A 12/13-14
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 9 January 2013 at 11:00 am
I. Tabling of Papers
| Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments | L.N. No. | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Telecommunications (Telecommunications Apparatus) (Exemption from Licensing) (Amendment) Order 2012 | 190/2012 |
| 2. | Allowances to Jurors (Amendment) Order 2012 (Commencement) Notice | 191/2012 |
| 3. | Criminal Procedure (Witnesses' Allowances) (Amendment) Rules 2012 (Commencement) Notice | 192/2012 |
| 4. | Coroners (Witnesses' Allowances) (Amendment) Rules 2012 (Commencement) Notice | 193/2012 |
| 5. | Designation of Libraries (Amendment) Order 2013 | 1/2013 |
Other Papers
| 1. | No. 57 | - | Report by the Controller, Government Flying Service on the Administration of the Government Flying Service Welfare Fund for the year ended 31 March 2012 |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Security) | |||
| 2. | No. 58 | - | Agricultural Products Scholarship Fund Report for the period from 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2012 |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Food and Health) | |||
| 3. | No. 59 | - | Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications Annual Report 2011-12 |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Education) | |||
II. Questions
1. Hon CHAN Chi-chuen to ask: (Translation)
Any person who displays roadside publicity materials without the written permission of the Authority granted under the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance commits an offence. Moreover, the Management Scheme for the Display of Roadside Non-commercial Publicity Materials Implementation Guidelines provide that the display of publicity materials at central dividers of roads, pedestrian crossings and within 30 metres of traffic upstream side of road junctions is prohibited. Nevertheless, quite a number of members of the public have complained to me that a large number of banners were hung by organizations professing love for the motherland and Hong Kong on the streets in Yau Tsim Mong District in recent months, and some of them were even hung in the no banner zones. These members of the public have lodged complaints with the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department ("FEHD"), but FEHD has neither instituted prosecution against the persons concerned nor removed such banners. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) apart from the banners removed for the general elections of the Legislative Council and District Councils, of the number of unauthorized banners displayed on the streets which were removed by the authorities in the past three years, and the total amount of fines imposed on the persons concerned; (b) whether, in the last half-year, the authorities had received and approved applications for hanging the aforesaid banners; if so, of the details; if approval had not been given, the reasons for the authorities not removing the banners and instituting prosecutions; and (c) whether measures are in place at present to prevent the situation of a large number of unauthorized banners being displayed on the streets or such a situation from worsening?
2. Hon WONG Ting-kwong to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that the Chairman of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council ("TDC") indicated last month that the usage of the Atrium Link of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre ("HKCEC"), which has been completed for over two years, has now reached saturation and HKCEC has so far turned down 50 and 150 applications for renting exhibition and convention venues respectively. He also pointed out that as the AsiaWorld-Expo ("AWE") is remotely located, most exhibitors and buyers are unwilling to travel long distance between the two exhibition venues. Therefore, it is not feasible for HKCEC to collaborate with AWE to provide exhibition spaces under the "one show, two locations" approach. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it knows the number of applications for renting exhibition and convention venues turned down by HKCEC due to inadequate venues over the past three years, and the economic loss caused to Hong Kong; whether it has compiled statistics on the number of days in 2012 when the usage of all the major exhibition venues in Hong Kong reached saturation; if it has, of the figures; (b) given that the authorities have all along indicated that they have been encouraging collaboration among TDC, HKCEC and AWE on exhibition projects, of the specific incentive measures taken by the authorities and the number of exhibitions held under the "one show, two locations" approach over the past three years; given that the TDC Chairman has pointed out that the "one show, two locations" approach is not feasible, of the authorities' measures to practically resolve the collaboration problem between the two exhibition facilities; and (c) of the authorities' progress in assessing whether it is necessary to expand the convention and exhibition venues in Hong Kong; of the time when specific proposals will be put forward; whether the authorities have assessed how Hong Kong's convention and exhibition industry has been affected by the development plans for the convention and exhibition industry in neighboring countries and regions (including the potential losses suffered by Hong Kong as a result of its failure to increase convention and exhibition venues); if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
3. Hon Steven HO to ask: (Translation)
The subsidiary legislation which bans trawling activities in Hong Kong waters ("the legislation on trawl ban") came into operation on 31 December 2012. In this connection, the Government has introduced a one-off assistance scheme for the affected fishermen, including making ex-gratia payments and providing loans through the Fisheries Development Loan Fund to them. However, quite a number of people have pointed out that the assistance scheme cannot provide concrete assistance to those affected. Moreover, although some affected owners of trawler vessels wish to apply for loans so as to switch to fishing in the mainland waters, the mainland authorities have long ago implemented "double control" policies for the floating fishing vessels of Hong Kong and Macao, which impose restrictions on the number of such vessels and their engine power. In addition, some practitioners of related trades have told me that their trades are also affected by the legislation on trawl ban. For instance, the fish farming industry can no longer obtain the supply of trash fish from trawler vessels as quality feed for mariculture, whilst fish collectors and ice-maker vessels have lost their businesses on delivering fish for trawler vessels and supplying ice to them respectively. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the latest progress of the Government's disbursement of ex-gratia payments to the owners of the approximately 1 100 trawler vessels affected by the legislation on trawl ban; the criteria adopted by the Fishermen Claims Appeal Board for handling appeals relating to applications for ex-gratia payments; whether the Government has explained comprehensively to the fishermen the criteria adopted by the inter-departmental working group for vetting their applications and those adopted by the Appeal Board for handling their appeals; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (b) of the current progress of the discussions between the Government and the relevant mainland authorities about trawlers operating in the mainland waters; and the policies and means employed to help resolve the problems concerned; if such policies or means are not available, of the reasons for that; and (c) whether the Government has any concrete assistance measures to help practitioners of the related trades to maintain their livelihood; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
4. Ir Dr Hon LO Wai-kwok to ask: (Translation)
Some members of the construction industry have pointed out that while the implementation of major infrastructure projects by the Government at present provides sustained impetus for the construction industry and the economy of Hong Kong, the construction industry is currently facing problems such as aging workforce, labour shortage, skills mismatch and succession gap. As shown by the findings of a survey, construction sites with works in progress at present have an average labour shortage of 15%, posing challenges to the progress of works and safety of construction sites. Regarding the shortage of construction workers, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it has reviewed the effectiveness of the Enhanced Construction Manpower Training Scheme introduced in September 2010; if it has, of the details; whether it will consider extending the training period of the Scheme and expanding the trades under the Scheme to cover welders, plasterers, glaziers, marble workers, painters and decorators, as well as plumbers; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (b) whether the authorities will consider outsourcing some training courses to trade unions and certification bodies to increase the training quota and recruit new blood to join the construction industry; and (c) as some members of the industry have estimated that the demand for construction workers will peak in the middle of this year, of the authorities' new proactive measures to expeditiously address the difficulties caused by the shortage of construction workers?
5. Hon YIU Si-wing to ask: (Translation)
Some members of the tourism industry have indicated that as the Government resumed three coach parking sites within the Kai Tak Development area in September 2012, which involved nearly 1 000 large coach parking spaces and 2 000 medium coach parking spaces, the number of parking spaces for coaches in the urban areas has decreased substantially. As such, some drivers are forced to park their coaches in car parks in remote areas in the New Territories ("NT"), which has led to increased fuel expenditure. The parking and retrieval of coaches in NT by drivers are very time-consuming and also take up their rest time, and may even cause traffic accidents as coach drivers are tired. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of large coaches in Hong Kong, the respective numbers of large coach parking spaces for night-time, daily and monthly rental in the urban areas, and whether it knows the average rents of daily and monthly parking spaces and the average rent increases per year, in the past three years; (b) of the expected rate of change in the number of coach parking spaces in the urban areas in the coming three years; if such number will decrease, of the remedial measures to be taken by the Government; whether the authorities have drawn up any long-term planning for coach parking spaces; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (c) with the commissioning of the first berth of the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal in the middle of this year, thousands of tourists will disembark there at the same time in future, whether the authorities will provide sufficient large coach parking spaces at the terminal; whether these are temporary parking spaces; if so, whether they will be converted into long-term parking spaces?
6. Hon CHUNG Kwok-pan to ask: (Translation)
In reply to my question raised in this Council earlier, the Chief Executive ("CE") promised to examine how to build a good Hong Kong brand. In addition, he has promised in his election manifesto that "[w]e will support Hong Kong manufacturers in restructuring their business model to tap the domestic market on the Mainland, especially in areas such as garments, toys, jewellery, electronics, watches and clocks, where our manufacturers have traditionally excelled in terms of branding, design, product research and development, market research, sales, marketing and exhibitions. We will strive to set up permanent exhibition venues in major mainland cities to display Hong Kong made products". In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether the Government has any initial ideas for helping local small and medium enterprises (especially those from the manufacturing industry) in building "Brand Hong Kong"; if it has, of the details and when it will put forward specific plans; if not, the reasons for that; (b) whether the Government will complementarily promote the development of Hong Kong industries while building "Brand Hong Kong", including the implementation of measures to encourage exchange and collaboration between Hong Kong manufacturers and overseas enterprises in tapping business opportunities; if it will, of the specific measures and the industries in which such measures will first be implemented; if not, the reasons for that; whether the authorities will allocate additional resources to assist Hong Kong manufacturers in developing the domestic market on the Mainland, taking the opportunities of the preferential policies under the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement, and through the quality products under "Brand Hong Kong", as well as to assist Hong Kong manufacturers in developing overseas markets; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (c) given that, in recent years, quite a number of manufacturers in the clothing industry intend to relocate their factories on the Mainland or in Southeast Asia back to Hong Kong, of the policies that the authorities have put in place to help such manufacturers moving back to Hong Kong and to strengthen the brand prestige of good quality of "Made in Hong Kong" products; of the policies for encouraging Hong Kong manufacturers to develop new materials for clothing and new technology for production (e.g. encouraging manufacturers to collaborate with universities and scientific research institutions, etc.) so as to build and develop "Brand Hong Kong"?
*7. Hon Starry LEE to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that as the retail prices of health food products such as vitamins and glucosamine sold in the United States and Canada are only 30% of those in Hong Kong, quite a number of Hong Kong people take the opportunity to make bulk purchase of them when they travel to such places or visit relatives there. Apart from personal consumption, they also give these health food products to their relatives or friends as souvenirs, or even resell them or barter them with other goods on the Internet. Yet, such acts may constitute the offences of possession or sale of unregistered pharmaceutical products under the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance (Cap. 138), and persons convicted of such offences are liable to a fine of HKD100,000 and imprisonment for two years. On the other hand, some members of the public have queried that the milk powder of certain brands in the market contains glucosamine and its concentration is not lower than those of health food products, but such milk powder is not subject to the relevant regulation. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of cases in which persons in possession of either of the above two types of health food products were prosecuted under the aforesaid ordinance, the number of persons convicted and the penalties imposed on them, in the past three years, together with a breakdown of persons convicted by the purposes of possessing such health food products (giving to relatives or friends as gifts, delivering to others who asked them to purchase such products on their behalf, or reselling), as well as the average quantity in possession; (b) whether the authorities will step up publicity efforts, including reminding inbound travellers not to give to others as gifts, deliver to others who asked them to purchase on their behalf, or resell the above types of health food products bought overseas which are unregistered pharmaceutical products in Hong Kong, so as to prevent members of the public from inadvertently breaching the law; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (c) of the criteria under which the authorities classify products containing glucosamine and in a pharmaceutical dosage form as pharmaceutical products; whether this is the international practice?
*8. Hon WONG Kwok-hing to ask: (Translation)
According to media reports, the agent which imports live cattle from the Mainland raised the wholesale price of fresh beef six times last year, pushing the retail price to new heights time and again. The current retail price of fresh beef has already exceeded $100 a catty. In addition, the quantity of live cattle imported daily fluctuates greatly. The aforesaid situations have led to a tight supply of fresh beef, the public having to bear expensive beef price, and business difficulties for beef retailers and restaurants. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether the authorities have taken measures to stabilize the price and supply of fresh beef; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (b) given that the authorities have indicated earlier that they would conduct a market survey to gather and compare information on the prices, quality and costs of fresh beef in nearby mainland cities and Hong Kong, in order to get a better understanding of the reasons for the surge of fresh beef price, when the survey will be completed and the findings published; (c) given the comments that the import of live cattle through a single agent at present has rendered the supply and wholesale price of fresh beef susceptible to manipulation and retailers lacking bargaining power, which causes a continuous surge of fresh beef price, whether the authorities will consider opening up the market to increase competition, so as to stabilize the supply and price of fresh beef; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (d) whether the authorities have investigated if there are lawbreakers currently smuggling live cattle into the territory, or even illegally slaughtering some local stray cattle for selling as imported fresh beef; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*9. Hon KWOK Wai-keung to ask: (Translation)
Some employees have relayed to me that occupational safety and health are very important issues because accidents of occupational injuries and deaths not only affect the employees concerned and their families but also place a burden on the entire society. Yet, accidents of occupational injuries and deaths have happened frequently in recent years and the situation has aroused public concern. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of accidents of occupational injuries and deaths in Hong Kong in each of the past five years, together with a breakdown by industry, job type and type of accidents; (b) whether, in the past five years, there were accidents of occupational injuries and deaths caused by employers violating the safety requirements under the labour legislation; if so, of the details and types of requirements involved, the respective numbers of persons prosecuted and convicted for such offences, as well as the penalties imposed by the court on the convicted persons; (c) whether, in the past five years, there were employers prosecuted or convicted for failing to give notices of work injury accidents to the Commissioner for Labour within the statutory periods, or providing false or misleading information in giving the relevant notices; if so, of the number of such cases and the maximum penalties imposed by the court on the convicted persons; (d) given that some healthcare staff have pointed out that the waiting time for public hospital services is rather long, resulting in quite a number of employees injured at work missing their "golden recovery period" and directly reducing their chances of returning to their original work positions, of the policies and measures put in place by the authorities to ensure that the employees concerned have timely access to rehabilitation care services after sustaining injuries, and to encourage enterprises to conduct assessments on the conditions of employees who are unable to return to their original work positions and to redeploy those employees to other positions; (e) of the latest situation of the authorities drawing up, in the light of the actual circumstances and the uniqueness of various sectors, targeted programmes to enhance employees' awareness of occupational safety and health; and (f) whether the authorities have any plan to comprehensively review the existing Employees' Compensation Ordinance (Cap. 282), including examining the contents of its provisions and adjusting upwards the levels of compensation, etc.; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*10. Dr Hon LEUNG Ka-lau to ask: (Translation)
Will the Government inform this Council of the number of patients receiving the following services provided by the Hospital Authority ("HA") and the Department of Health ("DH") during the period from 1997-1998 to 2010-2011, broken down in tables (of the same format as the one below) by the patients' district of residence (in terms of District Council district) and the hospital cluster where such services are provided:
(a) specialist out-patient service provided by HA; (b) general out-patient service and primary care provided by HA; (c) non-general out-patient service provided by DH; (d) general out-patient service and primary care provided by DH; and (e) accident and emergency service provided by HA?
_________________ service provided by ____________ District of residence
(District Council district)Hospital cluster
*11. Hon TAM Yiu-chung to ask: (Translation)
Recently, some Tung Chung residents have relayed to me that the former Secretary for Development indicated in June 2012 when attending an event that the authorities would shelve the project to construct public rental housing ("PRH") on the residential site in Tung Chung Area 56 ("the site") as the residents in the district had expressed reservation about the project, and the authorities would hold further discussions with the residents. The authorities so far have not conducted any consultation activities but the site has been enclosed and a series of advance works are being carried out on it. Quite a number of Tung Chung residents have expressed concern in this regard, and hope that the authorities could give a detailed account of the PRH project on the site and the related ancillary transport facilities. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether the authorities have already commenced the project to construct PRH on the site; if they have not, of the purposes of enclosing the site and carrying out advance works at present; if they have, the scale of the project (including the number of PRH blocks, the number of floors in each PRH block, as well as the number of flats to be provided in the whole project); and (b) whether the authorities have considered providing comprehensive ancillary transport facilities for the aforesaid project, such as providing sufficient franchised bus routes and green minibus routes for residents to travel directly to Tung Chung town centre and other areas in Hong Kong; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*12. Dr Hon Joseph LEE to ask: (Translation)
At present, the Pharmacy and Poisons Board of Hong Kong ("the Board") is responsible for matters relating to the regulation of pharmacists and the pharmaceutical industry. Some pharmacists have relayed to me that as the Board is responsible only for the registration and disciplinary matters of pharmacists, it is not effective in promoting the professional development of pharmacists. It is noted that the Board proposed in the 1980s, and again in 1996-1997, that legislative amendments be made to place pharmacists and the pharmaceutical industry under the supervision of different authorities, and the Board had drafted a bill for that purpose. On the other hand, the Review Committee on Regulation of Pharmaceutical Products in Hong Kong published a report in 2009, making 75 recommendations on the regulatory regime for the pharmaceutical industry. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether the authorities have followed up the aforesaid proposed legislative amendments; if they have, of the details of the follow-up work; whether the authorities will make reference to that proposal and amend the existing legislation in order to establish a pharmacist board responsible for matters such as the registration of pharmacists, as well as their professional standards, conduct and development, etc.; (b) whether the authorities have plans to develop a code of conduct and a code of practice for pharmacists, so as to further enhance the safety in the administration of medication for patients; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (c) of the latest progress of the authorities' follow-up on the aforesaid 75 recommendations; whether they will implement these recommendations together with the proposal of establishing a pharmacist board; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*13. Hon CHAN Kin-por to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that the eight tertiary institutions funded by the University Grants Committee have all encountered the problem of tight supply of student hostel places. To provide 2 400 new hostel places, The Chinese University of Hong Kong is implementing a project for the construction of five student hotel blocks. However, two of these hostel blocks will not be completed until the middle or the end of next year. In view of this, the university has introduced an interim hostel place scheme in the existing colleges, namely the Chung Chi, New Asia and Shaw Colleges. Under the scheme, three students share a room for two and four students share a room for three so as to provide 340 additional hostel places. Students of these "overcrowded units" are recompensed by a 20% reduction in hostel fees. Regarding the shortage of hostel places for students of tertiary institutions, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it knows the total numbers of students and hostel places provided, as well as the respective numbers of students who had applied for, had been allocated with and had not been allocated with hostel places, and those who gave up their hostel places after places had been allocated to them, in each tertiary institution for the 2012-2013 academic year; (b) whether the Government will conduct surveys on the situations of university students renting accommodations in districts near the universities and the trend of rents of such residential units; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (c) whether the Government will introduce further measures to ensure that sufficient and good quality hostel places are available for university students and that the aforesaid interim hostel place scheme needs not be implemented again; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*14. Dr Hon Helena WONG to ask: (Translation)
Quite a number of organizations which provide services to victims of family violence have relayed to me that, albeit the frequent occurrence of family violence incidents, the number of criminal cases relating to family violence as published by the Police has been on the low side, and the authorities' support for victims of family violence is also inadequate. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the criteria used by the Police for determining whether individual cases should be regarded as "family violence" or "family dispute" and the ranks of the police officers who make such determinations; of the respective numbers of these two categories of cases handled by the Police in the past five years; given that the aforesaid organizations have pointed out that the criteria adopted by the Police are ambiguous, resulting in incorrect assessment of the situation faced by victims of family violence, whether the Police will conduct a review in this regard; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (b) of the respective measures taken by the authorities to help victims of family violence and persons involved in family disputes; (c) given that the aforesaid organizations have pointed out that the time for family violence cases set down for hearings by the Family Court is too long, rendering the victims unable to receive support expeditiously, whether the authorities will allocate additional resources to the Family Court to enable it to deal with family violence cases and family dispute cases separately, so as to shorten the set-down time; and (d) whether the authorities will consider setting up an "alimony council" to assist victims of family violence in recovering alimony payments from their ex-spouses who had used violence against them; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*15. Hon LEUNG Yiu-chung to ask: (Translation)
In his 2008-2009 Policy Address, the former Chief Executive announced that an assessment system would be established for the provision of hillside escalator links and elevator systems ("the Systems"). Subsequently, the authorities gave scores under the assessment system to 18 proposals on the provision of the Systems in the territory and set their implementation priority. They also conducted feasibility studies in 2011 and 2012 on the top 10 proposals. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether the aforesaid feasibility studies have been completed; if so, of the progress in implementing those 10 proposals, including the time for submitting the funding proposals to this Council and constructing the Systems; and (b) how the authorities will handle the remaining eight proposals; whether they will allocate additional resources to handle those proposals expeditiously; if they will, of the timetable; if not, the reasons for that?
*16. Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki to ask: (Translation)
Recently, I have received complaints from members of the public that the construction works of a footbridge connecting the Tsuen Wan and Tsuen Wan West MTR stations, which form a part of the extension works of the footbridge network in Tsuen Wan, have already been completed for several months but the footbridge is not yet commissioned. The Highways Department indicated in June 2012 that since cracks had been found in the footbridge during the acceptance tests, it was necessary to conduct detailed tests and implement remedial measures. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the original commissioning date of the footbridge when funding for the aforesaid works project was approved; the number of times for which the commissioning date has been deferred so far and the reasons for each deferral; (b) of the parts of the footbridge where cracks were found; the causes of the cracks; whether there were problems other than the cracks that caused the footbridge to have failed in the acceptance procedure; whether the cracks and other problems will affect the structural safety of the footbridge; (c) of the remedial works carried out for tackling the cracks and other problems; the time required and the costs for each item of the remedial works as well as the progress in each month since the problems were found; (d) of the expenditure on the footbridge works project as at the original commissioning date, and how this amount compares with the approved estimate of expenditure; the amounts of the various additional expenditure items arising from the delay in the works; whether such expenditure was paid by the contractor or out of the public coffers; (e) whether it has assessed if the problems, including the cracks, which caused the footbridge to have failed in the acceptance procedure involve negligence on the part of the contractor; if the assessment result is in the affirmative, whether the contractor will be penalized or black-listed; of the numbers of inspections and examinations conducted by the authorities during the construction period, and whether any problems (including those on the work process, output and progress, etc.) had been found then; if so, of the number of times in which problems had been found and the problems involved; if not, why such problems were found only after the construction works had been completed, and whether it has assessed if the situation involved ineffective monitoring on the part of the government departments and officials concerned; if the assessment result is in the affirmative, of the government departments and officials involved; and (f) of the latest commissioning date of the footbridge?
*17. Hon Albert HO to ask: (Translation)
I have received quite a number of complaints about Long Bin Interim Housing Estate ("Long Bin IH") in Yuen Long. For example, an elderly woman approaching 80 years' old and her daughter with disabilities have been allocated a unit in Long Bin IH of a size which can only accommodate a double-deck bunk bed, but neither of them is able to climb up to the upper deck; some residents, who had been arranged to live in Long Bin IH when their former public rental housing ("PRH") units were recovered by the Housing Department many years ago on grounds of rent in arrears, have not yet been reallocated PRH units since then; some residents in Long Bin IH have frequently and unreasonably caused nuisances to other residents, which have given rise to a number of conflicts resulting in some residents reporting to the Police for assistance for more than 100 times within nine months; the ceilings of all units in Long Bin IH are made of fiberglass material, which often spalls off and causes skin allergy to some residents; and there are serious problems of mosquitoes and bed bugs. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of years for which Long Bin IH has been completed; the number of rental units provided by Long Bin IH at present, the respective numbers of units allocated and vacant among these units, and the longest period of the units being left vacant; (b) whether the authorities will, on compassionate grounds, allocate a larger unit to the aforesaid household which comprises an elderly person and a person with disabilities; (c) of the average waiting time at present for the households in Long Bin IH for allocation of PRH units, and the longest waiting time among such households; whether the authorities will exercise discretion to reallocate PRH units to households with arrears of rents many years ago; (d) of the measures taken by the authorities to protect residents of Long Bin IH from nuisances unreasonably caused by individual residents; of the measures taken by the authorities to address the problems of mosquitoes and bed bugs in Long Bin IH; (e) of the community services and facilities provided in Long Bin IH at present; whether the authorities have plans to increase such services and facilities; (f) whether the authorities will consider replacing the ceiling materials of all units in Long Bin IH; (g) given the comments that it is an unreasonable standard to regard a household in Interim Housing to be overcrowded only if it has a living space of less than 3.4 square metres per person on average, whether the authorities will immediately review this standard; and (h) whether the authorities have plans to redevelop Long Bin IH into a PRH estate and, if necessary, assign one of the concrete buildings for use as interim housing; if they have, when they will proceed with the plans; if not, of the reasons for that?
*18. Dr Hon LAU Wong-fat to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that a contract employee of the Hongkong Post had been granted a total of more than 600 days of sick leave within two years for work injury. However, that employee was subsequently found to have used forged medical certificates (commonly known as "sick leave certificates"). Regarding the management of the taking of sick leave by government employees (including civil servants and non-civil service contract staff), will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of government employees who had taken sick leave cumulatively for over two months in any 12-month period in the past five years (with a breakdown by government department); (b) whether the authorities have put in place any mechanism for handing over sick leave cases of government employees to departments other than the one to which the employees belong, for spot checking any suspicious cases; and (c) whether the Government will review the existing system for government employees taking sick leave so as to prevent any abuse of sick leave?
*19. Hon Dennis KWOK to ask:
In order to alleviate and lessen the heavy workload faced by judges and to provide more training and work opportunities for young lawyers, a programme ("the Programme") has been implemented whereby young lawyers who have completed pupillage or solicitors' traineeships may be appointed to work as Judicial Assistants to provide assistance to judges in researching points of law, analysing and writing memoranda on appeals and applications, preparing memoranda on legal points, as well as assisting in other work of the court. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council if it knows:
(a) the average total number of posts provided under the Programme each year since its implementation, and the respective numbers of applications received and appointments made under the Programme each year; (b) whether the Judiciary has formally reviewed the effectiveness of the Programme, such as examining what improvements could be made to the Programme to enhance the level and quality of legal assistance provided to individual judges, and assessing whether the Programme has increased the efficiency of the court in handling cases, helped in relieving the workload of judges, and shortened the waiting time for court cases; if it has, of the outcome and the details of the review; if not, the reasons for that; and (c) whether the Judiciary will consider expanding the scope of the Programme so as to provide better support for individual judges at all levels, and to provide better training and work opportunities for young lawyers, by assigning them to work specifically for individual judges for a given term similar to the judicial clerkship system adopted in the United States and other common law jurisdictions; if it will, of the details of the plan; if not, the reasons for that?
*20. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)
Some residents of Ka Tin Court in Tai Wai have sought my assistance, saying that they had proposed to the authorities the construction of a footbridge connecting Hin Keng Shopping Centre with the Hin Keng Station of the MTR Shatin to Central Link, which is under construction, so as to facilitate access by the residents, but the proposal was rejected. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
(a) when the aforesaid proposal was rejected; (b) of the reasons for the rejection; (c) whether they understand these residents' aspiration and how they will respond to such aspiration; and (d) whether they will reconsider these residents' aspiration for the provision of a footbridge?
* For written reply
III. Bills
| First Reading | ||||
| 1. | Stamp Duty (Amendment) Bill 2012 | |||
| 2. | Inland Revenue and Stamp Duty Legislation (Alternative Bond Schemes) (Amendment) Bill 2012 | |||
| Second Reading (Debates to be adjourned) | ||||
| 1. | Stamp Duty (Amendment) Bill 2012 | : | Secretary for Transport and Housing | |
| 2. | Inland Revenue and Stamp Duty Legislation (Alternative Bond Schemes) (Amendment) Bill 2012 | : | Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury | |
IV. Members' Motions
| 1. | Proposed resolution under section 34(4) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance
Hon Andrew LEUNG to move the following motion: Resolved that in relation to the -
and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 19 December 2012, the period for amending subsidiary legislation referred to in section 34(2) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1) be extended under section 34(4) of that Ordinance to the meeting of 6 February 2013. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2. | Motion under Article 73(9) of the Basic Law
Initiated jointly by Hon Albert HO, Hon LEE Cheuk-yan, Hon James TO, Hon LEUNG Yiu-chung, Hon Emily LAU, Hon Frederick FUNG, Dr Hon Joseph LEE, Hon Ronny TONG, Hon Cyd HO, Hon CHEUNG Kwok-che, Hon Alan LEONG, Hon LEUNG Kwok-hung, Hon Albert CHAN, Hon WONG Yuk-man, Hon Claudia MO, Hon WU Chi-wai, Hon Gary FAN, Hon Charles Peter MOK, Hon CHAN Chi-chuen, Dr Hon Kenneth CHAN, Hon Kenneth LEUNG, Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki, Hon Dennis KWOK, Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG, Hon SIN Chung-kai, Dr Hon Helena WONG and Hon IP Kin-yuen (27 Members) and to be moved by Hon LEUNG Kwok-hung Wording of the motion is in the Annex. Public Officer to attend : The Chief Secretary for Administration | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3. | Comprehensively reviewing the Mandatory Provident Fund Scheme
Hon TANG Ka-piu to move the following motion: (Translation) That the Mandatory Provident Fund ('MPF') Scheme has been implemented for 12 years since December 2000, and its effectiveness has always been of major concern to society; according to the statistics of the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority ('MPFA'), at present, there are over three million employee's contribution accounts and around four million preserved accounts in Hong Kong; as at September 2012, the net asset values of approved constituent funds under the MPF Scheme reached HK$412.4 billion; yet, the expensive MPF administration fees, the lack of supervision over fund performance and the erosion of contributions by intermediaries and sponsors, coupled with the use of the accrued benefits derived from employers' contributions to offset severance payments and long service payments, have become the major loopholes in the MPF Scheme which directly affect employees' retirement protection; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to:
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| 4. | Safeguarding the rule of law and judicial independence
Hon Dennis KWOK to move the following motion: (Translation) That this Council urges the Government to uphold 'one country, two systems', and safeguard the rule of law, the legal system and judicial independence in Hong Kong.
Public Officer to attend : The Secretary for Justice | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Clerk to the Legislative Council