Council Meeting ( Agenda ) 19 November 2003

A 03/04-8

Legislative Council

Agenda
Wednesday 19 November 2003 at 2:30 pm

I. Tabling of Papers

Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments		L.N. No.
1.	Import and Export (Fees) (Amendment) Regulation 2003	247/2003
2.	Import and Export (Facilitation) Ordinance 2003 (33 of 2003) (Commencement) Notice 2003	248/2003
3.	Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters (Netherlands) Order (L.N. 243 of 2003) (Commencement) Notice 2003	249/2003

Other Paper

No.24	-	Supplemental Report of the Public Accounts Committee on Report No. 40 of the Director of Audit on the Results of Value for Money Audits (November 2003 - P.A.C. Report No. 40A)
(to be presented by Hon Emily LAU, Deputy Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, who will address the Council)

II. Questions

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

It has been reported that the throughput of the Kwai Chung Container Terminal has been dropping for four consecutive months since June this year, while the throughput of Shenzhen Port sees a continuous increase. The trend of a rise in Shenzhen against a decline in Hong Kong in terms of throughput and sourcing development has already emerged. A local container terminal operator has estimated that the throughput of Shenzhen Port would reach 15 million Twenty-foot Equivalent Units in five years and would outnumber that of the Kwai Chung Container Terminal. Since the value of re-exports amounts to over 90% of the value of Hong Kong's overall exports, the trade is worried about the above developments. Moreover, based on the development trend of throughput in both regions, the same operator has also estimated that it would not be necessary for Hong Kong to construct any new container terminal in the next two decades. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the measures in place to cope with the threats faced by the import/export and container freight industries of Hong Kong;
(b)	whether it has assessed the changes in the growth of container throughput of Hong Kong's port following the construction of the Shenzhen Western Corridor and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge; if it has, of the details; and of its plans regarding the container terminal infrastructure in Hong Kong; and
(c)	as the container terminals in Hong Kong are all privately owned, and are also charging some 20% higher than their Shenzhen counterparts, of the measures taken by the authorities to enhance the competitiveness of the container terminals in Hong Kong?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Development and Labour

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

Regarding the termination of the employment contract of the Director (Operations) designate of the Equal Opportunities Commission ("EOC"), will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	regarding the decision of the EOC at its meeting on 18 September this year to authorize the EOC Chairperson, who has just resigned, to handle the above employment contract, whether it knows the details of such authorization;
(b)	whether it knows any follow-up actions taken by EOC so far in respect of the Director (Operations) designate's complaint about his being unreasonably dismissed, and whether the authorities will further follow up the incident and give an account to the public; if the authorities will not follow up the incident, the reasons for that; and
(c)	while the authorities regard the above case as an employment dispute, whether they have assessed the damage to the credibility of EOC and the impact on other public bodies caused by adopting such an approach in dealing with the case; if so, of the assessment results; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

3. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)

The recent spate of incidents surrounding the Equal Opportunities Commission ("EOC") concerns the integrity and credibility of its Chairperson, who resigned early this month, while in office, and the Executive Authorities are reviewing the mechanism for appointing the chairmen of statutory bodies including the EOC. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council whether:

(a)	they will investigate thoroughly if that EOC Chairperson has disclosed to the media several confidential internal EOC documents, including the personal particulars of the candidates for the post of Director (Operations); if a thorough investigation will be conducted, how it will be taken forward; if not, the reasons for that;
(b)	the reasons for that EOC Chairperson's meeting, on the day before his resignation, the Secretary for Home Affairs and individual members of the Executive Council and of EOC and the contents of their discussion, as well as the authorities' position on and role in the resignation of that Chairperson; and
(c)	they will, in the course of the review, study the enhancement of the credibility of EOC through a new appointment mechanism; if so, of the details?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

4. Hon Albert HO to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that, to tie in with the development of the West Kowloon Cultural District, the Town Planning Board announced amendments to the draft South West Kowloon Outline Zoning Plan ("OZP"), under which a whole lot of some 40 hectares of land will be rezoned at one go from the previous "Specific Uses" to "Other Specified Uses" annotated "Arts, Cultural, Commercial and Entertainment Uses" without restrictions on height and floor development. According to the Invitation for Proposals for the development of the Cultural District, the authorities have decided that a number of core cultural facilities will be built there. They include a theatre complex, a performance venue, a museum cluster, an art exhibition centre, a water amphitheatre and at least four piazza areas. The purposes and sizes of these facilities have already been listed in detail. The authorities expect that the facilities will start operation by phases from 2010 onwards. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the total number of submissions received since the announcement of amendments to the OZP and the number of those objecting to the rezoning; the sectors to which the opponents belong and their grounds of objection;
(b)	of the criteria for determining to rezone the whole lot of the above land to "Other Specified Uses", and whether the authorities have ensured adequate planning control over the land; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; whether the authorities will rezone the land to "Comprehensive Development Area" in order to regulate its development parameters and density; if so, of the progress; if not, the reasons for that; and
(c)	of the measures in place to avoid these core cultural facilities being considered unsuitable or outdated after having come into operation, or not being welcomed by the public and local cultural organizations?

Public Officers to reply

Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands
Secretary for Home Affairs

5. Hon Albert CHAN to ask: (Translation)

Recently, I have received many requests for assistance from shop operators who stated that they had been subjected to frequent demands of triad elements for protection money with threats to do them harm or sabotage their shops if they refused to pay. Though they had reported their cases to the Police, the situation had not improved. Some shop operators had no option but to close down business because they could not afford the protection money or stand the harassment. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the number of reports received by the Police from shop operators in each of the past three years about demands of triad elements for protection money and the number of such cases in which the Police arrested the suspects and prevented the shop operators from harassment; and
(b)	whether new measures will be devised to enhance protection for shop operators and law enforcement actions will be stepped up to prevent similar crimes; if so, of the details of the measures and law enforcement actions; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

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

To prevent the cross-boundary spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ("SARS"), the authorities have since March this year progressively implemented a new measure at various immigration control points to require passengers passing through them to complete and submit health declaration forms. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the number of passengers in each month who were required to be examined because the information provided by them indicated that they might have been infected and, among them, the number of those who were hospitalized for observation or treatment, together with details of such cases;
(b)	whether it has reviewed if the measure to require passengers to complete and submit health declaration forms is effective in screening out SARS patients, and whether there were passengers who did not provide the relevant information in the health declaration forms for fear of causing delays to their cross-boundary trips; and
(c)	whether it will consider adopting other measures to replace that of requiring passengers to complete and submit health declaration forms; if not, of the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

*7. Dr Hon David LI to ask:

On 1 July this year, the Government introduced a new and more restrictive policy governing the employment of the dependents of new residents who have been granted entry into Hong Kong to work. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	whether it has conducted a study of the economic impact of the previous policy of allowing the above dependents to work in Hong Kong; and
(b)	if such study has been conducted, whether the authorities have evaluated the merits and demerits of the previous policy with respect to the competitiveness of the Hong Kong economy; if they have, of the evaluation results; if such study has not been conducted, whether the authorities will conduct the study with the aim of detailing the full ramifications of the new policy?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

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

Under the agreements signed by the Housing Authority ("HA") with the financial institutions offering mortgage loans to buyers of Home Ownership Scheme ("HOS") flats, the maximum mortgage term for HOS flats from Phase 19A onwards is 25 years, and HA provides a mortgage default guarantee covering the same period for the relevant financial institutions. In March 2002, the HA extended the maximum mortgage term for HOS flats of Phases 8B to 18C from 20 years to 25 years, with the mortgage default guarantee period remaining at 20 years. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:

(a)	the reasons for HA's extending the mortgage term for HOS flats of Phases 8B to 18C to 25 years, the additional items and amount of expenditure arising from this measure, and the implications on the financial commitment for the provision of mortgage default guarantee;
(b)	how the number and the amount of bad debts borne by the HA in discharging its obligations under the mortgage default guarantee for HOS flats of Phases 8B to 18C since March 2002 compare with those for the HOS flats of the same phases in the preceding five years; and
(c)	if HA will consider further extending the maximum mortgage term to 30 years and the corresponding default guarantee period; if so, of the additional amount of the financial commitment involved; if not, the reasons for that?

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

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

I have received complaints alleging that the Hong Kong Trade Development Council ("TDC") accords priority to the traders who have participated in its previous related exhibitions to join the Hong Kong Gifts & Premium Fair to be held next year. The complainants consider such practice unfair to those traders who have never participated in such exhibitions. Regarding the practice of giving preferential treatment to exhibitors, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	whether it knows TDC's justifications for adopting the practice;
(b)	given that TDC staff have told the complainants that the practice is usual in the international exhibition industry, whether it knows the information that TDC has to support such a statement;
(c)	whether it knows if TDC will review the practice, if it will, of the details of the review; if it will not, the reasons for that; and
(d)	as the exhibitors of this exhibition may apply for exhibition fee subsidies under the SME Export Marketing Fund ("EMF") which is set up with public funds, whether it has assessed if the practice of according previous exhibitors priority, which facilitates them in applying for and obtaining subsidies on exhibition fees, will lead to unfair allocation of the limited resources of EMF?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology

*10. Hon Ambrose LAU to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that according to the recently published study report on "World Knowledge Competitiveness Index 2003/04", the knowledge competitiveness of Hong Kong has descended to the 102nd place in the index, lagging behind the Pearl River Delta Region, which is ranked 85th. The report has also pointed out that Hong Kong's investment on research and development is insufficient, and that Hong Kong lags behind other regions in the number of patents registered and public expenditures on primary, secondary and higher education. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it has plans to enhance Hong Kong's knowledge competitiveness; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that? Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology

*11. Hon LEUNG Fu-wah to ask: (Translation)

Regarding occupational accidents within the Hong Kong International Airport, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the average numbers of employees working within the airport in each quarter of the past two years and the first nine months of this year, broken down by trade and job type;
(b)	of the numbers of occupational accidents that occurred within the airport each year since it came into operation in 1998, broken down by nature of accident, area in which the accidents occurred, the trade and job type of the employees involved, casualty type (injury or death) and amount of compensation involved;
(c)	whether it has, in the light of the above data, conducted a detailed study on various aspects of such occupational accidents, including causes of the accidents, job types with high accident rates, job types that are accident-prone, and the relationship between the accidents and staff shortage and unduly long working hours; if it has, of the study results and follow-up actions taken by the authorities to deal with cases where staff shortage and unduly long working hours have increased the possibility of occupational accidents occurring in certain job types; if it has not, the reasons for that;
(d)	whether it knows if the out-sourcing contracts of the Airport Authority require contractors to employ a minimum number of employees to ensure a sufficient number of employees to cope with the job demands of the relevant job types; if they have, of the trades and job types involved and how the authorities monitor the compliance with the requirements; if not, the reasons for that; and
(e)	of the follow-up actions to reduce the number of occupational accidents occurring in the accident-prone areas and job types within the airport, and how the authorities ensure that the occupational safety of employees are adequately safeguarded?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Development and Labour

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

In accordance with the Swimming Pools Regulation applicable to private swimming pools, life saving attendants shall possess valid certificates of competency in life saving and first aid issued by an association approved by the Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene for that purpose and certifying a standard of competency not less than that of a holder of the bronze medallion of the Hong Kong Life Saving Society ("HKLSS"). However, in its recruitment of lifeguards for public swimming pools, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department ("LCSD") requires that applicants must possess valid certificates of Pool Lifeguard Award ("PLA") or Beach Lifeguard Award ("BLA") or awards of a higher level issued by HKLSS. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the number of lifeguards with a standard of competency not lower than that of a holder of the above-mentioned bronze medallion, PLA and BLA, broken down by the number of those holding one or many of those certificates and, among them, the number of serving public pool lifeguards on agreement or pensionable terms;
(b)	whether it has required serving public pool lifeguards without PLA to meet the above entry requirement of LCSD before a specified deadline; if it has, of the deadline; and if serving public pool lifeguards on agreement or pensionable terms fail to meet those entry requirements before the deadline, whether they will have their contracts renewal denied or disengaged;
(c)	whether the fitness requirements of LCSD imposed on new and serving public pool lifeguards are different from its previous stipulations; if so, how the new requirements compare with those of other countries or places; if the new requirements are more stringent than the previous stipulations or those of other countries or places, of the reasons for that; and whether one of the reasons is to deliberately phase out serving public pool lifeguards on agreement or pensionable terms so as to employ another batch of lifeguards at lower pays; and
(d)	of the reasons for the inconsistency in the above entry requirements of lifeguards for private and public pools, which makes people think that the entry requirements of private pool lifeguards are less stringent than those of public pool lifeguards, and that the authorities neglect the professional status of private pool lifeguards?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

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

Given the growing popularity of gasoline/electric hybrid vehicles, will the Government inform this Council whether it has formulated incentive-based policy to attract more people to use these vehicles in the light of such development, so as to strengthen environmental protection in Hong Kong; if it has, of the details; if not, whether the authorities will consider proceeding with the formulation of such policy? Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

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

The Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation ("KCRC") has postponed the target opening date of the West Rail for several times in recent months. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	whether it has requested KCRC to submit a report on the repeated postponements of the target opening date of the West Rail; if so, of the details of the report; if not, the reasons for that;
(b)	whether it knows the specific reasons for the repeated postponements of the target opening date;
(c)	whether it has assessed if the repeated postponements of the target opening date by KCRC reflects professional blunders on the part of the KCRC's staff and if they should be held responsible for that and be punished; if so, of the assessment results; and
(d)	of the estimated net income foregone during the period from the target opening date of the West Rail as first announced by the KCRC to the latest target opening date?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

*15. Hon Mrs Sophie LEUNG to ask: (Translation)

Late at night on the 26th of last month, the driver and more than 10 passengers of a public light bus in motion were robbed by two criminals posing as passengers. This case has aroused wide public concern about whether the law and order in Hong Kong is deteriorating. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	whether there is an upward trend over the past three years in the number of cases in which passengers were robbed collectively on public vehicles in motion, and of the details of each case, including the number of persons robbed, the hour and area at which the robbery took place and the type of the vehicle involved;
(b)	of the immediate measures in place to protect the safety of passengers on public vehicles, the details of the manpower and resources deployed to implement such measures and the results achieved; how, under the financial management principle of "big market, small government", the Government can effectively redeploy the manpower and resources concerned to enhance the effectiveness of the relevant measures; if no immediate measures are in place, of the reasons for that; and
(c)	whether it will adopt long-term measures to eliminate the negative impacts of such crimes on various fronts of the Hong Kong society, including law and order, tourism and economic growth; if it will, of the details of such measures; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

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

In September this year, the Industry and Commerce Working Group of the Development and Housing Committee of Sha Tin District Council published the "Report on How to Further Develop and Use the Vacated Industrial Buildings in Sha Tin" which put forward a number of recommendations. One of its recommendations is that the Government should take the initiative to relocate some premises for community and welfare purposes to vacant industrial buildings and encourage charitable organizations to make similar arrangements. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it will consider implementing the above proposal to include community and welfare activities in the uses which are always permitted in industrial areas so that social welfare organizations can apply to the Town Planning Board for converting vacant industrial buildings into premises for such activities; if it will, of the implementation timetable; if not, the reasons for that? Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands

*17. Hon Michael MAK to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the problem of roadside non-commercial publicity materials being vandalized or stolen, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the total number of such reports received by the relevant government departments over the past three years, together with a breakdown by districts;
(b)	of the division of responsibilities between the Lands Department and the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department in managing roadside non-commercial publicity materials; whether and how these two departments have followed up such vandalism or theft cases, and the results of such follow-up actions; and
(c)	how the relevant departments combat these crimes?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

*18. Hon Fred LI to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the cremation service for pets, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	whether it knows the existing number of private operators providing cremation service for pets;
(b)	of the number of complaints received by the authorities over the past three years about the environmental problems caused by pet cremators installed in multi-storey industrial/commercial buildings, the details of the complaints and how the authorities handle such complaints; and
(c)	whether it will consider regulating the pet cremation industry through licensing to ensure that the operation of the industry complies with the requirements of the legislation on fire safety and environmental protection?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

*19. Hon SIN Chung-kai to ask: (Translation)

Will the Government provide this Council with the statistics on electors collected upon the deadline for voter registration in each of the years since 1997, broken down by the three sets of tables appended below?

(a)		Accumulated number of electors	Number of electors who had changed their registered address	Number of electors who were removed from the register on the grounds of death	Number of electors who were removed from the register on the grounds that their registered address was no longer used as their principal place of residence
	1997
	1998
	1999
	2000
	2001
	2002
	2003

(b)		The first age group set by the authorities			(Other age groups as set by the authorities)
(b)		Number of newly registered electors	Number of electors who had changed their registered address	Number of electors who were removed from the register on the grounds that their registered address was no longer used as their principal place of residence	(and so on)
	1997
	1998
	1999
	2000
	2001
	2002
	2003

(c)		Central and Western District			(Other districts)
(c)		Number of newly registered electors	Number of electors who had changed their registered address	Number of electors who were removed from the register on the grounds that their registered address was no longer used as their principal place of residence	(and so on)
	1997
	1998
	1999
	2000
	2001
	2002
	2003

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Constitutional Affairs

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

Will the Government inform this Council whether:

(a)	it knows the respective numbers of complaints received by the relevant authorities in the past three years against private medical practitioners for failing to provide detailed information on the labels of the prescribed medicines, and for prescribing an excessive quantity of medicines; how the relevant authorities have followed up these complaints and the results thereof; and
(b)	it will discuss with the Medical Council of Hong Kong the possibility of amending the professional code and conduct for registered medical practitioners to stipulate that more detailed information such as side effects of the prescribed medicines be provided on their labels?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

*For written reply.

III. Members' Motions

Proposed resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance

Hon Cyd HO to move the following motion:

RESOLVED that in relation to the -

(a)	Chinese Medicine Ordinance (Cap. 549) (Commencement) (No. 2) Notice 2003, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 227 of 2003;
(b)	Chinese Medicine (Fees) Regulation (Cap. 549 sub. leg. E) (Commencement) (No. 2) Notice 2003, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 228 of 2003; and
(c)	Chinese Medicines Regulation (Cap. 549 sub. leg. F) (Commencement) (No. 2) Notice 2003, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 229 of 2003,

and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 29 October 2003, the period for amending subsidiary legislation referred to in section 34(2) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1) be extended under section 34(4) of that Ordinance to the meeting of 17 December 2003.

Backbone industries as part of the infrastructure

Dr Hon LUI Ming-wah: (Translation)

That, as the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement will bring about new opportunities for the manufacturing industry in Hong Kong, this Council urges the Government to embrace the new development with a new way of thinking and treat backbone industries as part of the infrastructure, and to formulate strategic measures to attract suitable backbone industries to invest and set up factories and production lines in Hong Kong in order that they will become the driving forces of their industrial chains, thereby attracting related trades and industries to the territory, with a view to revitalizing the local manufacturing industry and promoting the sustained growth of Hong Kong's economy.

Amendment to Dr Hon LUI Ming-wah's motion
Hon SIN Chung-kai: (Translation)

To add "and study the establishment of a border industrial zone or a river-loop industrial zone" after "and to formulate strategic measures".

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Economic Development and Labour
(in the absence of Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology)

Grasping the opportunities brought about by CEPA to enhance employment

Hon CHAN Yuen-han: (Translation)

That, as the unemployment rate in the territory remains high with the unemployed population reaching 300 000, this Council urges that, in order to tie in with the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) which will be formally implemented in 2004, the Government should collect views from different sectors of the community for the purpose of reviewing and improving the existing policies relating to various industrial and commercial sectors and, having regard to the characteristics of the different sectors, implement the policies flexibly, abolish unnecessary regulations and restrictions, and assist small and medium enterprises in grasping the opportunities brought about by CEPA, thereby creating more employment opportunities and improving the acute unemployment situation.

Amendments to Hon CHAN Yuen-han's motion

(i)	Hon Kenneth TING: (Translation) To add "expeditiously honour the pledge in this year's Policy Address to set up a high-level task force to improve the business environment," after "the Government should"; and to add ", laws and regulations" after "reviewing and improving the existing policies".
(ii)	Hon LEE Cheuk-yan: (Translation) To add "expeditiously conduct an impact assessment on the employment situation, thoroughly analyse the impact of the arrangement on the local labour market, and" after "the Government should"; and to add "manpower development and" after "reviewing and improving the existing policies relating to".
(iii)	Dr Hon YEUNG Sum: (Translation) To add ", study the establishment of a border industrial zone or a river-loop industrial zone" after "reviewing and improving the existing policies relating to various industrial and commercial sectors".

Public Officer to attend

Secretary for Economic Development and Labour
(in the absence of Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology)

Clerk to the Legislative Council

Legislative Council

Agenda Wednesday 19 November 2003 at 2:30 pm

Agenda
Wednesday 19 November 2003 at 2:30 pm