A 02/03-20
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 5 March 2003 at 2:30pm
I. Tabling of Papers
| Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments | L.N. No.
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| 1. | Massage Establishments (Amendment) Regulation 2003 | 51/2003
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| 2. | Probate and Administration Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule 2) Order 2003 | 52/2003
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| 3. | Chinese Medicine Ordinance (Cap. 549) (Commencement) Notice 2003 53/2003
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| 4. | Chinese Medicines Regulation (Cap. 549 sub. leg.) (Commencement) Notice 2003 | 54/2003
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| 5. | Chinese Medicine (Fees) Regulation (Cap. 549 sub. leg.) (Commencement) Notice 2003 | 55/2003
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| 6. | Chinese Medicines Traders (Regulatory) Regulation (Cap. 549 sub. leg.) (Commencement) Notice 2003 | 56/2003
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| 7. | Shipping and Port Control Regulations (Amendment of Third and Seventh Schedules) Notice 2002 (L.N. 123 of 2002) (Commencement) Notice 2003 | 57/2003
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Other Paper
| 1. No.67 | - | Estimates for the year ending 31 March 2004
Volume IA - General Revenue Account
Volume IB - General Revenue Account
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(to be presented by Financial Secretary)
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| 2. No.68 | - | Estimates for the year ending 31 March 2004
Volume II - Fund Accounts
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| (to be presented by Financial Secretary)
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II. Questions for Written Replies
1. Hon Cyd HO to ask:(Translation)
With regard to medical and health services, particularly relating to public health and preventing the spread of diseases, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the number of occasions in the past three years on which the Health, Welfare and Food Bureau, Department of Health and Hospital Authority communicated with the corresponding Guangdong authorities in respect of matters relating to medical and health services, and list out, in chronological order of the communications, the issues discussed, the responsible local and Guangdong officials involved, the outcome of the discussions and the follow-up actions taken by the relevant authorities in Hong Kong and Guangdong; and
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| (b) | whether it has assessed the effectiveness of the communication mechanism mentioned above; if it has, of the assessment results; whether it will improve and enhance this communication mechanism; if it will, of the implementation timetable, the responsible officials, the circumstances in which the mechanism will be activated, as well as other relevant details?
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Public Officer to reply
:Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
2. Hon Albert HO to ask:(Translation)
Regarding immigration clearance of foreign nationals, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the respective numbers of entries and exits of foreign nationals, their waiting time for clearance, and the number of immigration counters at different border control points in the past year; how these statistics compare with the corresponding immigration figures for permanent residents of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; and
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| (b) | whether it has considered streamlining the clearance procedures for foreign nationals or increasing the number of immigration counters in order to shorten their waiting time?
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Public Officer to reply
:Secretary for Security
3. Hon Abraham SHEK to ask:
In January this year, the Government informed the Legislative Council's Panel on Transport that a Government study on the need for and the way to establish a new public transport fares adjustment mechanism had commenced several months earlier and was nearing completion. The new mechanism should, inter alia, take into consideration the operating situation of the transport operators. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it has reviewed the existing fare adjustment mechanism; if it has, of the outcome of the review;
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| (b) | whether it has consulted the transport operators on the new mechanism; if it has, of the views collected; if not, the reasons for that;
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| (c) | how the new mechanism will take into consideration the different operating situations of the transport operators;
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| (d) | whether the new mechanism will apply to all the existing public transport operators; and
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| (e) | whether it has assessed the potential impact of the new mechanism on the confidence of investors; if it has, of the assessment results?
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Public Officer to reply
:Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works
4. Hon CHAN Yuen-han to ask:(Translation)
The Board of the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited ("HKEx") has decided to remove the minimum brokerage commission rule with effect from 1 April this year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | for each of the years since the HKEx proposed in 2000 to remove the minimum brokerage commission rule:
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| (i) | of the respective numbers of securities companies of various categories;
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| (ii) | of the respective average monthly incomes of securities companies and brokers;
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| (iii) | of the respective numbers of people who were granted new securities brokers licences and those who had their licences renewed; and
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| (iv) | of the respective numbers of securities companies which wound up their businesses and securities brokers who became unemployed;
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| (b) | whether it has assessed the respective numbers of securities companies which may wind up their businesses and securities brokers who may switch jobs or become unemployed upon the removal of the minimum brokerage commission rule; and
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| (c) | as the tripartite forum composed of the Government, the Securities and Futures Commission and HKEx has not, in the four major areas of work which it has preliminarily drawn up to explore measures to assist small and medium size brokers, included the formulation of measures to prevent vicious competition for commission on securities transactions and market monopolization by large securities companies and banks, whether the forum will consider such inclusion; if it will, whether HKEx will consider deferring the removal of the minimum brokerage commission rule until the above preventive measures have been formulated by the forum, so as to enable the survival of small and medium-sized securities companies?
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Public Officer to reply
:Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
5. Hon Fred LI to ask:(Translation)
It has been reported that over the past two years, five consignments with a total number of around 10 000 live chickens from the Mainland were denied import into Hong Kong because some of the relevant blood samples taken at entry points from the live chickens had reacted positively to H5 avian flu virus tests. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the details of these cases;
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| (b) | whether it has subsequently discussed with the relevant Mainland authorities ways to prevent the import of chickens infected with avian flu virus into Hong Kong; if so, of the results of the discussions; if not, the reasons for that;
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| (c) | whether it knows if the Mainland authorities concerned consequently ordered the temporary suspension of the export of chickens from the farms concerned and specified the length of such moratorium; if so, of the details, the authorities from which such farms shall obtain approvals for resuming the export of chickens, and the factors to be considered by the authorities before granting approvals;
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| (d) | whether, in the future, following the denial of the import of chickens, it will make immediate announcements of the number of chickens involved and the reasons for denial; if so, of the arrangements concerned; if not, of the reasons for that; and
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| (e) | whether the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department found any chickens infected with H5 avian flu virus when it carried out inspections on Mainland farms last year; if so, of the follow-up measures it has taken?
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Public Officer to reply
:Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
6. Hon Michael MAK to ask:(Translation)
Regarding the Voluntary Early Retirement Programme implemented by the Hospital Authority ("HA") at the end of last year, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it knows the HA employees' reactions towards the Programme; the numbers of applicants and those whose applications have been approved so far, as well as the average compensation each successful applicant received, together with a breakdown by ranks; and
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| (b) | of the estimated annual savings on HA's staff emoluments to be achieved by the implementation of the Programme, and whether it has other financial plans to cater for the scenario in which the number of applicants for the Programme is less than expected?
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Public Officer to reply
:Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
7. Hon CHOY So-yuk to ask:(Translation)
I have received a complaint that the stored value phonecards issued by the Pacific Century CyberWorks Limited for making local and long-distance international calls from the company's public telephone booths have been replaced by its other phonecards in recent years, and the public telephone booths which accept such stored value phonecards are now very few. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:
| (a) | it knows the number of public telephone booths provided by the company and, among them, the number of those which still accept the stored value phonecards mentioned above;
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| (b) | it knows the number of such stored value phonecards sold by the company so far and, among them, the number of those still in circulation; and
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| (c) | the Administration will ask the company to make arrangements for refunding to holders of such phonecards their remaining value or exchanging these phonecards with other phonecards of the same value; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply
:Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology
8. Hon SIN Chung-kai to ask:(Translation)
Regarding applications made under the Admission of Mainland Professionals Scheme for entry to work in Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the approval rate of the applications received under the information technology ("IT") sector in each quarter since June 2001; whether the rates are rising; if so, of the reasons for that;
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| (b) | whether it has conducted regular reviews on the criteria and mechanism for vetting and approving applications, and monitored the operation of the mechanism and effectiveness of the Scheme; if so, of the details; if not, whether it will draw up a review timetable; and
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| (c) | in view of the closing down of many IT firms, the increasing number of unemployed workers and shrinking wages in the sector, whether it will regularly review the supply and demand of the workforce in the IT sector, with a view to stipulating a quota for admission of professionals for the sector or amending the criteria for entry applications for employment in Hong Kong?
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Public Officer to reply
:Secretary for Security
9. Ir Dr Hon HO Chung-tai to ask:(Translation)
It has been reported that cases of obtaining Comprehensive Social Security Assistance ("CSSA") payments by deception have been increasing in recent years. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the total amount of CSSA payments that the CSSA recipients concerned obtained by deception in the past three years;
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| (b) | of the average total value of assets owned by the CSSA recipients when they were found to have obtained CSSA payments by deception in the above cases; and
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| (c) | whether further measures are in place to curb acts of obtaining CSSA payments by deception; if so, of the details?
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Public Officer to reply
:Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
10. Hon LAU Kong-wah to ask:(Translation)
Will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether the calculation of compensation in respect of regular police officers who die accidentally while on duty and the criteria for determining if their remains can be buried at Gallant Garden differ from those in respect of their auxiliary counterparts; if so, of the differences and the reasons therefor; and
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| (b) | if there are differences in the calculation and criteria concerned, whether:
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| (i) | a review will be conducted to ascertain if such different treatment constitutes a case of double standard;
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| (ii) | a study will be carried out to see how such different treatment may affect the morale of auxiliary police officers; and
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| (iii) | consideration will be given to amending existing legislation so that both regular and auxiliary police officers enjoy equal treatment; if not, of the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply
:Secretary for Security
11. Hon Emily LAU to ask:
In September 2001, the Town Planning Board ("TPB") endorsed a recommendation of the Planning Department to introduce a new land use zoning of "Other Specified Uses" annotated "Rural Use" ("OU(RU)") for land intended for maintaining the rural landscape and for rural and recreational uses that were commensurate with the rural environment. Under this new zoning, low-density, low-rise developments (maximum plot ratio of 0.4 and building height of three storeys) may be permitted by the TPB. In June 2002, the new zoning was first introduced in the amended Tai Tong Outline Zoning Plan, in which three pieces of land were rezoned from "Agriculture" to OU(RU). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:
| (a) | it has conducted proper public consultation on the introduction of the new land use zoning of OU(RU); if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
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| (b) | it has assessed if the new land use zoning will lead to speculation on agricultural land, pose threats to the New Territories' rural landscape, and have impacts on sites with conservation and heritage value; if it has, of the assessment results; and
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| (c) | it has given due regard to the formulation of a policy on conservation and agriculture before deciding to introduce the new land use zoning?
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Public Officer to reply
:Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands
12. Hon Michael MAK to ask:(Translation)
In June 1997, the former Legislative Council ("LegCo") passed the amendments to the Nurses Registration Ordinance (Cap. 164), including adding the provision that six of the members of the Nursing Council of Hong Kong shall be elected among registered nurses and enrolled nurses in a manner provided for by regulations. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:
| (a) | the progress in drafting the relevant election regulations and the planned time to introduce the proposed regulations to LegCo; and
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| (b) | the planned time for implementing the relevant regulations; if no implementation date has been fixed, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply
:Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
13. Hon Emily LAU to ask:(Translation)
It is learnt that some of the police officers promoted at the end of last year either participated in the operation on 8 May 2001 to tow away the vehicle of demonstrators from the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China during the Fortune Global Forum, or that on 30 June last year to seize the loudspeakers of demonstrators during the President of the State's visit to Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
| (a) | of a breakdown by the ranks of the police officers who participated in handling the above demonstrations and were promoted in 2002; and
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| (b) | whether, in considering the promotion of law enforcement officers, the authorities will take into consideration their performance in handling peaceful public meetings and processions; if so, whether they have assessed if this practice will encourage front-line law enforcement officers to adopt a tough attitude and method in handling peaceful public meetings and processions?
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Public Officer to reply
:Secretary for Security
14. Ir Dr Hon HO Chung-tai to ask:(Translation)
In view of a serious industrial accident involving the collapse of scaffolding which resulted in casualties on 9 December last year, will the Government inform this Council of:
| (a) | the number of accidents involving collapse of scaffolding in each of the past three years;
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| (b) | the measures taken last year to enhance awareness of industrial safety among members of the construction industry; and
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| (c) | the legal liabilities of works contractors and employers of construction workers in respect of industrial accidents caused by overloading or structural defects of scaffolding?
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Public Officer to reply
:Secretary for Economic Development and Labour
15. Hon LAU Kong-wah to ask:(Translation)
Will the Government inform this Council whether the Housing Authority must remove the furnishings of vacated public rental housing units before handing over the units to new tenants; if so, of the reasons for that; and whether it will change the above measure so that the decision on whether to keep the furnishings of the units concerned will be made according to the new tenants' wish, with a view to saving public expenditure; if it will not, of the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply
:Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands
16. Hon SIN Chung-kai to ask:(Translation)
It has been reported that of the nine buildings at the Hong Kong Science Park Phase 1, 30% of the facilities and office premises have not yet been rented out. According to the Chief Executive Officer of the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation ("HKSTP"), the selection of the Science Park tenants is strict and only those which have "contribution to the economy and technology in Hong Kong" can be admitted. The progress of the construction will also be adjusted according to the situation, to avoid the facilities and office premises of the Science Park being left idle upon their completion. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
| (a) | the business natures and staff numbers of the Science Park tenants and, among them, the ratio between new inward investing companies and local start-up companies;
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| (b) | the criteria adopted by HKSTP for determining "contribution to the economy and technology in Hong Kong";
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| (c) | as the "Admission Criteria of the Hong Kong Science Park" announced by the Provisional Hong Kong Science Park Company Limited, the precursor to HKSTP, had been submitted to the LegCo Panel on Commerce and Industry in April 2001, whether HKSTP subsequently adopted these criteria or those mentioned in (b) above in selecting the Science Park tenants; and whether it has drawn up a mechanism for regular review of these selection criteria;
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| (d) | whether adjusting the progress of the construction according to the situation has any cost implication on the HKSTP's investment in the Science Park; if so, of the details and how HKSTP will cope with this; and
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| (e) | whether HKSTP will formulate measures and plans to promote the Science Park to overseas research companies or assist local small and medium-sized research companies to become its tenants, so as to fully utilize the equipment therein and enhance its occupancy rate?
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Public Officer to reply
:Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology
17. Dr Hon LO Wing-lok to ask:(Translation)
It is learnt that the Hospital Authority ("HA") has recently promoted three of its staff to Senior Executive Managers and recruited one Deputy Director, whose ranks are equivalent to D1 to D3 of the Directorate Pay Scale for Civil Service. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council if it knows:
| (a) | the duties and terms of employment (including salaries, fringe benefits and duration of contract) of the four executive staff;
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| (b) | the contributions they will make to the medical service provided by HA and whether there are objective indicators to gauge their contributions; and
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| (c) | HA's rationale and criteria for promoting and recruiting senior executive staff in the face of severe fiscal deficit and resource constraints?
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Public Officer to reply
:Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
18. Dr Hon LAW Chi-kwong to ask:(Translation)
Regarding the Forensic Pathology Service of the Department of Health, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the medical services provided to victims of sexual violence; and
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| (b) | whether it has provided medical services to victims of sexual violence who are referred by government departments or organizations other than the Police; if so, of the respective numbers of cases and ways of referral in each of the past two years; if not, of the reasons for that and how the victims concerned can be provided with appropriate and recognized forensic services?
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Public Officer to reply
:Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
19. Hon Bernard CHAN to ask:
It has been reported that a government department has built a concrete platform and installed a temporary office over an anti-aircraft position at Wong Nai Chung Gap; while a concrete stairway has also been built at the Devil's Peak forts area. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | why a concrete platform and a concrete stairway have been built on these historical sites;
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| (b) | what preventive measures the Government has taken to minimize the damage to these historical sites; and
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| (c) | whether the fiscal deficit affects the measures taken by the Government to protect historical sites; if so, what the effects are?
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Public Officer to reply
:Secretary for Home Affairs
20. Dr Hon David CHU to ask:(Translation)
Will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it monitors the level of charges (other than brokerage commission) for securities services imposed by banks on their clients; and
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| (b) | of the measures in place to prevent banks from overcharging?
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Public Officer to reply
:Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
III. BillsFirst Reading
Appropriation Bill 2003
Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)
Appropriation Bill 2003
: Financial Secretary
Clerk to the Legislative Council
