A 08/09-8
| No. 28 | - | The Government Minute in response to the 20th Annual Report of The Ombudsman 2008 | |
| (to be presented by the Chief Secretary for Administration, who will address the Council) | |||
| (a) | as the three development proposals for the West Kowloon Cultural District ("WKCD") put forward by the Government in 2004 had been criticized by some Members of this Council, members of the public and bodies concerned, and the entire plan had to be scrapped and start from scratch again, whether it knows how the Authority will materialize the policy direction of "public engagement" in the formulation of the blueprint for the development of the WKCD project, and gauge the views of members of the public and community groups in a systematic manner, as well as institutionalize such practice, so as to avoid making the same mistake as that in 2004;
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| (b) | as the Board Chairman of the Authority stated earlier that the blueprint for the development of the WKCD project had to produce a synergy effect as well as have good connectivity with the community, whether it knows how the Authority will simultaneously build up a sound community cultural network at the community level to avoid the WKCD from becoming an isolated cultural island; and
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| (c) | whether it knows how the Authority will formulate an expenditure reporting mechanism for the WKCD development project to facilitate this Council to monitor if the 21.6 billion dollars appropriated to the Authority are spent properly? |
| (a) | it has studied the impact of electromagnetic radiation emitted from BISs on the health of the residents nearby; if it has, of the study results;
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| (b) | it knows the existing number of BISs in the territory which are located less than six metres away from residential areas; and
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| (c) | power companies have to comply with the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines on the provision of BISs; of the measures the Government has put in place to monitor the impact of the provision and operation of BISs on the surrounding environment as well as the livelihood and health of the residents; and of the government department(s) responsible for handling complaints about the electromagnetic radiation emitted from and noise nuisance caused by BISs? |
| (a) | why the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department ("EMSD") did not immediately make an announcement following the occurrence of the aforesaid serious incident which involved breakage of suspension ropes of the lift, but confirmed it only upon media enquiries 10 days later; of the respective numbers of cases in the past three years in which owners of lifts or registered lift contractors ("the contractors") notified and did not notify EMSD immediately of incidents involving lifts as required by law, the number of such cases announced by EMSD, as well as the penalties imposed on those people convicted on grounds of not immediately making a notification or other contraventions;
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| (b) | given that currently a single contractor is selected by tender to undertake maintenance of the lifts in a public housing estate which were manufactured by different manufacturers, whether the authorities will review the arrangement, and whether they will conduct comprehensive inspections on all the other lifts in public housing estates which are maintained by the contractor involved in the above incident; and
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| (c) | how the authorities presently monitor the repair and maintenance of lifts in various kinds of buildings, and whether they will carry out surprise checks on the annual safety inspections conducted by registered lift engineers, checking if the quality of the parts used by the contractors meets the statutory requirements and safety standards, as well as amending existing guidelines or codes of practice (e.g. to require that the inspection and maintenance work be carried out by at least two repair workers, and to introduce a minimum number of inspection hours, etc.)? |
| (a) | as the project development blueprint published by the developer on 19 January 2004 showed that the lot at 196-206 Queen's Road East was earmarked as part of the land exchange scheme and designated as open space, but now the developer had built on that lot a large-scale commercial building comprising restaurants and dancing schools, whether the Government will find out if the development on that site violated the planning intention of the land exchange scheme then, which was to designate the land as open space; if there was violation, of the relevant follow-up actions;
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| (b) | of an update on the discussion with the developer on land exchange in relation to the project; and
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| (c) | as the Transport Department earlier rejected the traffic impact assessment report of the above project, whether the Government will reconsider the land exchange arrangement for this project; if not, of the reasons for that? |
| (a) | of the types of projects jointly organized by these agencies over the past three years, and the quantified achievements of such projects;
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| (b) | of the details of its plan to strengthen the collaboration among these agencies, and in view of the impact of the financial tsunami on the global economy, whether it will review afresh the overseas promotional activities to be held by these agencies in the coming two years and the expenses involved;
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| (c) | whether it has any plan to accommodate the overseas offices of these agencies at the same location so as to strengthen the collaboration among them, save resources and make it more convenient for local people to enquire about information on Hong Kong; if it has, of the details of such plan; if not, the reasons for that; and
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| (d) | given that TDC will set up its first office in Taipei, whether it has any plan to accommodate the offices of the other agencies mentioned above at the same location when such offices are set up in Taipei in the future? |
| (a) | of the number of applications for ex gratia payment received by the Fund and the amount of payment involved for the period from April to October this year, together with a breakdown of such figures by the industry to which such applications belong, the amount and period of outstanding wages, and a comparison with the relevant figures in the same period of last year;
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| (b) | given that the Fund has an accumulated surplus of $1,228.6 million as at the end of March this year and the current annual rate of business registration certificate levy is $450, and judging from the experience in granting ex gratia payment in the past five years, when the accumulated surplus of the Fund is anticipated to be exhausted; and whether it has any plan to adjust the rate of business registration certificate levy for the coming five years; and
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| (c) | of the total number of suspected cases of misuse of the Fund and the amount of payment involved for the period from April to October this year, and the number of convicted cases as well as the penalties imposed? |
| (a) | when the relevant government departments received the application in respect of the above-mentioned project, and whether it knows when the project will commence;
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| (b) | whether the relevant government departments have assessed the impact of the project on neighbouring areas (including the environmental impact and the impact on the traffic on nearby roads during the construction period); if they have made the assessment, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
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| (c) | whether it has consulted the Central and Western District Council and the public on the project; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that? |
| (a) | of the total number of complaints about water seepage received by JOs between March and October this year; among them, the number of cases in which the source of water seepage had been identified; the average time taken between the receipt of a complaint and identification of the source of water seepage, and the percentage change of the figure as compared to those of the same periods in 2006 and 2007;
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| (b) | of the total number of Nuisance Notices issued and the number of instances in which an application for a Nuisance Order was made to the Court by JOs during the above period; the number of cases in which prosecution was instituted and, among them, the number of those in which the persons concerned were convicted and the penalties imposed on them;
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| (c) | as it was mentioned in the report released by the Office of The Ombudsman in March this year that the Government intended to introduce working guidelines to inform complainants regularly of the progress of the cases, whether the Government has already introduced such guidelines, if it has, of the details of the guidelines; if not, the reasons for that; and
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| (d) | as earlier there were complaints that the colour water test in identifying the source of water seepage was ineffective, of the criteria adopted by JOs for determining whether such a test should be employed; among the present cases for which water seepage tests are conducted by JOs, of the percentage of those in which only the colour water test is conducted; whether it will replace the colour water test with other testing methods; if it will, of the relevant timetable; if not, the reasons for that? |
| (a) | why CFS did not immediately send its staff to collect the egg samples from the shop concerned for testing;
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| (b) | whether measures will be introduced to ensure that eggs will not be put on the market before they are confirmed to be melamine-free; and
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| (c) | as the authorities concerned have indicated that they would discuss with the State General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine the proposal that the eggs supplied to Hong Kong must be accompanied by a melamine-free certificate, of the progress of their discussions? |
| (a) | the cumulative number of claims made by the participating lending institutions for defaulted loans, and the latest number of these claims which have been settled;
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| (b) | the average time taken for processing such claims; and
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| (c) | the respective numbers of claims which have been outstanding for 12 months or less, over 12 months but less than 24 months, and 24 months or over? |
| (a) | of the current number of large luminous devices installed illegally on the external walls of buildings in the urban areas of Hong Kong, and the anticipated time required to have all such illegal structures removed;
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| (b) | whether it has studied the impact on human health of living under or being exposed to strong light for a long period of time;
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| (c) | of the number of complaints about light pollution received by the relevant government departments since January last year, and how such complaints were handled;
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| (d) | whether it will reconsider, in response to the aspiration of the community, formulating control measures against light pollution; if it will not, of the reasons for that; and
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| (e) | whether it will provide incentives or give advice in the near future to the enterprises concerned to urge them to turn off those non-essential luminous devices installed on the external walls of buildings during late night and early morning hours, or shorten the luminous time of such devices; if it will not, of the reasons for that? |
| (a) | of the total number of complaints received by COMPAG over the past three years about the anti-competitive conduct of supermarkets and, among such complaints, the number of those which had been substantiated;
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| (b) | as COMPAG pointed out in its 2006-2007 report that in May 2006, some rice traders had complained that supermarkets sold rice below cost, but the then Commerce, Industry and Technology Bureau ("CITB") found no conclusive evidence of anti-competitive conduct on the part of supermarkets, whether CITB had investigated at that time if the suppliers concerned had provided rice to various supermarkets and other retailers at the same prices; if it had, of the investigation details; if not, the reasons for that;
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| (c) | as COMPAG also pointed out in the above report that in August 2006, a supplier had complained against a supermarket for unilaterally raising the retail price of the supplier's products above an agreed level, and the then CITB had commissioned the Consumer Council ("CC") to follow up, and COMPAG would review CC's findings within 2007, of the details of those findings; and
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| (d) | as COMPAG pointed out in its response to the findings and recommendations of CC's Report on Competition in the Foodstuffs and Household Necessities Retailing Sector released in August 2003 that "the issue at stake was not the lack of competition but the competitiveness of various suppliers and customer choice", but large supermarkets in fact enjoy a market share as high as 70%, whether the authorities have studied if this situation will make it difficult for other operators to enter the market, resulting in large supermarkets being able to manipulate the prices of goods; if they have, of the details of the study? |
| (a) | whether it has assessed if the number of niches currently provided by the Government in various districts can meet the demand;
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| (b) | whether it knows the existing number of private columbaria;
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| (c) | of the number of enquiries or complaints about private columbaria received over the past three years and the follow-up actions taken;
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| (d) | whether it has studied if the number of private columbaria is on the increase; and
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| (e) | whether it will consider establishing a licensing system to regulate private columbaria; if it will not, of the reasons for that? |
| (a) | of the trends of the US federal funds target rate, HKMA's Base Rate and the prime rates of local banks, and their differentials in the past five years;
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| (b) | whether it knows the reasons for local banks not following the Base Rate to reduce their prime rates accordingly; whether it has assessed the impact of such practice of local banks on the financial system, including whether it will trigger arbitrage trading on the interest rate differential between the Hong Kong dollar and the US dollar and undermine the stability of the linked exchange rate system; if it has, of the assessment results; if not, the reasons for that;
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| (c) | of the measures to urge local banks to adjust their prime rates in line with the level and pace of the Base Rate adjustments; and
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| (d) | whether it will consider refining the linked exchange rate system to guard against any possible attacks and alleviate the difficulties of enterprises to raise funds, so that rate cuts can serve the purposes of stimulating the economy and easing the public's burden of repaying mortgage? |
| (a) | as the Transport Department ("TD") issued guidelines to PLB operators in January this year, urging the trade to make arrangement for replacing the handrail partitions on PLBs with full-screen ones, so as to meet the relevant standard, of the current respective numbers of PLBs in Hong Kong which have and have not been fitted with full-screen handrail partitions; whether there is any plan to assist PLB operators in replacing the handrail partitions expeditiously; if so, of the details of the plan; if not, the reasons for that;
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| (b) | given that the Road Traffic (Construction and Maintenance of Vehicles) (Amendment: Requirements for Speedometers and Speed Display Devices) Regulation 2007, which came into operation on 1 May this year, provides that every PLB shall be fitted with an approved speed display device and, without the permission of the Commissioner for Transport, no alteration in respect of design, accuracy or position shall be made to it, of the total number of cases of non-compliance with the Regulation to date and the penalties imposed on the convicted persons;
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| (c) | as TD has indicated that it is testing the use of the satellite positioning technology to monitor the speed of PLBs, of the progress of the test; and
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| (d) | apart from launching the "PLB Road Safety Trial Scheme" in March this year, whether the Government has studied implementing other schemes to enhance the road safety of PLBs, so as to safeguard the safety of passengers? |
| (a) | of the number and details of lift failures in various public housing estates over the past two years, as well as the number of these cases which involved lifts of the same model as the one involved in the above incident; whether the authorities knew about the situation immediately after each incident, and whether announcements were made;
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| (b) | of the existing maintenance requirements, including the frequency and extent of inspections, for lifts in various categories of buildings; whether the authorities will, in view of the above incident, issue guidelines or requirements on items to note for undertaking maintenance and repair works for lifts; and
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| (c) | how the Government regulates the arrangements for notification of lift failures by management companies? |
| (a) | of the weekly movements of the international coal price over the past three months and the latest estimate of its average price between now and the end of 2009; and
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| (b) | given that the international coal price has dropped substantially because of the global economic downturn in recent months, whether the Government will discuss with CLP afresh with a view to lowering the FCC so as to assist the public and the small and medium enterprises in tiding over financial difficulties? |
| (a) | what criteria the participating DECCs are required to adopt in drawing up their lists of service suppliers and purchasing household items for the elderly, and whether the elderly people have the right to participate; if not, the reasons for that;
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| (b) | in the event that the elderly people are dissatisfied with the maintenance/improvement works or the household items that DECCs have arranged or purchased for them, whether they can request the DECCs to arrange for the suppliers concerned to rectify the works or replace the fittings free of charge; if not, whether it will consider formulating a mechanism for such purposes; and
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| (c) | whether it will review the current monitoring and assessment mechanism to ensure effective utilization of public funds by DECCs? |
| (a) | providing public dental out-patient services to members of the public at the medical and health organizations run by the Government in various districts;
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| (b) | public dental out-patient services must include comprehensive dental treatment, such as dental examination, scaling, extraction, filling, endodontic treatment and crowning, etc;
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| (c) | setting up a dental care scheme for secondary school students;
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| (d) | setting up a dental care scheme for the poor elderly aged over 60; and
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| (e) | drawing up an implementation timetable and a detailed plan to comprehensively improve the public dental out-patient services and the dental care scheme. |
| Amendments to the motion | ||
| (i) | Hon Andrew CHENG: (Translation)
To delete ", as" after "That" and substitute with "oral health is an important factor affecting people's health and quality of life, yet many people are not able to receive proper treatment when they have oral health problems;"; to add ", and providing out-reaching dental services for the elderly living in residential care homes" after "crowning, etc"; to delete "and" after "60;"; to add "studying the provision of small dental clinics in elderly health centres; and (f) reviewing the policy and goals in respect of oral health, and" after "(e)"; and to add "; as it takes time to improve public dental out-patient services, the Government should first set up a fund to subsidize the people in need to use the dental services of private or non-profit-making organizations" immediately before the full stop. | |
| (ii) | Dr Hon Priscilla LEUNG: (Translation)
To add "undergo regular dental examination annually, and also not being able to" after "private dental clinics not being able to"; to delete ", and" after "dental diseases" and substitute with ";"; to delete "dental care scheme" after "present" and substitute with "School Dental Care Service provided by the Department of Health"; to delete "providing public dental out-patient services to members of the public at the medical and health organizations run by the Government in various districts" after "(a)" and substitute with "extending the government dental clinic services, which are currently only available to civil servants, their dependent family members and retired civil servants, to cover recipients of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance"; to add "and full-time students of universities subsidized by the Government" after "secondary school students"; to delete "poor elderly aged over 60; and" after "dental care scheme for the" and substitute with "elderly aged 65 or above;"; and to add "; and (f) considering collaborating with private dental clinics and subsidizing members of the public to visit private dentists for dental examination in a manner similar to the provision of health care vouchers" immediately before the full stop. | |
| (a) | discuss with the management of EHC and WHC for the provision of more toll concessions, such as offering lower tolls during non-peak hours and half tolls for commercial vehicles which do not carry passengers or goods;
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| (b) | actively discuss with the two tunnel companies and various bus companies to make more room for reduction in cross-harbour bus fares through the offer of toll concessions by the two tunnel companies to the bus companies, thereby bringing down cross-harbour bus fares;
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| (c) | actively study the buying out of EHC and WHC or the extension of their franchises, so as to lower the tolls of these two tunnels to reasonable levels; and
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| (d) | improve the connecting road networks for EHC and WHC, including expeditiously constructing the Central-Wan Chai Bypass, |
| Amendments to the motion | ||
| (i) | Hon Ronny TONG: (Translation)
To add "the tolls of" after "That, as presently"; to add "are on the high side, they" after "Western Harbour Crossing (WHC)"; to delete "and their tolls are on the high side," after "traffic flows effectively,"; to add "while at the same time incurring heavy economic and social costs; as such" after "a heavy burden on vehicle owners and the general public"; and to delete "the extension of their franchises, so as to lower the tolls of these two tunnels" after "WHC or" and substitute with "the option of 'joint operation of the three tunnels', so as to adjust the tolls and traffic flows of the three tunnels". | |
| (ii) | Hon Andrew CHENG: (Translation)
To delete "actively study the buying out of EHC and WHC or the extension of their franchises, so as to" after "(c)"; to delete "these two tunnels" after "lower the tolls of" and substitute with "EHC and WHC"; to add "by way of buying out, 'offering shares in exchange for the tunnel ownership' or extending the franchises of these two tunnels" after "reasonable levels"; and to add ", improving air pollution" after "the three tunnels". | |