A 03/04-30
| Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments | L.N. No. | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Probation of Offenders (Approved Institution) (Consolidation) (Amendment) Order 2004 | 100/2004 |
| 2. | Deposit Protection Scheme Ordinance (7 of 2004) (Commencement) Notice 2004 | 101/2004 |
| 3. | Fixed Penalty (Criminal Proceedings) (Amendment) Regulation 2004 | 103/2004 |
| 4. | Declaration of Change of Titles (Civil Engineering Department, Territory Development Department, Director of Civil Engineering and Director of Territory Development) Notice 2004 | 104/2004 |
| 5. | Legal Tender Notes Issue Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule) Notice 2004 | 105/2004 |
| 1. | No.89 | - | Audited Statement of Accounts of the Director of Social Welfare Incorporated together with the Director of Audit's Report for the year ended 31 March 2003 |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food)
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| 2. | Special Report of the Select Committee to inquire into the handling of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome outbreak by the Government and the Hospital Authority ¢w¢w Unauthorized Disclosure of Information | ||
| (to be presented by Dr Hon LAW Chi-kwong, Chairman of the Select Committee) | |||
| (a) | it knows the number and the total value of service contracts that involved the employment of a large number of unskilled workers awarded by each public body and public corporation in each of the past three years, and the total numbers of unskilled workers involved;
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| (b) | it knows the remuneration currently offered to unskilled workers by service contractors of these institutions, and how it compares to that of similar posts in the market; and
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| (c) | it will propose to public bodies and public corporations that they should follow the Government's practice of stipulating in service contracts that service contractors shall offer unskilled workers remuneration not lower than at the market rates? |
| Public Officers to reply | : | Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Secretary for Economic Development and Labour |
| (a) | of the reasons for not yet implementing the North Lantau Hospital construction project, together with a detailed list of the relevant work performed in the past six years by the government departments concerned, as well as the latest estimated project completion date;
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| (b) | of the respective projected numbers of residents and transient population on Lantau (including tourists and outsiders working there) as well as their sum at the end of each of the next five years; and
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| (c) | whether it will provide 24-hour emergency medical services on Lantau to cope with the demand before the commissioning of the said Hospital; if so, of the time when such services will start; if not, the reasons for that? |
| (a) | of the number of claims for compensation received so far in respect of the Central Reclamation Phase III ("CRIII"), as well as the nature and amount of each claim, and the percentage of the amount in relation to the value of the contract concerned;
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| (b) | whether it will undertake not to allow the redevelopment or conversion of the buildings on the existing waterfront into high-rise buildings upon completion of the reclamation project and construction of the new waterfront; if so, of the details of the undertaking; if not, the reasons for that; and
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| (c) | whether it will consider holding an open competition in respect of the design of the above new waterfront and appointing private sector organisations to manage the new reclamation area; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that? |
| (a) | of the views of the above bureaux and government departments, and the details of the follow-up actions taken by the Commission;
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| (b) | whether it will consider including Sham Chung in the outline zoning plan, or designating the area as a site of special scientific interest or a conservation area; if so, of the details of its consideration; if not, the justifications for that; and
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| (c) | of the number of proposals submitted by real estate developers to the CE's Office in the past three years, together with the details of such proposals, including the developers involved, the locations, sizes and intended land uses of the sites concerned, the responsible government departments and the reasons for submitting such proposals to the CE's Office? |
| (a) | since the authorities have stipulated that the term of office of non-official members of advisory or statutory bodies should not be more than six years and each person should not serve as a member on more than six boards or committees, of the incumbent EOC members who have been appointed for more than six years and those who are serving on more than six boards or committees, and the justifications for the Government's deviation from the above stipulation in appointing them;
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| (b) | whether it has assessed the impact of last month's appointments of EOC members on the reputation of EOC; if it has, of the assessment results; if not, the reasons for that; and
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| (c) | whether it has any plans to appoint persons belonging to the ethnic minorities as EOC members, to tie in with the policy against racial discrimination? |
| (a) | of the specific reasons for postponing the publication of the above consultation paper; and
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| (b) | when it will publish the consultation paper and introduce the relevant bill into the Legislative Council? |
| (a) | of the total number of smart identity cards that have been issued since the commencement of the Hong Kong Smart Identity Card Replacement Exercise and, among them, the number of those provided with an e-Cert digital certificate which is free for the first year;
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| (b) | of the total costs to the Post Office for providing such free offer, including those for account administration and renewal promotion; and
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| (c) | whether the Administration has any means of tracking the usage rate of the e-Cert; if so, of the rate to date; and the expected renewal rate for the e-Cert after expiry of the free offer? |
| (a) | the annual numbers of traffic accidents which occurred while the drivers concerned were watching television programmes or stored visual images shown on such equipment;
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| (b) | the annual numbers of vehicle owners prosecuted for breaching the above stipulation; and
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| (c) | whether it has publicized the above stipulation among vehicle owners; if so, of the details of the publicity work; if not, whether it will consider launching such a publicity campaign? |
| (a) | why HD had not followed up the issue;
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| (b) | whether it had examined the steel gates at the entrances to the blocks of that housing estate before the above steel gate incident in Tin Ping Estate; and
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| (c) | whether the steel gate in the incident mentioned in (b) had been installed before or after the sale of the flats of the housing estate concerned by HD; if it had been installed before the sale, of the party responsible for its repair and maintenance? |
| (a) | whether it knows the reasons for the drop in the above index; and
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| (b) | of the short-term and long-term measures to restore the confidence of the services industry in the economic outlook? |
| (a) | of the specific efforts it has made so far to re-define its responsibilities and re-prioritise the provision of public services, as well as the results achieved; and
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| (b) | whether it has comprehensively assessed the types of public services which can be provided by the market and the arrangements to be made in respect of such services to give full play to market forces; if it has, of the assessment results as well as the details and the timetable of the relevant arrangements; if not, the reasons for that? |
| (a) | whether it knows the number of existing hotels in Hong Kong which are not members of the Hong Kong Hotels Association or the Federation of Hong Kong Hotel Owners;
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| (b) | how it will monitor the hotels mentioned in (a) in order to avoid a similar occurrence and protect the interests of travel agents and consumers; and
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| (c) | whether it will consider requiring all hotels to be registered with corporations with credibility before operation, and to provide proof of financial soundness before the issuance or renewal of their licence; if it will, of the details of the requirement; if not, the reasons for that? |
| (a) | in screening applicants for further consideration, ImmD had imposed on some applicants additional requirements which were not listed in the recruitment advertisement (such as working experience of three years or more for applicants whose educational qualifications were below university level); if it had, of the additional requirements imposed and whether it has assessed the fairness of such practice;
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| (b) | ImmD has laid down guidelines to deal with cases in which most applicants possess educational qualifications higher than the minimum requirements; if it has, of the details of the guidelines;
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| (c) | ImmD has implemented measures to ensure recruitment is conducted in a fair, open and just manner; and
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| (d) | in the light of changes in the labour market in recent years, ImmD has reviewed the entry requirements for all ranks; if it has, of the results of the review; if not, the reasons for that? |
| (a) | of the number of applications received by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department ("FEHD") for placing the ashes of the deceased in the niches of columbariums managed by FEHD in each of the past three years, the average waiting time of each application and the fees involved;
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| (b) | whether the demand and supply of public niches are reviewed regularly; if so, of the time and result of the last review; if not, the reasons for that; and
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| (c) | of the current legislation and measures for regulating the operation of columbariums in private premises? |
| (a) | when CE was aware of the above interpretation and decision and their contents, and when he read the texts of the relevant interpretation and decision;
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| (b) | whether CE had communicated with the officials of the Central Authorities before submitting the report to NPCSC on whether there is a need to amend the above two methods; if so, of the names and ranks of the officials involved and the contents of the communications; and
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| (c) | whether CE had urged the Central Government or the NPCSC not to interpret the provisions of the Basic Law too readily, and not to rule out at this stage the selection of CE in the year 2007 and the election of all LegCo Members in the year 2008 by universal suffrage without fully seeking the views of the people of Hong Kong on constitutional reform beforehand? |
| (a) | the respective numbers of staff of the Radiographic Technician or Radiographer grades employed by the Department of Health and the Hospital Authority ("HA") as at the end of each of the past six years, with a breakdown of the figures by their ranks;
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| (b) | the numbers of new and known patients serviced by HA Radiographers in each of the past six years, and the average waiting time of patients; and
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| (c) | the number of staff of the above two grades permitted to retire early under the two rounds of Voluntary Retirement Scheme and the Voluntary Early Retirement Scheme implemented by the Government and HA respectively, and whether recruitment will be held by the authorities concerned to fill the vacancies? |
| (a) | of the total number of crimes in South Lantau reported to the authorities over the past three years which were allegedly committed by illegal immigrants, together with a breakdown by categories of crimes;
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| (b) | of the current respective lengths of time normally required for the Police to arrive at the scene by sea and on land after receiving crime reports from South Lantau residents; and
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| (c) | whether it has measures and sufficient Police manpower to curb the crimes committed by illegal immigrants in South Lantau? |
| (a) | the total vacant areas and the gross yearly rental value of such areas on the basis of market rent;
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| (b) | the duration of and the reasons for the vacancy; and
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| (c) | the ways HA will resolve the above vacancy problem? |
| (a) | of the designed lifespan of the PWH;
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| (b) | of the reasons for the Administration's plan to redevelop the PWH, and whether they relate to the design of the building, the construction materials used or the workmanship; if so, of the details concerned; and
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| (c) | as regards whether to proceed with the options of redeveloping the PWH or of renovating it, whether the relevant authorities have compared the pros and cons of these two options in terms of the capital and recurrent expenditure involved, cost effectiveness, environmental impact, duration of the project, as well as the implications on patients and the teaching activities of the Medicine Faculty of the Chinese University of Hong Kong; if so, of the detailed comparison results; if not, whether they will make such a comparison before implementing the redevelopment plan, and consult the Legislative Council, relevant district councils and members of the public on the redevelopment plan? |
| (a) | of the reasons for the current lower-than-expected ridership for West Rail;
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| (b) | of the percentage of cross-boundary passenger trips taken with East Rail in the total number of such trips by public transport in each of the past three years; and
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| (c) | whether it knows the measures the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation will take to increase the ridership for West Rail and East Rail? |
| (i) | Hon Andrew CHENG: (Translation)
To delete "some members of" after "off the air, and"; to add "at large" after "the public"; to delete "keep ensuring" after "take measures to" and substitute with "ensure"; to add "and their families" after "members of the media"; and to add "harassment and" after "are free from". |
| (ii) | Hon Tommy CHEUNG: (Translation)
To add "to smooth out their worries and" after "take measures". |
| Public Officers to attend | : | Secretary for Home Affairs Secretary for Security |
| (a) | strictly enforce the requirements of the Basic Law concerning protection of the rights and benefits of public servants;
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| (b) | safeguard the rights and benefits of public servants newly recruited after 1 June 2000 in accordance with the principles of fair and reasonable treatment;
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| (c) | draw up a reasonable and appropriate public servants establishment;
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| (d) | enhance the protection for contract staff employed on non-civil service contract terms and staff of subvented organizations in regard to their posts, pay and benefits; and
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| (e) | strictly monitor government contractors to ensure that they adopt the average wages of similar trades published in the Census and Statistics Department's Quarterly Report of Wages and Payroll Statistics as the standard of minimum allowable wage for non-skilled workers involved in outsourced government services, and fully enforce this requirement. |
| Public Officers to attend | : | Secretary for the Civil Service Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury |