A 99/00-31(1)

Legislative Council
Agenda

Wednesday 7 June 2000 at 2:30 pm

I. Tabling of Papers

Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments		L.N. No.
1.	Securities and Futures Commission (Levy) (Securities) (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 2000	200/2000
2.	Immigration (Vietnamese Refugee Centres) (Designation) Order 2000	201/2000
3.	Immigration (Vietnamese Refugee Centres) (Open Centre) (Amendment) Rules 2000	202/2000
4.	Tax Reserve Certificates (Rate of Interest) (No. 5) Notice 2000	203/2000

Other Papers

1. No.103	-	Report of changes to the approved Estimates of Expenditure approved during the final quarter of 1999-2000 (Public Finance Ordinance : Section 8)
(to be presented by Secretary for the Treasury)
2. No.104	-	Securities and Futures Commission Annual Report 1999-2000
(to be presented by Financial Secretary)
3. Report of the Finance Committee on the examination of the Draft Estimates of Expenditure 2000-2001 (June 2000) (to be presented by Hon Ronald ARCULLI, Chairman of the Finance Committee, who will address the Council)
4. Report of the Bills Committee on Telecommunication (Amendment) Bill 1999 (to be presented by Hon SIN Chung-kai, Chairman of the Bills Committee)

II. Questions

1. Hon LEE Wing-tat to ask: (Translation)

The Hong Kong Transition Project randomly selected 704 persons for interview in mid-April, and 54% of the respondents were dissatisfied with the performance of the incumbent Chief Executive. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it will review its policy objectives, and of the measures it will take to salvage the prestige of its governance?

Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Home Affairs

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

It is learnt that the Housing Department ("HD") has ceased to allocate vacant departmental quarters to eligible staff since 1997, and about two-thirds of such quarters are left vacant at present. On the other hand, some HD staff have pointed out that the HD has been using public funds to carry out refurbishment works for vacated departmental quarters over the past several years. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. how the HD plans to dispose of the vacant departmental quarters;

2. whether the Audit Commission has studied if HD has squandered public funds by carrying out refurbishment works for vacated quarters; if it has, of the result of the study; if not, the reasons for that; and

3. given that departmental quarters are one type of housing benefits granted to civil servants, of the justifications for its view that, in ceasing to allocate departmental quarters to its staff, the HD is not in breach of Article 100 of the Basic Law, which stipulates that all public servants may retain their benefits and conditions of service no less favourable than before?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing

3. Hon Fred LI to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the problem of traffic noises, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the roads and road sections which have a noise level exceeding 70 decibels in the daytime and at night respectively;

2. whether it has plans to construct noise barriers for the aforesaid roads and road sections; if it has, of the details and the estimated costs of each works project; and

3. in respect of those roads and road sections not suitable for constructing noise barriers, of other specific measures that it has to reduce the traffic noises caused to nearby residents?

Public Officer to reply: Secretary for the Environment and Food

4. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the separate collection and recycling of household waste, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:

1. of the quantity of each type of household waste separately collected in each of the past two years, and how the statistics of these figures are compiled;

2. of the additional separate collection facilities provided by the authorities to tie in with the publicity given in the electronic media in recent months to urge the public to segregate their household waste before disposal; and

3. whether the authorities have found segregated household waste being dumped at landfills; and of the measures in place to ensure the recycling of segregated household waste?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment and Food

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

It is reported that an increasing number of adolescents are engaging in online chatting on the Internet, some have become indulgent and some even become acquainted with undesirable elements and become crime victims. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the respective numbers of crime cases related to online chatting reported and cracked down in the past year, broken down by the type of cases;

2. whether it has studied how adolescents are affected in respect of their mental and intellectual developments, communication skills and interpersonal relationship by their indulgence in such online chatting; if it has, of the results; if it has not, whether it will do so; and

3. of the measures taken to assist parents and adolescents in adopting a correct attitude towards participating in such activities, and to assist schools and parents in dealing with problems related to adolescents indulged in online chatting?

Public Officers to reply

:

Secretary for Home Affairs Secretary for Education and Manpower ecretary for Health and Welfare

6. Hon Kenneth TING to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the facilitation of the development of industrial estates and the Hong Kong Industrial Estates Corporation, will the Government inform this Council:

1. whether it has plans to improve the roads in various industrial estates and build such additional facilities as hotels, conference centres, leisure centres and research centres within these estates, in order to attract more manufacturers to move in; and

2. of the current progress of the plan announced in last September to merge the Hong Kong Industrial Estates Corporation, the Hong Kong Industrial Technology Centre Corporation and the Hong Kong Science Park?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Trade and Industry

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

Regarding schooling for the Mainland children and young persons who are allowed to stay in Hong Kong temporarily, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the government policy and the government department(s) responsible for implementing the policy;

2. whether primary and secondary schools are required to obtain prior permission from the Education Department ("ED") before they admit these persons; if so, of the number of such applications received by ED and the number of persons concerned each year since the reunification of Hong Kong with China;

3. of the number of cases received by ED from the parents concerned requesting assistance in each of the past two years; and

4. whether any measures are in place to assist these persons in their schooling in Hong Kong; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

*8. Hon LAU Wong-fat to ask: (Translation)

With regard to the noise nuisances caused by renovation works undertaken in domestic premises, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the number of complaints about such noises received by the relevant authorities, and the number of persons prosecuted for causing nuisances to other persons by undertaking renovation works in domestic premises outside the permissible hours specified under the Noise Control Ordinance (Cap. 400) in the past three years;

2. whether it will consider organizing publicity activities jointly with the renovation industry to make newcomers to the industry aware of the noise control requirements; and

3. whether it will, through the mass media before each long holiday, remind the public and renovation workers to comply with the noise control requirements?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment and Food

*9. Hon HUI Cheung-ching to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the computer system failures at various land crossings in Shenzhen and Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council of:

1. the number of computer system failures at each control point in Shenzhen and each border control point in Hong Kong over the past three years, resulting in traffic congestion at the border and the causes of such failures; and

2. the measures in place to prevent the occurrence of computer system failures at various border control points in Hong Kong?

Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Security

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

Regarding the demand and supply of medical, nursing and allied health professionals, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:

1. in respect of the graduates of each medical and health care profession, of the number and percentage of those who obtained employment within six months upon graduation, and among them, the percentage of those who are employed in areas related to their studies and their average starting salaries, in each of the past five years;

2. of the annual changes in the number of tertiary places for various medical and health care professions in the past five years and the reasons for such changes;

3. of the anticipated employment situation of graduates in various medical and health care professions this year; and

4. of the progress made by the University Grants Committee in planning tertiary places for various medical and health care professions for the 2001/02 to 2003/04, the professions which require adjustments in the number of tertiary places, and whether, in making such adjustments, it has considered the needs of primary health care service development; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

*11. Hon Bernard CHAN to ask:

It has been reported that traffic accidents involving Government vehicles are on the rise. Regarding insurance coverage for Government vehicles, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the number of traffic accidents involving Government vehicles over the past three years, with a breakdown by departments and by whether casualties were involved;

2. of the total amount of compensation paid in the last three years to victims of traffic accidents or their family members; and

3. whether it will consider taking out third-party insurance cover for Government vehicles; if not, of the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Treasury

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

Regarding fees charged by the private homes for the elderly which participate in the Bought Place Scheme and the Enhanced Bought Place Scheme, will the Government inform this Council of:

1. the respective services and daily necessities which should be provided to the elderly residents concerned by the private homes according to the stipulations of the Schemes; the channels through which the elderly residents and their families are informed of the services and daily necessities which are paid for under these Schemes and those which are to be paid for by themselves; and

2. the measures in place to govern the collection of fees not covered by the Schemes from the elderly residents concerned and their families by the private homes for the elderly concerned?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare

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

Will the Government inform this Council whether it will improve the design of refuse collection vehicles and draw on the practices of the advanced American and European countries in transporting refuse, so as to avoid refuse on transit from exuding foul smell and spreading bacteria; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment and Food

*14. Hon Christine LOH to ask:

Since 1997, the rezoning of 92 hectares of industrial land for residential and commercial developments has been approved on the recommendation of the Town Planning Board. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the total floor area of the rezoned areas, and provide a breakdown by the type of uses;

2. of a projection of the percentage of rezoned areas which will have been redeveloped by the end of next year;

3. among the leases governing the land concerned, of the number of those which permit a change of land use without payment of a lease modification premium; and

4. whether, in order to speed up redevelopment, it will consider removing from the relevant leases those terms restricting redevelopment, and instead levying an annual tax based on the value of the land concerned, calculated in accordance with the optimum and best use that can be made of it?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Planning and Lands

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

Will the Government inform this Council whether:

1. the Owners' Corporations ("OCs") of the public housing estates sold under the Tenants Purchase Scheme ("TPS estates") are required to engage private property management companies one year after they have formed their respective OCs; and

2. the Housing Department will provide management services for those TPS estates which have formed their OCs for one year or more but have not been able to engage their management companies?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing

*16. Hon LEE Wing-tat to ask: (Translation)

In January this year, the Hong Kong Housing Authority endorsed the plan for greater private sector involvement in estate management and maintenance services with a view to enhancing cost-effectiveness and improving the quality of service. Affected Housing Department ("HD") staff may choose to voluntarily leave or stay in the civil service. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the respective numbers of HD staff of various grades who have opted for the voluntary release package as at the end of April this year; and

2. whether such figures tally with official estimation; if not, of the details and reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing

*17. Hon Emily LAU to ask:

Regarding the provision of recreation open space, which includes parks, gardens, sitting-out areas, as set out in the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines ("HKPSG"), will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:

1. when the relevant standards for recreation open space were first adopted and of the basis for adopting such standards; and

2. of the area of recreation open space now established in each of the 18 districts, a comparison of these figures with those calculated in accordance with the relevant standards set out in HKPSG, as well as the plans to meet the shortfall?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Planning and Lands

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

It was reported that, since April this year, the firm providing the electronic payment system Easy Payment System ("EPS") has changed the charging method for its service for some business sectors from a flat rate of $2 per transaction to levying a service charge equivalent to 0.75% of the transaction amount ("amount-based charging method"). Given that the system is now widely used by members of the public and there is an overall need to protect the consumers' interests, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows if the Consumer Council has information on the following:

1. the number and total amount of transactions made through EPS, as well as the income that the firm derived from service charges in the past three years;

2. the additional monthly income of the firm after it has adopted the amount-based charging method;

3. the justifications for the firm adopting the amount-based charging method;

4. if the firm has any plan to implement the amount-based charging method on a full scale, and whether it will consider exceptionally allowing certain trades (such as bookshops and computer retailers etc.) to continue to pay service charges at a flat rate; if it will consider, of the trades involved; if not, the reasons for that; and

5. the impact of adopting the amount-based charging method by the firm on business operators, the business sectors and consumers?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Trade and Industry

*19. Dr Hon David LI to ask:

Operators of vehicle tunnels often interrupt the radio broadcast inside the tunnels in order to make announcements. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it will request tunnel operators to avoid such interruptions during the news broadcast time; if not, of the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport

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

According to the information submitted to this Council by the Hong Kong Police Force, among the 13 991 traffic accident reports in 1998, 34 accidents had been identified as having been caused by environmental obstructions which could be improved upon by government departments, while among the 14 539 traffic accident reports in 1999, 120 accidents were of similar nature. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the places of occurrence and details of the aforesaid traffic accidents involving environmental obstructions; and

2. whether the Police have relayed these environmental obstructions to relevant government departments for the carrying out of improvement works; if they have, of the improvement works that were completed in the past year or will commence shortly by the relevant departments, and the details of such works?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport

*For written reply.

III. Bills

First Reading

Supplementary Appropriation (1999-2000) Bill 2000

Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)

Supplementary Appropriation (1999-2000) Bill 2000 : Secretary for the Treasury

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

1. Telecommunication (Amendment) Bill 1999	:	Secretary for Information Technology and Broadcasting
2. Adaptation of Laws (No.17) Bill 1999	:	Secretary for Health and Welfare

IV. Members' Motions

1. Investigatory body on medical incidents

Hon Michael HO: (Translation)

That this Council urges the Government to establish an independent statutory body with adequate public participation to deal with medical incidents and related complaints; this body should be vested with investigatory powers to ensure that the cases concerned will be dealt with fairly.

Amendment to Hon Michael HO's motion

Dr Hon LEONG Che-hung: (Translation)

To delete "establish an independent statutory body with adequate public participation to deal with medical incidents and related complaints; this body should be vested with investigatory powers to ensure that the cases concerned" and substitute with "ensure that the Hospital Authority and the statutory disciplinary bodies of different health care professions act to enhance the public participation, transparency, efficiency and user-friendliness of their complaint-handling mechanisms; this Council also urges the Government to strengthen the role of the Department of Health in monitoring health care institutions outside the public sector, so as to ensure that medical incidents and related complaints".

Public Officer to attend: Secretary for Health and Welfare

2. Working hours

Hon LAU Chin-shek: (Translation)

That, as there is a tendency for workers in Hong Kong to work increasingly long hours and some are even required to work on rest days, which not only causes harm to their health but also affects their family life, and deprives them of the time for pursuing continuing education, this Council urges the Administration to expeditiously legislate for regulating workers' working hours.

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Education and Manpower

Clerk to the Legislative Council