A 12/13-23
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 27 March 2013 at 11:00 am
I. Tabling of Papers
| 1. | No. 84 | - | Language Fund
Financial statements for the year ended 31 August 2012 |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Education)
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| 2. | No. 85 | - | Report of changes made to the approved Estimates of Expenditure during the third quarter of 2012-13
Public Finance Ordinance: Section 8 |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury)
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| 3. | Report No. 13/12-13 of the House Committee on Consideration of Subsidiary Legislation and Other Instruments | ||
| (to be presented by Hon Andrew LEUNG, Chairman of the House Committee)
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II. Questions
1. Hon James TO to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that recently some senior mainland officials have indicated that the Chief Executive ("CE") is expected to be a person who "loves the country and Hong Kong", it must be ensured that "people who love the country and Hong Kong" to govern Hong Kong on a long-term basis, and screening is a must in the CE election in 2017. These comments have aroused wide concern in the Hong Kong community that a pre-selection mechanism will be put in place in the CE election in 2017 to thwart people with political views different from those of the central authorities becoming candidates for the election. On the other hand, Article 45 of the Basic Law provides that "[t]he method for selecting the Chief Executive shall be specified in the light of the actual situation in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and in accordance with the principle of gradual and orderly progress. The ultimate aim is the selection of the Chief Executive by universal suffrage upon nomination by a broadly representative nominating committee in accordance with democratic procedures". In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) if it has studied (i) how the nominating committee should be formed and composed of in order to be regarded as "broadly representative", (ii) pursuant to the requirement that the nomination must be made "in accordance with democratic procedures", whether such nomination must be made by voting or by a method similar to the past practice whereby anyone who has obtained nomination by a certain percentage of members of the nominating committee can become a candidate for the CE election, (iii) whether the selection of CE by "universal suffrage" means that CE will be elected by Hong Kong people on a "one person, one vote" basis, and (iv) whether there are differences between Hong Kong people and the mainland officials on the interpretation of Article 45 of the Basic Law; (b) whether the authorities will introduce a "screening" mechanism when drawing up the nomination procedures for the CE election in 2017, so as to render people with different political views unable to become candidates; if they will, of the justifications; if not, the criteria for ensuring that the nomination procedures will not thwart people with different political views becoming candidates; and (c) when the authorities will commence public consultation on the selection method for CE in 2017; whether they will consult members of the public if a "screening" mechanism should be included in the nomination procedures, and if the requirements for "broadly representative", "in accordance with democratic procedures" and "universal suffrage" provided in Article 45 of the Basic Law need to comply with the principle of universal and equal suffrage enshrined in international treaties on human rights?
2. Hon LEUNG Che-cheung to ask: (Translation)
Some school principals and parents of students in New Territories West have relayed to me that, at present, after entering Hong Kong via the Lok Ma Chau Spur Line Control Point, cross-boundary students may take local school buses with Closed Road Permits ("CRPs") to attend school, but the authorities have not issued CRPs to local school buses for entering the Shenzhen Bay Control Point. At present, quite a number of mainland students attend school in New Territories West after entering Hong Kong via the Shenzhen Bay Control Point every day, and after entering the territory, they can only wait to take the cross-boundary school coaches ("CBSCs") departing from the Mainland to attend school. As a result, these students need to spend more time travelling to school, and the fares of CBSCs are also higher than those of local school buses. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the respective numbers of students crossing the boundary every day to attend kindergarten, primary school and secondary school in Hong Kong in the past school year, with a breakdown, by the control point they went through, of such numbers and the number of Closed Area Permits issued to them; (b) of the details of the services provided by CBSCs that go through the Shenzhen Bay Control Point at present (including their routes and the daily number of trips made); whether it has assessed if such services are adequate; if it has, of the outcome; and (c) whether the Government will consider adopting the same arrangement as that in the Lok Ma Chau Spur Line Control Point by issuing CRPs to local school buses for entering the Shenzhen Bay Control Point to take cross-boundary students to school, thus reducing the number of CBSCs waiting on the Mainland to cross the boundary, and providing an additional choice for parents of students; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
3. Hon WONG Yuk-man to ask: (Translation)
I have received requests for assistance from quite a number of members of the public. They pointed out that some elderly people in an unsatisfactory state of health and in need of care services had been assessed under the current Standardized Care Need Assessment Mechanism for Elderly Services ("SCNAMES") as having no urgent need for admission to subsidized residential care homes for the elderly ("RCHEs") and therefore had to wait a long time for the places in such homes. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the criteria based on which the Social Welfare Department assesses under SCNAMES whether an elderly person has an urgent need for admission to a subsidized RCHE; and (b) given that the aforesaid group of elderly people need to stay in private RCHEs while waiting for admission to subsidized RCHEs, and private RCHEs often charge such group of elderly people higher accommodation fees, but the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance payments granted to them are insufficient to pay for such fees, whether the Government will consider providing special financial assistance to such group of elderly people; if it will not, of the reasons for that?
4. Hon Cyd HO to ask: (Translation)
As revealed in Chapter 10 of the Director of Audit's Report No. 57 which reports on the audit review of the records management work of the Government Records Service ("GRS"), the Independent Commission Against Corruption ("ICAC") has established its own records management policy and procedures having regard to the Government's practices, relevant statutory requirements and ICAC's unique operational need, and has its own approving authority for records disposal schedules and records destruction procedures. However, some members of the public have pointed out that as anti-corruption work and the establishment of ICAC have become a part of Hong Kong's history in which Hong Kong takes pride among the Chinese communities, ICAC's records are of great historical value. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of records relating to the establishment of ICAC created by the authorities before the establishment of ICAC on 15 February 1974, and the respective numbers of records created by ICAC in each of the two periods from its establishment to 30 June 1997 and from 1 July 1997 to 31 January 2013; the respective numbers of records appraised by GRS, transferred to GRS for retention, retained by ICAC and destroyed by ICAC in each of the three aforesaid periods; if no records have ever been handled by GRS, of the reasons for that; (b) of ICAC's existing records management policies and procedures, and the grade and rank of its personnel responsible for approving records disposal schedules and records destruction; the records management training received by the relevant personnel and their academic qualifications; and (c) whether ICAC's records management policies have included the element of preservation of history; if so, of the implementation measures and approach in this respect, as well as the procedures whereby the public may request access to records of closed cases and records that have been created over 30 years; whether ICAC has all along upheld confidentiality as the objective of its records management policy and regularly destroy the records concerned in order to achieve this objective?
5. Hon WONG Kwok-hing to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the safety of vessels, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) given that if a vessel is provided with an internal watertight subdivision arrangement, water will not flood from the damaged compartments into undamaged ones in the event of the rupture of the hull, thereby preventing or delaying the sinking of the vessel, whether there are provisions in the existing legislation requiring passenger ships registered in Hong Kong to be fitted with watertight compartments and watertight doors, as well as on the design and construction standards of such installations; if there are, of the details; what corresponding requirements are to be met by non-Hong Kong registered passenger ships before they may cruise in Hong Kong waters; (b) whether the Marine Department ("MD") had, in the past three years, conducted regular and surprise inspections comprehensively to verify if passenger ships registered in Hong Kong had been fitted with watertight compartments and watertight doors, and these installations could function normally; if it had, of the details and the number of ships found not in compliance with the requirements, and how the Government had followed up such cases; and (c) whether MD had conducted in the past six months a comprehensive review of the legislation governing the safety of vessels, as well as its law enforcement procedures and work; if it had, of the details and the improvement measures; if it had not, the reasons for that?
6. Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki to ask: (Translation)
According to the 2012 Annual Report of The Link Real Estate Investment Trust ("The Link REIT"), the average monthly rent of the shopping malls under The Link REIT increased from $25.4 per square foot in March 2008 to $35.8 per square foot in March 2012, representing a 41% increase. The Chief Executive Officer of The Link Management Limited has reportedly said that the year-on-year growth of gross sales of shop tenants in shopping malls under The Link REIT was over 10% as at September last year, and forecast that there could be a 7% to 8% rental increase in the coming two years. On the other hand, some residents of public rental housing ("PRH") in remote areas (particularly those in Tin Shui Wai and Tung Chung) have expressed that, due to the expensive external transport fares, they are very dependent on the shops in the shopping malls and fresh markets under The Link REIT in their housing estates in providing the goods and services of daily necessities. They have also pointed out that the expenses on food, education, transport, etc. have already been a very heavy burden on them (especially those households receiving social security assistance), and The Link REIT's rental increases will lead to price increases for goods and services sold by these shops, thereby further increasing the burden on their livelihood. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it knows the total number of small shop tenants in the shopping malls and fresh markets under The Link REIT in each of the past five years, and the respective percentages of the gross floor area rented by these tenants and "the 10 largest tenants" of The Link REIT in the total gross floor area; (b) of the respective medians for individual and household income of tenants in PRH in each of the past five years; among the PRH tenants in the two districts of Tin Shui Wai and Tung Chung, the respective percentages of those tenants currently receiving Comprehensive Social Security Assistance payments and Disability Allowance, and the respective percentages of the family income of the PRH tenants in these two districts spent on meeting rental, food, education and transport expenses at present; and (c) whether it knows the average monthly per-square-foot rent of the fresh markets under The Link REIT in each of the past five years, and how such figures compare with the rental of public markets under the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department?
*7. Ir Dr Hon LO Wai-kwok to ask: (Translation)
As there have been occasional incidents of gas explosion in telecommunications manholes in recent years, the former Office of the Telecommunications Authority appointed a consultant to study the matter in March 2010 and published in June of the same year a set of Implementation Guidelines on Mitigating the Risk of Gas Explosion in Telecommunications Manholes, which is voluntary in nature. The Guidelines include three measures: (i) sealing up ducts leading into manholes to prevent flammable gases from entering and accumulating inside manholes, (ii) retro-fitting manhole covers with vent holes to prevent flammable gases from accumulating in the manholes, and (iii) surrounding PVC ducts with concrete to prevent damages and flammable gases from entering manholes. However, I have recently learnt that these measures have not been implemented across the board, and that the vent holes of manhole covers cannot serve their purpose as some of them have often been sealed with plastic tapes to prevent accumulation of waste water and mosquito problems, while others have often been blocked by dust and debris. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether, at present, at least one of the aforesaid measures has been implemented in all the telecommunications manholes in the territory; if so, of the respective percentages of telecommunications manholes in which each of the three measures has been implemented; if not, of the number of telecommunications manholes in which one of those measures has been implemented, and the percentage of such manholes in the total number of telecommunications manholes, and when, as estimated by the authorities, the implementation of at least one of the aforesaid measures in all the telecommunications manholes in the territory will be achieved; (b) whether the authorities have any solution to the problem of vent holes in manhole covers being sealed off or blocked by dust and debris; if they have, of the details; if not, how the authorities mitigate the risk of explosion of the manholes concerned; and (c) whether the authorities will consider afresh, making reference to the national standards "GB50373 - Design Code for Communication Conduit and Passage Engineering" and "GB50374 - Code of Construction and Acceptance for Communication Conduit Engineering", to enact legislation requiring members of the telecommunications industry to seal the connecting ducts in the telecommunications manholes, so as to prevent incidents of chained gas explosions in manholes?
*8. Hon SIN Chung-kai to ask: (Translation)
As at the end of June last year, 55 out of the 73 private recreational leases ("PRLs") granted by the Government at nil or nominal rents to sports clubs of social welfare organizations and private sports clubs ("sports clubs") had expired. The recreational and sports facilities provided on the leased land by such sports clubs are mainly used by their members and they are only required to allow public access to the facilities on a limited scale under the PRLs. Some members of the public have pointed out that since lands are precious public resources in Hong Kong, the Government should introduce lease conditions upon renewing the PRLs so as to ensure that those sports clubs make effective use of government lands and extend the hours during which their facilities are open to non-members. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the market rate of the annual rentals of each PRL at present and the actual rents charged by the Government respectively; whether the Government will consider charging sports clubs rents at market rates when renewing their PRLs; if it will not, of the reasons for that; of the Government's policy in place to ensure that it will not directly or indirectly subsidize the operating expenses of those sports clubs; whether the sports clubs concerned have requested the Government to grant more lands to them in renewal of their PRLs; if they have, of the details; (b) as the Government indicated that the sports clubs would be required to further open up their sports facilities under the new PRLs, whether the sports clubs accepted the requirement; if they did not, how their renewal applications were handled and of the details; how the Government monitors whether the sports clubs have actually fulfilled the requirement on opening up facilities and drawn up a set of reasonable terms and conditions for use of the facilities by non-members; and (c) as the Government indicated that it would specify in the new PRLs the requirement for the sports clubs to open up their facilities for not less than 50 hours each month (i.e. to meet the requirement, the sports clubs only need to allow 10 hours' public access to any five of the facilities provided inside the club house each month), how the Government ensures that the public have reasonably sufficient time for using such facilities; whether the Government has assessed the increase in the number of public users using the facilities of the sports clubs after the new PRLs have come into effect, and whether the continued grant of precious lands to the sports clubs on lease at rents far below market rates is warranted?
*9. Hon MA Fung-kwok to ask: (Translation)
The estimated area of land to be formed in 2013-2014 by the Civil Engineering and Development Department ("CEDD") is only 16.5 hectares, which has been reduced by more than half of the 34.6 hectares formed in the preceding financial year. The actual areas of land formed by CEDD in each of the financial years from 2003-2004 to 2006-2007 were 134, 91, 87 and 74 hectares respectively. However, as the area of land formed in 2007-2008 dropped drastically to only 5 hectares, and the figure had remained on a rather low side since then, the total area of land formed in the six years between 2007-2008 and 2012-2013 was only 82.7 hectares, which is even lower than the average annual figure of the previous four years. Regarding the formation of more land to implement the various short to medium term measures proposed by the Chief Executive in this year's Policy Address to increase land supply, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the reasons why the estimated area of land to be formed in 2013-2014 reduces by more than half of the area formed in the preceding financial year; (b) of the uses of the land formed in the financial years from 2007-2008 to 2012-2013, together with a breakdown of the areas of land by use; (c) of the main reasons why the area of land formed in each financial year has dropped significantly since 2007-2008; (d) how the authorities assess the impact of a significant reduction in the area of land formed on Hong Kong's land supply and land reserve, and whether the area of land formed is sufficient for implementing the measures to increase land supply put forward in this year's Policy Address; and (e) whether it has any plans to increase the areas of land to be formed in the coming few years to the level achieved in or before 2005-2006; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
| Public Officer to reply | : | Secretary for Transport and Housing
(in the absence of Secretary for Development) |
*10. Dr Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask: (Translation)
Nine Hong Kong people from an outbound group tour died in an accident of hot air balloon explosion on the 26th of last month in Luxor, Egypt. It has been reported that the travel insurance plans taken out not through the travel agent by six of the victims before the journey do not cover "aerial activities", and the insurance company concerned has indicated that no compensation will be made as hot air balloon rides are regarded as aerial activities. Families of the deceased suspect that in the process of selling the travel insurance plans, no one had explained to the insured in detail the items not covered by the insurance plans. This incident has aroused the concern of some members of the public about the sale of travel insurance. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it has compiled statistics on the respective percentages of the current sales of travel insurance plans through travel agents, banks, insurance companies and other channels; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (b) whether it will propose to the Hong Kong Federation of Insurers and the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong to issue guidelines to travel agents, requesting that when they sell travel insurance to group tour participants, they must provide insurance plans covering all activities on the itinerary (including self-pay activities) for participants to choose, but the sale of such travel insurance plans must not be bundled with the group tours; if it will not, of the reasons for that; (c) whether the authorities will step up regulation of the sale of travel insurance so as to ensure that travel insurance agents will explain to the insured in detail the items not covered by the plans that the insured are planning to take out; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (d) whether the authorities will consider drawing up guidelines requesting travel agents to remind group tour participants before the journey to consider taking out travel insurance and, if the itinerary includes high-risk activities, to further provide as a must insurance plans covering such high risk activities for the participants to choose to buy; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (e) of the authorities' measures to strengthen consumer education to enable consumers to know the matters that they should pay attention to when taking out travel insurance to safeguard their own interests?
*11. Hon Mrs Regina IP to ask:
Since 2010, cricket has become a medal sport of the Asian Games. Hong Kong Cricket Sixes, an international sports and recreational event, is one of the major events promoted to tourists by the Hong Kong Tourism Board. However, other than those facilities provided by private clubs, there are only two public cricket grounds with proper boundary lines for tournament. Some members of the public have complained that while cricket has gained increasing popularity, there are not adequate facilities and local young players can practise cricket only on the streets. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of all pitches designated by the Government for cricket practice (with details set out in the table below);
Name of the pitch District Cricket boundary lines
(Yes/No)Monthly average time for
cricket in the first half of 2012
(in hours)7-a-side hard-surface soccer pitch
Artificial turf pitch
Natural turf pitch
(b) whether it has formulated objective criteria for identifying suitable grounds for cricket pitches; if so, of the criteria; (c) whether it will build new sports grounds exclusively for cricket; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and whether it has plans to designate more sites (such as hard-surface soccer pitches or grass pitches) in different districts for use by cricket players; and (d) as it has been reported earlier in the press that cricket is particularly popular among ethnic minorities in Hong Kong, whether there are sufficient publicity and guidelines to facilitate those who are not proficient in Chinese to book cricket pitches; if so, of the details of such publicity and guidelines; if not, of the reasons for that, and whether the Government will consider stepping up publicity efforts in the future?
*12. Hon CHAN Hak-kan to ask: (Translation)
According to the 2010 Hong Kong Air Pollutants Emission Inventory published by the Environmental Protection Department, emissions of three types of air pollutants, namely sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide, from civil aviation in 2010 were higher than those in 2008. The Environmental Report 2010 published by the Civil Aviation Department pointed out that, since the adjustment of the airways for arrival aircraft from the west and the north of Hong Kong in October 2009 to shorten the travelling distances, carbon dioxide emissions from civil aviation in 2010 were estimated to have dropped by about 350 000 tonnes. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the emissions of various air pollutants from aircraft in 2011 and 2012; any specific measures to reduce air pollutant emissions from aircraft movements and aircraft parking at the Hong Kong International Airport ("HKIA"); (b) of the number of airways in the Hong Kong Flight Information Region at present; whether the authorities have assessed the air pollutant emissions from aircraft using various airways, and the impact of such air pollutant emissions on Hong Kong's air quality; if they have, the assessment result; (c) of the districts where the air pollutant emissions from aircraft have currently greater impact on the ground-level air quality; whether it has assessed the risks posed by air pollutant emissions from aircraft on the public health; if it has, of the assessment outcome; (d) whether it knows which models of aircraft or what regions from which they come have caused more serious air pollution, and the corresponding measures taken by the authorities; (e) whether it has assessed if the visibility in the vicinity of HKIA had been affected by air pollution caused by aircraft movements and parking in the past three years; if visibility had been affected, of the details, and the corresponding measures taken by the authorities to ensure aviation safety; and (f) given a number of airports in the Pearl River Delta Region at present, whether the authorities of Guangdong Province, Hong Kong and Macao have jointly established a mechanism, so as to reduce air pollution caused by aircraft movements and parking in these airports?
*13. Dr Hon Kenneth CHAN to ask: (Translation)
On the 8th of this month, several Hong Kong reporters were assaulted by a group of unidentified persons in the course of news coverage in Beijing. On the same day, a Hong Kong resident was forcibly taken away on the street in Beijing. After returning to Hong Kong on the 10th of this month, the Hong Kong resident said that he had been deported by the mainland authorities on the ground that he had committed the crime of picking quarrels and provoking troubles, and the staff of the Office of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ("HKSAR") in Beijing ("Beijing Office") had neither contacted him nor provided him with any support while he was remanded in custody. Regarding the work of the offices of the HKSAR Government on the Mainland ("the Mainland Offices"), particularly their provision of support to Hong Kong residents in distress on the Mainland, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of Hong Kong residents who sought assistance from and the number of such cases (together with a breakdown by the issue requiring assistance) received by each Mainland Office in the past three years; of the procedure for the Mainland Offices to follow up such cases, as well as the results of their follow-up efforts; (b) in relation to the incident in which the Hong Kong resident was remanded in custody and deported, whether the Government, including the Beijing Office, had taken any action to assist him; if it had, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (c) in relation to the incident of Hong Kong reporters being assaulted, whether the Beijing Office had taken any action to support the reporters; if it had, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (d) whether the authorities will conduct a review of the staff establishment and functions of the Mainland Offices in order to strengthen their support for Hong Kong residents in distress on the Mainland; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (e) given that Hong Kong residents make increasingly frequent visits to the Mainland, whether the authorities will consider taking additional measures and stepping up publicity to let members of the public know the channels through which they may seek assistance from the Government in case of emergency on the Mainland, as well as the functions of the Mainland Offices; if so, of the details of the relevant measures; if not, the reasons for that?
*14. Dr Hon Joseph LEE to ask: (Translation)
Allied health professionals include medical laboratory technologists, radiographers, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, optometrists, dental hygienists, audiologists, podiatrists, dietitians, orthoptists, clinical psychologists, prosthetists, speech therapists, pharmacists and dispensers, etc. Quite a number of allied health professionals have pointed out that with the development in healthcare services in Hong Kong, the demand for allied health services has continuously increased, and their job nature, work requirements and qualification levels have also undergone significant changes; besides, various types of allied health services also face problems such as manpower shortage and recruitment difficulties, etc. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the respective entry qualification requirements for the various allied health grades in the present public healthcare system (including the Hospital Authority and the Department of Health); (b) whether the authorities will conduct a comprehensive review of the qualification requirements for the allied health professionals mentioned in (a), and determine afresh the respective remuneration levels of various allied health grades based on the qualification requirements and job nature of such grades; and (c) given that some allied health professionals have pointed out that at present, some allied health professions are not yet included in any statutory regulatory regime, resulting in an increasing number of people in the market claiming to be healthcare personnel of such professions and providing members of the public with services which do not meet the relevant professional standards, and such a situation may jeopardize public health, whether the authorities will reconsider incorporating such professions in a statutory regulatory regime; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*15. Dr Hon CHIANG Lai-wan to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that an authoritative ophthalmologist in Taiwan had publicly stated last year that the eyesight of quite a number of people who had undergone laser vision correction surgeries in earlier years had one after another deteriorated evidently more than a decade after their surgeries. A patient even suffered, two decades after the surgery, from severe deterioration of eyesight which could not be corrected. It was suspected that the deterioration was related to the inflammation of the corneal flap after the surgery. In addition, the United States Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") pointed out in 2008 that as approximately 5% of those who had undergone laser surgeries developed after-effects such as dry eyes, reduced night vision and seeing glare, etc., it would conduct a national study to re-assess whether risk warnings issued for such surgeries were sufficient. Some members of the public have expressed concern about the risks of laser vision correction surgeries. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it knows the current number of people in Hong Kong who have undergone laser vision correction surgeries, broken down by the age group (each covering five years) to which they belong; (b) of the total number of complaints about laser vision correction surgeries received by the authorities in the past 10 years, together with a breakdown by the content of the complaints; (c) whether it has sufficient information at present to indicate that the deterioration of the eyesight of some of those who have undergone laser vision correction surgeries is related to such surgeries; (d) as it has been reported that according to the standard adopted in the United Kingdom and the United States, circumstances such as the development of presbyopia or inflammation of the keratoconus two to three or more years after laser vision correction surgeries will all be classified as surgery failure, whether it knows if the medical institutions in Hong Kong currently adopt the same standard; if they adopt the same standard, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (e) whether it has looked into the results of the aforesaid study conducted by FDA; whether it will consider conducting a territory-wide longitudinal study in Hong Kong to assess the potential risks of laser vision correction surgeries; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (f) as some medical professionals have pointed out that laser vision correction surgeries have only been introduced for less than three decades, with their pros and cons all along being disputable, and that the medical regulatory authorities in a number of countries have expressly required medical institutions to ensure that people who intend to undergo such surgeries fully understand the potential risks of such surgeries, of the guidelines that have been put in place in Hong Kong in this respect (including whether medical institutions are required to provide free annual optometric assessment for people who have undergone laser surgeries)?
*16. Hon TANG Ka-piu to ask: (Translation)
The authorities published a set of practice notes for managing air quality in air-conditioned buses and railway facilities ("practice notes") in November 2003 to provide guidance on how to ensure the maintenance of better air quality inside these facilities and compartments. Moreover, the Audit Commission made a number of recommendations regarding the practice notes in 2011 with a view to improving the indoor air quality in public transport facilities. The recommendations include: (i) publishing on the web site of the Environmental Protection Department the extent of compliance with the practice notes by public transport operators ("operators") for public information; (ii) giving commendations to operators for adopting the practice notes; and (iii) publishing indoor air quality practice notes for other public transport facilities. The authorities subsequently advised that they would examine the feasibility of these recommendations. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether the authorities have reviewed the practice notes since November 2003; if they have, of the outcome of the review; if not, the reasons for that; (b) whether it has put in place a mechanism to regularly monitor if operators have complied with the practice notes; if so, of the details of the mechanism; if not, the reasons for that; whether the operators are required to submit reports regularly on their extent of compliance with the practice notes; if so, of the details, if not, the reasons for that; (c) whether the authorities have proposed to the operators to improve the design of train/bus components or provide additional installations in order to improve in-vehicle air quality and meet the air quality objectives under the practice notes; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (d) of the follow-up actions taken by the authorities against the operators for non-compliance with the practice notes; whether they will consider penalizing those operators who have persistently failed to make improvement; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (e) of the results of the examination of the feasibility of the aforesaid recommendations conducted by the authorities; whether they have plans to implement such recommendations; if they have, of the details of such plans; if not, the reasons for that; (f) given that according to the information of the Centre for Health Protection, maintaining good indoor ventilation is conducive to the prevention of infectious diseases including influenza, whether the authorities will, on the premise of safeguarding public health, consider replacing the practice notes with a statutory regulatory regime; if they will, of the legislative timetable; if not, the reasons for that; and (g) as it has been reported that Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited has, of its own accord, abolished the fresh-air extraction function of its buses without authorization from the Transport Department, resulting in the carbon dioxide concentration inside the buses higher than the level prescribed in the practice notes, (i) of the follow-up actions taken by the authorities in this regard; (ii) of the number of complaints received by the authorities in the past five years concerning franchised bus companies violating the practice notes, as well as the details, progress and results of the investigations conducted by the authorities into these complaints; (iii) whether at present there are laws prohibiting unauthorized conversion of the installations concerned by franchised bus companies, and imposing penalty on offenders; if there are, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (iv) whether the authorities have assessed the impact of in-vehicle carbon dioxide concentration exceeding the prescribed level on the occupational safety of bus drivers and traffic safety, as well as the risk of passengers contracting infectious diseases; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*17. Hon Albert HO to ask:
I have been advised by some members of the building services industry that tritium exit signs ("TES"), i.e. self-luminous signs illuminated by radioactive gaseous tritium, have been used for decades in advanced countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States without any reported health incidents. In the Netherlands, the use of TES is encouraged by a tax rebate because it is a green product. In Singapore, the use of TES with tritium activity not exceeding 70 GBq is permitted with no licensing requirement. However, the sale and distribution, installation, maintenance, record keeping and disposal of TES in Hong Kong are subject to much tighter regulatory control. For example, the use of TES has to be justified by the non-availability of electrical power, which is considered as tantamount to a total ban by some members of the trade because hardly any building requiring exit signs to help evacuate occupants is not supplied with electrical power. They have also pointed out that apart from publishing a notice in the Gazette of an exemption granted in respect of tritium timepieces in 2011, the Radiation Board of Hong Kong ("RB") has not published in the Gazette, pursuant to the Radiation Ordinance (Cap. 303) ("the Ordinance"), any other notice of exemption granted in respect of other radioactive substances or irradiating apparatus. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the reasons for the authorities not following the practice of advanced countries to adopt a less stringent control on TES; (b) whether it knows if RB had granted exemptions under the Ordinance in respect of radioactive substances or irradiating apparatus other than tritium timepieces in the past five years; if RB had granted such exemptions, of the reasons for not publishing notices of exemption in the Gazette; and (c) to whom RB is accountable in formulating and implementing its policy on TES; of the channels through which a party aggrieved by the RB's decisions on TES can seek redress or remedy?
*18. Hon Alan LEONG to ask: (Translation)
Recently, a number of political party members have been arrested by the Police and charged with the offence of unlawful assembly on the ground that they had participated in public processions and public assemblies nearly a year ago. It has been reported that the Police said that after receiving the instructions from the Department of Justice ("DoJ"), they had expeditiously contacted the persons concerned to assist in the investigation. Regarding the issues relating to the investigations into and the institution of prosecutions for public processions and public assemblies-related offences, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) from 2004 to 2012 and in the first two months of this year, of the numbers of participants of public processions, demonstrations and public assemblies who had been arrested by the Police for the alleged offences of unauthorized assembly, unlawful assembly, obstruction of public place and causing public nuisance, etc. (set out in Table 1);
(Table 1)Year Alleged offences Unauthorized assembly Unlawful assembly Obstruction of public place Causing public nuisance Other related offences 2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
(up to February)
(b) among the persons mentioned in (a), (i) of the numbers of those who were arrested by the Police on the spot (set out by year in a table of the same format as Table 1); (ii) for cases in which the persons concerned were not arrested on the spot, of the respective average, median and maximum numbers of days between the dates on which the arrested persons participated in the processions, demonstrations or assemblies concerned and the dates of arrests (set out by year in tables of the same format as Table 2); and
(Table 2)
Year: ____________Alleged offences Average number of days Median number of days Maximum number of days Unauthorized assembly
Unlawful assembly
Obstruction of public place
Causing public nuisance
Other related offences
(iii) of the numbers of persons who were eventually prosecuted by DoJ (set out by year in a table of the same format as Table 1); the respective average, median and maximum numbers of days between the dates of prosecutions and the dates of arrests (set out by year in tables of the same format as Table 2); and (c) as the performance pledges of the Prosecutions Division under DoJ state that upon the receipt of a request from a law enforcement agency for legal advice or upon the receipt of an enquiry on matters relating to prosecution decision, the Division will provide such advice or reply to such enquiry within 14 working days, and in more complex cases, it will also provide an interim reply within this period, among the cases involving the persons mentioned in (a) which were handled by DoJ, of the percentage of cases in which these performance pledges were fulfilled each year; if the percentages are not 100%, of the reasons for that; whether there were cases in which prosecutions had been delayed; if there were such cases, whether it has examined if the responsibility rests with the Police?
*19. Hon Albert CHAN to ask: (Translation)
I have recently received quite a number of complaints from members of the public that some people often burn waste illegally on rural land. The large amount of thick fumes released by such activities has caused great nuisance to residents in the vicinity, and some residents are worried that the fumes are hazardous to health. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of complaints received by the authorities in each of the past three years about people burning waste illegally on rural land; (b) among the cases in (a), of the respective numbers of those in which the people involved were prosecuted and convicted; and (c) whether the authorities will consider improving the existing policies and stepping up law enforcement actions to eradicate illegal burning of waste; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*20. Dr Hon LAM Tai-fai to ask: (Translation)
Some members of the public have relayed to me that although the implementation of the Individual Visit Scheme ("IVS") for Mainland people have brought substantial economic benefits, the local facilities cannot cope with the pressure brought about by the surge of visitors. Moreover, the Government's control measures implemented recently against export of formula products for infants and young children from Hong Kong ("control measures") have been criticized as creating conflicts between the Mainland and Hong Kong. It is necessary for the Government to comprehensively review the coping capacity of Hong Kong's resources for tourism and people's livelihood, etc. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it will consider setting up an inter-departmental task force to coordinate and handle the related problems arising from IVS; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (b) as some members of the tourism industry have pointed out that mainland visitors have "overcrowded" Hong Kong, which shows that Hong Kong's tourism supporting facilities lag behind and fail to meet the demand, whether the Government will review comprehensively the overall coping capacity of Hong Kong's tourism and community resources on the premise that the IVS policy remains unchanged; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (c) whether it has assessed if the supply of hotel rooms and quality of hotel accommodation services, provision of tourism-related services, number of coach drivers and tourist guides, as well as parking spaces at scenic spots, etc. can cope with the growing number of visitors in future; if the outcome of the assessment is in the negative, of the improvement measures; (d) as some members of the public have pointed out that the Ocean Park and the Hong Kong Disneyland have become major tourist destinations of mainland visitors, and the proportion of Hong Kong residents visiting the parks is decreasing, whether the Government will ensure that the needs of local residents will be taken into account when additional tourism facilities are to be provided in the two theme parks, e.g. providing additional leisure facilities preferred by Hong Kong people; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (e) whether the authorities had assessed the responses of the mainland authorities and people before launching the control measures; if they had, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (f) whether the authorities had studied, in collaboration with the mainland customs, the feasibility of the control measures before implementing such measures, and whether both parties have reached a consensus on combating parallel traders; if they have reached such a consensus, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (g) whether the authorities have formulated indicators for assessing the effectiveness of the control measures; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (h) whether the Government has assessed the impact of the control measures on the business turnover of infant formula product importers, wholesalers and retailers; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (i) whether the Government has studied how to help importers, wholesalers and retailers increase the supply of formula products; (j) of the supply of infant formula products in Hong Kong at present (including the number of suppliers, the import volume of different brands of infant formula products, and their respective sales volume in the recent six months); and (k) as the Government has decided to implement new arrangements for booking Pui O Campsite during the three long holidays on the Mainland, namely the Labour Day Golden Week, the National Day Golden Week and Lunar New Year, allowing Hong Kong residents to reserve the camp bays in advance, whether the authorities will step up efforts in publicizing the new arrangements to the mainland people so as to avoid conflicts between Hong Kong and mainland residents arising from "competition for the use of the Campsite"?
* For written reply
III. Bill
| First Reading
Education (Amendment) Bill 2013 | ||
| Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)
| ||
| Education (Amendment) Bill 2013 | : | Secretary for Education
|
IV. Motions
| 1. | Proposed resolution under section 34(2) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance
Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury to move the motion in Appendix I. |
| (The motion was also issued on 25 March 2013
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 463/12-13) | |
| 2. | Proposed resolution under section 34(2) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance
Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury to move the motion in Appendix II. |
| (The motion was also issued on 25 March 2013
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 463/12-13) |