A 14/15-14
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 21 January 2015 at 11:00 am
I. Tabling of Papers
| Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments | L.N. No. | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Land (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Amendment) Regulation 2015 | 5/2015 |
| 2. | Minimum Wage Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule 3) Notice 2015 | 6/2015 |
| 3. | Employment Ordinance (Amendment of Ninth Schedule) Notice 2015 | 7/2015 |
| 4. | Amusement Rides (Safety) (Fees) (Amendment) Regulation 2015 | 8/2015 |
| 5. | Import and Export (Fees) (Amendment) Regulation 2015 | 9/2015 |
Other Papers
| 1. | No. 60 | - | Hospital Authority Annual Report 2013-2014 |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Food and Health)
| |||
| 2. | No. 61 | - | Samaritan Fund
Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2014 and Report on the Fund |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Food and Health)
| |||
| 3. | No. 62 | - | Legal Aid Services Council
Annual Report 2013-2014 |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Home Affairs)
| |||
| 4. | Report No. 10/14-15 of the House Committee on Consideration of Subsidiary Legislation and Other Instruments | ||
| (to be presented by Hon Andrew LEUNG, Chairman of the House Committee)
| |||
| 5. | Report of the Bills Committee on Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes (Amendment) Bill 2014 | ||
| (to be presented by Hon CHAN Kin-por, Chairman of the Bills Committee)
| |||
| 6. | Report of the Bills Committee on Pharmacy and Poisons (Amendment) Bill 2014 | ||
| (to be presented by Prof Hon Joseph LEE, Chairman of the Bills Committee) | |||
II. Questions
1. Hon Mrs Regina IP to ask: (Translation)
According to a consultancy study in 2011 on the contribution of the Internet to Hong Kong's economy, one-third of Hong Kong's Internet economy was driven by consumption, another third was contributed by net exports of e commerce and Internet-related hardware, and the remaining third comprised government and private investments in Internet-related goods and services. The contribution of the Internet to the economy will rise from 5.9% of Hong Kong's gross domestic product in 2009 (i.e. about HK$96 billion) to 7.2% in 2015, reflecting the increasing importance of the Internet to the economy. However, there are comments that the Government is not proactive in promoting the development of the Internet economy and cross-border e commerce activities. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has regularly collected data and conducted statistical analyses on Internet economic activities in Hong Kong; if it has, of the details; (2) whether it will set up a standing working group comprising representatives from the Internet industry to study ways to support and boost the Internet economy, including formulating strategies to encourage private investments in this respect; and (3) as it is learnt that the Guangdong provincial authorities has all along been committed to promoting and developing cross-border e-commerce activities, and that Guangzhou, one of the pilot cities designated by the State Council for cross-border e-commerce services, has introduced tax relief measures such as bonded warehouses, bonded logistic parks as well as import duties on luggage and postal parcels, while Hong Kong lacks the measures and a department dedicated to promoting cross-border e-commerce activities proactively, whether the Government will take steps to catch up on this front?
2. Dr Hon CHIANG Lai-wan to ask: (Translation)
Starting from the 2014-2015 school year, the Education Bureau allocates some $200 million each year to provide public sector schools and Direct Subsidy Scheme secondary schools operating classes at senior secondary levels with the Career and Life Planning Grant ("the Grant") for strengthening the manpower and services for life planning ("LP") education and career guidance. It has been reported that in a survey conducted by the Hong Kong Association of Careers Masters and Guidance Masters last year, 13% of the teachers surveyed indicated that the secondary schools in which they taught had used the Grant for non-LP purposes such as organizing study tours. As such, the Chairperson of the Association has criticized that quite a number of secondary schools have a poor grasp of the LP concept and merely use up the Grant in a simple and convenient way. Some principals have remarked that a majority of secondary schools have long developed LP education and hence have used the Grant for other purposes. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the latest progress of disbursement of the Grant; (2) whether it has established a system to monitor the use of the Grant by schools; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) whether it has set performance indicators for the Grant to ensure the proper use of public money; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
3. Hon Albert HO to ask: (Translation)
Recently, a retired government official was convicted of misconduct in the public office and sentenced to imprisonment for concealing the acceptance of advantages and loans offered by other persons while in service. His legal representative pointed out in court that since 2000, the income of that government official had fallen short of expenditure and he had been heavily in debt, with debts reaching as much as $52 million in 2010. Yet, he could still pass the relevant integrity checking and was appointed as the Chief Secretary for Administration in 2005 and a Member of the Executive Council ("ExCo") in 2007. Under the relevant systems of declaration of interests, politically appointed officials ("PAOs") and ExCo Members are not required to declare their debts and liabilities. On the other hand, the incumbent Chief Executive ("CE") was also alleged to have received, both before and after his assumption of office as CE, a remuneration of nearly $50 million in total from an Australian firm for providing services to that firm, and Article 47 of the Basic Law stipulates that CE, on assuming office, shall declare his or her assets to the Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal. In this connection, will the executive authorities inform this Council:
(1) whether, with a view to enhancing public confidence, the authorities will revise the relevant systems of declaration of interests by requiring PAOs and ExCo Members to declare their debts, contractual obligations and assets held through private companies or trusts, and conduct random checks regularly to verify the declarations; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) whether the items for checking under the system of integrity checking for PAOs include debts and liabilities; if they do, why the said official could pass the integrity checking and be appointed despite being heavily in debt; if not, of the reasons for that; whether it has assessed if the fact that such a debt-ridden person could pass the integrity checking and be appointed to the post in the top echelon of the Government reflects that the integrity checking system has collapsed; if they have assessed, of the outcome; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) whether they will consider establishing a system, in addition to Article 47 of the Basic Law, requiring CE to declare his or her assets on assuming office and make such declarations open for public monitoring; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
4. Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki to ask: (Translation)
On the 6th of this month, the Government published the Report on the Recent Community and Political Situation in Hong Kong ("the Report"). Paragraph 1.10 of the Report mentions that the Government decided to submit, outside the "Five-step Process" of constitutional development, the Report to the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, to reflect objectively and truthfully events related to constitutional development from 31 August to 15 December last year as well as the opinions and aspirations expressed by different sectors of the community. Paragraph 1.14, however, mentions that the Report is a collection of materials in the public domain, and the authorities have not undertaken any independent investigation to verify the accuracy of such materials. Some members of the public have criticized that the materials collected in the Report are incomprehensive and the summary of certain events lacks objectivity. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the criteria based on which the authorities selected materials in the public domain for inclusion in the Report, and the reasons why some important events of public concern were omitted from the Report, such as the removal of Hon James TIEN Pei-chun from the Twelfth National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference as he had called for the Chief Executive ("CE") to consider resignation; (2) whether the authorities had, in preparing the summary of important events in Chapter Two of the Report, made reference to media reports and public comments on the events, particularly about the incident of the Lung Wo Road confrontations mentioned in paragraph 2.25; if so, of the details; as the authorities have indicated that, in collecting the materials, they did not undertake any independent investigation to verify the accuracy of such materials, how the authorities ensure the authenticity of the materials, and that the Report can truthfully reflect public sentiment; and (3) whether it was on the basis of specific justifications and analysis outcome that the authorities made the concluding remarks in paragraph 4.01 of the Report (i.e. it is the common aspiration of the Central Authorities, the HKSAR Government, and the people of Hong Kong to implement universal suffrage for the CE election in 2017 in Hong Kong as scheduled and strictly in accordance with the Basic Law and the relevant Interpretation and Decisions of the NPCSC); if so, of the details; if not, whether the above concluding remarks merely reflect the stance of the Government?
5. Hon CHAN Han-pan to ask: (Translation)
In November last year, a Principal Fireman died on duty and a number of firemen were injured in an explosion incident caused by gas leakage in Shek Kip Mei Estate. Some people are worried that as the majority of the lift lobbies and corridors of the residential buildings completed in recent years have adopted an enclosed design, the gas leaked into lift lobbies and corridors can hardly dissipate, and explosion may easily occur when the gas builds up to a certain level of concentration. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has examined if the adoption of an enclosed design for the lift lobbies and corridors of residential buildings has increased the hazards of gas explosions in those places; if it has, of the details; (2) whether the existing legislation and the codes of practice issued by the Buildings Department regulate the provision of natural ventilation in lift lobbies and corridors of residential buildings; if so, of the details; and (3) given that the aforesaid explosion incident has caused casualties to firemen, whether the authorities will review if the existing procedures adopted and the equipment used by firemen in handling gas leakage are adequate; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
| Public Officers to reply | : | Secretary for Development
Secretary for Security |
6. Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that on a number of occasions last month, the Police arbitrarily cordoned off areas on the pavements in Mongkok and Causeway Bay and demanded people in the cordon areas to leave immediately. The Police displayed for a number of times yellow flags to warn those people who failed to leave immediately that they were taking part in unlawful assemblies, and demanded them to produce their identity cards for record. It has also been reported that the Police arrested over 200 road occupiers during the clearance operation in Admiralty last month and subsequently demanded the arrested persons to complete a new Voluntary Personal Background Information form to provide information irrelevant to their cases, including the schools attended, past occupations and particulars of family members. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective justifications of the Police for setting up the aforesaid cordon areas and declaring that people in the cordon areas were taking part in unlawful assemblies; the criteria based on which the Police recorded the identity card information of people on the street, and whether they have assessed if such a practice contravenes the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance; if they have assessed, of the outcome; and (2) whether the Police will use the Voluntary Personal Background Information form in future; of the reasons for obtaining from the arrested persons information irrelevant to the cases concerned; whether they did that in the past; whether the Police have assessed if such a practice has gone beyond what is needed for the investigation of the cases concerned and is tantamount to excessive collection of personal data; if they have assessed, of the outcome; for what purpose such data are to be used and when such data will be destroyed?
*7. Hon CHEUNG Kwok-che to ask: (Translation)
The Special Topics Report No. 62 on social statistics released by the Census and Statistics Department at the end of December last year indicates that the total number of persons with intellectual disabilities ("PIDs") in Hong Kong was in the region of 71 000 to 101 000. The problem concerning ageing of PIDs has been under discussion for more than a decade. The Rehabilitation Advisory Committee of the Labour and Welfare Bureau commenced a study on the trend of ageing of PIDs in March last year and completed the report concerned at the end of last year, but it has not yet published the report. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it will expeditiously publish in full the data obtained from the aforesaid study to let the public understand and grasp the situation of ageing of PIDs; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) as some members of the social welfare sector have noticed that PIDs show symptoms of deteriorating functional capacity when they are around 40 years old, whether the authorities will clearly define the degree to which PIDs' functional capacity has deteriorated for them to be treated as elderly PIDs; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) as the Government has never conducted a comprehensive study on the social support and services rendered to elderly PIDs and PIDs with deteriorating functional capacity, whether the Government will, in the form of case illustrations, study in depth the difficulties faced by and the needs of elderly PIDs and PIDs with deteriorating functional capacity, who reside in institutions and in the community respectively, as well as their carers; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (4) whether it will study the problems arising from the process of deteriorating functional capacity and the special physiological systems of PIDs (e.g. the identification and prevention of diseases, inadequate medical services for the elderly, etc.); if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (5) as some members of the social welfare sector have pointed out that at present there are quite a number of families of elderly tripletons or elderly doubletons (i.e. families in which elderly PIDs or PIDs with deteriorating functional capacity live with their fathers and/or mothers), whether the authorities have conducted any in-depth studies on the number of such families, their caring and habitation patterns, the guardianship system, as well as the living and emotional support needed, so as to assess the need of such families for social support; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (6) as some members of the social welfare sector have pointed out that while the data involving cases of PIDs are being administered or kept by the Hospital Authority, the Education Bureau and the Social Welfare Department respectively at present, the lack of coordination among the institutions concerned has resulted in scattering of case data, whether the authorities will consider designating a government department to coordinate the administration of data concerning the cases of PIDs; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (7) given that while the Government allocated an additional provision of about $10.6 million in 2014-2015 to strengthen the manpower of the 16 District Support Centres for Persons with Disabilities ("DSCs"), some members of the social welfare sector consider that this initiative is just a patchy fix as each DSC can only employ two additional social workers, coupled with the serious problem of ageing of PIDs at present, such DSCs, with their services, facilities, healthcare manpower, etc., cannot provide one-stop community support services for PIDs and persons with other disabilities as well as their carers, whether the Government will review afresh the positioning and the contents of the services provided by DSCs; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*8. Hon Claudia MO to ask: (Translation)
Recently, I have received complaints from residents of Metro Harbour View in Tai Kok Tsui as well as those in areas around Tai Kok Tsui Road and Chung Wui Street, claiming that the hygiene conditions of a number of sewers in the district are unsatisfactory, with odours emitting from the sewers from time to time. They are gravely concerned that the bacteria bred in the sewers will disperse into the air and then spread through the dense population, thereby posing threats to the residents' health. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether the Drainage Services Department has regularly taken effluent samples from the sewers in the aforesaid district for testing so as to identify the sources of the odours; if it has, of the test items included in such tests, the test results in the past three years (including the respective concentrations of various heavy metals, hydrogen sulphide, ammonia as well as various micro-organisms such as anaerobic bacteria contained in the effluent samples), and the follow-up actions taken; (2) whether the Environmental Protection Department has regularly taken samples of deposits and air from the sewers in the aforesaid district for testing so as to identify the sources of the odours and their components; if it has, of the test items included in such tests, the test results in the past three years (including the respective concentrations of various heavy metals, hydrogen sulphide, ammonia as well as various micro-organisms such as anaerobic bacteria contained in the deposit samples), and the follow-up actions taken; and (3) whether the authorities will consider stepping up the cleaning of sewers in the aforesaid district so as to tackle the odours and hygiene problems?
*9. Hon Dennis KWOK to ask:
Mandated refugees and screened-in torture claimants ("refugees and claimants") have no right to work in Hong Kong but the Director of Immigration ("Director") may exercise discretion to permit such persons to take employment. Yet, some refugee groups have recently relayed to me their concerns that the Immigration Department takes unduly long time in processing applications from such persons for taking employment and the Director rarely grants such permission. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the procedures that the Director follows, and the factors that he takes into consideration, in determining whether or not to permit refugees and claimants to take employment in Hong Kong, and the weight attributed to each of the factors; and (2) of the average time taken by the Immigration Department to process the applications for taking employment in Hong Kong received from refugees and claimants in 2014; whether the Director has plans to shorten the processing time; if so, of the specific changes to be implemented and the expected outcome; if not, the justifications for that?
*10. Hon Alice MAK to ask: (Translation)
Some grass-roots organizations have recently relayed to me that most of the tenancy agreements, made between landlords leasing out sub-divisions of flat units (commonly known as "sub-divided units"), cubicle apartments and caged homes and their tenants, have not been stamped by the Stamp Office of the Inland Revenue Department in accordance with the relevant requirements under the Stamp Duty Ordinance (Cap. 117), and stamp duty has not been paid. As such, the interests of the tenants will be undermined when the landlords breach any terms of the tenancy agreements. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of cases in which tenancy documents of leased residential properties were stamped and the relevant amount of revenue on stamp duty, in each of the past five years; (2) whether the authorities initiated in the past five years civil proceedings against landlords or tenants of leased residential properties for non-payment of stamp duty for their tenancy documents; if they did, of the annual numbers of such cases and the total amounts of tax being recovered; if not, the reasons for that; (3) whether the authorities enforced the law proactively in the past five years by conducting random checks on whether the landlords and tenants of leased residential properties had fulfilled their obligations to submit tenancy documents to the Stamp Office and pay stamp duty; if they did, of the details; if not, the reasons for that, and whether the authorities will consider conducting such random checks; and (4) whether the authorities have taken measures to publicize among landlords and tenants of leased residential properties that unstamped tenancy documents might not be accepted as evidence by the court in civil proceedings, thus rendering it difficult for the landlords or tenants to recover through judicial proceedings the losses suffered as a result of the counter party's breach of terms of the tenancy documents; if they have, of the details of such measures; if not, the reasons for that, and whether the authorities will consider taking relevant measures?
*11. Hon CHAN Kin-por to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that in recent years, accidents have happened from time to time in which people sustained injuries or even died as a result of falling from heights when cleaning windows. The causes for such accidents include that people fell from heights because they had lost balance due to overstretching of their bodies from windows, or people fell from heights together with dilapidated windows which had been dislodged as the latter could not support their body weights. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has compiled statistics on the number and resultant casualties of accidents in which people fell from heights when cleaning windows; if it has, of the statistics in the past five years; if not, whether it will collect such statistics in future; (2) given that a number of private buildings are not included in the Mandatory Window Inspection Scheme at present, of the measures that the authorities have put in place to ensure window safety of such buildings; (3) of the procedures adopted by the authorities at present for inspecting and repairing windows of public rental housing blocks; and the monitoring measures in place to ensure that the inspection procedures comply with the relevant safety requirements; and (4) of the current publicity work through which people are reminded of the need to pay attention to safety when cleaning windows; whether the publicity channels include television announcements in the public interest, or posters posted in the lift lobbies of buildings; the amount of resources deployed by the Government for conducting the relevant publicity work in each of the past five years; whether it has plans to allocate more resources this year to conduct large-scale territory-wide publicity activities with a view to enhancing the coverage of the publicity work, or to create a cartoon character similar to the "Big Waster" in the Food Wise Hong Kong Campaign in order to enhance public awareness about safety in window cleaning in a lively manner; if it does, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*12. Dr Hon Helena WONG to ask: (Translation)
Recently, there have been press reports that the animals in the Tai Tong Organic Ecopark ("the Ecopark") in Yuen Long were inhumanly treated. For instance, a cow was forced to pull a wooden cart carrying eight to 10 visitors, goats were tied up to a wire fencing to make it easier for visitors to feed them but with ropes that were too short for the goats to squat down, as well as wild boars were kept in a steel cage only one metre tall. There were also injured animals in the park which had not received proper diagnosis and treatments. I have visited the park on two occasions to understand the situation. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it received complaints about cruelty to animals in the Ecopark in the past three years; if it did, of the number of complaints received each year; (2) whether the relevant department deployed its staff, in the past three years, to the Ecopark to inspect how animals there were treated; if it did, of the number of inspections conducted each year, and whether there were instances of the person-in-charge of the Ecopark being found to have allegedly contravened the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance (Cap. 169); (3) whether it has, after the press coverage of the above situation, made recommendations to the person-in-charge of the Ecopark on improving the ways to treat animals; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (4) given that visitors have to pay a fee for admission to the Ecopark to see, approach or feed the animals there, whether it has assessed if the person-in-charge of the Ecopark is required to obtain the relevant licence or permit under the Public Health (Animals and Birds) (Exhibitions) Regulations (Cap. 139F); if the assessment result is in the affirmative, whether it has investigated if the facilities and activities in the Ecopark meet the requirements on the living environment and hygiene of animals prescribed under the Regulations; if it has not investigated, of the reasons for that?
*13. Hon WONG Kwok-hing to ask: (Translation)
In December last year, the Consumer Council published a report entitled "Searching for New Directions – A Study of Hong Kong Electricity Market" ("the report"). The report has pointed out that as the Scheme of Control Agreements ("SCAs"), signed by the Government respectively with the Hongkong Electric Company, Limited and the CLP Power Hong Kong Limited, will expire in 2018, the next two years will be critical for a review of the policy on the electricity market. On the other hand, there have been voices in society that it is necessary to review the current mode of regulation of the electricity market, step up the implementation of the clean energy policy, assist grass-roots families to cope with electricity expenses, and increase the energy efficiency of power generation, etc. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) as the report has pointed out that the current SCAs enable the two power companies to earn a high risk-free permitted profit and pass business risks on to the consumers to an undue degree, whether the Government has considered conducting a study on reducing the permitted profit concerned when it reviews the policy on the electricity market; if it has considered, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) as the report has pointed out that renewable energy ("RE") currently accounts for only 1% to 3% in the electricity mix of the electricity supply in Hong Kong, whether the Government has considered requesting the two power companies to increase the proportion of RE in the electricity mix; if it has considered, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) as the report has pointed out that the existing plant margin of the two power companies has reached 40% to 45% on average, whether the Government will, when reviewing the policy on the electricity market, request the two power companies to reduce the plant margin to 25% as suggested by the report; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (4) whether it has installed RE (e.g., solar energy) power generation facilities in the public facilities and housing in various districts (in particular the newly developed districts), so as to encourage members of the public to use clean energy and reduce the reliance on non-renewable energy; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (5) whether it will introduce special measures (e.g. provision of electricity charges subsidies to grass-roots households on a regular basis, and installation of separate electricity meters for households residing in sub-divisions of flat units, which are commonly known as sub-divided units, etc.) to alleviate the pressure of electricity expenses on grass-roots families; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*14. Hon Tony TSE to ask: (Translation)
Given the low occupancy rates of some parking spaces in the car parks under the Hong Kong Housing Authority ("HA") in recent years, HA is taking various measures to improve the utilization of the parking spaces concerned and is converting surplus car-park facilities into other uses. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective average occupancy rates of the monthly parking spaces and hourly parking spaces in HA's car parks in each of the past five years; (2) whether HA has set targets on the occupancy rates of the parking spaces in its car parks; if HA has, of the details; of the criteria or indicators based on which HA has set such targets; how the occupancy rates of parking spaces mentioned in (1) compare with such targets and of the improvement measures; (3) of the information on the 10 car parks, among all car parks under HA, which recorded the lowest overall occupancy rates of parking spaces in the past three years (set out in the table below); Public housing estate where the car park is located Year in which the car park was commissioned Total number of parking spaces Average occupancy rate of monthly parking spaces Average occupancy rate of hourly parking spaces 1 2 ...... 10 (4) whether it has assessed the causes for the low occupancy rates of the parking spaces in the car parks mentioned in (3); if it has assessed, of the outcome and whether it will take measures to boost the occupancy rates of parking spaces; if it has not assessed, the reasons for that and whether it will conduct such an assessment in future; (5) of HA's new plans to convert surplus car-park facilities into other uses, and set out, by district and by public housing estate, the number of parking spaces as well as the floor areas and the new uses involved; and (6) whether HA will conduct a comprehensive review of the cost effectiveness of its plans to change the uses of car-park facilities, including the utilization of the newly added facilities; if HA will, of the details?
*15. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)
Since 1996, Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor ("HKHRM") has all along been sending observers to observe demonstrations that are of a more sensitive nature or higher risks. The observers make records of the situation on site in accordance with international standards, which will then be used for preparing reports, comments and recommendations, and they incorporate their observations into the human rights reports submitted by HKHRM to various human rights bodies of the United Nations ("UN"). However, the Director of HKHRM ("the Director") has recently pointed out that during their operation to disperse the road occupiers in the vicinity of Lung Wo Road on 15 October last year, the Police restricted the observers' activities and even treated them rudely. He has also pointed out that according to the General Comment No. 34 on Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ("ICCPR") published by the UN Human Rights Committee in 2011, it is normally incompatible with paragraph 3 of the article for a State party to restrict freedom of movement of journalists and human rights investigators within the State party (including to conflict-affected locations). In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
(1) as the Director has indicated that the Police did give a written undertaking to assist HKHRM observers in conducting their observations during demonstration and petition activities, of the relevant details; whether such written undertaking is still valid; (2) whether the Police had, before the aforesaid dispersion operation, instructed the police officers responsible for the operation to assist the observers in their work; if the Police had, of the details; whether the authorities have received complaints about police officers obstructing the observers' work during the operation; and (3) whether they have assessed if the Police had violated the aforesaid article of ICCPR in the dispersion operation; if they have not, of the reasons for that?
*16. Dr Hon LAM Tai-fai to ask: (Translation)
In a consultation paper on the new agricultural policy published in December last year, the Government proposed that an area of about 70 to 80 hectares of private agricultural land in the New Territories be acquired with public money through land resumption pursuant to the Lands Resumption Ordinance (Cap. 124) for setting up a government-run Agri-Park. The farmland in the Agri-Park will be leased at market rates to farmers affected by government development projects for agricultural rehabilitation and to other interested farmers as well. The Government also proposed to establish a Sustainable Agricultural Development Fund ("SADF") to subsidize scientific researches on agriculture. However, some members of the industrial sector have relayed to me that while the Government proactively implements policies in support of agricultural development, it has turned a blind eye to the gradual decline of local industries. They consider that such a practice is favouritism, with the needs of industries for sustainable development being ignored. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) as the authorities have pointed out that the agricultural sector would decline further without active government intervention, and local industries are declining as well, of the reasons why the Government has not implemented measures to actively support the development of industries, e.g. purchasing factory buildings and leasing them to manufacturers; (2) of the current numbers and areas of farmland in the territory and, among them, the respective numbers and areas of fallow farmland and active farmland, with a breakdown by District Council ("DC") districts; (3) of the respective current numbers and areas of farmland in the territory owned by indigenous residents and non-indigenous residents as well as those owned in the name of a company and, among them, the respective numbers and areas of fallow farmland and active farmland, with a breakdown by DC districts; (4) of the number of people engaged in farming in the territory in each of the past 10 years, and its percentage in the labour force; (5) of the value of local agricultural output in each of the past 10 years, and its percentage share in the gross domestic product ("GDP"); (6) whether it has made a forecast, with the implementation of the recommendations made in the aforesaid consultation document, of the number of people to be attracted to engage in farming as well as the added value to be contributed to GDP and its percentage in GDP; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (7) of the rationale and criteria for setting the area of the Agri-Park at about 70 to 80 hectares; (8) how the authorities will select the site for the Agri-Park among the many suitable agricultural lots available; whether they have assessed the locations of the lands which are currently most suitable for development as the Agri-Park; if they have, of the details, together with a list of such lands by DC districts; if not, the reasons for that; (9) of the conditions, criteria and procedures for land resumption involved in setting up the Agri-Park as well as the amount of compensation per square foot; (10) whether it has assessed the amount of public money needed for resumption of 70 to 80 hectares of land; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; whether it will set a ceiling on the expenditure and reduce the area of the Agri-Park when the estimated total amount of compensation exceeds the ceiling; (11) whether it has assessed the number of years required for recovering the land resumption cost; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (12) of the estimated number of lessees in the first year of commissioning of the Agri-Park; (13) whether it has assessed if the setting up of the Agri-Park will dampen the development of similar private agricultural projects and result in competition with the private sector for profits; (14) as the authorities have indicated that farmers interested in operating in the Agri-Park will be subject to evaluation of their capability and capacity to meet the tenancy conditions in terms of production targets and technological requirements, of the details of the evaluation concerned as well as the conditions for meeting such targets and requirements; (15) whether it has assessed if Hong Kong's current level of agrotechnology is adequate to support the implementation of applying advanced technology in farming in the Agri-Park; (16) whether it will request local universities to run courses on agricultural studies so as to nurture agriculture-related talents for promoting and implementing the application of advanced technology in farming; and (17) whether it will lease the farmland in the Agri-Park to holiday farmers or amateur farmers; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*17. Prof Hon Joseph LEE to ask: (Translation)
Some nursing staff of specialties have pointed out that under the rapid development of healthcare services, the nursing manpower planning for specialties has a direct impact on the quality of healthcare services. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
(1) the current number of specialties in various public hospitals, with a breakdown by hospital cluster and name of hospital; (2) the current number of nurse consultants in various specialties of public hospitals, with a breakdown by hospital cluster and name of hospital; of the duties of nurse consultants in various specialties; (3) the respective current numbers of advanced practice nurses and nurse specialists in various specialties of public hospitals, with a breakdown by hospital cluster and name of hospital; (4) whether the Hospital Authority ("HA") has set ratios of nurse consultants to advanced practice nurses/nurse specialists for various specialties; if HA has, of the details; if not; the reasons for that; (5) whether HA has formulated a policy of "one nurse consultant for each specialty", in order to maintain and enhance the effectiveness of nursing services; if HA has, of the implementation of the policy; if not, the reasons for that; (6) among the registered nurses currently employed by HA, of the number and percentage of those who have received specialist training; whether HA has plans to increase local and overseas specialist training opportunities to dovetail the development of nursing services; if HA has such plans, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (7) whether HA has any concrete plan to improve the quality of nursing services; if HA has such plans, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*18. Hon NG Leung-sing to ask: (Translation)
On 24 December 2014, a large quantity of banknotes were strewn across the road from three cash boxes fallen from a travelling cash transport vehicle. Some of them were picked up by passers-by. A number of people subsequently handed over to the Police the banknotes which they had picked up. However, as of the middle of this month, a considerable number of banknotes have still not been recovered. Some members of the public have pointed out that the incident reflects that the law-abiding awareness among some Hong Kong people is weak. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has assessed if the equipment, arrangements and security measures currently employed by security companies at present for transporting large amounts of cash are in line with international standards; if it has, of the outcome; whether the authorities have provided security companies with any guidelines on safe transport of cash; (2) whether it has investigated if the transport arrangements and the equipment employed by the security company concerned in the aforesaid incident have violated the provisions of the relevant legislation; if it has, of the outcome; whether the authorities will examine the need for reviewing and amending the relevant ordinances so as to impose more stringent requirements and monitoring; and (3) whether the authorities will undertake promotional and educational work to enhance the law-abiding awareness and improve the qualities of citizens of Hong Kong people; if they will not, of the reasons for that?
*19. Hon TANG Ka-piu to ask: (Translation)
According to the statistics from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority ("HKMA"), the ratio of household indebtedness to the gross domestic product ("household debt ratio") in Hong Kong has risen from 50.4% at the end of 2007 before the global financial crisis to 63.6% in the second quarter of 2014. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the latest household debt ratio and the methodology employed by HKMA in collecting data and compiling statistics on household loans; (2) of the respective annual amounts of the various components of household loans in Hong Kong (namely, residential mortgages, credit card advances and other personal loans) and their percentages in the total amounts, the number of such loans, and their delinquency ratios, in each of the past three years; the specific components of other personal loans, as well as the respective amounts of such components and their percentages in the total amounts of other personal loans, the number of such loans, and their delinquency ratios; (3) given that in reply to a question raised by a Member of this Council on 29 May 2013, the authorities indicated that the data on household loans included only loans from authorized institutions ("AIs"), whether such data include loans from licensed money lenders registered with the Money Lenders Registry; whether it knows the total amount of loans from non-AIs in the past three years; whether the authorities have assessed the impact of the loans from non-AIs on the household debt ratio; (4) of the total amounts of personal loans granted in the past three years by money lending organizations subject to the monitoring of HKMA and the Hong Kong Police Force ("HKPF") respectively; (5) as some members of the public have criticized that the vetting and approval of personal loan applications is lenient at present and quite a number of money lending organizations are involved in unscrupulous money lending and debt collection practices, of the number of complaints involving such practices received by the authorities and the number of money lending organizations penalized for violation of the relevant legislation or codes of practice, in the past three years; whether HKMA and HKPF have regularly reviewed the licensing regime for money lending organizations, conducted inspections on them and conducted investigations into alleged contraventions by these organizations; and (6) given that some members of the financial sector have pointed out that the Federal Reserve Board of the United States is highly likely to increase the Fed Funds target rate within the current year and the Hong Kong dollar interest rates will rise with the US dollar interest rates, which will result in an economic downturn in Hong Kong, whether the authorities have assessed the impact of the increase in interest rates on local households' ability to repay their debts, and whether this will give rise to a large number of bankruptcy cases; if they have assessed, of the indicators or tools that are used; whether the authorities will consider introducing measures to dampen exceedingly lenient lending activities; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*20. Hon James TO to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that the Government plans to convert nine "Green Belt" ("GB") or "Government, Institution or Community" ("G/IC") sites in Tseung Kwan O to public housing sites. Some Tseung Kwan O residents have pointed out that, as the current population in the district has already exceeded 380 000, the completion of these public housing projects as well as the successive completion of a large number of private housing units in Tseung Kwan O Town Centre and near LOHAS Park Station on the MTR Tseung Kwan O Line in the next few years will overload the existing infrastructure in Tseung Kwan O. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the reasons for the authorities to adjust downward the planned population of Tseung Kwan O from 480 000 to 450 000 in 2005; the population to be brought by the proposed public housing to Tseung Kwan O, and whether that figure has been included in the planned population for Tseung Kwan O; (2) among the nine sites mentioned above, of the original planned uses of the "G/IC" sites; if the original planned uses include community facilities, whether the Government has assessed the impact of converting these sites to public housing sites on Tseung Kwan O residents, and whether it has plans to find other sites to build the community facilities concerned; (3) among the nine sites mentioned above, whether the "GB" sites are located in the vicinity of Clear Water Bay Country Park; if so, whether the Government has assessed if the public housing proposed to be built will damage the ecology of the Country Park; (4) whether it has conducted any environmental impact assessment study to examine if the public housing proposed to be built will aggravate the ventilation problem caused by wall effect in Tseung Kwan O; if it has not, of the reasons for that; (5) whether it has assessed if the existing transport infrastructure facilities in Tseung Kwan O can cope with the transport demand of the population to be brought about upon the intake of the public housing proposed to be built; if it has not, whether it has plans to build additional roads and strengthen public transport services; (6) regarding the roads in Tseung Kwan O listed in the table below, of their (i) designed hourly vehicular flow, (ii) current hourly vehicular flow, and (iii) expected hourly vehicular flow upon the intake of the aforesaid public housing; and Main roads (i) (ii) (iii) Tseung Kwan O Tunnel Po Lam Road North Clear Water Bay Road Tseung Kwan O - Lam Tin Tunnel Total (7) regarding the MTR Tseung Kwan O Line, of its (i) designed hourly capacity during peak hours, (ii) current hourly passenger throughput during peak hours, and (iii) expected hourly passenger throughput during peak hours upon the intake of the aforesaid public housing?
*21. Dr Hon Kenneth CHAN to ask: (Translation)
Under the existing policy, institutions funded by the University Grants Committee ("UGC") may set aside up to 4% within the UGC-funded places and up to 16% outside the UGC-funded places for admission of non-local students to their UGC-funded sub-degree, undergraduate and taught postgraduate programmes ("the 4%-in-16%-out policy"). It has been reported that in order to address public concerns, the Chief Executive in Council approved in December last year the recommendation to change the 4%-in-16%-out policy to a 20%-out policy starting from the 2016-2017 academic year, so that all the UGC-funded places at institutions will be utilized for admission of local students. Moreover, on full implementation of various measures of the Government to support students in proceeding to post-secondary education, and given the continuous decline in the number of secondary school leavers, the Government envisages that by the 2016-2017 academic year, there will be sufficient publicly-funded and self-financing first-year-first-degree ("FYFD") places for all secondary school leavers meeting minimum requirements for university admission. The Government has also indicated that it will conduct a review on the tuition fees of universities. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the respective numbers of non-local students admitted by various UGC-funded institutions to UGC-funded FYFD programmes in each of the years since the implementation of the 4%-in-16%-out policy; (2) whether it knows the specific timetable of UGC for implementing the 20%-out policy, including whether the policy will be implemented by phases; (3) whether the Government will consider increasing the number of UGC-funded FYFD places after the implementation of the 20%-out policy by UGC; if it will, of the details; (4) whether the Government will study ways to cope with the impact of the decline in the number of secondary school leavers on UGC-funded or self-financing sub-degree programmes (such as tertiary institutions reducing the places of UGC-funded or self-financing sub-degree programmes or even ceasing the operation of sub-degree programmes as a result of declining student population); if it will, of the details of the study; if not, the reasons for that; and (5) of the specific work plan and timetable of the Government for reviewing the tuition fees of universities; whether the Government will consult the public on the tuition fees review together with university places; if it will, of its plan and timetable; if not, the reasons for that?
*22. Hon Paul TSE to ask: (Translation)
At the end of this year the earliest, the Government will launch the Colorectal Cancer ("CRC") Screening Pilot Programme ("the Programme"), which will cost $420 million, to subsidize people of specific age groups for CRC screening. It has been reported that the authorities intend to outsource colonoscopy services to private healthcare institutions and will conduct a survey on the relevant market fees in the first quarter of this year to determine the amount of subsidy. However, the media have found that, prior to the market survey conducted by the Government, three private hospitals have already raised their fees for colonoscopy services, with one of them raising its fees by almost 30%. Some patient groups are worried that such increases would have impact on the result of the market survey, push up public expenditure and unreasonably increase the gains of private hospitals. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has approached the private hospitals to gain an understanding about the reasons to substantially raise the fees for colonoscopy services before taking up the outsourcing services; (2) whether it has assessed the impacts of the fees for colonoscopy services having been raised substantially by private hospitals on the estimated expenditure, number of beneficiaries and the overall effectiveness of the Programme; and (3) whether the authorities will introduce competition by allowing eligible private clinics or medical centres to take part in the Programme when they outsource the colonoscopy services; of the other measures to be put in place by the authorities so that the Programme may benefit more members of the public?
* For written reply
III. Bills
| Second Reading (Debate to resume), Committee Stage and Third Reading
| |||
| 1. | Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes (Amendment) Bill 2014 | : | Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
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| Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
to move Committee stage amendments (The amendments were issued on 15 January 2015 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 351/14-15) | |||
| (Debate and voting arrangements for Committee stage amendments to the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes (Amendment) Bill 2014 (issued on 20 January 2015 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 378/14-15(01)))
| |||
| 2. | Pharmacy and Poisons (Amendment) Bill 2014 | : | Secretary for Food and Health
|
| Secretary for Food and Health to move Committee stage amendments
(The amendments were issued on 14 January 2015 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 349/14-15) | |||
| (Debate and voting arrangements for Committee stage amendments to the Pharmacy and Poisons (Amendment) Bill 2014 (issued on 20 January 2015 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 378/14-15(02))) | |||