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A 19/20-26(CM-22)

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 13 May 2020 at 11:00 am

I.
Laying of Papers on the Table of the Council

8 items of subsidiary legislation and 8 other papers to be laid on the Table of the Council set out in Appendix 1

II.
Written Questions

Members to ask 13 questions for written replies
Contents of the questions, Members to ask such questions and the public officers to reply set out in Appendix 2

III.
Government Bill

Consideration by committee of the whole Council and Third Reading
:
Financial Secretary
16 amendment movers
:
Hon WU Chi-wai, Hon Claudia MO, Hon LAM Cheuk-ting, Hon CHAN Chi-chuen, Hon KWONG Chun-yu, Hon Alvin YEUNG, Hon Dennis KWOK, Hon CHU Hoi-dick, Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG, Hon James TO, Hon Tanya CHAN, Hon Andrew WAN, Dr Hon Helena WONG, Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki, Hon Jeremy TAM and Hon HUI Chi-fung
(set out in the order of consideration)
(52 amendments in Appendix 3)
(Details of the above amendments are also set out in Appendix 4 to "President's ruling on amendments proposed by 16 Members to the Appropriation Bill 2020" issued on 27 April 2020)
(Debate and voting arrangements set out in LC Paper No. CB(3) 385/19-20 issued on 28 April 2020)
Other attending public officers
:
Chief Secretary for Administration
Secretary for Justice
Secretary for the Environment
Secretary for Labour and Welfare
Secretary for Security
Secretary for Transport and Housing
Secretary for Food and Health
Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
Secretary for Development
Secretary for Education
Secretary for the Civil Service
Secretary for Innovation and Technology
Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs
Secretary for Home Affairs
Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
Under Secretary for the Environment
Under Secretary for Security
Under Secretary for Development
Under Secretary for Innovation and Technology
Under Secretary for Education
Under Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
Under Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs
Under Secretary for Food and Health
Under Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
Under Secretary for Home Affairs
Under Secretary for Transport and Housing



Clerk to the Legislative Council




Appendix 1

Council meeting of 13 May 2020

Laying of Papers on the Table of the Council

Subsidiary legislation
Legal Notice No.
Other papers
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.




Appendix 2

13 questions to be asked at the Council meeting of 13 May 2020

Subject matters
Public officers to reply
Questions for written replies
1
Hon WU Chi-wai
Secretary for Transport and Housing
2
Hon Charles Peter MOK
Secretary for Innovation and Technology
3
Hon Kenneth LEUNG
Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
4
Hon Elizabeth QUAT
Secretary for Education
5
Hon Kenneth LAU
Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
6
Hon CHAN Chi-chuen
Secretary for Food and Health
7
Hon YUNG Hoi-yan
Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
8
Hon Andrew WAN
Secretary for Transport and Housing
9
Hon Jeremy TAM
Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs
10
Hon CHEUNG Kwok-kwan
Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
11
Hon Holden CHOW
Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
12
Dr Hon Pierre CHAN
Secretary for Food and Health
13
Hon CHAN Hak-kan
Secretary for Development
Notes:
(1)
Pursuant to rule 7(e) of the House Rules, no oral questions are scheduled for this meeting which will continue to deal with the Appropriation Bill 2020.
(2)
Only 13 (instead of 16) written questions are scheduled for this meeting as three vacant slots were not taken up by Members by the deadline for giving question notice.




Question 1
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Improvement to pedestrian facilities

Hon WU Chi-wai to ask:
The Government commenced in December 2017 the 30-month Review of Assessment Mechanism for Hillside Escalator Links and Elevator Systems and Preliminary Feasibility Studies as well as Consultancy Study on Enhancing Walkability in Hong Kong respectively, so as to tie in with the promotion of the "Walk in HK" initiative. In addition, the Government announced in 2019 the launch of the Special Scheme under the "Universal Accessibility" Programme for retrofitting lifts at the walkways in or connecting to the common areas of three types of public housing estates part of the ownership of which has been disposed of. Regarding improvement to pedestrian facilities, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
of the details of those proposed projects for hillside escalator links and elevator systems ("HEL") for which investigation and design work is underway, including (i) the names of the projects, (ii) the commencement dates and anticipated completion dates of the investigation and design work, (iii) whether the process of consulting the relevant District Councils ("DCs") has been completed, and (iv) the planned timing for submitting the funding applications to the Finance Committee of this Council;
(2)
of the latest progress of the first consultancy study mentioned above and how, as it is envisaged, the implementation of HEL projects can be expedited upon implementation of the recommendations made by the consultancy study;
(3)
when it will consult the relevant DCs on the projects under the Special Scheme, and of the works schedules of the various projects; whether it has plans to expand the scope of the Special Scheme to retrofit lifts at the walkways in or connecting to the common areas of various types of subsidized sale housing courts (including Home Ownership Scheme courts); if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(4)
of the anticipated completion dates of the two aforesaid consultancy studies and the related follow-up work, e.g. whether it is necessary to conduct follow-up studies and whether the recommendations of the consultancy studies can be implemented within this year; and
(5)
of the relevant expenditure incurred (e.g. the fees for engaging consultants to conduct studies) and the actual results achieved since the Government took forward the "Walk in HK" initiative in 2017?




Question 2
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Information technology support for government personnel
working from home

Hon Charles Peter MOK to ask:
From 29 January to the end of April this year, the Government made arrangements for government personnel not providing emergency and essential public services to work from home. Regarding the details of the information technology support, such as newly installed or procured computers and other mobile devices/equipment and computer software as well as enhanced capacities of communications/networks/databases, provided by the various government departments to support their staff to work efficiently from home, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
of the details of the (i) computers and other mobile devices/equipment as well as (ii) computer software which were newly installed or procured by the various government departments (set out respectively in Tables 1 and 2);
Table 1
Name of departmentType of computers/ devices/ equipmentBrand and model numberGeneral retail priceSupplier and unit purchase pricePurposeQuantityExpenditure account
        
Table 2
Name of departmentType of softwareBrand, software name and versionGeneral retail priceSupplier and unit purchase pricePurposeQuantityExpenditure account
        
(2)
of the details of the enhancement made by the various government departments to the capacities of their communications/networks/ databases (set out in Table 3);
Table 3
Name of departmentTypeEnhancement percentageSupplier/ contractorPurposeExpenditureExpenditure account
       
(3)
of (i) the number of staff members who were newly authorized by the various government departments to access government intranets and servers through virtual private networks ("VPNs") to facilitate their receipt and delivery of emails as well as their storage and retrieval of information (how such number compares with the relevant figure before implementation of the work-from-home arrangements), as well as (ii) the details of the enhancement made by the various government departments to the capacities of their VPN facilities (including the increase in the number of real time concurrent users allowed);
(4)
of the respective numbers of staff members in the various government departments to whom notebook computers that can be connected to government intranets and servers were distributed (with a breakdown by rank);
(5)
of the number of staff members who were newly authorized by the various government departments to access government intranets and servers for storing and retrieving government confidential information outside office, and how such number compares with the relevant figure before implementation of the work-from-home arrangements; and
(6)
of the additional measures adopted to mitigate the information security risks arising from the implementation of the work-from-home arrangements for government personnel?
 



Question 3
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Management of public finance

Hon Kenneth LEUNG to ask:
Article 107 of the Basic Law stipulates that "[t]he Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall follow the principle of keeping the expenditure within the limits of revenues in drawing up its budget, and strive to achieve a fiscal balance, avoid deficits and keep the budget commensurate with the growth rate of its gross domestic product". Regarding the management of public finance, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
whether it has set a requirement on the minimum level of fiscal reserves; if so, of the details and justifications; if not, the reasons for that;
(2)
whether it has set a floor on the accumulated surplus of the Exchange Fund; if so, of the details and justifications; if not, the reasons for that; and
(3)
whether it has estimated the likelihood of having structural fiscal deficits in the coming 15 years; if so, of the details, including the respective growth rates of government revenue, public expenditure as well as nominal and real Gross Domestic Products on which the estimation was based; if not, the reasons for that?
 



Question 4
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Online teaching and learning

Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask:
In view of the severity of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 epidemic, the Education Bureau has earlier deferred for several times the resumption of classes at schools and recommended that schools should provide students with learning materials through school websites, e-learning platforms, etc. during the period of class suspension, so that students can continue their studies at home, thereby achieving the objective of "suspending classes without suspending learning". In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
given that the Government launched in the last school year an assistance programme known as "Provision of Subsidy to Needy Primary and Secondary Students for Purchasing Mobile Computer Devices to Facilitate the Practice of e-Learning" under the Community Care Fund to subsidize students to purchase mobile computer devices, whether the Government will consider extending the assistance programme's scope of subsidy to cover the costs for Internet access and acquisition of ancillary equipment as well as raising the subsidy rate, so as to assist grass-roots families in meeting the relevant expenses; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(2)
as quite a number of parents of grass-roots families have relayed that they lack the knowledge and skills to guide their children on computer operation and online learning, of the measures put in place by the Government to assist such parents, and whether it will organize related seminars or workshops;
(3)
on making pre-recorded teaching videos for students to watch on their own and conducting real-time online teaching, whether the Government has studied the differences between these two approaches in terms of effectiveness in teaching and learning; whether it has examined the situation and effect of the use of video conferencing software by schools in teaching; and
(4)
whether it has reviewed the mode, operation and effectiveness of online teaching implemented by schools throughout Hong Kong during the period of class suspension; whether it will draw up guidelines on the teaching requirements and modes for online teaching for schools to follow; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?




Question 5
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Local Mask Production Subsidy Scheme

Hon Kenneth LAU to ask:
With the Coronavirus Disease 2019 epidemic raging on in Hong Kong, surgical masks ("masks") have all along been in short supply and their prices have surged. In view of this, the Government launched the Local Mask Production Subsidy Scheme ("the Scheme") to provide subsidies for manufacturers to produce masks locally. The subsidy quota of 20 production lines has now been fully allocated. Under the Scheme, the first two million masks produced by each subsidized production line each month must be sold to the Government for a period of one year. If the monthly production exceeds two million, the manufacturers concerned may sell the surplus masks locally by themselves. However, it has been reported earlier on that a manufacturer which was granted subsidy has sold its masks on the market before signing any agreement with the Government and supplying masks to the Government. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
whether it has signed an agreement with all of the manufacturers which were granted subsidies; if so, of the respective dates on which such agreements came into force; if not, the reasons for that; whether such agreements stipulate a partial or full refund of the subsidy by a subsidized manufacturer to the Government when the former has failed to supply the Government with the quantity of masks specified in the agreement;
(2)
of the following information in respect of each subsidized production line: the (i) commencement date of production, (ii) date on which the masks were/will be first supplied to the Government, (iii) date on which the masks were/will be first sold on the market (if applicable), as well as (iv) the respective monthly quantities of masks for adults and those for children produced, supplied to the Government and sold on the market (if applicable) since the commencement of production;
(3)
of the criteria or mechanism to be adopted by the Government for allocating the masks supplied to it under the Scheme, and whether it will make public the distribution of such masks;
(4)
whether it will impose a restriction on the prices at which the subsidized manufacturers sell those locally produced masks on the market, so as to ensure that members of the public can acquire masks at reasonable prices; and
(5)
whether it will put in place a regulatory mechanism for the Scheme to ensure the proper use of public funds?




Question 6
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Quarantine requirement for persons arriving
at Hong Kong from the Mainland

Hon CHAN Chi-chuen to ask:
The Coronavirus Disease 2019 ("COVID-19") epidemic is still rampant across the globe at present. On the 28th of last month, the Government announced its plan to relax the requirement of the 14-day compulsory quarantine for persons arriving at Hong Kong from the Mainland on the grounds that the epidemic on the Mainland has been brought under control. However, quite a number of members of the public suspect whether the Mainland authorities have disseminated comprehensive data on the epidemic. As such, they query that it is premature for the Government to relax the relevant requirement. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
whether it has grasped (i) the number of asymptomatic infection cases of COVID-19 in the statistics compiled and (ii) the number of tests for COVID-19 conducted, by the Mainland authorities from 1 January to 15 April this year; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that, and whether it will review the aforesaid plan to relax the quarantine requirement; and
(2)
whether it will consider sending experts to the Mainland again to gain an understanding of the situation of the epidemic there, including the numbers of confirmed cases, asymptomatic infection cases, suspected infection cases and tests for COVID-19 conducted; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
 



Question 7
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Dissemination of obscene and indecent articles through online media

Hon YUNG Hoi-yan to ask:
It has been reported that some lawbreakers in South Korea set up an instant messaging group (known as "the Nth room") for persons who paid to join the group to watch video clips that featured females being sexually abused. The group had as many as 260 000 members, and there were at least 74 victims. In April this year, the media uncovered that a similar incident had occurred in Hong Kong, in which some people created an instant messaging group (known as "the Hong Kong version of Nth room") for members to exchange video clips that featured their sexual activities with partners. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
of the existing legislation targeting the crime of disseminating obscene and indecent articles through social media or instant messaging groups;
(2)
of the number of reports received by the Police in each of the past five years involving the crime mentioned in (1); in respect of each of the groups concerned, the number of victims (with a breakdown by gender and age (each group covering 10 years of age)), the number of members, the offences involved, as well as the respective numbers of persons arrested, prosecuted and convicted; the respective maximum and minimum penalties imposed on those convicted;
(3)
whether the Police have initiated investigation after the Hong Kong version of Nth room was reported; if so, of the details, including the investigation targets, the evidence-gathering work (including whether they have demanded other government departments, organizations or Internet service providers to provide information) and the progress made, as well as the number of persons arrested to date; and
(4)
whether it has comprehensively reviewed if the existing legislation is capable of combating such crimes; if it has reviewed and the outcome is in the negative, whether it will amend the existing legislation or enact new legislation; if it has not, of the reasons for that?
 



Question 8
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Public rental housing units

Hon Andrew WAN to ask:
Under the prevailing arrangements, if the public rental housing ("PRH") units surrendered by existing tenants upon their moving out are situated in those PRH estates which have been included in any redevelopment programme of the Hong Kong Housing Authority ("HA") or the Hong Kong Housing Society ("HS"), such units will not be reallocated; if otherwise, the said organizations will reallocate the units after refurbishment to eligible households. Regarding the existing PRH units which have been/will be recovered and the newly built PRH units, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
of the respective numbers of PRH units recovered by HA and HS in each of the past five financial years which might be used for reallocation (set out in Table 1);
Table 1
 2015-20162016-20172017-20182018-20192019-2020Total
HA      
HS      
Total      
(2)
of the respective numbers of new PRH units built by HA and HS in each of the past five financial years (set out in Table 2);
Table 2
 2015-20162016-20172017-20182018-20192019-2020Total
HA      
HS      
Total      
(3)
of the respective numbers of PRH units surrendered by tenants of (a) HA and (b) HS in each of the past five financial years which might be used for reallocation (excluding those units surrendered due to transfer); whether these organizations have grasped a breakdown of such numbers by different reasons for surrendering the units; if they have grasped a breakdown of such numbers by all or some of the reasons, set out the breakdown by the following major reasons for surrendering the units in tables of the same format of Table 3; if these organizations have not grasped a breakdown of such numbers by all the reasons, whether they will keep such records in a comprehensive manner in future; if not, of the reasons for that;
(i)
death of the principal tenants,
(ii)
the principal tenants being admitted to residential care homes,
(iii)
the principal tenants having purchased subsidized sale flats,
(iv)
the tenants moving out in compliance with the requirements of HA/HS as they had breached the tenancy agreements,
(v)
the tenants' family income/total household net asset value having exceeded the limits prescribed under the "Well-off Tenants Policies", or tenants owning domestic property,
(vi)
voluntary surrender of units by tenants (for reasons including emigration to other regions/countries, moving to other places of residence, or for unknown reasons), and
(vii)
other reasons;
Table 3
Name of organization:               
Major reason2015-20162016-20172017-20182018-20192019-2020Total
(i)      
(ii)      
(iii)      
(iv)      
(v)      
(vi)      
(vii)      
Total      
(4)
as the Government indicated in the Long Term Housing Strategy Annual Progress Report 2019 that the supply target for PRH/Green Form Subsidized Home Ownership Scheme units within the 10 years from 2020-2021 was 210 000 units, whether the 210 000 units will all be newly built or will include the PRH units to be recovered within the period, as envisaged by HA and HS, which may be used for reallocation; and
(5)
in the three financial years from 2016-2017 to 2018-2019, of the respective average numbers of days lapsed from the date on which the units mentioned in (3) were received by (i) HA and (ii) HS to the date on which the units concerned were ready for reallocation upon completion of refurbishment works; whether HA and HS have concrete plans to shorten the said period, in order to maximize the use of public resources?
 



Question 9
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Termination of the employment agreements of principal officials

Hon Jeremy TAM to ask:
According to a government paper entitled "Procedures for appointment and removal of principal officials under the accountability system" in 2003, the Government may, subject to the relevant provisions in the Basic Law, terminate the employment of a principal official under the Accountability System (now called a "political appointee") at any time by giving the principal official one month's written notice or by paying that official an amount equal to one month's salary in lieu of such notice ("payment in lieu of notice"). On the other hand, the Government and the official concerned may resolve the employment agreement by mutual agreement. On 22 April this year, the State Council approved the removal of five officials from the following posts: the Secretary for Home Affairs, the Secretary for the Civil Service ("SCS"), the Secretary for Innovation and Technology, the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, and the Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs ("SCMA"), as well as approved the appointment of the person who had just been removed from the office of SCMA as SCS. Regarding the termination of the employment agreements of these officials, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
whether the four aforesaid officials who left the Government had been dismissed by the Government with immediate effect by way of giving them payments in lieu of notice, or they had resolved their employment agreements after reaching an agreement with the Government; if the former is the case, of the total amount of such payments in lieu of notice; if the latter is the case, whether the Government additionally paid them any amount of money or gave them any non-monetary benefits (if so, of the amount or the details of the non-monetary benefits received by each of them, as well as the contents of the agreements concerned); and
(2)
whether the said change of appointment from SCMA to SCS involved the termination of the original employment agreement; if so, whether the Government gave him a payment in lieu of notice (if so, of the amount) or additionally paid him any amount of money or gave him non-monetary benefits (if so, of the amount or the details of the non-monetary benefits concerned, as well as the content of the agreement)?
 



Question 10
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Regulation of money lenders

Hon CHEUNG Kwok-kwan to ask:
Section 24 of the Money Lenders Ordinance (Cap. 163) provides that any person who lends money at an effective rate of interest which exceeds 60% per annum commits an offence, and section 25 provides that a transaction where the effective rate of interest exceeds 48% per annum is presumed prima facie to be extortionate. Regarding the regulation of money lenders, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
of the historical background of and justifications for setting the ceilings for the two aforesaid per annum rates of interest on loans at the relevant levels;
(2)
whether it will study the lowering of the statutory ceiling for the per annum rate of interest on loans at 60%;
(3)
given that the ways in which the rate of interest on loans is shown on promotional materials by money lenders are multifarious at present (e.g. annualized percentage rate ("APR"), monthly flat rate, best lending rate), and the relevant range of APRs varies from 4.49% to 59.26%, making it difficult for consumers to make comparisons between the rates of interest of different loan products, whether the Government has plans to require money lenders to use APRs across the board in indicating the rate of interest on loans;
(4)
given that under the existing regulatory regime, the Money Lenders Unit, the Licensing Court and the Police respectively regulate money lenders according to the relevant provisions in Cap. 163, whether the Government has assessed if the aforesaid practice is desirable; if it has assessed and the outcome is in the negative, whether it has plans to entrust the work relating to the regulation of money lenders to a single agency; and
(5)
given that Cap. 163, which was enacted in as early as 1980, has been in operation for four decades, whether the Government has plans to make amendments to the Ordinance to step up the regulation of the business of money lenders (particularly the emerging mobile phone and online means of lending) and enhance the protection for consumers; if so, of the details; if not, whether it will consider doing so?
 



Question 11
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Cancellation of dividend payments already announced

Hon Holden CHOW to ask:
On 18 February this year, the Board of HSBC Holdings plc ("HSBC") announced that its fourth interim dividend in respect of 2019 would be paid on 14 April this year and the ex-dividend date would be 27 February. On 31 March, HSBC announced that in response to the request of the regulatory authority in the United Kingdom, it had decided to cancel the said dividend payment which had been announced. It also decided that it would not make any quarterly or interim dividend payments until the end of this year. Some minority shareholders of HSBC are of the view that HSBC's cancellation of the dividend payment already announced is unethical and has undermined investors' confidence in the stock market. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
whether it knows if there were incidents in the past, apart from the aforesaid case, in which listed companies announced dividend payments and then cancelled them; if there were, of the details, and whether such practice violated the relevant requirements; and
(2)
given that the dividends paid by HSBC have been a major source of income for quite a number of Hong Kong residents (especially for retirees), whether the authorities (i) will urge HSBC to have regard to the economic situation and the interest of minority shareholders in Hong Kong and reconsider its decision of not making dividend payments, and (ii) have assessed the impacts of the cancellation of dividend payments by HSBC on the economic situation in Hong Kong and investors' confidence in the stock market; if they have assessed, of the outcome; if not, whether they will make such an assessment?
 



Question 12
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Vaccination for children

Dr Hon Pierre CHAN to ask:
Under the Hong Kong Childhood Immunisation Programme ("HKCIP"), children from birth to Primary Six should receive vaccines and boosters for 11 infectious diseases. Parents may bring their children from birth to five years of age to the various Maternal and Child Health Centres ("MCHCs") for vaccination, while inoculators of the Department of Health ("DH") visit schools to provide service for primary students. Moreover, children aged between six months and below 12 are eligible for free and subsidized seasonal influenza vaccination ("SIV") under the Government Vaccination Programme ("GVP") and Vaccination Subsidy Scheme ("VSS") respectively. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
of the following details of HKCIP in each of the past three years: the respective numbers of doses of vaccines administered to (i) newborn babies by public hospitals, (ii) newborn babies by private hospitals, (iii) pre-school children by MCHCs of DH, and (iv) primary school children at schools by DH's outreaching School Immunisation Team, with a tabulated breakdown by the infectious disease involved;
(2)
of the respective vaccination coverage rates among (i) pre-school children and (ii) primary school children in each of the past three years;
(3)
of the date on which the infectious diseases covered by HKCIP were last updated and, set out, by year of introduction of vaccines, the names of the vaccines introduced and the target groups;
(4)
of the numbers of doses of vaccines (i) procured for HKCIP, (ii) discarded due to expiry or damage, and (iii) kept in stock, in each of the past three years by DH and the Hospital Authority respectively;
(5)
of the number of primary schools participating in the outreach SIV activities at schools organized under VSS in each of the past three years, and the number of primary school students thereby receiving vaccination; the number of children receiving free SIV under GVP in each of the past three years; and
(6)
given that some parents choose to bring their children to private clinics for vaccination, of the measures put in place by the Government to ensure that the vaccines provided by private clinics are registered pharmaceutical products procured from licensed wholesale dealers, and that the vaccines are stored in a manner in compliance with the relevant requirements?
 



Question 13
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Supplying flushing water and connecting public sewers
to the villages in the New Territories

Hon CHAN Hak-kan to ask:
On supplying flushing water and connecting public sewers to the villages in the New Territories, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
in respect of those villages in the New Territories which are currently using fresh water for toilet flushing, of the (i) number of such villages and (ii) number of residents therein, as well as the quantity of water used for toilet flushing by such villages in each of the past three years, with breakdowns by District Council district; if the relevant information is unavailable, whether it will collect such information;
(2)
whether it has plans to supply the villages mentioned in (1) with reclaimed water for toilet flushing; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(3)
given that upon the completion of the North East New Territories Sewerage System Upgrade project proposed by the Government, the trunk sewers of the system will have sufficient capacity to cover those villages in the area which are not connected to the public sewerage system, whether the Government has plans to include the works for connecting the trunk sewers to such villages in the scope of the said project; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?