A 13/14-26

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 14 May 2014 at 11:00 am

I. Tabling of Papers



1.No. 100-Research Endowment Fund
Financial statements for the year ended 31 August 2013
(to be presented by Secretary for Education)

2.No. 101-The Government Minute in response to the Report of the Public Accounts Committee No. 61 of February 2014
(to be presented by the Chief Secretary for Administration, who will address the Council)

3.Report No. 18/13-14 of the House Committee on Consideration of Subsidiary Legislation and Other Instruments
(to be presented by Hon Andrew LEUNG, Chairman of the House Committee)

II. Questions for Written Replies



1. Hon CHAN Hak-kan to ask: (Translation)


Earlier on, the Consumer Council ("CC") conducted a sampling test on dry pet food sold in the market, results of which indicated the presence of harmful substances (including carcinogen aflatoxin B1 or contaminants of melamine and cyanuric acid) in some of the samples. CC has stated that long-term intake of aflatoxin B1 by animals could increase their risk of liver impairment and tumors in liver of animals whilst intake of both melamine and cyanuric acid may lead to formation of crystals, resulting in blockage of tubules in kidneys that may cause acute renal failure in animals. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)whether there is currently other legislation, apart from the Trade Descriptions Ordinance (Cap. 362), requiring manufacturers of pet feed and dry pet food (including "complementary and complete feed" and "feed materials") to label the following on the packaging of their products: (i) ingredient table, (ii) best-before date, (iii) place of origin, (iv) recommended daily quantity of feed and (v) age range of pets for which the product is suitable; if so, of the details, and the date on which the relevant legislation was last amended; if not, the reasons for that; whether it will consider amending the legislation to introduce such requirements;

    (2)whether there are currently relevant legislation or standards regulating the food safety of pet feed and dry pet food (including ceilings on the contents of harmful substances); if so, of the details, and the date on which such legislation or standards were last updated; if not, the reasons for that; whether it will consider amending the relevant legislation to impose such regulation;

    (3)given that some loose-pack pet food sold in the market do not have their composition and safety information marked on the packaging, whether the authorities have put in place any mechanism for regulating the package descriptions of loose-pack pet food; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (4)given that the Secretary for Food and Health, in reply to a written question from a Member of this Council on 28 March 2012, indicated that the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department would take the initiative to seek information on the quality of pet food products from the importers or distributors concerned where necessary, whether any government department was responsible in the past three years for (i) collecting overseas and local information regarding the safety of pet food, (ii) conducting sampling tests on the safety levels of pet food sold in the market, and (iii) verifying the accuracy of the package descriptions of such food as well as taking the necessary follow-up actions; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (5)whether the authorities or CC received any complaint about pet food in the past two years; if so, of the number of such complaints; and

    (6)whether it has considered setting up a channel for disseminating information (such as a reporting mechanism in respect of pet food incidents) so that members of the public can be expeditiously informed of the pet food which may have problems and they may stop feeding their pets with such food; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

2. Hon Paul TSE to ask: (Translation)


The Government plans to construct an environmentally friendly linkage system ("linkage system") to enhance the connectivity between Kowloon East (including the Kai Tak Development Area, Kowloon Bay and the Kwun Tong Business Area) and other districts. After commissioning a consultancy study on various types of systems (including monorail and modern tramways, etc.), the Government has proposed the two-way elevated monorail option and forecasts that the linkage system can be commissioned in around 2023. The Government has consulted the public on its proposal and is now collating the views received. On the other hand, the MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL") indicated on the 15th of last month that there was delay in the project to construct the Hong Kong Section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link ("XRL project") undertaken by it, and the Secretary for Transport and Housing said that he was totally caught by surprise by such information. There are views that apart from the possible problems of huge overspending, inaccurate estimations, improper supervision, hiding the truth from superiors and misleading subordinates, the delay in the XRL project may be attributed to the fact that MTRCL, being the dominant market player, had difficulties in deploying resources and construction manpower to carry out a number of large scale projects (including those relating to XRL, the Shatin to Central Link and the South Island Line, etc.) simultaneously. As such, it is inappropriate for the Government to entrust MTRCL to construct the linkage system. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)whether it has assessed if it is suitable for the linkage system to be constructed by MTRCL and if MTRCL has sufficient manpower and resources to ensure that the system can be commissioned in 2023 as scheduled; if the assessment outcome is that the system cannot be commissioned on schedule, of the expected duration of such delay;

    (2)given the surging prices of construction materials in recent years, coupled with the risk of project delay, whether it has assessed if the costs of the proposed elevated monorail will be substantially higher than the original estimates; if the assessment outcome is in the affirmative, of the anticipated increase in the costs; and

    (3)given that the Hong Kong Tramways Limited has proposed that modern tramways is the most suitable option for the linkage system (and it has been reported that according to the latest proposal put forward by the company, the option will include the construction of an additional transportation link between Kwun Tong and the Cruise Terminal), and indicated that the system can be commissioned as early as in 2018 while the fare for a single journey will need to be set at merely HK$3 for attaining a breakeven, whether the Government will consider and examine afresh the option put forward by the company, with a view to avoiding the dominance of MTRCL in rail transport and over-reliance upon MTRCL for the construction and operation of mass transit systems?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

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


The Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Tin Sau Bazaar ("Tin Sau Bazaar") in Tin Shui Wai, which was set up with the facilitation of the Government and under the operation and management of the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals ("TWGHs"), has commenced operation since February last year. It has been reported that only 60% of the stall operators were willing to renew their tenancies upon the expiry of their one-year tenancy agreements, and the remaining stall operators did not renew their tenancies as business was dull. It has also been reported that when TWGHs invited tenancies for 70 vacant stalls in Tin Sau Bazaar by open application and auction in March this year, the office of Tin Sau Bazaar only gave out some 350 application forms and received around 390 enquiries within the 11-day tenancy invitation period. The response to the tenancy invitation was much less enthusiastic than the situation when tenancies were first invited in late 2011, at which time 3 800 application forms were received. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)whether it has requested TWGHs to conduct a review of the causes of the drastic decrease in the number of applicants for the stalls in Tin Sau Bazaar; if TWGHs has conducted such a review, of the outcome;

    (2)of the process by which the Lands Department leased out the site of Tin Sau Bazaar to TWGHs under a five-year short-term tenancy, including whether it has conducted an open tender; if it has, of the details; if not, the policy basis for not conducting an open tender;

    (3)whether it has monitored the performance of TWGHs in managing Tin Sau Bazaar; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; whether it will, in view of the management performance of TWGHs, consider early resumption of the site of Tin Sau Bazaar and re-tendering the site for lease to other non-governmental organizations for operating a bazaar; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (4)given that there are currently 30 stalls which are operated by organizations and four stalls by TWGHs on its own in Tin Sau Bazaar, whether it has assessed if such an arrangement is contrary to the original intention of setting up Tin Sau Bazaar;

    (5)whether it will discuss with TWGHs the comprehensive improvement to the facilities of Tin Sau Bazaar, including putting up more directional signs, further improving the power supply and surface drainage facilities, considering afresh the construction of a canopy and introducing a central air-conditioning system; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (6)whether it will request TWGHs to revise the criteria for selecting the stall operators of Tin Sau Bazaar, such as adding the criteria of introducing a greater variety of merchandise, and giving priority to young applicants to provide them with an avenue to start their own business, etc.; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (7)whether it will request TWGHs to extend the business hours of Tin Sau Bazaar or to operate it overnight as well as introduce cooked food stalls; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (8)whether it has requested TWGHs to review the effectiveness of its publicity efforts on Tin Sau Bazaar; if TWGHs have conducted such a review, of the outcome; if the Government has not requested TWGHs to do so, the reasons for that; and whether it will request TWGHs to step up its efforts in this respect; if it will, of the details, if not, the reasons for that;

    (9)whether it has compiled statistics on the number of stall operators among the first batch of stall operators of Tin Sau Bazaar, who used to be hawkers carrying out hawking activities in the Morning Bazaar of Tin Shui Wai; whether such stall operators have renewed their tenancies upon the expiry of their one-year tenancy agreements; of the changes in the number of hawkers carrying out hawking activities in the Morning Bazaar since the operation of Tin Sau Bazaar;

    (10)whether it will consider setting up similar bazaars in other districts by drawing on the experience in the operation of Tin Sau Bazaar; and

    (11)whether it will, in the long run, consider setting up a public market in Tin Shui Wai so as to solve the existing problems of Tin Sau Bazaar in one go, including poor environment, insufficient patronage and merchandise failing to meet the needs of the residents in the district; if it will not, of the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

4. Hon WU Chi-wai to ask: (Translation)


I have learnt that the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department ("AFCD") decided in recent months that six country park enclaves ("enclaves") located in Hoi Ha, Pak Lap, So Lo Pun, Pak Tam Au, Tin Fu Tsai and To Kwa Peng would not be incorporated into country parks. Yet, a number of members of the Country and Marine Parks Board ("CMPB") have pointed out that Hoi Ha, Pak Lap and So Lo Pun are areas of high ecological value, and they are dissatisfied that AFCD did not provide CMPB with the relevant information nor consult CMPB before making the aforesaid decision. Nevertheless, AFCD has indicated that it will submit for CMPB's consideration only those proposals concerning the designation of lands as country parks. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)whether AFCD had fully consulted CMPB before making the decision of not incorporating the six aforesaid enclaves into country parks; if it had, of the consultation process; if not, the reasons for that;

    (2)whether it has all along been the practice of AFCD to consult CMPB only on the enclaves which it considers suitable for incorporation into country parks; whether AFCD has unilaterally revised the procedure for consulting CMPB; if it has, when and why the procedure was revised; if not, whether it will consider consulting CMPB on the incorporation into country parks or otherwise of all enclaves;

    (3)as CMPB endorsed a set of revised principles and criteria for designating country parks in May 2011, whether AFCD will draw up a timetable for expeditious assessments, based on such principles and criteria, of the suitability of all enclaves for incorporation into country parks; if it will, of the specific timetable; if not, the reasons for that;

    (4)of AFCD's assessment results of the six aforesaid enclaves in terms of their (i) conservation value, (ii) landscape and aesthetic value and (iii) recreational development potential, as well as (iv) the reasons for not incorporating such lands into country parks (set out in the table below); and

    Enclaves (i) (ii) (iii) (iv)
    Hoi Ha        
    Pak Lap        
    So Lo Pun        
    Pak Tam Au        
    Tin Fu Tsai        
    To Kwa Peng        

    (5)whether AFCD will make public all the discussion papers regarding enclaves submitted to CMPB in the past three years, so as to let the public and this Council understand the criteria adopted by AFCD for assessing whether the relevant enclaves should be incorporated into country parks; if it will not, of the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment

5. Hon Kenneth LEUNG to ask: (Translation)


Some accountants have pointed out that as Hong Kong is a free port without any restriction on capital inflow and outflow, and it adheres to a simple and low tax regime, coupled with the fact that the procedure for setting up a company is simple and convenient, it is susceptible to be used by lawbreakers as a base for money laundering activities. It has been reported that the authorities received over 33 000 suspicious-transaction reports ("STRs") last year, representing an increase of more than 40% over 2012. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)whether it has assessed if the substantial increase in the number of STRs received last year as compared with that of the preceding year was a result of more rampant money laundering activities or that of increased public awareness of the relevant legislation; if the assessment outcome is the former, of the specific measures put in place by the authorities to step up law enforcement;

    (2)given that the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect, which allows the mainland and Hong Kong investors to trade through local securities companies eligible stocks listed on the stock exchange of the other side, will be implemented in six months, whether the authorities have assessed if the settlement method of such transactions will encourage cross-boundary money laundering activities; if the assessment outcome is in the affirmative, of the measures put in place by the authorities to plug any loophole and reduce the risks involved; if the assessment outcome is in the negative, the justifications for that;

    (3)as I have learnt that quite a number of law enforcement officers previously responsible for combating money laundering activities have changed jobs to work in private financial institutions, whether the authorities have any plan to step up training and recruitment of such talents, so as to ensure effective combat of the ever-changing and increasingly rampant money laundering activities; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (4)given that the Joint Financial Intelligence Unit ("JFIU"), formed by officers from the Hong Kong Police Force and the Customs and Excise Department, is currently responsible for managing STR in relation to money laundering and terrorists' financing activities, whether the authorities have any plan to re-organize JFIU into an independent regulatory body, so as to enhance its functions and independence, thereby stepping up the efforts in combating the related illegal activities?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

6. Hon Frederick FUNG to ask: (Translation)


Following the remarks made by the State Premier at the Boao Forum for Asia on the 10th of last month that "conditions would be actively created for the establishment of a Shanghai-Hong Kong stock exchanges connectivity mechanism" ("the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect"), the China Securities Regulatory Commission and the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong made a joint announcement immediately on the same day that a Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect pilot programme would be launched officially six months later, allowing investors of both places, through their local securities companies, to place orders to trade eligible shares listed on the stock exchange of the other side. There are comments that the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect marks an important step in the financial reform in China, but it will at the same time bring about problems of cross-boundary regulation. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)whether the authorities have conducted any comprehensive and in-depth assessment on the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect to be launched six months later, including the possible positive and adverse impacts that may arise from the relevant co-operation model; if so, of the assessment outcome; and

    (2)how the authorities will ensure that no adverse impact will be brought about by the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect to the existing regulatory system and investor protection measures in Hong Kong, including how the authorities will tackle problems of cross-boundary regulation so arise; in discussing with the stock exchanges of Shanghai and Hong Kong on matters relating to the "connectivity mechanism", how the authorities will ensure that the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect can achieve the greatest effect in promoting the financial and economic development of both places, rather than merely benefitting the development of the relevant stock exchanges themselves; whether the authorities or the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited have currently formulated any plan or timetable for further extension of the relevant programme, such as co-operation with the Shenzhen Stock Exchange under a model similar to the "connectivity mechanism"?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

7. Hon WONG Kwok-kin to ask: (Translation)


Some members of the public have pointed out that with the commissioning of the first berth of the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal ("the Terminal") in the middle of last year, the number of tourists moving around in Kowloon East ("KE") will be increasing continuously. The Government is committed to developing KE into a tourism and core commercial district, with a number of sites in KE having been converted for hotel use. Yet, as the existing ancillary transport and shopping facilities in KE mainly serve the general public, the development of the district may be constrained and it may affect the original life style of the local residents. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)whether it has assessed the numbers, and their rates of increase, of passenger arrivals and departures through the Terminal upon the commissioning of the second berth of the Terminal this year; if it has, of the assessment results;

    (2)whether the authorities will organize mega events targeting mainly at Hong Kong people at the Cruise Terminal Building or its rooftop garden so as to increase the visitor flow of the Terminal; if they will, of the details of such events;

    (3)of the respective numbers of hotels in Wong Tai Sin ("WTS") and Kwun Tong ("KT") which are currently (i) in operation, (ii) under construction and (iii) at the planning stage with planning applications submitted to the Town Planning Board, as well as the respective total numbers of hotel rooms being provided/to be provided in these hotels;

    (4)whether it has assessed the impacts of the tourists brought about by the Terminal on the traffic-bearing capacity, coach parking spaces, shop rentals and livelihood-related consumption activities, etc. in WTS and KT; if it has, of the assessment results; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (5)as it has been reported that WTS and KT are districts with relatively high concentration of the poor and the elderly, of the measures put in place by the authorities to ensure that the development of KE into a tourism and core commercial district will not affect the consumption activities and daily lives of local residents as well as the community services rendered to them?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

8. Hon Mrs Regina IP to ask: (Translation)


A member of the public has relayed to me that a franchised bus company does not provide its email address on its web site. Passengers who wish to make enquiries or lodge complaints to the company can only call its hotline, but they often have to wait for over 30 minutes before they get connected. The member of the public said that the aforesaid situation had been relayed to the bus company concerned and the Transport Department ("TD") on several occasions but no improvement had been made so far. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)whether the operating licences granted by the authorities to public transport operators (including franchised bus companies) require the operators to provide certain channels for members of the public to contact them; if so, of the details;

    (2)whether TD will urge various franchised bus companies to improve their channels for members of the public to contact them, including making public their email addresses on their web sites; and

    (3)of the government department(s) with which members of the public may lodge complaints when they are dissatisfied with the replies from public transport operators to the complaints about the operators' services (e.g. lost trips of vehicles or ferries); and the follow-up procedures of such department(s)?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

9. Hon Tony TSE to ask: (Translation)


Since the Urban Renewal Authority ("URA") commenced implementation of the Demand-led Redevelopment Project (Pilot Scheme) ("Demand-led Scheme") in July 2011, it has received a total of 110 applications in three rounds, but has so far accepted and commenced only eight projects. In addition, the Chief Executive said in this year's Policy Address that "the applications [received by URA] are becoming larger [in scale], while the factors to be considered are also increasingly complex. It is necessary for the URA to review the scheme comprehensively and to continue to operate it with due care under the principle of upholding a self-financing objective in the long run, so as to ensure its sustainability." In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)whether it knows the respective numbers, with a breakdown by the District Council ("DC") district in which the site concerned is located, of the Demand-led Scheme applications rejected by URA in respect of which:

    (i)the sites concerned are smaller than 400 square metres;

    (ii)the sites concerned are smaller than 300 square metres; and

    (iii)the buildings concerned have been assessed as "not dilapidated, not varied or not poor" in the building condition surveys conducted by URA;

    (2)whether it knows the justifications, apart from planning considerations, of URA for making "the site under application not being smaller than 400 square metres" a principle for consideration and an application requirement for the Demand-led Scheme;

    (3)whether it has assessed the current number and distribution of the old buildings in Hong Kong that broadly meet the other application requirements for the Demand-led Scheme but the sites concerned are smaller than 400 square metres; if it has, of the findings, with a breakdown of the number by DC district and age of the buildings; if it has not, the reasons for that, and whether it will conduct such an assessment; regarding the buildings the sites of which are smaller than 400 square metres, of the other specific measures and arrangements to assist the relevant property owners in the redevelopment or maintenance of their buildings;

    (4)whether it knows the mechanism of URA for conducting building condition surveys for the Demand-led Scheme applications; of the criteria and indicators adopted by URA for carrying out such surveys; of the specific and objective standards for grading the conditions of a building as (i) not dilapidated, (ii) varied, and (iii) poor; whether, prior to conducting assessments in each round of applications, URA adjusted the mechanism and criteria; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (5)whether it knows if URA has assessed whether URA has adequate manpower and financial resources to handle Demand-led Scheme applications on an ongoing basis; if URA has, of the findings, and the corresponding measures and arrangements; if URA has not, the reasons for that, and whether URA will conduct such an assessment;

    (6)whether it knows when a comprehensive review of the Demand-led Scheme will commence at the earliest, as well as the direction, scope, content and timeframe of the review; and

    (7)whether it knows if URA will make appropriate adjustments to the basic framework for implementing the Demand-led Scheme; if URA will not, of the reasons for that, and how URA will address the rising aspirations among members of the public for redeveloping old buildings?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

10. Hon IP Kin-yuen to ask: (Translation)


Some members of the education sector have pointed out that educational psychologists ("EPs") play an important role in integrated education but there has been a shortfall of EPs over the years. As the ratio of EPs to students is very low, students with special educational needs ("SEN students") attending mainstream schools are often unable to receive appropriate support. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)whether the authorities have set any standard or target on the number of EPs that mainstream schools providing integrated education should have; if they have, of such a standard or target; if not, the reasons for that;

    (2)of the respective numbers of primary and secondary schools currently provided with the School-based Educational Psychology Service ("SBEPS") Grant by the Education Bureau;

    (3)of the respective total numbers of EPs currently employed by the Education Bureau and school sponsoring bodies to provide SBEPS to primary and secondary schools, as well as their ratios to schools and to students; of the average annual number of days of visits to schools by such EPs;

    (4)of the average time taken by school-based EPs and the Educational Psychology Service Section of the Education Bureau to conduct an assessment for SEN students (from receipt of a referral to completion of the assessment report);

    (5)of the numbers of places and graduates of educational psychology programmes in Hong Kong in each of the past five years;

    (6)of the current number of EP supervisors ("supervisors") and the average number of EPs supervised by each supervisor; of the specific duties and qualification requirements for supervisors, and the measures put in place by the authorities to monitor their work;

    (7)of the average annual expenditure per school on the services of supervisors and the percentage of such expenditure in the SBEPS Grant received per school; and

    (8)of the improvement measures put in place by the authorities to address the problems of (i) insufficient number of EPs, (ii) excessively short stationing time of EPs in schools and (iii) unduly long waiting time for EPs' services and time taken by them for the relevant assessments?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education

11. Hon Cyd HO to ask: (Translation)


Regarding the contribution of the tourism industry to the economy of Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council of (i) the value added, (ii) the percentage of the value added in the Gross Domestic Product, (iii) the number of employees, and (iv) the percentage of the number of employees in the total employment, in respect of inbound and outbound tourism in 2012 and 2013 and the projections for 2014 and 2017 (set out by tourism-related industry in tables of the same format as the table below)?

  2012 2013 2014
(projection) 		2017
(projection)
(a) Inbound tourism
     Retail trade        
Accommodation services        
Food and beverage services        
Cross-boundary passenger transport services        
Others        
(b) Outbound tourism
     Travel agency, reservation service and related activities        
Cross-boundary passenger transport services        

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

12. Hon Dennis KWOK to ask: (Translation)


According to the report made by the Director of the Home Affairs Department ("HAD") as the Controlling Officer of Head 63, staff members of HAD paid a total of 41 483 visits and 41 286 visits to buildings with owners' corporations ("OCs")/mutual aid committees/owners' committees/residents' organizations (collectively referred to as "local organizations") as well as 7 551 visits and 7 830 visits to buildings without any form of management in 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 respectively, in order to implement the District Administration Scheme. Yet, in reply to a question raised by me in examining the Estimates of Expenditure 2014-2015, the Director of HAD indicated that the authorities had not maintained a list of buildings visited, and did not give replies on the number of staff members for each visit and the average time spent. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)whether staff members of HAD are required, after paying each visit to a local organization for implementing the District Administration Scheme, to record and report to their superiors on the content, effectiveness or any follow-up action of the visit; if they are not required to do so, how HAD monitors its staff in performing such duties, and how it gets to know the problems faced by local organizations (such as building management problems) and assists them in solving such problems;

    (2)given that the representatives of some OCs have relayed to me that most staff members of HAD lack expertise in building management and often fail to effectively assist OCs in dealing with building management matters, how HAD assesses the effectiveness of the support services provided by its officers to OCs; and

    (3)of the average number of staff members of HAD designated to handle requests for assistance concerning building management in each of the past five years; whether it has assessed the adequacy of resources allocated in this regard?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

13. Dr Hon Helena WONG to ask: (Translation)


Some members of the education sector have pointed out that among the students admitted to some research postgraduate programmes run by the University Grants Committee-funded tertiary institutions ("funded institutions") in recent years, 70% to 80% of them were/are non-local students, which highlights the imbalance in the admission of local and non-local students. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows the following in respect of the academic years between 2011-2012 and 2013-2014:
  • (1)the respective annual numbers of (i) applicants for, and (ii) those of them admitted to, subsidized Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy programmes run by each funded institution, with a breakdown by the places of domicile (i.e. Hong Kong, Mainland China and overseas countries) of the applicants; and

    (2)the respective numbers of local students graduated with first-class honours, second-class (upper division) honours or second-class (lower division) honours or holding other academic qualifications who (i) applied for, (ii) were admitted to, and (iii) were rejected by, the programmes mentioned in (1) each year, and set out a breakdown, by institution and academic discipline, in tables of the same format as the table below?

    Academic year: _________________
    Study level: Subsidized Master of Philosophy/Subsidized Doctor of Philosophy

    Institution Academic discipline (i) (ii) (iii)
    Applicants who graduated with first-class honours:
             
    Applicants who graduated with second-class (upper division) honours:
             
    Applicants who graduated with second-class (lower division) honours:
             
    Applicants with other academic qualifications:
             
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education

14. Dr Hon Kenneth CHAN to ask: (Translation)


The Long-term Prison Sentences Review Ordinance (Cap. 524) provides that the Commissioner of Correctional Services must refer the long-term and indeterminate sentences of prisoners to the Long-term Prison Sentences Review Board ("the Review Board") for review according to the specified schedules, and the prisoners concerned are not required to lodge an application by themselves. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of the following in each year between January 2004 and March 2014: (i) the total number of cases reviewed by the Review Board, (ii) the number of cases of indeterminate sentences reviewed by the Review Board, (iii) the number of cases for which remission of determinate sentences was recommended by the Review Board and approved by the Chief Executive ("CE"), (iv) the number of cases for which the Review Board recommended to CE the substitution of indeterminate sentences by determinate ones, (v) the number of cases for which recommendation for substitution of indeterminate sentences by determinate ones was made by the Review Board and approved by CE, (vi) the number of cases in which the Review Board informed prisoners serving indeterminate sentences that it would recommend to CE some years later the substitution of their indeterminate sentences by determinate ones, and (vii) the number of cases in respect of which sentence review hearings were held by the Review Board and attended by the prisoners in person or their representatives (set out in table form)?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

15. Dr Hon LAM Tai-fai to ask: (Translation)


It has been reported that the occurrence of a number of incidents in relation to the railway services of the MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL") in recent months and its fare increase year after year have aroused public discontent. On 27 April this year, the service of the entire East Rail Line was paralysed for over half an hour, followed by another two temporary failures later on the same day, because the signalling system and its backup system malfunctioned concurrently, resulting in the Operations Control Centre at Tsing Yi ("OCC") being unable to locate the trains, and therefore the services had to be suspended. Under the "Service Performance Arrangement" implemented after the Government's review of the MTR Fare Adjustment Mechanism in early 2013, MTRCL must notify the Transport Department of any MTR service disruption which has lasted for eight minutes or is expected to last for eight minutes or more, and pay a fine for any service disruption of 31 minutes or more according to the length of disruption. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)whether it has looked into the specific causes of the aforesaid incidents; whether it knows if MTRCL has conducted a review on how to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents; if such a review has been conducted, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (2)as it has been reported that the computer systems of OCC, which is responsible for monitoring and controlling the operation of 10 MTR lines, are outdated, whether it knows if MTRCL has assessed whether there will be more failures of the computer systems as a result and the consequences thereof; if such an assessment has been made, of the outcome, when MTRCL will replace the whole system, and the relevant details; if such an assessment has not been made, the reasons for that;

    (3)of the cumulative total amount of fines paid by MTRCL since the implementation of the Service Performance Arrangement; the details of the mechanism under which the authorities monitor the return of the full amount of fines by MTRCL to passengers;

    (4)whether it knows the measures MTRCL should take, according to the procedures it formulated, in the event of a malfunction of the backup signalling system; of the number of malfunctions of the backup signalling system in the past five years;

    (5)whether it has assessed if MTRCL's recent increase in train frequency has accelerated the ageing of the data transmission components in the signalling system, and therefore caused the aforesaid malfunction of the signalling system; if such an assessment has been made, of the outcome; if not, the reasons for that;

    (6)whether it knows if MTRCL will review the existing procedures for procuring new models of trains and parts, maintenance and quality control; if MTRCL will do so, when such a review will be conducted, and of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (7)whether it knows the expenditure on maintaining various railway lines in each of the past five years; whether MTRCL will recruit more maintenance staff; if MTRCL will do so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (8)whether it will review the existing Fare Adjustment Mechanism to peg the fare adjustment rate with the level of railway services, so as to press MTRCL to endeavour to improve its services; if it will, when it will do so, and of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (9)whether it will urge MTRCL to expeditiously implement a system of deducting the remunerations of senior management personnel according to the frequency of railway incidents, with a view to pressing its management personnel to endeavour to improve management and service quality; if it will, when MTRCL will implement the system, and of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (10)whether it knows the existing division of responsibilities among the members of the Board of MTRCL;

    (11)whether it will require MTRCL to set up an independent committee to investigate the causes of the series of incidents which occurred recently, and make public the findings of the investigation; and

    (12)whether it has assessed the losses caused by frequent occurrence of railway service incidents to the community and economy of Hong Kong, and whether members of the public will have doubts about the safety, reliability and quality of railway services; if such an assessment has been made, of the outcome; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

16. Hon TANG Ka-piu to ask: (Translation)


It is learnt that currently some derelict mines/mine caves in Hong Kong (e.g. the Silver Mine Cave in Mui Wo and the Ma On Shan Iron Mine) have attracted quite a number of visitors to explore them. Quite a number of people have proposed that the authorities should make reference to the practices in foreign countries and revitalize derelict mines/mine caves to become characteristic tourist attractions. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)of the following information concerning each of the existing derelict mines/mine caves in Hong Kong: the name and location, site area, type(s) of minerals extracted, organization(s) previously engaged in the mining operations, as well as when the operations started and ended; if such information is not available, of the reasons for that;

    (2)whether it knows which organizations/persons in Hong Kong have conducted feasibility studies on the revitalization of derelict mines/mine caves, and in respect of each of the mines/mine caves concerned, set out its name and location, the year in which the relevant study commenced and the completion date of the study, the organization/person that conducted the study, and whether the authorities took any follow-up action on the outcome of the study and the details;

    (3)whether the Antiquities Advisory Board has conducted any historic building assessment on the derelict mines/mine caves on its own initiative or upon request; if so, of the names of the mines/mine caves concerned, the years in which the relevant assessments were conducted and the outcome; if the Board has not conducted any assessment on derelict mines/mine caves on its own initiative, the reasons for that; whether the Board has plans to conduct historic building assessments on all derelict mines/mine caves; if so, of its work schedule; if not, the reasons for that;

    (4)whether the authorities have received any proposal on revitalization of derelict mines/mine caves to become tourist attractions; if so, of the organizations/persons putting forward such proposals, the years in which the proposals were made, and the reasons for the authorities' acceptance/rejection of the relevant proposals; and

    (5)whether the authorities will conduct a feasibility study on the revitalization of derelict mines/mine caves to become tourist attractions so as to make Hong Kong's tourist attractions more diversified, thereby attracting different types of tourists to visit Hong Kong; if so, of the government departments and relevant organizations responsible for the task; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

III. Bills



First Reading

Competition (Amendment) Bill 2014

Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)

Competition (Amendment) Bill 2014 :Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

Committee Stage and Third Reading

Appropriation Bill 2014 :The Financial Secretary

Amendments to heads of estimates in
Committee of the whole Council on the Appropriation Bill 2014

Hon Albert CHAN, Hon LEUNG Kwok-hung, Hon CHAN Chi-chuen, Hon Claudia MO, Hon WONG Yuk-man, Hon SIN Chung-kai, Hon James TO, Dr Hon Helena WONG, Hon Gary FAN, Hon WU Chi-wai, Hon LEE Cheuk-yan, Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG, Hon CHEUNG Kwok-che and Hon Cyd HO to move the Committee stage amendments in the Appendix.

(These amendments were also issued on 17, 24 and 30 April 2014
under LC Paper Nos. CB(3)566/13-14, CB(3)573/13-14 and
CB(3)602/13-14 respectively)

(Debate and voting arrangements for Committee stage amendments to the Appropriation Bill 2014 (updated version issued on 5 May 2014 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 615/13-14(01))

Other Public Officers to attend the Committee stage :The Chief Secretary for Administration
The Secretary for Justice
Secretary for Transport and Housing
Secretary for Home Affairs
Secretary for Labour and Welfare
Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs
Secretary for Security
Secretary for Education
Secretary for the Civil Service
Secretary for Food and Health
Secretary for the Environment
Secretary for Development
Under Secretary for Home Affairs
Under Secretary for the Environment
Under Secretary for Transport and Housing
Under Secretary for Security
Under Secretary for Food and Health
Under Secretary for Education
Under Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs
Under Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
Under Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
Under Secretary for Development

IV. Members' Motions



1.Motion under Rule 49E(2) of the Rules of Procedure

Hon Andrew LEUNG to move the following motion:

That this Council takes note of Report No. 16/13-14 of the House Committee laid on the Table of the Council on 16 April 2014 in relation to the subsidiary legislation and instrument(s) as listed below:

Item NumberTitle of Subsidiary Legislation or Instrument
(3)Rating (Exemption) Order 2014 (L.N. 26/2014).

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

2.Motion under the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance

Hon Gary FAN to move the following motion:

That this Council appoints a select committee to inquire into whether the MTR Corporation Limited ("MTR Corporation") has covered up the progress and causes of delay in the construction of the Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link ("XRL"), and whether there are any problems with the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the MTR Corporation in supervising and co-ordinating the construction of the Hong Kong section of XRL; and that in the performance of its duties the committee be authorized under section 9(2) of the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance (Cap. 382) to exercise the powers conferred by section 9(1) of that Ordinance.

Amendment to the motion
Hon Claudia MO to move the following amendment:

To add "the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and" after "to inquire into whether"; to delete "has" after "("MTR Corporation")" and substitute with "have"; and to add "whether the MTR Corporation has properly completed the site investigation work at the West Kowloon Terminus Station to avoid unnecessary works and supplementary appropriation in the future," after "("XRL"),".

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Transport and Housing

3.Formulating a comprehensive elderly care policy to deal with population ageing

Hon TANG Ka-piu to move the following motion: (Translation)

That, with the rapid ageing of Hong Kong's population, the demand for elderly care services in society continues to increase, but the policy strategies to deal with demographic challenges proposed earlier by the Steering Committee on Population Policy make no mention of elderly care services in the future; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to immediately formulate a comprehensive elderly care policy, make detailed planning for elderly care services in the future and promote collaboration between the medical and welfare sectors; the contents should include:

Service planning－

(1)based on projections on the proportion and growth of elderly population in the future, to formulate medium- and long-term planning for elderly care services in the next 10 and 20 years, and on this basis, to reserve lands for developing elderly care services and train manpower, so as to ensure that social demand for community care services and residential care services for the elderly can be met every year;

(2)to make stronger efforts to implement projects on redeveloping residential care homes for the elderly and constructing new ones, and reserve lands in more public and private development projects for building residential care homes for the elderly, so as to shorten elderly persons' waiting time for residential care homes and reduce the number of elderly persons who have yet to be allocated a place in residential care homes when they passed away;

(3)based on the proportions of the elderly population in various districts, to enhance community care services, including allocating additional resources to expand the existing integrated home care services and day respite service for elders, and providing a certain number of places for emergency support services in various districts to deal with cases of serious nature and requiring immediate assistance;

Policy reform－

(4)to set up an inter-departmental office of long-term care services to co-ordinate the work of various departments which are responsible for elderly welfare, elderly care and elderly services;

(5)to immediately rename the Chinese rendition of dementia from '老人癡呆症' to '認知障礙症', adopt the recommendations of the World Health Organization to formulate a comprehensive priority strategy to deal with dementia, and allocate resources to set up a dedicated service unit;

(6)to review the standardized care need assessment mechanism for elderly services, and triage elderly persons based on their actual care needs to enable them to receive suitable services as early as possible, and in turn effectively alleviate the problem of unduly long waiting time for services;

(7)to review the requirement on the area of floor space for each resident in newly constructed residential care homes and day service centres for the elderly, so as to progressively enhance the care standard of elderly services;

(8)focusing on the segregation of the medical and welfare sectors in elderly care services at present, to strengthen healthcare and home care services in the community to support the care needs of elderly persons who are unable to get a place in residential care homes for the elderly, and in the three major directions of training, support and accreditation, formulate a dedicated policy on carers of the elderly, thereby perfecting the existing long-term care policy based on 'ageing in place';

Manpower resources－

(9)based on the medium- and long-term planning for elderly care services, to project the manpower demand for the services, comprehensively assess afresh the existing policy of manpower resources development for elderly and care services, including reviewing the training, remuneration packages and career prospects for frontline carers in elderly services, and, apart from considering how to enhance the standard of the relevant services on the whole, also raise the social status of the industry, so as to attract more new entrants; and

(10)to review the bidding system for elderly service contracts to reduce cyclical wastage of manpower.

Amendments to the motion
(i)Hon Albert HO to move the following amendment: (Translation)

To delete "with" after "That," and substitute with "given"; to add "(4) to extensively consult various sectors of society on elderly services and formulate service indicators and criteria, so as to upgrade service effectiveness;" after "immediate assistance;"; to delete the original "(4)" and substitute with "(5)"; to delete the original "(5)" and substitute with "(6)"; to delete the original "(6)" and substitute with "(7)"; to delete the original "(7)" and substitute with "(8)"; to delete the original "(8)" and substitute with "(9)"; to add ", and further develop primary healthcare services, including increasing the number of elderly health centres to shorten the waiting time for elderly persons to enroll as members, providing more medical examination services in elderly health centres, and based on the proportions of the elderly population in the 18 districts, setting service quotas and maximum waiting periods for services in various districts, so as" after "in the community"; to delete the original "(9)" and substitute with "(10)"; and to delete the original "(10)" and substitute with "(11)".

(ii)Hon Frankie YICK to move the following amendment: (Translation)

To delete "with" after "That," and substitute with "given"; to add "(9) to expeditiously implement a voucher scheme on residential care services for the elderly, and issue no less than $5,000 of service vouchers every month to elderly persons waiting for subsidized residential care places for the elderly, so that they can choose suitable private residential care homes for the elderly in Hong Kong or on the Mainland according to their individual needs;" after "'ageing in place';"; to delete the original "(9)" and substitute with "(10)"; to add "as it takes time to implement the measures for attracting new entrants and provide manpower training, the Government should expedite the importation of more workers, so as to alleviate the problem of serious manpower shortage in the sector at present and improve the quality of services;" after "new entrants;"; and to delete the original "(10)" and substitute with "(11)".

(iii)Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG to move the following amendment: (Translation)

To delete "with the rapid ageing of Hong Kong's population" after "That," and substitute with "given the continuing increase in the numbers of elderly persons with disabilities and elderly persons with dementia and chronic diseases, coupled with the ageing of persons with intellectual disabilities"; and to delete "the Government to" after "this Council urges" and substitute with "that rather than adopting age as the sole criterion, the Government should also take the needs and long-term care of elderly persons as the basis to".

(iv)Hon CHEUNG Kwok-che to move the following amendment: (Translation)

To delete "," after "That" and substitute with "in 2002, the Hong Kong Government sent representatives to attend the United Nation's Second World Assembly on Ageing held at Madrid in Spain, supported the Assembly's passage of the Political Declaration and Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing, 2002, and undertook to implement an elderly policy in Hong Kong;"; to add "short-," after "future, to formulate"; to delete "10" after "in the next" and substitute with "five, 10, 15"; to add "to relaunch hostels for the elderly and build a diversified range of residential care homes to enable elderly persons to live in the community without any worry; and" after "(2)"; to delete "and" after "constructing new ones,"; to add "and reserve the several bottom floors of newly constructed public housing blocks for operating small-scale residential care hostels or residential care homes for the elderly," after "building residential care homes for the elderly,"; to add "to implement community care for the elderly based on the concept of 'care in the community'; and" after "(3)"; to add "and compile detailed statistics on the service demands of service users in various districts for formulating five- and 10-year planning on community care services," after "enhance community care services,"; to delete "and" after "integrated home care services" and substitute with ", especially meal delivery, escort for medical consultation and household cleaning services, increasing the number of day service centres for the elderly and the"; to add "and establishing a central enquiry service system" after "services in various districts"; to add "(4) in order to resolve the problem of serious shortage of venues for community support services for the elderly at present, to conduct a study on the provision of diversified community support services and activities for the elderly, such as adventure activities for elderly persons;" after "immediate assistance;"; to delete the original "(4)" and substitute with "(5)"; to add "and based on the concept of 'care in the community', to map out a development strategy for the retired population and formulate a comprehensive inter-departmental elderly policy on areas such as healthcare, housing, community support, financial protection, long-term care, social participation, urban construction and cultural development for elderly persons, etc., so as to provide elderly persons with suitable education and living environment;" after "and elderly services;"; to delete the original "(5)" and substitute with "(6)"; to add "(7) to streamline the existing application procedures for the Dementia Supplement, including assessing afresh recipients' eligibility for the supplement at an interval of two years; and extend the scope of the Dementia Supplement to other community care services, so that service operators have more resources to provide services to homebound Dementia patients;" after "service unit;"; to delete the original "(6)" and substitute with "(8)"; to add "and to collate and analyze the case information obtained under the standardized care need assessment mechanism for elderly services, and assess and adjust the quality of existing services, so as to provide reference for planning and introducing new services in the future, enabling the Government to allocate resources more effectively;" after "waiting time for services;"; to delete the original "(7)" and substitute with "(9)"; to delete the original "(8)" and substitute with "(10)"; to delete the original "(9)" and substitute with "(11)"; to delete "and" after "new entrants;"; to delete the original "(10)" and substitute with "(12)"; to delete "review" before "the bidding system" and substitute with "abolish"; and to add "; and (13) to conduct planning for the manpower establishment and resources for various kinds of elderly services" immediately before the full stop.

(v)Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki to move the following amendment: (Translation)

To delete "demand for elderly care services in society continues" after "Hong Kong's population, the" and substitute with "dependency ratio will rise from 355 dependent persons per 1 000 working age persons in 2012 to 712 per 1 000 by 2041, and the demand of elderly persons, especially retired elderly persons, for elderly care services will also continue"; to add ", including introducing elderly dental services in public hospitals, arranging manpower to answer phone calls for booking out-patient services, improving the non-emergency ambulance transfer service, introducing elderly healthcare vouchers in paper form and strengthening publicity on the list of service providers participating in the Elderly Health Care Voucher Scheme, so as" after "in the community"; to delete "and" after "new entrants;"; and to add "; and Other aspects－ (11) to immediately implement a universal retirement protection system, so as to ensure that people are able to meet the expenses on elderly care and healthcare services after retirement" immediately before the full stop.

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

4.Improving the implementation of the education policy and allocating additional funding for education

Hon IP Kin-yuen to move the following motion: (Translation)

That, as education is an important policy area, many countries and regions attach great importance to education and strive to allocate resources in education improvement, so as to upgrade their people's overall quality and enhance their societies' competitiveness in the future; yet, the SAR Government's funding allocation in education has been shrinking continuously in recent years, and the Education Bureau has also neither listened seriously to the views of the sector nor taken forward many measures on which the society has reached consensus, showing its ineptitude and belated awareness when faced with new problems and challenges, and failing to respond to people's needs and allay their concerns, such as its erroneous planning for kindergarten and primary school places, delay in implementing 15-year free education, disregard for the views of the sector and reluctance to adopt effective measures to stabilize the teaching and learning environment of secondary schools, turning a blind eye to young teachers' difficulty in joining the profession, and turning a deaf ear to the demands for improving the teaching establishment in public-sector schools and increasing the number of publicly-funded university places; the education sector considers that since the Secretary for Education Mr Eddie NG took office, parents have worried about a shortage of places for their children's education, teachers' job satisfaction has declined, and students have been tormented by the education policy, rendering people to rock their confidence in the local education system and be greatly disappointed at the education policy led by Eddie NG, considering that he lacks work competence and enterprise, and that while he cannot effectively lead the officials of the Education Bureau to properly implement the education policy, he still frequently pays overseas duty visits, causing widespread grievances about the education policy in society in general; in this connection, this Council expresses dissatisfaction with the work performance of Eddie NG, requests him to reflect deeply on himself, and hopes that the SAR Government can improve the implementation of the education policy, allocate additional funding for education, and extensively solicit public opinions, so as to rebuild the public confidence in the education system.

Amendments to the motion
(i)Dr Hon Kenneth CHAN to move the following amendment: (Translation) To add "according to the opinion poll results of the Public Opinion Programme of The University of Hong Kong, the popularity of the Secretary for Education Mr Eddie NG has persistently remained low, indicating the public's intense discontent with his performance;" after "That,"; to delete "the Secretary for Education Mr" after "considers that since"; and to delete "reflect deeply on himself" after "requests him to" and substitute with "immediately resign".

(ii)Dr Hon Helena WONG to move the following amendment: (Translation)

To delete "and" after "joining the profession,"; and to delete "places" after "publicly-funded university" and substitute with "undergraduate places, and failing to face up to the serious ratio imbalance between local and non-local students enrolled in research postgraduate programmes of graduate schools, resulting in precious education resources not being spent on local students on a priority basis".

(iii)Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG to move the following amendment: (Translation)

To delete "and" after "joining the profession,"; and to add ", and failing to ever conduct any comprehensive review of the mode of integrated education which has been in place for a decade or so and is full of flaws and loopholes" after "publicly-funded university places".

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Education

5.Report of the delegation of the Subcommittee on Poverty to study the experience of poverty alleviation in Taiwan and Japan

Hon Frederick FUNG to move the following motion: (Translation)

That this Council notes the Report of the delegation of the Subcommittee on Poverty to study the experience of poverty alleviation in Taiwan and Japan.

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

6.Ensuring the completion of public housing and infrastructure projects on schedule

Hon James TIEN to move the following motion: (Translation)

That, as the construction industry is facing manpower shortage, this Council urges the Government to adopt corresponding measures, including establishing a special labour importation scheme for public housing and infrastructure projects by making reference to the arrangements adopted during the construction of Chek Lap Kok Airport, so as to ensure the completion of the various public housing and infrastructure projects in Hong Kong on schedule or even ahead of schedule to meet the housing need of grass-roots people as early as possible, and sustain the economic and social development of Hong Kong.

Amendments to the motion
(i)Hon LEE Cheuk-yan to move the following amendment: (Translation)

To delete ", as the construction industry is facing manpower shortage," after "That"; and to delete "adopt corresponding measures, including establishing a special labour importation scheme for public housing and infrastructure projects by making reference to the arrangements adopted during the construction of Chek Lap Kok Airport, so as to ensure" after "the Government to" and substitute with "strengthen the manpower training and job-matching services offered by the Construction Industry Council, and improve the working environment and occupational safety standards of the construction industry, so as to attract more local workers to engage in the construction industry, thereby ensuring".

(ii)Hon KWOK Wai-keung to move the following amendment: (Translation)

To delete "as the construction industry is facing manpower shortage" after "That," and substitute with "with the commencement of various infrastructure projects one after another and the increase of wages in the construction industry, the construction industry should be able to attract new entrants, but due to the frequent default on payment of workers' wages, coupled with the high industrial accident rate in the industry, etc., intending entrants have been deterred from joining the industry; in this connection"; to delete ", including establishing a special labour importation scheme for public housing and infrastructure projects by making reference to the arrangements adopted during the construction of Chek Lap Kok Airport" after "adopt corresponding measures" and substitute with "to improve the aforesaid situations, attract manpower for the industry and reduce manpower wastage"; and to add "; specific proposals are as follows: (1) to draw up proper long-term planning for infrastructure projects and progressively launch large-scale projects, so as to avoid creating a false image of manpower shortage during construction peaks, whereas workers have to face under-employment after the end of construction peaks; (2) to strengthen the monitoring of the wage payment mechanism in the construction industry, and rigorously combat the acts of defaulting on payment of workers' wages; (3) to allocate more resources and increase the number of training places, so as to provide new blood for the industry; and (4) to motivate the construction industry to improve the working environment, including strengthening the monitoring and inspection of works sites, so as to ensure the compliance of the working environment and equipment with statutory safety standards, create a safe working environment and reduce the number of industrial accidents" immediately before the full stop.

(iii)Hon WU Chi-wai to move the following amendment: (Translation)

To delete ", as" after "That" and substitute with "recently, overspending has occurred in a number of projects for reasons including"; to delete "is" after "the construction industry"; to add "; in this connection" after "facing manpower shortage"; and to delete "establishing a special labour importation scheme for public housing and infrastructure projects by making reference to the arrangements adopted during the construction of Chek Lap Kok Airport, so as to" after "corresponding measures, including" and substitute with "adjusting the progress of various projects, examining project planning and setting priorities for projects, so as to maintain the number of projects at a sustainable level that the construction industry can cope with,".

(iv)Hon POON Siu-ping to move the following amendment: (Translation)

To delete "the construction industry is facing manpower shortage" after "That, as" and substitute with "large-scale infrastructure projects have commenced one after another"; to delete "corresponding" after "the Government to adopt" and substitute with "effective"; and to delete "establishing a special labour importation scheme for public housing and infrastructure projects by making reference to the arrangements adopted during the construction of Chek Lap Kok Airport" after "measures, including" and substitute with "encouraging new arrivals to join the labour market, especially the construction industry; improving the working environment of the construction industry to attract young people to join the construction industry; upgrading the safety standards of the construction industry to ensure industrial safety; co-ordinating the construction procedures of different projects to avoid manpower competition, creating a false image of manpower shortage due to concurrent carrying out of works of same job types under different projects; and dealing with any labour importation proposals under the established mechanism for labour importation".

Public Officers to attend :Secretary for Development
Secretary for Labour and Welfare

7.The 4 June incident

Hon LEE Cheuk-yan to move the following motion: (Translation)

That this Council urges that: the 4 June incident be not forgotten and the 1989 pro-democracy movement be vindicated.

8.Setting up a 'Future Fund' for establishing an integrated retirement protection system

Hon WONG Kwok-kin to move the following motion: (Translation)

That, as the Working Group on Long-Term Fiscal Planning recommends the Government to set up a 'Future Fund', this Council urges the Government to use the Fund for establishing an integrated retirement protection system based on the people-oriented principle, so as to enable the elderly to have financial support in their twilight years, thereby alleviating the various social problems arising from population ageing.

Amendment to the motion
Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG to move the following amendment: (Translation)

To delete ", as" after "That" and substitute with "this Council opposes the recommendation of"; to delete "recommends the Government to set up a 'Future Fund', this Council" after "Long-Term Fiscal Planning" and substitute with "to the Government on the setting up of a 'Future Fund' comprising the Land Fund and a portion of future surpluses, and"; to delete "Fund" after "to use the" and substitute with "relevant moneys expeditiously"; and to delete "an integrated" after "for establishing" and substitute with "a universal".

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

Clerk to the Legislative Council