A 05/06-13

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 11 January 2006 at 11:00 am



I.Tabling of Papers

Subsidiary Legislation / InstrumentsL.N. No.
1.Antiquities and Monuments (Declaration of Historical Building) Notice 2005236/2005
2.Tax Reserve Certificates (Rate of Interest) (No. 10) Notice 2005237/2005
3.Business Registration (Fee Reduction) Regulation 20061/2006
4.Dutiable Commodities (Fee Revision) Regulation 20062/2006
5.Inland Revenue Ordinance (Amendment of Schedules 5 and 11 - Fee Revision) Order 20063/2006
6.Import and Export (General) Regulations (Amendment of Fourth and Fifth Schedules) Order 20064/2006
7.Statutes of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (Amendment) Statutes 20055/2006
8.Statutes of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (Amendment) (No. 2) Statute 20056/2006
9.Evidence (Miscellaneous Amendments) Ordinance 2003 (Commencement) Notice 20067/2006

Other Papers

1. No.55-Legal Aid Services Council Annual Report 2004-2005
(to be presented by Chief Secretary for Administration)

2. Report of the Bills Committee on Civil Aviation (Amendment) Bill 2005
(to be presented by Hon Ronny TONG Ka-wah, a member of the Bills Committee)

II. Questions

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

Regarding the fees and charges of the Mandatory Provident Fund ("MPF"), will the Government inform this Council whether:
    (a)it will consider making public, in the Code on Disclosure for MPF Investment Funds, the fees and charges of funds of similar nature managed by trustees of MPF funds, so as to facilitate comparison by MPF scheme members;

    (b)it has compared the cost structures of MPF funds, including the costs of management, administration and other services, with the relevant aspects of non-MPF funds; if it has, of the comparison results; and

    (c)it will take measures to encourage trustees of MPF funds to scale down their management costs so as to lower the fees and charges; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

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

It has been reported that the obstetric services provided by Tuen Mun Hospital ("TMH") have failed to meet the demand. As a result, some women have to go to public hospitals in other districts for delivery. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of delivery cases handled by the Department of Obstetrics of TMH in each of the past three years, and among those women giving birth, the number and percentage of those who are non-Hong Kong residents;

    (b)of the anticipated number of delivery cases which can be handled by TMH in each of the next three years; and

    (c)whether it plans to increase the medical and nursing manpower and resources of the Department of Obstetrics of TMH so as to satisfy the service demand of Tuen Mun District; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

3. Hon Alan LEONG Kah-kit to ask: (Translation)

In May last year, the Buildings Department ("BD") issued a Practice Note to the architectural sector on the provision of sanitary fitments in male toilets and female toilets in shopping arcades and department stores, places of public entertainment and cinemas. The Practice Note proposed to change the ratio of the number of urinals and water closets in male toilets to that of water closets in female toilets from 1:1 to 1:1.25 and to change the number of sanitary fitments listed in the relevant tables of the Building (Standards of Sanitary Fitments, Plumbing, Drainage Works and Latrines) Regulations, in order to alleviate the inadequacy of female toilets in the premises concerned. BD had also indicated that it would propose to incorporate the above ratio into the Regulations after consulting the relevant sectors. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the rationale and criteria on which the ratios of 1:1 and 1:1.25 were based;

    (b)whether it has conducted any consultation on the ratio of 1:1.25, if it has, of the persons or groups consulted and details of the consultation; if not, the reasons for that; and whether it has drawn up any action plan and timetable in relation to amending the Regulations; if it has, of the details; and

    (c)whether it has conducted any survey on and assessment of implementing the ratio of 1:1.25; if it has, of the details of the survey and assessment; and the number of persons-in-charge of shopping arcades and department stores, places of public entertainment and cinemas who have already provided the relevant sanitary fitments in their premises according to the ratio?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands

4. Hon Fred LI to ask: (Translation)

The Government is discussing with the Guangdong provincial authorities the drawing up of a new water supply agreement. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether Guangdong and Hong Kong authorities have reached a preliminary agreement; if so, of the details of the progress and course of discussions, as well as the contents of the agreement; if not, when an agreement is expected to be reached;

    (b)whether it will consult this Council prior to the signing of the new water supply agreement, and whether the new agreement necessitates legislation and seeking funding approval from the Finance Committee of this Council; and

    (c)given that the Songhua River and the Beijiang in Guangdong Province have recently been polluted by chemical compounds and the Pearl River Delta region has also seen serious salty tides, whether it has held discussions with the Guangdong provincial authorities the formulation of contingency measures to cope with emergencies where the water supply to Hong Kong is affected by various kinds of pollution to Dongjiang, as well as stipulating relevant provisions in the new water supply agreement; if such discussions have been held, of the details of the relevant measures; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

5. Hon WONG Ting-kwong to ask: (Translation)

I have received complaints that nude photographs of women have been published on the front covers of certain leisure and entertainment magazines. Since these magazines have not been classified as indecent articles by the Obscene Articles Tribunal ("OAT"), they are not required to be sealed with wrappers and to display warning notices on their front and back covers. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether the Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority ("TELA") is aware of the above problem; if so, of the follow-up actions taken;

    (b)of the number of inspections of newspaper stands and retail shops conducted by the staff of TELA in the last financial year, and the current establishment and strength of the staff deployed for such duties; and

    (c)of the number of publications that TELA referred to OAT for classification in the last financial year and, among them, the respective numbers of those which were classified as indecent and obscene, as well as the average time taken to classify a publication?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology

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

The objectives of the waste recovery and recycling programmes implemented by the Environmental Protection Department are to enhance waste recovery and recycling, and minimize waste which requires disposal. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the percentage of recyclable waste in the total amount of waste recovered in the past three years;

    (b)as the waste recovery and recycling programmes include domestic waste recovery programmes, commercial and industrial waste recovery programmes and pilot product responsibility programmes, of the most effective type of programmes in the past three years and the supporting data for that; and

    (c)of the overseas experience in implementing the domestic waste recovery programmes and commercial and industrial waste recovery programmes and the supporting data for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

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

Regarding the resource allocation of the Hospital Authority ("HA"), will the Government inform this Council whether it knows the following in each of the past five years:
    (a)a breakdown of HA's expenditures on remunerating senior executives, specialists, non-specialists, general nurses and psychiatric nurses, as well as the respective percentages of each of the above expenditure items in the overall expenditure of HA;

    (b)the respective numbers of senior executives, specialists and non-specialists of HA, as well as their respective percentages in the total number of full-time employees of HA; and

    (c)the respective numbers of senior executives, specialists, non-specialists, general nurses and psychiatric nurses of the hospitals and medical institutions under HA, and their respective percentages in the total number of staff of the hospitals and medical institutions concerned?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

*8. Hon Patrick LAU Sau-shing to ask: (Translation)

When it introduced the Land Titles Bill in 2002, the Government did not propose to provide any form of guarantee for land boundaries under the proposed title registration system, and stated that it might revisit the issue in due course. The Bill was passed by this Council in July 2004. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:
    (a)it plans to start studying the issue shortly; if so, of the details of its plan, including the date when the study will commence; if not, of the reasons for that;

    (b)it will consider inviting the relevant professional institutes or organizations to jointly conduct the study; if so, of the specific mode of co-operation; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c)it will consider, as part of the study, granting a statutory status to the land boundary plans drawn up by authorized land surveyors in accordance with the relevant code of practice, and incorporating the relevant provisions into the Land Registration Ordinance; if not, of the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands

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

In his Policy Address delivered in October last year, the Chief Executive pointed out that advisory and statutory bodies ("ASBs") served as important partners of the Government in achieving effective governance. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of ASBs comprising District Council ("DC") members, and the number of DC members serving on each of these ASBs;

    (b)whether it plans to include a certain number of DC members in the membership of each ASB, so as to increase public representation of ASBs with a view to reflecting public sentiment more effectively; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c)whether it plans to allow DC members to indicate, in the annual updating of their personal data, their interests in joining particular ASBs for consideration by the authorities?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

*10. Hon Daniel LAM Wai-keung to ask: (Translation)

In February 2005, the Town Planning Board ("TPB") unilaterally amended, without first consulting the owners of agricultural land in the New Territories, the "Notes" for agricultural land in the Master Schedule of Notes to Statutory Plans so as to control land filling activities undertaken on agricultural land. Then, in April of the same year, the TPB announced by notice in the Gazette amendments to 25 draft/approved Outline Zoning Plans, which included the above revision to the Notes. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:
    (a)the number of complaints received in the past 10 years by the authorities about land filling activities undertaken on agricultural land, the number of pieces of land involved and their sizes;

    (b)the number of cases in which works undertaken in the past 10 years by the Government for the purpose of developing new towns, constructing roads and river training in the New Territories had turned land in the vicinity into low-lying land, as well as the area of the land involved;

    (c)the examples of cases showing that land filling activities undertaken by owners of agricultural land have negative impacts on the economy and livelihood of the local community; and

    (d)how the authorities arrived at the 1.2 metres upper limit on the thickness of soil laid in land filling activities requiring no planning permission, and whether the authorities have consulted owners of low-lying land; if so, please provide the relevant papers?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands

*11. Hon Howard YOUNG to ask: (Translation)

The Hong Kong Export Credit Insurance Corporation ("ECIC") launched its "Travel Agent Services Policy" in October last year to provide professional risk management services and cover for bad debts to support local service providers. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of insurance applications received by ECIC since the launch of "Travel Agent Services Policy" and the amount of insurance cover involved, and how the authorities promote such insurance services to the industry;

    (b)whether it will consider streamlining the application procedures concerned and shortening the time for approving applications; and

    (c)how the authorities will help the industry reduce credit risks besides the protection provided by ECIC against such risks?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology

*12. Dr Hon Joseph LEE Kok-long to ask: (Translation)

Regarding matters relating to the production of fish and shellfish in local mariculture farms, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether regular water samplings are conducted in local mariculture farms for analyses of water quality and oxygen level; if so, of the frequency and outcome of the samplings conducted each year;

    (b)whether a surveillance system is currently in place under which metal concentrations in fish and shellfish produced by local mariculture farms are checked against the international safety standards; if so, of the types of such metals and the safety standards concerned;

    (c)whether projects such as that of laying submarine gas pipelines are underway in the vicinities of the seabed of the mariculture farms in the territory in the past year; if so, whether the water quality and metal concentration levels nearby as well as the life process of fish and shellfish in the mariculture farms concerned are monitored by the relevant authorities; if so, of the monitoring results; and

    (d)as the wholesaling of fish and shellfish produced by local mariculture farms does not need to be transacted through wholesale markets managed by the Fish Marketing Organization, whether the relevant authorities have drawn up any controlling measures to prevent contaminated marine products from entering the local market, so as to reduce the risk of excessive intake of harmful substances by the public through consumption of marine products?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

*13. Hon WONG Kwok-hing to ask: (Translation)

With respect to pubs situated on the upper floors of commercial buildings other than shopping malls, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the total number of such pubs at present, with a breakdown by district, as well as the names of the 20 buildings with the highest number of such pubs and the respective numbers of pubs in these buildings;

    (b)whether the Buildings Department and Fire Services Department will make recommendations to the relevant authorities responsible for issuing restaurant licences and liquor licences on stipulating on the licences the maximum number of customers to be served at any one time by an individual pub; if they will, of the criteria for determining the maximum number; and

    (c)whether existing legislation has stipulated the maximum numbers of pubs to be issued with liquor licences in a building and customers to be served at any one time by such pubs?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

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

It has been reported that some members of the public have criticized that the acoustics of the concert hall of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre are not up to international standards, and even worse, audience occupying certain seats of the auditorium cannot clearly hear the tunes of individual musical instruments. The Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra has also queried why the core arts and cultural facilities that the Government proposes to be provided in the West Kowloon Cultural District ("WKCD") have not included a concert hall with acoustics meeting international standards. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of such complaints received by the relevant authorities in the past three years;

    (b)whether the Leisure and Cultural Services Department engaged experts to assess the acoustics of the concert halls/auditoria in venues under its purview and recommend improvements in the past three years; if so, of the names and professional qualifications of the experts engaged, as well as the recommendations they made and, among such recommendations, of those adopted, and the reasons for the authorities not adopting the others; and

    (c)whether they will consider including the provision of a concert hall with acoustics meeting international standards in the WKCD development; if not, of the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

*15. Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki to ask: (Translation)

Early last month, some medical groups and private clinics were discovered to have given several hundred residents injections with influenza vaccines imported from the Mainland but unregistered in Hong Kong. The incident has aroused grave concern in the community. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)how the authorities monitor issues relating to the provision of influenza vaccines, including the places of origin, distribution, registration and import of such vaccines;

    (b)whether the relevant Mainland authorities and vendors have been contacted concerning this incident; if so, of the relevant details; of the plans to strengthen communication with the relevant Mainland authorities; whether it will consider introducing legislative amendments to prevent unauthorized vaccines from entering Hong Kong; and

    (c)whether it knows the existing channels through which medical groups and private clinics acquire vaccines, and whether it plans to step up its monitoring efforts?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

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

It has been reported that although the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department had increased the minimum rental prices of the stalls for the Lunar New Year Fairs this year by 20%, the rental income from the stalls for the Victoria Park Lunar New Year Fair, instead of increasing, actually decreased substantially by more than 30%, from about $10.6 million last year to about $7.2 million this year, with many stalls being let out at their opening prices. In addition, there were bidders who, after having negotiated openly among themselves, won the bids for their stalls at the opening prices, and some bidders were even dissuaded from participating in the auction. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:
    (a)it has investigated the above breaches in which bidders allegedly joined hands to force a reduction in prices; if it has, of the details and the results; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (b)it will consider conducting the auction of the stalls for the Lunar New Year Fairs by way of sealed bids?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

*17. Hon Albert CHAN to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the expenditure and claims relating to the 10 Airport Core Programme projects, will the Government inform this Council of the following as at the end of last month:
    (a)the total expenditure of each project and the difference between this figure and the estimated expenditure originally approved; and

    (b)the numbers and amounts of the relevant claims received respectively by the Administration, the Airport Authority and the MTR Corporation Limited, together with a breakdown of resolved and unresolved claims?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

*18. Hon LI Kwok-ying to ask: (Translation)

I have recently received a submission from a group of Chinese medicine practitioners ("CMPs") in which they hope to strive for the establishment of an international professional title for CMPs and urge the Government to recognize "EC" as the formal professional title for registered CMPs (General Practice), registered CMPs (Acupuncture) and registered CMPs (Bone-setting), and to enact legislation to forbid the use of this title by unregistered persons. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it will establish a formal title for CMPs and enact legislation to regulate the use of this title; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that? Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

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

Regarding the Correctional Services Department's giving inmates injections with tranquilizers, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the total number of cases in which inmates were injected with tranquilizers in each of the past five years, as well as the respective numbers of cases where the inmates claimed to feel unwell after injection and those where the inmates died of complications from the injection; and

    (b)whether it will consider using other means (e.g. mechanical restraint) as far as possible to deal with agitated and violence-prone inmates; if not, of the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

*20. Hon Frederick FUNG to ask: (Translation)

Regarding paid leave for giving birth to and looking after children, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)given that since April 2003, pregnant employees in the United Kingdom have been entitled to 26 weeks' paid maternity leave, regardless of the length of their employment by the employers concerned, whereas a pregnant employee in Hong Kong is only entitled to 10 weeks of paid maternity leave provided she has been employed under a continuous contract for a period of not less than 40 weeks immediately before the date of commencement of her maternity leave, whether the authorities have assessed if Hong Kong lags behind other developed economic entities in labour legislation in terms of maternity leave; if they have, of the assessment results; and whether the period of paid maternity leave will be extended; if they have not assessed, the reasons for that; and

    (b)as the Chief Executive has, in his Policy Address last October, pointed out that cherishing the family was a core value of Hong Kong and stated that the Government would actively create a family-friendly working environment, whether the authorities will, by drawing reference from the practices of various developed countries, introduce legislation to grant employees paid paternity leave and parental leave; if they will not, the justifications for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Development and Labour

*For written reply.

III. Bills

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

1.Employment (Increase in Penalty for Offences under Section 63C) Bill 2005 :Secretary for Economic Development and Labour

2.Civil Aviation (Amendment) Bill 2005 :Secretary for Economic Development and Labour

IV. Members' Motions

  1. Proposed resolution under the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China

    Hon TSANG Yok-sing to move the motion in the Appendix.

  2. Expediting the construction of the MTR South Island Line

    Hon Howard YOUNG: (Translation)

    That, given the successive completion of the Ocean Park's Redevelopment Plans from 2008 onwards and that works on the new tourism projects will be launched in Southern District, which are expected to further aggravate the already very heavy traffic in the district, to alleviate traffic congestion, complement tourism development and give impetus to the local economy, this Council urges the Government to expedite the construction of the MTR South Island Line, but should study in parallel how vicious competition of the new line with other public transport such as minibuses or buses can be avoided, thereby protecting the public's right to choose and their interests.

    Amendment to motion
    Dr Hon YEUNG Sum:     (Translation)

    To add "for commissioning in or before 2012" after "MTR South Island Line".

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

  3. Comprehensive review of labour legislation

    Hon WONG Kwok-hing: (Translation)

    That, as the economic pattern and labour relations in Hong Kong have changed, the existing labour legislation cannot keep abreast of the times and fails to improve the protection of workers' rights and benefits, this Council urges the Administration to expeditiously conduct a comprehensive review of various legislation relating to labour matters.

    Amendments to motion
    (i)Hon LEE Cheuk-yan: (Translation)

    To add "which is full of flaws and loopholes" after "existing labour legislation"; and to add ", including: (a) abolishing the requirement in the definition of 'continuous employment' under the Employment Ordinance that an employee has to work for 18 hours or more in a week in order to be deemed to have been in continuous employment; (b) preventing employers from evading their statutory liability by employing employees under service contracts instead of employment contracts; (c) introducing legislative provisions to provide for employees' right to protection by collective agreement, and formulating a set of fair and objective procedures for recognizing trade unions in conducting collective bargaining; (d) introducing legislative provisions to provide for the right of citizens or employees to seek civil remedy from the Labour Tribunal should they be discriminated against by employers in appointment, remuneration, promotion, transfer or other areas of employment for their being members of trade unions or for participating in activities of trade unions; (e) introducing legislative provisions to protect citizens or employees against age discrimination by employers in appointment, remuneration, promotion, transfer, dismissal or other areas of employment, and to provide for the right of victims of age discrimination to seek civil remedy from the Labour Tribunal; (f) introducing legislative provisions to protect employees against unfair dismissal by employers, and to provide for the right of victims of unfair dismissal to seek civil remedy from the Labour Tribunal; (g) increasing the criminal penalties for offences of unlawful dismissal (i.e. offences under sections 15(1), 21B(2)(b), 33(4B) and 72B(1) of the Employment Ordinance, section 6 of the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance and section 48 of the Employees' Compensation Ordinance); (h) abolishing the provision that the court or the Labour Tribunal shall only make an order for reinstatement or re-engagement upon agreement by the employer under section 32N of the Employment Ordinance; (i) abolishing the provision that severance payments or terminal payments made to an employee under Part VIA of the Employment Ordinance may be offset by the employer's contributions under the occupational retirement scheme or Mandatory Provident Fund Scheme ('MPFS'); (j) enacting law for stipulating a minimum wage and regulating employees' working hours; (k) reviewing the criminal liability of directors, managers, secretaries or other similar officers of body corporate in respect of offences relating to defaults on employees' wages; (l) amending section 43C of the Employment Ordinance to the effect that the liability of a principal contractor and its superior sub-contractor(s) to pay wages of employees of sub-contractor(s) be increased to the amount of wages due to such employees for four months; (m) introducing family commitment leave and training leave, and gradually converting all public holidays to paid statutory holidays; (n) extending the period of paid maternity leave to 12 weeks, and increasing the rate of maternity leave pay to 100% of the employee's normal wages; (o) abolishing the provision that an employee is entitled to sickness allowance only if the sick leave taken is not less than four consecutive days, and increasing the rate of sickness allowance to 100% of the employee's normal wages; and (p) extending the application of the MPFS to domestic employees, and abolishing the provision that housing allowance is not regarded as part of the relevant income" after "legislation relating to labour matters".

    (ii)Hon LEUNG Yiu-chung: (Translation)

    To add ", to enact law for protecting employees against unfair dismissal, and to expeditiously reintroduce into the Legislative Council the pieces of labour legislation that were repealed by the Provisional Legislative Council, so as to reinstate employees' right to collective bargaining" after "legislation relating to labour matters".

    (iii)Hon Andrew CHENG: (Translation)

    To add ", to promote five-day work week and to enact law for regulating the weekly standard working hours" after "legislation relating to labour matters".

    Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Economic Development and Labour

Clerk to the Legislative Council