A 06/07-23

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 18 April 2007 at 11:00 am

I. Tabling of Papers

Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments		L.N. No.
1.	Designation of Museum (Ping Shan Tang Clan Gallery cum Heritage Trail Visitors Centre) Order	53/2007
2.	Lands Tribunal (Amendment) Rules 2006 (Commencement) Notice	54/2007
3.	Human Reproductive Technology (Licensing) Regulation	55/2007
4.	Human Reproductive Technology (Fees) Regulation	56/2007

Other Papers

1.	No.81	-	Report No. 48 of the Director of Audit on the results of value for money audits - March 2007
(to be presented by the President)
2.	No.82	-	Annual Report and Financial Report 2005-2006 of the Vocational Training Council
(to be presented by Secretary for Education and Manpower)
3.	No.83	-	Audited Statement of Accounts of and the Director of Audit's Report on the Quality Education Fund for the year ended 31 August 2006
(to be presented by Secretary for Education and Manpower)
4.	No.84	-	Approved Estimates of Income and Expenditure for the financial year 2007-2008, Securities and Futures Commission
(to be presented by Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury)
5.	No.85	-	Audited Statement of Accounts of the Early Retirement Ex-gratia Payment Fund for Aided Primary School Teachers together with the Director of Audit's Report for the year ended 31 August 2006
(to be presented by Secretary for Education and Manpower)
6.	No.86	-	Audited Statement of Accounts of the Early Retirement Ex-gratia Payment Fund for Aided Secondary School Teachers together with the Director of Audit's Report for the year ended 31 August 2006
(to be presented by Secretary for Education and Manpower)
7.	No.87	-	Audited Statement of Accounts of the Education Development Fund together with the Director of Audit's Report for the year ended 31 August 2006
(to be presented by Secretary for Education and Manpower)

II. Questions for Written Replies

1. Hon Timothy FOK Tsun-ting to ask: (Translation)

The Government is planning to convert the former Yau Ma Tei Theatre into a Cantonese opera centre, and the project concerned is expected to commence in 2008 for completion in 2011. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:

(a)	it will speed up the completion of the project concerned; if not, of the reasons for that; and
(b)	it will invite members of the Cantonese opera sector to give their views on the scope and the scale of the project; if not, of the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

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

It has been reported that earlier, problems arose in a number of transactions relating to adding value to Octopus cards via the EPS add-value terminals. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	apart from the Code of Practice for Multi-Purpose Stored Value Card Operation and the Code of Practice for Payment Card Scheme Operators, whether the Hong Kong Monetary Authority has drawn up any terms and conditions governing the debit procedures and operation of Octopus cards; if so, of the details;
(b)	whether it knows if the Octopus Cards Limited ("OCL") has reviewed the transaction records relating to adding value to Octopus cards via the EPS add-value terminals after each upgrade of the network concerned in the past three years; if it has, of the results of the review; if not, the reasons for that; and
(c)	whether it plans to implement the following measures to enhance the overall safety and efficiency of the operations of Octopus cards: devising a statutory code of practice for operators of multi-purpose stored value cards, regularly conducting random checks on the transaction records of Octopus cards, as well as requiring OCL to establish a comprehensive enquiry system on customers' transaction records; if so, of the details of the plan; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

3. Hon Bernard CHAN to ask: (Translation)

Since the Enron case, investors' awareness and expectations of the standard of corporate governance have increasingly been raised. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of the measures it has adopted to improve corporate governance in the past three years, and whether it has assessed the effectiveness of such measures; if so, of the assessment results? Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

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

The Government will present a bill to this Council today, in order to implement a mandatory energy efficiency labelling scheme, and the products to be included in the initial phase will cover compact fluorescent lamps ("CFLs"). However, CFLs contain toxic heavy metals such as mercury which, if improperly treated when disposed of, may cause harm to the environment. Although the Environmental Protection Department has provided facilities in the Chemical Waste Treatment Centre for recycling mercury in street lamps, fluorescent tubes and CFLs, these facilities are only available to government departments, public bodies and commercial organizations. Such lighting fittings disposed of by members of the public may not receive proper treatment. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the number of organizations currently using the above recycling facilities in the Chemical Waste Treatment Centre;
(b)	whether it has set a target on the number of organizations using the above facilities; if it has, of the details;
(c)	of the commercial organizations with which it is liaising on using the above recycling facilities, and how it will further promote the facilities; and
(d)	whether it will establish a territory-wide recycling scheme in order to treat the above lighting fittings disposed of by members of the public, thereby alleviating the harmful effects on the environment; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

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

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

Will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the number of requests from members of the public for accessing government records or archival records in the past three years, as well as the number of such requests rejected;
(b)	whether there is any stipulation on the minimum retention period for government records; if so, of the length of that period;
(c)	whether there is any stipulation that confidential documents of the Government (including those of the Executive Council) shall be made available for public inspection after being sealed and stored up for certain number of years;
(d)	whether the Government Records Service has ever given up records worthy of retention for reason of space limitation when it considers whether to retain government records or archival records; and
(e)	whether it has considered setting up a large government records office at the site of the Central Government Offices upon the relocation of government departments there, for storing more records for public inspection?

Public Officer to reply : Chief Secretary for Administration

6. Hon CHEUNG Hok-ming to ask: (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the total number of roundabouts on the roads of Hong Kong and their locations;
(b)	of the number of traffic accidents which occurred at roundabouts in the past three years and the number of resultant casualties;
(c)	whether it has investigated the causes of traffic accidents at roundabouts over the past three years and introduced improvement measures; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(d)	whether it has rolled out any publicity programmes to promote road safety at roundabouts; if it has, of the details of such programmes over the past three years and their promotional methods; if not, the reasons for that?

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

7. Hon TSANG Yok-sing to ask: (Translation)

In July 2004, the Education and Manpower Bureau published a paper on Empowering Learning and Teaching with Information Technology, which set out seven strategic goals. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of the latest progress and effectiveness of the various measures formulated to achieve these goals? Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

8. Hon James TO to ask: (Translation)

With the incessant increase in population and the number of tourists, pedestrians and vehicles in Hong Kong sometimes have to compete for use of the road at major tourist spots and main streets, such as Nathan Road. Pedestrians waiting to cross such streets often obstruct the pavements, and some may even be forced to walk on the carriageway. In reply to my question at the Legislative Council meeting on 28 March this year, the Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works said that, the Transport Department was finalizing various specific and detailed proposals on widening of pedestrian crossings, which included widening the pedestrian crossing at Nathan Road near Argyle Street in mid-2007. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the number of works the Government conducted in each of the past three years to widen the pedestrian crossings at Nathan Road, Lai Chi Kok Road, Cheung Sha Wan Road, Ma Tau Wai Road and Tokwawan Road; and
(b)	whether it plans to widen other pedestrian crossings along Nathan Road with high pedestrian flow; if so, of the details of the plan?

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

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

It has been reported that the number of new breast cancer cases gradually increased from about 1 000 in 1991 to 2 273 in 2004 and breast cancer has the highest growth rate of new cancer cases among women in recent years. Furthermore, according to the findings of a survey, the public do not have comprehensive knowledge about breast cancer, with only half of the female respondents undergoing breast examinations regularly. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	given that the annual number of deaths in respect of breast cancer is three to four times that of cervical cancer and the Government has launched a cervical cancer screening programme in 2004, whether it has studied the need to introduce a breast cancer screening programme; if it has, of the results of the study; if the result of the study is in the negative, of the justifications for that, and without a breast cancer screening programme, the ways to monitor and reduce the incidence of breast cancer in Hong Kong, as well as to ensure that grass-root women recognize the importance of breast examinations and that they can afford the cost of taking mammograph;
(b)	whether it has assessed the health conditions of women (particularly those who have reached menopause) from the perspectives of social, mental and physical health; if it has, of the criteria adopted for and details of the assessment; if not, of the reasons for that, and how the authorities take forward preventive education for women's health in accordance with the health conditions of women, so as to protect their health; and
(c)	given that some women have mistaken breast tumours for lymphoedema, resulting in delayed treatment, how the Government assists, in terms of resource allocation and promotion efforts for health services, women in ascertaining their health conditions, adopting healthier lifestyles and preventing them from delaying treatment?

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

10. Hon Albert CHAN to ask: (Translation)

Recently, I have received complaints from quite a number of members of the public about the maintenance problems in flats newly allocated to them by the Housing Department. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the number of complaints received in each of the past three years concerning the maintenance problems in newly-occupied public rental housing ("PRH") flats, broken down by the types of maintenance problems involved; and
(b)	whether it will consider establishing an acceptance system whereby the quality of PRH flats will be checked and verified by professionals, and such flats will be rented out only when their quality has attained the level of satisfaction; if so, of the details of the system; if not, the reasons for that?

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

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

It is noted that after deduction of the relevant expenses and payables, the income received by the Faculties of Medicine of the University of Hong Kong ("HKU") and the Chinese University of Hong Kong ("CU") from the provision of private consultation service will be shared among the university, the departments of the faculty and the teaching staff concerned according to an established sharing arrangement. However, some teaching staff of the Faculties of Medicine have relayed to me the lack of transparency in the use of such income shared by the departments. Some of them do not even know the relevant arrangement and suspect that the income may have been misappropriated. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:

(a)	the following details concerning the teaching staff of the Faculties of Medicine who presently provide private consultation service: Financial Year 2001-2002 2002-2003 2003-2004 2004-2005 2005-2006 Affiliation HKU CU HKU CU HKU CU HKU CU HKU CU Numbers and ranks Average monthly salary
(b)	the following details in respect of the 10 teaching staff providing the largest number of private consultation sessions in each of the following year: Financial Year 2001-2002 2002-2003 2003-2004 2004-2005 2005-2006 Affiliation HKU CU HKU CU HKU CU HKU CU HKU CU Number of private consultation sessions (annual total and weekly average) Number of consultation sessions for non-private patients at public hospitals (annual total and weekly average) Total attendances of private consultation in the year Total attendances of non-private consultation at public hospitals in the year Income obtained by teaching staff from the provision of private consultation service
(c)	the following details in respect of the private consultation service provided by each of the department under the Faculties of Medicine of the two universities: Financial Year 2001-2002 2002-2003 2003-2004 2004-2005 2005-2006 Name of the university and the department concerned Attendances of private consultation Total income from the provision of private consultation service Attendances of private consultation with waiver of medical fee Amount of private consultation fees waived Amount of income from the provision of private consultation service being spent on the following expenditure items: (i) academic research (ii) attendance of overseas seminars (iii) other professional development purposes

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

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

It has been reported that the carcass of a Chinese White Dolphin was found off the Butterfly Beach at Tuen Mun in February this year. As no visible injury was found on the dolphin, hence it is not ruled out that its death was caused by excessive accumulation of heavy metals in its body. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council, in each of the past three years, of the number of carcasses of dolphin found (including the above dolphin carcass) in Hong Kong waters, the month and district in which such carcasses were found, the estimated age and cause of death of the dolphins, the estimated number of dolphins in Hong Kong waters, and the specific measures taken by the Government to protect the habitat of the dolphins in Hong Kong waters? Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

13. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)

It was reported that while speaking on the issue of universal suffrage at a meeting with senior representatives of the media on the 21st of last month, the Chief Executive ("CE") said, "I would like to tell Emily LAU and the likes of her that what (the models for universal suffrage) they demand can only be found in heaven indeed". He also described the proposals for universal suffrage consolidating the views of various sectors as "雜種" (i.e. "half-breed"). In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:

(a)	of the proposals referred to as "雜種" by CE, and whether he will withdraw the use of the term "雜種", which is both insulting and racially discriminatory;
(b)	of the reasons for CE to comment that the models for universal suffrage demanded by Emily LAU and the likes of her (i.e. the electoral models completely in line with the principle of universal and equal suffrage) can only be found in heaven indeed; and
(c)	given that CE had openly ruled out the electoral models which are completely in line with the principle of universal and equal suffrage, whether this indicates that the green paper on constitutional development to be published by the authorities in the middle of this year will not contain any proposal for the true implementation of universal suffrage?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Constitutional Affairs

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

In recent years, the Government has taken a more flexible approach in dealing with procurement matters relating to information technology ("IT") projects, including the following two arrangements: (a) the launch of a pilot scheme for opening up intellectual property ("IP") rights, under which contractors are allowed to own the IP rights of the new IT systems they have developed for the Government and to use such IP rights for commercial purposes, although the Government may retain those IP rights for reasons such as public interest, and (b) setting a ceiling on the legal liabilities to be borne by the contractors in respect of the losses indirectly caused by them. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the details of the IT projects approved by the Government since the launch of the aforesaid pilot scheme, including the project names, the government departments by which the outsourcing contracts were awarded, the starting and ending dates of the tendering exercises, and whether the IP rights are/will be owned by the contractors or the Government, together with the Government's reasons for retaining such IP rights;
(b)	of the details of the IT projects approved so far for which a ceiling on the possible legal liabilities to be borne by the contractors has been set, including the project names, the government departments by which the outsourcing contracts were awarded, the start and end dates of the tendering exercises, and the types of legal liabilities for which a ceiling has been set;
(c)	whether it has formulated guidelines to assist various departments in assessing if there is public interest reason in individual IT projects which warrants the retention of IP rights; if it has, of the relevant guidelines and assessment criteria; and
(d)	as some contractors allege that certain government departments have failed to implement the above two arrangements, whether it has adopted measures, such as issuing guidelines or generic model contracts to various departments, to ensure full implementation of those arrangements by various government departments; if it has, of the relevant measures; if not, the reasons for that?

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

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

Will the Government inform this Council of:

(a)	the respective defect rates of streetlights in urban and rural areas in the past two years; and
(b)	the respective numbers of streetlights which have been installed for more than one month but have not yet been put into use in various districts at present, and the reasons for that?

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

16. Hon Frederick FUNG to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the work in alleviating poverty, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	whether it will consider extending the term of office of members of the Commission on Poverty, which will expire at the end of June this year, and expanding the functions of the Commission so as to ensure the continuation of the work in alleviating poverty;
(b)	of the progress in setting up the Family Commission, and how this commission's organizational structure and mode of operation will enable it to coordinate and tie in with the work in alleviating poverty undertaken by other commissions and the relevant advisory bodies (for example, the Commission on Poverty, the Elderly Commission and the Community Investment and Inclusion Fund Committee, etc.); and
(c)	whether it has plans to reorganize the existing policy bureaux and government departments with a view to taking forward the work in alleviating poverty in a more effective manner, and whether it will consider transferring the duties of implementing policies concerning employment and welfare services, which are now undertaken by the Economic Development and Labour Bureau and the Health, Welfare and Food Bureau respectively, to a newly-established and dedicated body?

Public Officer to reply : Financial Secretary

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

In reply to a question from a Member of this Council on 21 June 2006, the Government indicated that it had no plan to provide paid paternity leave in addition to the existing annual leave benefits of civil servants, and it was seeking the legal advice of the Department of Justice ("DoJ") on whether failure to legislate for paid paternity leave would constitute family status discrimination. It has been reported that there are local enterprises which have indicated one after another recently that they will provide paternity leave for their male employees, and according to the information of the International Labour Organization, statutory paternity leave is currently provided in 41 countries. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the legal advice provided by DoJ on whether failure to legislate for paid paternity leave will constitute family status discrimination;
(b)	whether it will reconsider taking the lead in providing paid paternity leave for all government employees, including civil servants and non-civil service contract staff, and requiring companies which provide outsourcing services for the Government to follow suit, in order to put the "family-friendly" policy into practice; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(c)	whether it will make reference to the experience of the countries concerned and study the feasibility of introducing statutory paid paternity leave in order to promote family harmony; if it will, of the details of the study; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Development and Labour

18. Hon TSANG Yok-sing to ask: (Translation)

It has been learnt that currently there are Chinese medicine clinics ("CMCs") in Hong Kong using the Chinese Medicine Information System ("CMIS") for storing clinical data on patient records and diseases in computers. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:

(a)	the number of CMCs currently using CMIS and the numbers of Chinese medicine practitioners and patients involved; whether the authorities concerned have set a target participation rate for the system; if they have, of the progress and whether they have assessed if the target can be met;
(b)	whether the authorities concerned will consider extending the scope of application of CMIS (such as allowing CMCs of local universities to join); and
(c)	whether the authorities concerned plan to link up CMIS and the Electronic Patient Record Sharing Pilot Project launched by the Hospital Authority for collecting records of patients who consult either Chinese or western medicine practitioners, so as to enable Chinese and western medicine practitioners to jointly explore ways to prevent and cure diseases?

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

19. Hon James TO to ask: (Translation)

It has been learnt that the Water Supplies Department is implementing a 15-year comprehensive water mains improvement scheme to replace and rehabilitate the aged fresh water and salt water mains throughout the territory, and the Department has launched the scheme on Hong Kong Island first. The Government anticipates that with the implementation of the scheme, incidents of water mains burst and leakage can be substantially reduced in the future. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the number of incidents of water mains burst in Kowloon and the New Territories in the past six months;
(b)	for districts in which incidents of water mains burst occur before the implementation of water mains replacement works, whether the Government will advance the replacement of the water mains there, or it will only rehabilitate the burst water mains and replace the water mains in the districts later as scheduled; if the latter is the case, whether it will cause duplication of work processes and a waste of resources; and
(c)	of the expected lifespan of the new water mains?

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

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

Regarding the use of disposable food containers for lunch by primary and secondary school students, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the respective total numbers of disposable food containers used by primary and secondary schools throughout the territory, and the respective amounts of public funds spent on the collection, transportation and disposal of the containers, together with a breakdown by the type of materials of the containers, in each of the past three years;
(b)	whether it will review the current situation regarding the use of disposable food containers by schools;
(c)	whether it has encouraged schools to use reusable food containers and cutlery; if it has, of the effectiveness of such efforts; if not, the reasons for that; and
(d)	whether it will provide financial incentives to encourage schools to use reusable food containers and cutlery?

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

III. Bills

First Reading

1. Patents (Amendment) Bill 2007

2. Import and Export (Amendment) Bill 2007

3. Tsing Sha Control Area Bill

4. Energy Efficiency (Labelling of Products) Bill

Second Reading (Debates to be adjourned)

1.	Patents (Amendment) Bill 2007	:	Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology
2.	Import and Export (Amendment) Bill 2007	:	Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology
3.	Tsing Sha Control Area Bill	:	Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works
4.	Energy Efficiency (Labelling of Products) Bill	:	Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

Second Reading (Debate to resume)

Appropriation Bill 2007	:	Financial Secretary
Other Public Officers to attend	:	Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

Committee Stage and Third Reading

Appropriation Bill 2007

:

Financial Secretary

(i)	Proposed resolution under Rule 69(3) of the Rules of Procedure of the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Hon James TO to move the following motion: RESOLVED that head 122 be reduced by $45,170,000 in respect of subhead 000. Other Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Security
(ii)	Proposed resolution under Rule 69(3) of the Rules of Procedure of the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Hon James TO to move the following motion: RESOLVED that head 122 be reduced by $80,000,000 in respect of subhead 103. Other Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Security

Clerk to the Legislative Council