A 99/00-7(1)

Legislative Council

Agenda
Wednesday 10 November 1999 at 2:30 pm

I. Tabling of Papers

Subsidiary Legislation		L.N. No.
1.	Port Control (Public Cargo Working Area) (No.2) Order 1999	268/99
2.	Employees Retraining Ordinance (Replacement of Schedule 2) Notice 1999	269/99
3.	Shipping and Port Control Regulations (Amendment of Seventh Schedule) Notice 1999	270/99
4.	Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Confined Spaces) Regulation (L.N. 18 of 1999) (Commencement) Notice 1999	271/99
5.	Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters (Australia) Order (Cap. 525 Sub. Leg.) (Commencement) Notice 1999	272/99

II. Questions

1. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)

In view of the recent cases of over-enrolment and over-charging of fees by some kindergartens, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:

(a)	whether they plan to amend the relevant legislation to strengthen the supervision over kindergartens and increase the penalties for such offences; if so, when the relevant bill is expected to be introduced into this Council;
(b)	of the follow-up actions taken in regard to refunding the parents the fees over-charged by the kindergartens concerned; whether prosecution will be instituted against those kindergartens which refuse to refund the over-charged fees to the parents; and
(c)	whether they will consider stepping up publicity efforts to educate parents on how to ascertain if a kindergarten has already been registered with the Education Department, and to choose a suitable kindergarten?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

2. Hon James TO to ask: (Translation)

The Government has not yet announced the commencement date of the Interception of Communications Ordinance, which was enacted some two years ago at the end of June 1997. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the progress of the review and assessment conducted by the authorities since a question on this issue was raised in this Council last September; the anticipated date for the completion of these tasks and whether a timetable has been set for such;
(b)	whether it plans to implement the Ordinance; if so, of the preparation that has been made for implementing the Ordinance; and
(c)	whether the Government has changed its stance stated in the consultation paper on the White Bill on Interception of Communications Ordinance that it would accept the key recommendations in the Law Reform Commission Report, including the introduction of a judicial warrant system and the setting up of a Supervisory Authority to receive complaints about unlawful interception of communications by law enforcement agencies?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

3. Hon Fred LI to ask: (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the average and median kindergarten tuition fees in each of the 18 Districts of the Education Department last year; and
(b)	whether the Administration will consider providing all kindergarten pupils in Hong Kong a subsidy equivalent to half of the tuition fee; if it will provide the subsidy, of the estimated amount involved in each of the coming three years; if not, of the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

4. Hon MA Fung-kwok to ask: (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council whether:

(a)	copyright infringement by downloading, without the authorization of the copyright owners, computer software and audio-visual ("AV") products from the Internet is prevalent and on the upward trend in Hong Kong, whether it has assessed the losses of copyright owners in copyright royalty charges; if it has, of the results of the assessment; if not, of the reasons for that;
(b)	it knows the reasons for some people setting up web sites on the Internet to provide software and AV products downloading services free of charge, and the benefits for these people in doing so; and
(c)	it has formulated measures to prevent such acts of copyright infringement; if so, of the details of such measures; if not, of the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Trade and Industry

5. Hon Ambrose CHEUNG to ask: (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	whether it has any plans to demolish the Hong Kong Stadium which was redeveloped five years ago at a cost of HK$1 billion, for the construction of luxurious residential buildings there; if so,
	(i)	of the specific demolition plan and timetable, and whether it has assessed if the decision to redevelop the Hong Kong Stadium was an appropriate one and whether the recreational and sports facilities matched the sports policy at the time the decision was made; and
	(ii)	given that many major international sporting events require the host city to have two or more large stadia, whether another large stadium will be built, in addition to the proposed sports venue to be built in the South East Kowloon reclamation area; if so, of the specific plan and timetable;
(b)	whether it has assessed the advantages and disadvantages of demolishing the Hong Kong Stadium; if not, whether and when such an assessment will be made; and
(c)	of the criteria adopted, in planning land use, for determining the priorities in providing land for cultural and recreational facilities and residential development?

Public Officers to reply :

Secretary for Home Affairs Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands

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

It was reported that in September this year, a member of the public had called the Report Hotline of the Customs and Excise Department to report the sale of suspected counterfeit fish oil gel, but was told to call other numbers. Following various instructions, this person made a total of six calls to different numbers but in the end was still unable to report the case. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the details of the incident and the criteria used by the Department for determining whether or not it will follow up a reported case, and the procedure it adopts for following up such cases;
(b)	of the number of reports on counterfeit goods through the Hotline of the Department over the past three years, and the number of those resulting in successful prosecutions, together with their percentage of the total number of reported cases; as well as the average penalty imposed on convicted persons; and
(c)	whether it plans to review the mechanism for reporting counterfeiting goods?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Trade and Industry

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

Regarding the specialist out-patient services provided by the Hospital Authority ("HA"), will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	whether it knows the 10 specialist out-patient services with the longest average waiting time for first appointments at present; for each of the above specialist out-patient services,
	(i)	the annual number of first appointments;
	(ii)	the average and the longest waiting times for first appointments; and
	(iii)	the hospital which had the longest waiting time; in the past three years;
(b)	of the measures, as stated in the Policy Objectives published this year, introduced to increase the number of consultations for first appointments, and whether it has assessed the effectiveness of such measures;
(c)	whether it knows how the HA is strengthening the co-ordinating mechanism for referring patients of its specialist out-patient clinics, whose condition has become stable, to the Department of Health and private medical practitioners for follow-up treatment, so as to relieve the pressure on specialist out-patient services; of the respective numbers of such referrals to the Department of Health and private medical practitioners in each of the past three years; and
(d)	given that the average waiting time for first appointments at specialist out-patient clinics is about three months at present, of the basis for making a pledge in the Policy Objectives this year to reduce the average waiting time to five weeks in the year 2000?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare

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

Will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the number of inspections made in the past 12 months by the authorities at retail shops for the purpose of identifying overdue prepackaged food on sale or prepackaged food without labelling, as well as the number of shops inspected; the respective numbers of shop owners warned and prosecuted as a result of such inspections; the geographical distribution of the retail shops prosecuted; as well as the number of convicted cases among them;
(b)	of the number of inspections made in the past 12 months by the authorities at direct sale shops to ensure that the directly imported prepackaged foods are affixed with labels in compliance with the statutory requirements before their delivery to customers;
(c)	whether it plans to introduce legislative amendments to require the printing of the relevant "use by" dates on all prepackaged food; if so, when such legislative amendments will be introduced; if not, of the reasons for that; and
(d)	whether it plans to review the list of items exempted from compliance with the labelling requirements of the Food and Drugs (Compensation and Labelling) Regulation (Cap.132 sub. leg.) and delete certain items from it; if so, when the review will be conducted; if not, of the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare

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

Regarding the effect of the proposed International Wetland Park at Tin Shui Wai on flight safety, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the respective numbers of reports of birds interrupting aircrafts during takeoff or landing or overflying Hong Kong, received by the Civil Aviation Department ("CAD") in the past three years;
(b)	whether it knows the measures the Airport Authority and the CAD have in place for preventing birds from jeopardizing flight safety; and
(c)	whether it has assessed if more birds will be attracted to Hong Kong upon the completion of the wetland park and hence affect flight safety;
	(i)	if it has, of the results of the assessment; if it is assessed that flight safety is likely to be affected, of the remedial action it will take; and
	(ii)	if it has not made such assessment, of the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Services

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

It was reported that the numbers of prosecutions relating to smoky vehicles in August and September this year were higher than those for each of the first seven months this year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the number of roadside testing operations mounted by the police against smoky vehicles in each month from January to September this year, the average manpower and man-hours required in each operation, and the monthly number of prosecutions relating to various classes of smoky vehicles in the same period;
(b)	of the causes of the higher numbers of prosecutions in August and September this year; whether such causes include the fact that the police strengthened law enforcement action in this regard;
(c)	whether owners prosecuted for their smoky vehicles are granted a grace period for repairing their vehicles, thus avoiding their being prosecuted again for using the smoky vehicles; if so, of the length of the grace period and the criteria for setting such a period; and
(d)	whether any legislation is in place to require that the smoky vehicles in prosecution cases be subjected to emission tests on a regular basis?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands

*11. Hon Emily LAU to ask:

Regarding the recent changes to the evening news bulletins by the Asia Television Limited ("ATV"), including the deployment of entertainers as newscasters, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:

(a)	of the number of complaints received by the Administration about such changes, and the nature of such complaints;
(b)	whether they know if the Broadcasting Authority has received similar complaints and, if it has, the number and nature of such complaints; and
(c)	whether the relevant authorities have examined if such changes have breached any conditions attached to ATV's commercial television broadcasting licence; if they have, of their findings?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Information Technology and Broadcasting

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

Will the Government inform this Council of:

(a)	the total water consumption in Hong Kong; whether such figures show a downward trend;
(b)	the percentage of the annual average of water storage as against the total storage capacity of reservoirs in Hong Kong; and
(c)	the estimated value of potable water which overflowed from Hong Kong's reservoirs, calculated in accordance with the current unit price of potable water conveyed to Hong Kong; in each of the past three years?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Works

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

Regarding the promotion of a unified Chinese language interface, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	whether it has plans to discuss with the relevant Mainland organizations the inclusion in the Mainland's Chinese Internal Code Specification ("CICS") of those Chinese characters in the Hong Kong Supplementary Character Set not yet included in the CICS; and
(b)	of the details about the co-operation between the relevant authorities in Hong Kong and the characters standardization organizations in the Mainland in the standardization of Chinese language interface?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Information Technology and Broadcasting

*14. Hon Kenneth TING to ask: (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the number of approved legal aid applications lodged by Two-way Exit Permit holders overstaying in Hong Kong in the past 12 months, and the estimated legal costs involved;
(b)	of the number of law firms entrusted to handle such legal aid cases; and the number of such cases handled by each of these law firms; and
(c)	whether it knows if it has been a practice for legal aid agencies in other countries to provide legal aid to persons who do not have the right of abode in their countries; if so, of the details?

Public Officer to reply : Chief Secretary for Administration

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

I have received complaints from parents of primary school students that some schools require their students to do a large amount of homework every day as the schools are keen on becoming elite schools. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	whether it has issued any guidelines to primary schools on the maximum amount of homework to be assigned to students every day;
(b)	of the measures in place to prevent schools from giving too much homework to students; and
(c)	of the measures in place to encourage schools to consult parents on the amount of homework given to students?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

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

Regarding the appropriation of funds by the Employees Retraining Board ("ERB") to training bodies for organising retraining courses, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:

(a)	the criteria adopted by the ERB for selecting training bodies;
(b)	the measures taken by the ERB to ensure that the retraining courses are geared to the actual needs of the industrial and commercial sectors;
(c)	the mechanism through which the ERB assesses the quality of retraining courses; and
(d)	the means by which the ERB determines the cost-effectiveness of retraining courses?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

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

Regarding the relocation of the shipyards at northern Tsing Yi, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the date fixed for relocating the shipyards;
(b)	of the uses of the vacated sites upon the relocation of the shipyards; and
(c)	whether it has any plans to carry out reclamation in the waters off the shipyard sites after the relocation; if so, of the precautionary measures it will take to avoid the reclamation works causing nuisances to the residents nearby?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands

*18. Dr Hon David LI to ask:

It was reported that according to a study conducted by the Hong Kong Workers' Health Centre, about 70% of the workers who sustained eye injuries whilst at work had not worn any eye protection devices. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the number of workers who sustained eye injuries whilst at work in each of the past three years; among them, of the respective numbers of workers who:
	(i)	had not been provided with proper eye protection devices by their employers; and
	(ii)	had chosen not to use the eye protection devices provided by their employers;
(b)	of the maximum penalty imposed on employers found guilty by the court in the past 12 months for failing to provide their workers with proper eye protection devices; and
(c)	whether it will consider allocating more financial resources to impress upon both employers and workers the importance of eye protection at workplaces?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

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

With regard to the operation of the Small and Medium Enterprises ("SMEs") Office under the Industry Department, will the Government inform this Council of:

(a)	apart from setting up a Virtual Small and Medium Enterprises Information Centre on the Internet, the details of the efforts that have been made by the Office since its establishment on 1 April 1999 in promoting and co-ordinating the efforts of other Government departments and business organizatons in supporting SMEs; and the efforts it has made in finding out ways to facilitate the development of SMEs and enhance their competitiveness;
(b)	the organizational structure of the Office; whether it has set up any committee or held any regular meetings so as to allow various Government departments and organizations providing support for trade and industry to make concerted efforts in planning and exploring ways to provide effective support for SMEs;
(c)	the expenditure items and the expenditure for each item of the Office since its establishment; and
(d)	the working relationship with and division of responsibilities between the Office and other divisions within the Industry Department?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Trade and Industry

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

It was reported that the level of radiation generated by the radar equipment on some marine police launches exceeded the safety standard and several marine police officers who had operated the equipment suffered from cancer. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:

(a)	it has compiled statistics on the percentage of marine police officers who were confirmed to be suffering from cancer in the past five years, as against the total number of the marine police officers; how this percentage compares to the respective percentages in the entire civil service and in the overall population of Hong Kong in the same period;
(b)	the Police has been conducting regular tests on the radiation level of the equipment on the marine police launches; if so, of the details of the regular tests and the findings of these tests; and
(c)	it has conducted researches to identify the civil service grades which have to work in environments with high radiation level; if it has, of the results of the researches; if not, of the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

*For written reply.

III. Bills

First Reading

1. Exchanges and Clearing Houses (Merger) Bill

2. Rehabilitation Centres Bill

Second Reading (Debates to be adjourned)

1. Exchanges and Clearing Houses (Merger) Bill : Secretary for Financial Services

2. Rehabilitation Centres Bill : Secretary for Security

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

Adaptation of Laws (No.22) Bill 1999 : Secretary for Security

IV. Motions

Proposed resolution under the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Ordinance Secretary for Security to move the following motion:

RESOLVED that the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters (United States of America) Order, made by the Chief Executive in Council on 13 October 1998, be approved.(The Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters (United States of America) Order has been circulated on 26 October 1999 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 134/99-00)

V. Members' Bills

First Reading

Order of Friars Minor in Hong Kong Incorporation Bill

Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)

Order of Friars Minor in Hong Kong Incorporation Bill : Hon Ambrose LAU

VI. Members' Motions

1. Land departure tax

Hon LAU Kong-wah: (Translation)

That this Council opposes the levying of land departure tax by the Government.

Amendment to Hon LAU Kong-wah's motion

Hon Eric LI Ka-cheung: (Translation)

To delete "opposes the levying of" and substitute with "urges the Government to take into account all factors in drawing up a"; and to delete "by the Government" after "land departure tax" and substitute with "proposal and consult this Council before making a decision".

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for the Treasury

2. Establishing a dedicated investment promotion agency

Hon MA Fung-kwok: (Translation)

That, in the face of the highly competitive economic environment, this Council urges the Government to establish a dedicated high-level investment promotion agency with specific responsibility for implementing concrete measures to canvass and attract overseas investors to invest in Hong Kong, co-ordinating the government departments concerned to provide 'one-stop' investment services, and studying, selecting and conducting detailed planning for strategic investment projects to be undertaken by the Government in partnership with private enterprises, so as to promote Hong Kong's overall economic development.

Amendment to Hon MA Fung-kwok's motion

Hon SIN Chung-kai: (Translation)

To delete "in the face of the highly competitive economic environment" and substitute with "to strengthen the work on attracting investment from overseas"; to delete "establish a dedicated high-level" after "this Council urges the Government to" and substitute with "set up an"; to delete "agency" after "investment promotion" and substitute with "group in the relevant existing support structure, such as the Hong Kong Trade Development Council or the Business and Services Promotion Unit of the Financial Secretary's Office,"; to delete "concrete" from "with specific responsibility for implementing concrete measures"; to delete "," after "attract overseas investors to invest in Hong Kong" and substitute with "and"; and to delete ", and studying, selecting and conducting detailed planning for strategic investment projects to be undertaken by the Government in partnership with private enterprises" and substitute with "; the Government should also create a fair business environment expeditiously by way of legislation".

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Trade and Industry

Clerk to the Legislative Council