A 14/15-6
Legislative Council
Agenda
Thursday 20 November 2014 at 9:00 am
I. Tabling of Papers
| Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments | L.N. No. | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Dangerous Dogs Regulation (Exemption) (Amendment) Notice 2014 | 137/2014 |
| 2. | Rabies (TNR Programme) (Exemption) Notice | 138/2014 |
Other Papers
IIA. Question under Rule 24(4) of the Rules of Procedure
Hon Dennis KWOK to ask: (Translation)
On the 10th of this month, the Court of First Instance ("CFI") of the High Court continued the interim injunction orders it granted earlier in respect of three cases concerning the obstruction of certain roads in Mong Kok and the obstruction of the entrance and exit of CITIC Tower in Admiralty. Such injunction orders restrain the occupiers from obstructing the bailiffs in dismantling or removing the obstructions at designated locations and authorize the Police to take arrest actions where they reasonably believe that any person may obstruct or interfere any bailiff in enforcing the terms of the injunction orders, and the Police shall bring the persons so arrested before the Court as soon as practicable for further directions. On the 14th of this month, CFI granted an order which stipulates that without prejudice to the Police’s enforcement of the provisions of the Police Force Ordinance (including sections 51 and 52), the Police shall bring the arrested persons before the Court as soon as possible for further directions. On the other hand, the Commissioner of Police indicated that the Police would give their full support to the plaintiffs in enforcing the civil injunction orders concerned. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council, before giving further assistance to the bailiffs in enforcing the injunction orders:
(a) of the channels through which the Police will ensure that the occupiers clearly understand the gist of the injunction orders so that they will have the opportunity to consider desisting from the acts of violating the injunction orders in order to avoid being arrested; (b) whether the Police will immediately make public the criteria for deciding if the occupiers arrested for allegedly violating the injunction orders and committing other criminal offences at the same time are to be brought before the Court for further directions, or be detained at police stations and/or brought before a magistrate; and (c) whether the Police will immediately make public the measures to enable the persons who are arrested for alleged violation of the injunction orders and brought before the Court for further directions to get to know their legal rights and be legally represented?
II. Questions
1. Hon CHAN Kam-lam to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that during the period between May last year and February this year, an initiator of the Occupy Central movement ("OC"), who is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Hong Kong ("HKU"), passed on four donations totalling $1.45 million respectively to the Faculty of Humanities, the Faculty of Law and the Public Opinion Programme of HKU, for funding OC-related activities such as paying the remunerations of a research assistant who works for OC and sponsoring the Project Civil Referendum conducted by the Public Opinion Programme. He also admitted that the donations were made in the name of another OC initiator but did not account for the true sources of the funds. Some members of the public worry that certain people are conducting political activities under the guise of funding academic researches, thereby gravely damaging the political neutrality as well as academic freedom of tertiary institutions. Regarding the financial matters of various tertiary institutions funded by the University Grants Committee ("UGC"), will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows if UGC has issued to institutions under its auspices guidelines on whether they may accept donations designated for funding political activities or remunerating the relevant staff, and if UGC has requested the institutions to require their academic units accepting donations (in particular those donations used for designated projects, activities or staff remunerations) to submit reports setting out detailed accounts of the uses of the donations, and the relevant research data and academic achievements, so as to ensure that the donations are used for academic researches instead of political activities; if there are such guidelines and requirements, whether UGC has requested HKU to assess if the handling of the aforesaid donations has breached such guidelines and requirements; (2) whether it knows if UGC has currently requested the institutions to verify the true sources of donations, so as to prevent anyone from conducting political activities in the names of the institutions; whether UGC has monitored the institutions in this regard; and (3) as quite a number of members of the public have lodged complaints with HKU against the aforesaid teaching staff member about his organizing and participation in illegal road occupation and assemblies, and about his acting as a middleman to make donations of funds with unidentified true sources to the institution for conducting such activities, whether the Government knows if UGC has looked into how the institution has followed up on such complaints, and whether various institutions have put in place mechanisms for handling complaints lodged against their teaching staff in this regard; if they have, of the details?
2. Hon IP Kin-yuen to ask: (Translation)
Recently, there have been public comments that the encouragement of students to discuss Hong Kong people's participation in socio-political affairs by the teaching and learning activities under the theme of "rule of law and socio-political participation" in the Liberal Studies ("LS") subject of the New Senior Secondary Academic Structure is one of the causes for the massive turnouts of secondary students in the "occupation" movement. There have also been press reports that the Government intends to amend the LS curriculum to delete topics relating to the politics of Hong Kong and beef up the contents in areas such as the Basic Law. Some educational bodies consider that such a move is tantamount to political intervention in educational affairs. Regarding the curricula of senior secondary subjects, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the details of the authorities' plan to amend the LS curriculum and the justifications for that; the authorities' considerations in, and their procedure for, setting senior secondary subjects as core or elective ones, or changing the subjects as such; (2) of the criteria and procedure for amending the curricula and assessment guides for various subjects; the time generally required for the amendment process, and whether the subject teachers concerned will be consulted before amendments are made; if so, of the details and scale of the consultation; whether it will undertake that it will not, under any circumstances, amend the curricula of various subjects based on non-professional considerations; and (3) as it has been reported that an incumbent Executive Council Member, who was formerly an official of the Education Bureau once promoting the LS subject, claimed that the subject had become morbid, whether the authorities have assessed if the subject has deviated from its objective; if the assessment outcome is in the affirmative, of the details; if the assessment outcome is in the negative, the justifications for that?
3. Hon WONG Ting-kwong to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that international crude oil prices have been falling continuously in recent months with a cumulative drop by over 20% from the peak of this year, but the local retail prices of oil products have not been adjusted downwards accordingly, thus giving rise to a situation where the relevant prices are "quick to rise and slow to drop". In response, a spokesman of an oil company explained that the local retail prices of oil products were subject to a number of factors, including import prices, duties, operating costs and so on. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has studied if the import prices of oil products have been broadly in line with international crude oil prices in terms of trend movements and adjustment magnitude since July this year; if the study outcome is in the negative, of the reasons for that; (2) whether it has studied if the local retail prices of unleaded petrol and ultra low sulphur diesel have been broadly in line with the monthly average Singapore free-on-board prices in terms of trend movements and adjustment magnitude since July this year; if the study outcome is in the negative, of the reasons for that; and (3) whether it will request oil companies to enhance their transparency in pricing of oil products; whether it has plans to lower the operating costs of oil companies by such means as reducing fuel duties and land premiums for petrol filling stations, so as to reduce the prices of oil products to benefit users or related industries?
4. Hon Michael TIEN to ask: (Translation)
In 2007, the Government implemented the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Ordinance and established Do-not-call Registers for the purpose of regulating the sending of commercial electronic messages, including fax messages, emails, short messages and pre-recorded phone messages, but person-to-person telemarketing calls were excluded. Subsequently, to further protect the personal privacy of the public, the Personal Data (Privacy) (Amendment) Ordinance 2012 came into full operation in April 2013, stipulating that any data user must, before using personal data in direct marketing or providing personal data to another person for use in direct marketing, notify the data subjects of its intention of so doing and receive their consent. Yet, the results of a survey conducted by the media have revealed that the problem of members of the public receiving marketing messages is still rather serious in recent years and the situation has not been improved so far. Hong Kong people receive an average of 150 telemarketing calls per person each year, and they also frequently receive marketing messages sent through short messages, pre-recorded phone messages and even mobile messaging applications, which have caused serious nuisance to and impact on their daily life. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has studied and assessed the current situation of telemarketing activities, such as the daily average number of telemarketing calls received by each member of the public and the economic losses suffered by them due to such calls; (2) given that the Office of the Privacy Commissioner on Personal Data had referred a total of 18 complaints relating to the use of personal data in telemarketing activities to the Police during the period from 1 April last year to early August this year but, among them, there is no case in which the relevant persons were convicted, whether the authorities have conducted regular reviews of the effectiveness of the existing legislation in preventing the use of personal data in telemarketing activities; and (3) given that the authorities have all along refused to introduce legislation to regulate person-to-person telemarketing calls on the ground that it will affect the livelihood of 20 000 persons, whether the authorities have any means to enable members of the public to exercise their rights to be free from the nuisance caused by such type of calls; if they do, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
5. Dr Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask: (Translation)
The Coroners' Report 2013 pointed out that last year, the number of suicides in Hong Kong was 1 040, a rise by more than 20% from the previous year. Among those persons who committed suicide last year, 644 of them were male, outnumbering the 396 women by 60%, and those of middle-aged (i.e. aged 30 to 59) men and elderly persons (i.e. persons aged 60 above) accounted for 28% and 36% respectively. Moreover, the suicide rate of teenagers (i.e. persons aged 19 or below) soared by 38% as compared with the figure in 2012. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has studied the reasons why the suicide rates of men and elderly persons were higher than those of other groups, and why the suicide rate of teenagers soared last year; if it has, of the details; if not, whether it will conduct relevant studies; (2) whether it has analyzed if the phenomena of middle-aged men and elderly persons having higher suicide rates and the suicide rate of teenagers soaring reflect that the Government and the community have failed to provide sufficient support for the aforesaid groups; of the respective support services currently provided by the Government for these groups; and (3) whether the Government will make reference to the statistics on suicides and outcome of analysis on the causes of suicides and consider providing more targeted support services for people of different age groups in need; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
6. Hon Paul TSE to ask: (Translation)
This year's Wine and Dine Festival ("the Festival") was re-sited to the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal ("the Terminal") as a result of the Occupy Central movement. There are comments that while the event attracted in four days a total of 180 000 visitors, it caused the roads in the vicinity overloaded, and some participants complained that it had taken them more than an hour both in waiting for the free shuttle buses and travelling to the venue by bus. The fact that the Festival was successfully held at the Terminal demonstrates the potential of the Terminal for holding mega events, but it also highlights the inadequacy of the ancillary transport facilities for the Terminal, which are unable to divert visitor flows. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has conducted a review on the issues relating to the ancillary transport facilities for the Terminal as reflected by the Festival (including the bottleneck problem arising from having only one single link road to Kowloon Bay) and formulated corresponding measures; if it has, of the review outcome; if not, whether it will conduct such a review immediately; (2) given that the Environmentally Friendly Linkage System for East Kowloon ("EFLS") is anticipated to be commissioned in 2023 the earliest, whether the Government will re-assess the feasibility of the following proposals: advancing the completion of the construction of the transportation link between Kwun Tong and the Terminal which is included in EFLS, or first building a simpler temporary floating bridge for pedestrians, so as to divert visitor flows to and from the Terminal when a mega event is held there; and (3) given various infrastructure projects such as railway projects, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and the Liantang/Heung Yuen Wai Boundary Control Point have experienced, one after another, significant cost overruns, of the latest cost estimates for EFLS mentioned in (2); as the feasibility study for EFLS is expected to commence in 2015 and it is yet to find out if EFLS can be implemented, whether the authorities will consider conducting a feasibility study on constructing the transportation link between Kwun Tong and the Terminal as an independent project, so as to advance the construction of the transportation link?
*7. Hon Abraham SHEK to ask: (Translation)
The Cost Escalation in the Hong Kong Construction Industry Report (the "Report") published by the Department of Real Estate and Construction of the University of Hong Kong has pointed out that a consultancy firm has identified Hong Kong as the most expensive construction location in the world. Regarding the construction costs in Hong Kong in the past three years, materials accounted for the largest share at 43%, followed by labour costs at 34%, while other costs such as administration, insurance, statutory requirements, profit and overheads, etc. made up the remaining 23%. Over the past three years, material costs recorded an accumulated increase of 24%, while labour costs rose by 27%, with concretors and rebar workers getting the most notable wage increases by around 70% and 30% respectively. The Report has also pointed out that most of the factors contributing to the cost escalation, such as market exchange rates, pay movements and a series of additional requirements imposed on contractors (including those on safety, environmental protection, quality assurance, employment terms and design procedures, etc.), are beyond the control of contractors. In respect of the Government's indication that it would enhance the listing of contractors with a view to attracting more local and overseas contractors to the local construction market, the Report has cited examples illustrating that such policy will not be able to bring down the construction costs, but will instead intensify the competition among contractors for the already tight labour resources. Regarding the problem of rising construction costs, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has reviewed if the strategies and measures currently in place can effectively address the problem of surging construction costs brought about by rising material costs and labour wages as well as increasingly stringent quality requirements; (2) as the authorities have projected that over 30 000 additional construction workers will need to be employed in the coming several years, yet only about 3 200 semi-skilled workers completed training in 2013, whether the authorities have assessed the manpower shortage situation in different trades of the construction industry and adopted corresponding measures; if they have, of the details, together with a breakdown by trade; (3) given that the programmes offered by the Construction Industry Council, which only aim at training semi-skilled workers, are unable to provide timely solution to the problem of acute shortage of skilled workers in various trades, whether the authorities will expedite the vetting and approval procedures for the importation of foreign labour, so as to practically address the problem of shortage of skilled workers at present and in the coming several years; (4) given that the expenditure incurred by the authorities on the training of construction workers amounted to about $350 million last year, yet only about 3 200 semi-skilled workers completed training during the year, whether the authorities have assessed the cost-effectiveness of the training provided for local construction workers, the average total cost for training a semi-skilled worker in the past three years (including the expenditures on teaching staff, training venues, documentation, administration, performance evaluation and allowances, etc.), and the percentage of trainees who left the construction industry within a year after they had completed training; and (5) whether the authorities will, before deciding to impose additional requirements on contractors in new public works contracts in future, duly consider and assess if such requirements are appropriate and necessary, as well as their impact on the construction costs?
*8. Hon Alice MAK to ask: (Translation)
It is learnt that as the Medical Council of Hong Kong ("MCHK") has been rather sluggish in handling complaints in recent years, in some cases even taking years to process them, complainants have to endure prolonged psychological and financial pressure. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows, in each of the past five years, the number of complaints received by MCHK and, among such cases, the respective numbers of those (i) referred to MCHK for disciplinary inquiries as the Preliminary Investigation Committee ("PIC") of MCHK determined that there was a prima facie in them, (ii) found to be substantiated after disciplinary inquiries, and (iii) involving medical practitioners employed by the Hospital Authority; (2) whether it knows, in the past five years, the number of supporting staff members needed on average for handling a complaint by PIC; whether the authorities will allocate additional resources to increase such manpower, so as to expedite clearance of the backlog of complaints by PIC; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) whether it knows, in the past five years, the time taken by MCHK on average for handling a complaint for which disciplinary inquiries had been conducted; among such cases, (i) the number of those that MCHK took one year or more to process, and (ii) the longest and the shortest time taken to complete the cases; (4) as the Government indicated in reply to a question raised by a Member of this Council on 2 July this year that the authorities were actively considering the proposal submitted in June this year by MCHK on expediting its complaint-handling process and inquiry proceedings, of the progress of the authorities' consideration of the proposal; whether it knows when MCHK will implement the proposal and simplify its complaint handling process, so as to enhance its efficiency in handling complaints; and (5) whether the authorities will discuss with MCHK the setting of target time for handling complaints; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*9. Hon SIN Chung-kai to ask: (Translation)
The incumbent Chief Executive ("CE") announced his resignation from DTZ in November 2011. It has recently been reported by some Australian media that in December of the same year, CE signed an agreement with UGL Limited ("UGL"), which was then planning to acquire DTZ, undertaking not to poach employees from or compete with DTZ as well as to act as a referee and adviser to UGL, within two years after the acquisition was completed. Under the aforesaid agreement, CE received a remuneration of £4 million in total in 2012 and 2013. In addition, according to that agreement, CE may sell at any time his shares in DTZ Japan (the Japanese branch of DTZ) to UGL fetching at least £200,000. At the meeting of this Council held on the 6th of this month, the Acting Chief Secretary for Administration cited the professional advice of a certified public accountant (practising) that according to relevant requirements under the Inland Revenue Ordinance (Cap. 112), salaries tax was applicable to income arising in or derived from Hong Kong from an office, employment and any pension only, and CE was therefore not required to pay salaries tax for the payments he received from UGL. Nevertheless, some members of the public have pointed out that the aforesaid agreement involves the provision of services and has to be carried out in Hong Kong. As such, they have queried why CE was not required to pay tax for the payments concerned. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council if it has assessed:
(1) whether the remunerations receivable by a Hong Kong resident under an agreement entered with an overseas company, under which he undertakes to act as a referee and adviser to that company, shall be deemed "income arising in or derived from Hong Kong" from an "employment of profit", and hence shall be subject to salaries tax assessment; if the assessment outcome is in the negative, of the justifications for that; if the assessment outcome is in the affirmative, whether the full amount or just part of the remunerations concerned shall be deemed assessable income; and (2) whether, in accordance with Cap. 112, a Hong Kong resident is required to pay tax for the profits earned from the sale of the shares of an overseas company; if the assessment outcome is in the negative, of the reasons for that?
*10. Hon WONG Kwok-hing to ask: (Translation)
In recent months, some members of this Council's Finance Committee and the Public Works Subcommittee under it have filibustered some controversial funding proposals, resulting in a huge backlog of agenda items awaiting vetting and approval. It is learnt that the commencement of quite a number of public works projects has been deferred because funding approvals have not yet been obtained. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) in each of the past two legislative sessions, of the number of public works projects for which (i) commencement was delayed, (ii) tender exercises were not conducted as scheduled and (iii) re-tendering was required due to the expiry of the tender validity periods, as a result of the delay in vetting and approval of the relevant funding applications by the two aforesaid committees, and set out in a table the names of these projects and the extra costs so incurred; (2) whether it has formulated contingency measures to mitigate the impacts on the public caused by the delays in commencing the public works projects described in (1); and (3) whether it has formulated contingency plans, such as setting a higher level of "contingencies" and "provisions for price adjustment" when making cost estimations for public works projects, in order to reduce the need to seek the approval of the Finance Committee for supplementary provisions due to overspending; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*11. Hon NG Leung-sing to ask: (Translation)
Last month, the British Broadcasting Corporation reported that human rights activists from around the world attended this year's conference of the Oslo Freedom Forum ("OFF") held in Norway last month. The topics discussed at the meeting included the Occupy Central movement which occurred in Hong Kong, and that plans for the occupation of roads ("the occupation") were hatched by initiators of the movement and human rights activists from around the world as far back as January 2013, with more than 1 000 Hong Kong people having received specific training, including how to speak to the Police and how to manage their action, etc., prior to the initiation of the occupation. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has grasped the planning of the occupation; if it has not, of the reasons for that; if it has, whether it has taken targeted measures to prevent the occurrence of the occupation; and (2) whether it has assessed if OFF's conduct of activities related to Hong Kong has constituted a threat to the security of Hong Kong; if it has assessed, of the outcome; if it has not assessed, the reasons for that?
*12. Dr Hon Kenneth CHAN to ask: (Translation)
The Railway Development Strategy 2014 ("the Strategy") announced by the Government in September this year provides a framework for planning the development of Hong Kong's railway network. On the basis of the outcome of the public engagement exercise and the recommendations made by a consultant, the Government recommends in the Strategy that seven new railway projects (namely the Northern Link and Kwu Tung Station, the Tuen Mun South Extension, the East Kowloon Line, the Tung Chung West Extension, Hung Shui Kiu Station, the South Island Line (West) and the North Island Line ("NIL")) be implemented in or before 2026. In addition, the three schemes (i.e. "Extension", "Bifurcation" and "Feeder" Schemes) of the Siu Sai Wan Line ("SSWL") will not be taken forward before 2031 due to insufficient economic and financial benefits. Regarding the future railway development of Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the assessment indicators (including feasibility, construction cost, cost-effectiveness, competitiveness, construction constraints and environmental impact, etc.) adopted by the consultant commissioned by the Government for considering the three schemes of SSWL and the assessment outcome; how such assessment indicators and outcome compare with the assessment indicators and outcome of the seven railway projects recommended to be constructed (set out by name of project and indicator); (2) given that according to the statistics of the Government, the current population of the Eastern District is close to 600 000, while the total population of Siu Sai Wan and its peripheral areas (including Tsui Wan, Yan Lam, King Yee and Yue Wan) has exceeded 70 000, and the Strategy has mentioned that "there was substantial local support in the Eastern District for the provision of railway service to Siu Sai Wan", of the criteria based on which the authorities decided not to take forward the three schemes of SSWL; (3) given that the Strategy has mentioned that the NIL railway project will help "divert the harbour-crossing passenger traffic, relieve the loading of the Island Line and enhance railway access to the northern shore of Hong Kong Island", whether the authorities will, for the purpose of catering for the future development of the new harbourfront areas along the northern shore of Hong Kong Island, conduct a study on constructing piers in that area and resuming the services of the ferry routes which have been discontinued or enhancing the services of the existing routes, so as to promote the waterborne transport development in that area and connect various districts, thereby relieving the pressure on the railway network; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that and whether they have plans to conduct such a study; and (4) given that certain parts of the alignment of the proposed NIL are parallel with that of the existing Island Line, and the former's Tamar, Exhibition and Causeway Bay North stations will be fairly close to the latter's Admiralty, Wan Chai and Causeway Bay stations respectively, whether the authorities will conduct a study on linking these stations by underground or elevated pedestrian walkways; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that and whether they have plans to conduct such a study?
*13. Dr Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that a press group posted a number of letters on 29 August this year, but two months later, the Hongkong Post ("HKP") returned to the sender nine of those letters in a document envelope. All of the returned letters had postage fully paid, with only one of them bearing incomplete recipient address and another two suspectedly having been opened and then sealed again. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the circumstances under which HKP officers will open or allow other people to open postal items; whether HKP has, at present, put in place any monitoring mechanism to ensure that the opening of postal items will not lead to the leakage of personal privacy; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) of the circumstances under which HKP will refuse to deliver a postal item with complete recipient address and postage fully paid; the channel(s) through which senders may lodge complaints about the refusal of HKP to deliver such postal items, and how the authorities follow up such a complaint; (3) of the circumstances under which HKP will return to a sender in a document envelope postal item(s) bearing incomplete recipient address(es) together with other postal item(s) bearing complete recipient address(es) mailed by the same sender; (4) of the number of working days it normally takes for HKP to go through the procedure of returning an undelivered postal item to the sender; and (5) whether HKP will explain to the senders the reasons for returning their postal items; if HKP will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*14. Hon Charles Peter MOK to ask: (Translation)
It is learnt that an electronic platform known as "Port Community System" ("PCS") has been established in Europe. PCS connects the systems of public and private organizations relating to the freight industry forming an airport, seaport or inland port community, with the aim of co-ordinating logistics processes and enhancing operational efficiency. Regarding the application of information technology to enhance the efficiency of import and export of goods in Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether at present, there is an electronic platform similar to the aforesaid PCS in Hong Kong for the exchange of information between government departments and the freight industry, as well as delivery of services such as logistics and electronic customs clearance, etc.; if there is such a platform, of the details; if not, whether communication mechanisms have been established among the Hong Kong International Airport, various container terminals and land boundary control points at present, and of the relevant details; and (2) whether it has assessed if Hong Kong's management systems on import and export of goods meet the standard of a "Single Window System" as advocated by various international trade organizations (i.e. a facility that allows the one-stop processing of all related work, such as import and export documentations, quarantine and transactions, etc.); if the assessment outcome is in the affirmative, of the details; if the assessment outcome is in the negative, the actions that the authorities will take to bring Hong Kong's management systems on import and export of goods up to that standard?
*15. Hon WU Chi-wai to ask: (Translation)
It was mentioned in the Policy Agendas of the past two years that the Government and franchised bus companies were vigorously pursuing a holistic review and rationalization of franchised bus services based on an "Area Approach". The Transport Department ("TD") is exploring with the bus companies the setting up of bus-bus interchanges ("BBIs") to cater for the Area Approach bus service rationalizations. On the other hand, it has been reported that the Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited plans to implement Area Approach bus service rationalizations in Kowloon next year and will provide a number of additional BBIs in Kowloon, including converting the existing bus stops at Wong Tai Sin Plaza on Lung Cheung Road into a BBI. There are views that the implementation of large-scale development projects such as the Kai Tak Development, Energizing Kowloon East and Development of Anderson Road Quarry site by the Government in Kowloon East will substantially increase the demand for transport services in the area and the Government therefore should review afresh the demand for transport services in Kowloon East expeditiously. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether TD has reviewed the effectiveness of those Area Approach bus service rationalizations which have been implemented, including their impacts on the traffic flows of various trunk roads, the number of buses travelling on roads, the number of bus routes eliminated/rationalized, their impacts on the financial conditions of the bus companies and reaction of the public, etc.; (2) of the progress and details of the aforesaid Area Approach bus service rationalizations in Kowloon, including the bus routes and districts involved, when public consultations will be conducted, as well as the locations of the additional BBIs under planning and the progress of related conversion works (including the expected commencement and completion dates of the works, etc.); (3) whether it has discussed with various franchised bus companies, with reference to the Tuen Mun Road BBIs located in Tuen Mun heading to and from Kowloon, the setting up of BBIs in the following locations: (i) the junction of Choi Hung Road Interchange and Prince Edward Road East, (ii) the section of Kwun Tong Road outside Kowloon Bay MTR Station, and (iii) the section of Kwun Tong Road between Ngau Tau Kok and Kwun Tong MTR Stations; if it has discussed, of the details and the implementation time; if not, whether it will discuss as early as possible; (4) whether it has examined the designation of new bus-only lanes or extension of the operating time periods and areas of the existing bus-only lanes in Kowloon, so as to ensure that public transport services with higher efficiency in utilization of roads will get priority in the use of limited road resources; apart from designating bus-only lanes, whether it has studied implementing other measures to accord priority in the use of roads to public transport means; (5) as TD conducted a number of district traffic studies in the past few years, including the West Kowloon Reclamation Development Traffic Study and the Traffic Study for Admiralty, etc., of the criteria for TD to conduct district traffic studies; whether TD conducted any district traffic studies in the past three years on the travelling habits and transport demand of residents in Kowloon East; if it did, of the details; if not, whether it will conduct such studies expeditiously; and (6) whether the authorities have assessed the impacts of the three large-scale development projects, namely the Kai Tak Development, Energizing Kowloon East and the Development of Anderson Road Quarry site, on the demand for public transport services in Kowloon East; if they have, of the details; whether they will conduct district traffic studies for Kowloon East in the light of the construction of the East Kowloon Line proposed in the Railway Development Strategy 2014, so as to assess the impacts of the proposed railway line and the three development projects on the traffic in Kowloon East; if they will not, how the authorities assess the demand for transport services in Kowloon East?
*16. Hon Kenneth LEUNG to ask: (Translation)
The Government launched the "Green Hong Kong‧Carbon Audit" campaign ("the Campaign") in July 2008. To tie in with the Campaign, it also issued the "Guidelines to Account for and Report on Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Removals for Buildings (Commercial, Residential or Institutional Purposes) in Hong Kong" so as to assist companies or organizations which have signed the Carbon Reduction Charter ("Charter") and become "Carbon Audit‧Green Partners" in conducting carbon emission audits on their buildings. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective numbers of private buildings which participated in and withdrew from the Campaign each year from 2008 to 2013; (2) of the respective numbers of buildings under the management of the Government and statutory bodies which participated in the Campaign each year from 2008 to 2013, with a breakdown by government department and statutory body concerned; (3) of the respective numbers of private organizations which signed the Charter to participate in the Campaign and those withdrew from the Campaign each year from 2008 to 2013; (4) of the respective numbers of government departments and statutory bodies which signed the Charter to participate in the Campaign each year from 2008 to 2013; (5) whether the various government departments participating in the Campaign have employed additional staff and/or hired consultants to cope with the extra work arising from conducting carbon audits on their buildings; if they have, of the total number of newly created posts and the respective additional expenses incurred by the work concerned (including expenses on salaries, on-the-job training, purchase of equipment and engagement of external consultants, etc.) each year from 2008 to 2013; if not, the reasons for that; and (6) whether it has made reference to the data collected by various government departments from the carbon audits conducted on buildings and taken measures accordingly so as to improve energy efficiency of the buildings concerned and reduce carbon emissions by such buildings; if it has, of the details and effectiveness of such measures, including statistics on the reduction of carbon emissions; if not, the reasons for that?
*17. Hon WONG Ting-kwong to ask: (Translation)
The Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development told the media earlier that since its occurrence, the Occupy Central movement had affected the events staged in Hong Kong and the desire of travellers to visit Hong Kong. For example, the Hong Kong Wine and Dine Festival ("the Festival") was re-sited, with 10% of its exhibitors having withdrawn from the event; the international Gran Fondo Hong Kong cycling race ("the cycling race") originally scheduled for December this year was cancelled. Moreover, some members from the information technology sector indicated that individual staff members of overseas companies had cancelled their trips to Hong Kong for attending meetings due to the Occupy Central movement. The number of non-mainland travellers to Hong Kong in the first 28 days of last month dropped by 3.7% compared to the same period last year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has assessed the economic losses suffered by Hong Kong as a result of the re-siting of the Festival and the cancellation of the cycling race; whether it knows the respective numbers of events which were re-sited, suspended or even cancelled due to the Occupy Central movement, and whether it has quantified the economic losses so incurred; (2) whether, in the light of the drop in the number of non-mainland travellers due to the Occupy Central movement, it has assessed the resultant economic losses suffered by the tourism industry; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; whether it has assessed how long it will take for the tourism industry to recover after the Occupy Central movement ends; and (3) as the Occupy Central movement is still going on at present, whether it knows if the Hong Kong Tourism Board ("HKTB") has assessed the impact of the movement on its planning and promotion of tourism activities; if HKTB has assessed, of the outcome?
*18. Hon NG Leung-sing to ask: (Translation)
Recently, large-scale illegal occupation of roads occurred in a number of districts in Hong Kong. On the 20th of last month, the Court granted interim injunctions to a number of organizations affected by the occupation, restraining the occupants from continued occupation of the roads in Mong Kok, and from obstruction of the passageways leading to a commercial building in Admiralty. Subsequently, an occupant was granted legal aid by the Legal Aid Department ("LAD") to apply to the Court for discharging the interim injunctions granted in respect of the occupied area in Mong Kok. On the other hand, under section 10(3) of the Legal Aid Ordnance (Cap. 91) ("section 10(3)"), the Director of Legal Aid ("DLA") may refuse to grant legal aid where it appears to him that there are circumstances as set out in that provision in a legal aid application. As occupation of roads is illegal, some members of the public have queried why LAD approved the legal aid application. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that the aforesaid legal aid applicant intends to institute legal proceedings for continuation with the illegal occupation of roads, of the reasons why, at the time when DLA vetted and approved the legal aid application concerned, it did not appear to him that there were circumstances as set out in section 10(3) in that case, and hence he had not rejected the application; (2) apart from considering whether the applicant could pass the means test and merits test, of the specific factors that LAD took into account in vetting and approval of the legal aid application, and of the precedent cases available for reference; and (3) whether an independent monitoring mechanism is currently in place to ensure the vetting and approval results of similar legal aid applications are reasonable; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*19. Hon CHAN Kin-por to ask: (Translation)
Under the Road Traffic (Safety Equipment) Regulations (Cap. 374 sub. leg. F)("the Regulations"), a public light bus ("PLB") passenger is required to wear a seat belt if it is provided for his or her seat. It has been reported that the situation of PLB passengers not wearing seat belts has aroused concern. As quite a number of passengers habitually keep their heads down to use mobile phones or close their eyes for rest after boarding PLBs, they pay no attention to the notices inside PLBs which remind passengers to wear seat belts, while the drivers do not take the initiative to remind passengers to do so. Regarding the wearing of seat belts by PLB passengers, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) in the past three years and this year to date, of the number of operations conducted by plain-clothed policemen disguised as PLB passengers for surprise checks on whether passengers on board had fastened their seat belts, the districts in which such operations were conducted, and the number of passengers prosecuted for failing to wear seat belts during such operations; of the respective numbers of verbal warnings, summonses and fixed penalty tickets issued by the authorities; whether there are plans to increase the number of operations for surprise checks and the number of police officers involved in such operations, and to extend the areas in which such operations are conducted; if there are such plans, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) as it has been reported that the Transport Department has requested PLB drivers, through various channels (including letters to PLB trade unions, the PLB newsletters, as well as regular meetings with the PLB trade), to remind passengers that they must wear seat belts, whether it has assessed the effectiveness of such measures or other measures that aim at enhancing passengers' awareness of wearing seat belts; as it is voluntary for PLB drivers to remind passengers to wear seat belts and it has been alleged that the notices posted inside PLBs are inconspicuous, whether the authorities have plans to require the PLB trade to enhance the dissemination of the relevant message by the use of electronic display boards, the broadcasting of audio recordings or other means; if they have such plans, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) given that the relevant provisions in the Regulations have been in force for more than a decade, and the seat belts of some PLBs have already been damaged or are defective, whether the authorities conduct random checks on PLB seat belts regularly to see if they function properly, or require PLB owners to arrange for regular inspections of and repairs on such equipment; whether they will consider introducing a subsidy scheme to assist the trade in improving seat belt equipment; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*20. Hon Albert CHAN to ask: (Translation)
In reply to my question on 27 November 2013 on the issue of telecommunications service operators ("TSOs") overcharging service fees, the Government said that where there was evidence indicating that a TSO might have breached the Telecommunications Ordinance (Cap. 106) or the licence conditions, the Communications Authority would conduct an investigation and penalize the TSO if the case was substantiated. Yet, I have still received complaints recently from a number of members of the public that TSOs had charged them for services that they had not applied for, or overcharged telecommunications service fees, thus causing them to suffer huge losses. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the numbers of complaints, received in the past 12 months by the Office of the Communications Authority and the Consumer Council respectively, which involved overcharging by TSOs and the names of TSOs in substantiated cases, broken down by type of telecommunications service (e.g. fixed-line phones, mobile phones, external telecommunications and broadband Internet access, etc.) and nature of the complaints; (2) whether it knows, among the cases in (1), the number of those in which the complainants succeeded in getting compensation, as well as the names of TSOs which were prosecuted and the number of times they had been prosecuted; and (3) apart from continuing to implement the existing measures to regulate TSOs, whether the authorities will adopt new regulatory measures to better protect consumers' rights and interests; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*21. Hon TANG Ka-piu to ask: (Translation)
Some members of the Sha Tin District Council ("STDC") have relayed to me that while the population of Tai Wai has continued to grow in recent years, only mobile library services are provided for the local residents who have all along been requesting the authorities to provide a district library in that area. Regarding the provision of public library services, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) as it is stipulated in the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines drawn up by the Planning Department that there should be one district library for every 200 000 persons, and there are comments that the population of Tai Wai has reached that threshold, whether the authorities will construct a district library in Tai Wai; if they will not, of the reasons for that; if they will, of the details, including the selected site, the site area and the proposed collection size of the library; (2) given that a STDC member and I have recommended to the Government that temporary libraries be provided in the vacant school premises in Tai Wai, whether the authorities will accept such a recommendation; if they will, of the details of the follow-up work; if not, the reasons for that; (3) given that the authorities indicated at an STDC meeting that additional mobile library stops would be provided in Mei Tin Estate, of the progress of the relevant plan; whether the authorities will provide more mobile library stops in other locations in Tai Wai (such as Sun Chui Estate, Chun Shek Estate and Sun Tin Wai Estate); if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (4) whether the authorities received in the past three years any recommendation from District Councils ("DCs") other than STDC regarding the construction of district libraries; if they did, of the DCs involved, and whether the authorities accepted such recommendations?
*22. Hon CHAN Han-pan to ask: (Translation)
Some residents in Tsuen Wan have relayed to me that in contrast to the beautiful scenery at the waterfront of Tsuen Wan, the sea water near the shore there has generated bad odours for years and the problem is particularly serious during low tides. It is learnt that as the problem is related to effluent being discharged into the sea through stormwater drains, the authorities intend to construct dry weather flow interceptors ("DWFIs") to intercept effluent flow in stormwater drains and drainage channels and divert it to the sewerage system in dry weather. Moreover, the authorities are stepping up their law enforcement efforts against the illegal acts of connecting sewage pipes to stormwater drains. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of complaints received from members of the public about the odour problem at the waterfront of Tsuen Wan and the follow-up actions taken in each of the past five years; (2) of the respective numbers of cases of sewage pipes being connected to stormwater drains in Tsuen Wan in which (i) the authorities issued letters to the persons concerned advising them to rectify their breaches, and (ii) prosecutions were instituted against such persons, in each of the past five years; the methods used by the authorities to track down such illegal acts; whether the authorities adopted in the past five years methods other than the institution of prosecutions to address the odour problem at the waterfront of Tsuen Wan; if they did, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) as the authorities are making preparations for engaging project consultants to carry out investigation and design for the construction project of DWFIs in Tsuen Wan, when such preparatory work will be completed; when the construction works of DWFIs is expected to commence and complete?
* For written reply
III. Bill
| Second Reading (Debate to resume), Committee Stage and Third Reading
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| Child Abduction Legislation (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2013 | : | Secretary for Labour and Welfare
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| Secretary for Labour and Welfare to move Committee stage amendments (The amendments were issued on 6 November 2014 under LC Paper No. CB(3)121/14-15) | ||
| (Debate and voting arrangements for Committee stage amendments to the Child Abduction Legislation (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2013 (issued on 18 November 2014 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 172/14-15(01))
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IV. Members' Motions
Clerk to the Legislative Council