
2. it has assessed if it is appropriate to draw a comparison between the rental charges for venues in the HKCEC and those for ballrooms of first class hotels in Hong Kong; if such a comparison is assessed as being appropriate, of the rationale for that; and
   
   
3. it knows if the TDC takes part in setting the rental charges for the use of the venues in the HKCEC; if the TDC is involved in the process, whether it will review with the TDC the basis for determining the venue charges of the HKCEC?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Trade and Industry

5. Hon LAU Chin-shek to ask: (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:

1. whether the Special Adviser to the Chief Executive is a public officer and what his specific duties are;
   
   
2. whether the Special Adviser enjoys any privileges and has the right to make use of government resources in discharging his duties; and of the different kinds of assistance rendered to the Special Adviser by various policy bureaux and government departments since the reunification; and
   
   
3. of the work carried out by the Special Adviser for the Government since the reunification, as well as the effectiveness of such work?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Constitutional Affairs

6. Hon CHOY So-yuk to ask: (Translation)

On 1 February 1999, representatives of employers and employees in the construction industry, government officials and some Members of the Executive Council and Legislative Council jointly signed a Pledge to improve construction safety and quality through the promotion of the long-term employment scheme in the construction industry. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:

1. the progress of the implementation of the long-term employment scheme; and
   
   
2. the specific plans in place to facilitate the construction industry in employing workers on a long-term basis as far as practicable?

Public Officers to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower Secretary for Works

*7. Hon HO Sai-chu to ask: (Translation)

It was reported that, according to a worldwide opinion poll, about half of the respondents in Hong Kong considered the departments of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government to be bureaucratic, and this percentage is higher than the average percentage for other countries or territories in the world. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. whether it has assessed the extent of the bureaucracy in government departments; and
   
   
2. of the measures in place to reduce the bureaucracy in government departments?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Civil Service

*8. Hon LEE Cheuk-yan to ask:

The Labour Relations (Public Service) Convention 1978 (International Labour Organization Convention No. 151) has been applied to Hong Kong without modification since 1981. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of the laws, regulations and policies that have been made in order to implement each of the following provisions of the Convention:

1. protection against acts of anti-union discrimination, as stipulated in Article 4;
   
   
2. protection for public employees' organizations against any acts of interference by a public authority, as stipulated in Article 5;
   
   
3. facilities to be afforded to public employees' organizations in order to enable them to carry out their functions promptly and efficiently, as stipulated in Article 6;
   
   
4. participation of public employees' organizations in determining the terms and conditions of employment, as stipulated in Article 7; and
   
   
5. procedure for settling disputes arising in connection with the determination of terms and conditions of employment, as stipulated in Article 8?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Civil Service

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

Will the Government inform this Council of the number of studies pertaining to the agricultural and fishing industries it commissioned private consultancy firms to undertake in the past three years, and of the subject and scope, the current progress and consultancy fee of each of the studies?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment and Food

*10. Hon NG Leung-sing to ask: (Translation)

It was reported that the number of occupational accidents which occurred at large Chinese restaurants, causing casualties to workers, had been on the high side. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the number of occupational accidents causing casualties to workers within the premises of eateries and the percentage of such accidents of the total number of occupational accidents in the past three years;
   
   
2. among them, of the number of such accidents resulting also in injuries to patrons of the eateries; and
   
   
3. of the main causes of such accidents, as well as the measures it has adopted to reduce the number of such accidents?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

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

Will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the public rental housing estates sold under the Tenants Purchase Scheme ("TPS estates"), which are or will soon be managed by private property management companies ("PMCs"); and
   
   
2. of the institutions responsible for enforcing against hawkers trading within the TPS estates and the ordinances which authorize these institutions to enforce hawker control; and, if PMCs are responsible for hawker control,
   
   
   1. whether it is stipulated that prior approval from the Housing Department must be obtained before PMCs take enforcement action against hawkers; if so, of the approval procedure involved, the details of and the reasons for the stipulation; and
      
      
   2. of the government department from which assistance can be sought when PMCs encounter difficulties in enforcing against hawkers?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing

*12. Hon TAM Yiu-chung to ask: (Translation)

As many people have complained about the poor reception of audio programmes transmitted through amplitude modulation ("AM") broadcasting, and for this reason they have no alternative but to give up listening to such informative and educational programmes as the "Programme for the Elderly" on Radio 5 of Radio Television Hong Kong ("RTHK"), will the Government inform this Council whether:

1. RTHK will switch its radio channels which mainly provide informative and educational programmes to frequency modulation ("FM") broadcasting for better reception of such programmes; if it will not, of the improvement measures RTHK will take in this respect; and
   
   
2. it has plans to encourage and facilitate co-operation among various radio stations and educational institutions in offering a variety of continuing education courses using radio broadcasting as the major means of instruction, in order to motivate the public to pursue continuing education and to foster the culture of learning for life; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Information Technology and Broadcasting

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

Regarding the implementation arrangements for Stage 2 of the West Kowloon Drainage Improvement Project, will the Government inform this Council of the measures it will take to minimize the inconvenience caused to the business operators in the areas concerned as well as the vehicles and pedestrians passing through these areas during the works period?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Works

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

Will the Government inform this Council:

1. whether it has drawn up boundary maps for villages in the New Territories; if not, of the reasons for it; and
   
   
2. of the number of disputes among New Territories residents relating to village boundaries in the past three years, and how the authorities handled such disputes?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Planning and Lands

*15. Hon James TIEN to ask: (Translation)

In view of the increasingly frequent commercial and trading activities between China and Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the number of visits by Mainland residents who made business trips to Hong Kong in the past three years on the Exit-entry Permit for Travelling to Hong Kong and Macau and the business visit endorsement issued by the Mainland Public Security Bureau offices responsible for exit and entry administration;
   
   
2. whether it has estimated the total amount of spending by these Mainland residents during their stay in Hong Kong; and
   
   
3. whether it knows the time normally required for Mainland residents to obtain approval for their applications to make business trips to Hong Kong, and how it compares with that required for their applications to visit Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia on business trips; and whether it has plans to discuss with the relevant authorities in the Mainland the shortening of the time required for vetting and approving the relevant applications?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

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

Regarding the property development projects along the Mass Transit Railway lines which were launched or completed in the past five years by the Mass Transit Railway Corporation ("MTRC"), will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:

1. the name of each development project;
   
   
2. the amount of investment involved in each project, and the respective portions provided by the MTRC and the real estate developers;
   
   
3. the profits or expected profits from each project, the respective proportions and amounts of such profits apportioned to the MTRC and the real estate developers; and
   
   
4. the number of developments in which the MTRC, upon completion of the tendering procedure for selecting its partners, rejected all the proposals for cooperation submitted by the real estate developers; and the reasons for the rejection and whether this related to the apportionment of profits?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport

*17. Hon Christine LOH to ask:

Will the Government inform this Council whether it has commissioned a detailed study on the social and environmental implications on Hong Kong brought about by China's accession to the World Trade Organization and opening up of its market; if so, of the results of the study; if not, whether it has plans to do so and the details of the plans, as well as the expected date of completion of its study?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Trade and Industry

*18. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)

Will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:

1. whether the Chief Executive makes arrangements for meeting the Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal on a regular basis; and
   
   
2. of the number of such meetings in the past 12 months, and the purpose of each meeting as well as the occasion on which each meeting took place?

Public Officer to reply : Chief Secretary for Administration

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

On 13 December last year, a seven-year-old boy died in an accident that happened when he was riding a cross-country motorcycle in a motocross course. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:

1. it knows if similar accidents are common in other territories;
   
   
2. it will consider introducing legislation or drawing up guidelines to govern the design of motocross courses open to child riders and the safety facilities required; if not, of the reasons for that; and
   
   
3. it will, in view of the risks inherent in children's participation in such activities, consider making it a statutory requirement that children must receive proper training and pass a test before they are allowed to take part in such activities?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

*20. Hon LAU Chin-shek to ask: (Translation)

In its reply to a question in this Council in March last year, the Government advised that the Mass Transit Railway ("MTR") Corporation's studies on the installation of retro-fitting screen doors on platforms of MTR stations would be completed in the third quarter of last year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council if it knows:

1. the stations at which the MTR Corporation has now planned to install platform screen doors based on the findings of the studies, and the timeframe of the installation programme; and whether it has assessed the possibility of the Corporation speeding up the installation programme; and
   
   
2. whether the Corporation still maintains its decision not to install retro-fitting screen doors on platforms of MTR stations at ground level; if so, whether it has assessed if the problems involved in installing retro-fitting screen doors in stations at ground level are insurmountable, and of the measures the Corporation adopts to safeguard the safety of passengers on the platforms of such stations?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport

*For written reply.

III. Bills

First Reading

Securities (Amendment) Bill 1999

Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)

Securities (Amendment) Bill 1999 : Secretary for Financial Services

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

1. Arbitration (Amendment) Bill 1999	: Secretary for Justice
2. Adaptation of Laws (No.7) Bill 1998	: Secretary for Planning and Lands
3. Electronic Transactions Bill	: Secretary for Information Technology and Broadcasting
4. Adaptation of Laws (No.30) Bill 1999	: Secretary for Home Affairs

IV. Motions

Proposed resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance
Secretary for Security to move the following motion:

(The proposed resolution is in Appendix)

V. Members' Motions

1. Proposed resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance

Hon Ronald ARCULLI to move the following motion:

RESOLVED that in relation to the -

1. Electoral Affairs Commission (Printing of Name of Organization and Emblem on Ballot Paper) (Legislative Council) Regulation, published as Legal Notice No. 306 of 1999; and
   
   
2. Electoral Affairs Commission (Registration) (Electors for Functional Constituencies) (Voters for Subsectors) (Members of Election Committee) (Legislative Council) (Amendment) Regulation 1999, published as Legal Notice No. 307 of 1999,

and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 15 December 1999, the period referred to in section 34(2) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1) for amending subsidiary legislation be extended under section 34(4) of that Ordinance to the meeting of 19 January 2000.

2. Assisting Hong Kong's work force in meeting the economic challenges of the new millennium

Hon David CHU: (Translation)

That, as the restructuring of Hong Kong's economy towards the high value-added, high-technology and knowledge-based directions and China's impending accession to the World Trade Organization will affect the local work force severely, this Council urges the Government to actively formulate a set of stable and long-term policies on education, training, migrants, labour and finance etc., with a view to reducing the rate of unemployment, upgrading the capability and adaptability of the work force and, in particular, assisting the less skilled and less educated in better equipping themselves, so as to meet the economic challenges of the new millennium.

Amendments to Hon David CHU's motion

(i) Hon Andrew CHENG: (Translation)

　 To add "innovative," after "high value-added,"; to delete ", with a view to reducing the rate of unemployment," and substitute with "and to train professionals for the high value-added, innovative and high-technology industries in the territory, as well as conducting a comprehensive review on the functions, structures and effectiveness of the Vocational Training Council and the Employees Retraining Board, with a view to"; to delete "the work force" and substitute with "local workers, reducing the unemployment rate"; to delete "economic" after "so as to meet the" and substitute with "restructuring and"; and to delete "new millennium" and substitute with "employment market in the new century".

(ii) Hon CHAN Yuen-han: (Translation)

　 To delete "work force" after "will affect the local" and substitute with "labour market"; to delete "actively formulate a set of stable and long-term policies on education, training, migrants, labour and finance etc.," and substitute with "establish a policy on manpower development aiming at "creating jobs and upgrading capability", promote the development of industries such as personal and community services and tourism etc. in order to create job opportunities for the less skilled and less educated labour force; restructure the vocational training provision framework and enhance the development of continuing education"; to delete "reducing the rate of unemployment,"; to delete "work" after "adaptability of the local" and substitute with "labour"; to delete "and, in particular, assisting the less skilled and less educated in better equipping themselves"; to delete "meet" after "so as to" and substitute with "face"; and to delete "challenges of" and substitute with "restructuring in".

(iii) Hon LEE Cheuk-yan: (Translation)

　 To delete "actively" after "this Council urges the Government to" and substitute with "establish a tripartite committee comprising representatives of employees, employers and the Government to"; to delete "stable and" after "formulate a set of"; to delete "reducing the rate of unemployment, upgrading the capability and adaptability of the work force and, in particular, assisting the less skilled and less educated in better equipping themselves, so as to meet" and substitute with "assisting employers and workers of different strata in meeting"; and to add ", so that both employees and employers can share the risks as well as the fruit of economic restructuring. The policies should include: (a) assessing the impact of information and innovative technology, globalization of the world's economy and China's accession to the World Trade Organization on the local manpower demand; (b) exploring feasible options of industrial process restructuring, thereby enabling workers with different levels of education and skills to share the job opportunities brought about by economic restructuring; (c) formulating a comprehensive "training programme for the employed" to upgrade the overall basic skills of local workers by, inter alia, increasing the number of retraining places, upgrading the training of low-skilled workers, and enhancing the Vocational Training Council's skills-upgrading courses for workers with intermediate level of skills, so as to prevent them from competing for jobs with basic-level workers due to the deletion of middle-level posts; and encouraging the private sector to provide on-the-job training to their staff by offering tax concessions and technical support; and (d) promoting the development of the local manufacturing industry, environmental protection industry and community services, in order to create job opportunities for basic-level workers" after "the new millennium".

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Education and Manpower

3. Establishing a labelling system for genetically-modified foods

Dr Hon TANG Siu-tong: (Translation) That, as genetically-modified foods represent a new group of products and their effect on human beings and the environment is still uncertain, in order to alleviate consumers' worries and protect their right to information as well as their right to choose, this Council urges the Government to draw on the experience of most member states of the European Union and expeditiously legislate for a labelling system for genetically-modified foods, conduct strict examinations and tests on the genetically-modified foods on sale locally and enhance consumers' knowledge of these foods.

Amendment to Dr Hon TANG Siu-tong's motion

Hon Howard YOUNG: (Translation)

To add "no final conclusion has been reached on the effects of" after "That, as"; to delete "represent a new group of products and their effect"; to delete "is still uncertain"; to delete "draw on the experience of most member states of the European Union and"; to delete "legislate for a labelling system for genetically-modified foods, conduct strict examinations and tests on the" and substitute with "formulate guidelines to encourage food manufacturers to attach labels to"; and to delete "on sale locally and" and substitute with ", and to".

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for the Environment and Food


Clerk to the Legislative Council