Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

whether it has compiled statistics on the losses so far caused by the epidemic to the local economy; if so, of the amount of money; if not, the reasons for that;

(2)

how the Government has, since the outbreak of the epidemic, made use of technologies such as those in the areas of communications, testing and healthcare to help combat the epidemic;

(3)

whether clear policies are in place to provide guidance on how to make use of local scientific research achievements to assist in preventing and controlling diseases as well as addressing the livelihood needs amid epidemics; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

(4)

whether it will formulate a set of comprehensive policies and relevant mechanisms in respect of the work of preventing and combating epidemics, and encourage scientific research institutes to further conduct applied research on areas such as communications, testing and healthcare, so as to assist the Government in enhancing its capability to cope with epidemics; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Question 2
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Epidemic prevention in hospitals

Dr Hon CHIANG Lai-wan to ask:

Recently, some patients of public hospitals have been confirmed, after discharge from the hospital, to have been infected with the Coronavirus Disease 2019 ("COVID-19"), and it is suspected that they were infected during their stay in the hospital. Besides, there were cluster outbreaks in two public hospitals, with a number of patients and healthcare personnel being infected. On the other hand, it has been reported that as the Hospital Authority ("HA") has limited stock of surgical masks reaching the Level 3 requirement of the America Society for Testing and Materials ("ASTM") F2100 Standard, healthcare personnel are normally provided with ASTM Level 1 or Level 2 surgical masks only, which have lower protection efficacy. Regarding epidemic prevention in hospitals, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

of a breakdown of the up-to-date number of local COVID-19 confirmed patients by the place where they possibly contracted the disease (including hospital, residence, office, bar, restaurant, supermarket and beauty salon), as judged from epidemiological investigation results; if such information is unavailable, whether it will compile the relevant figures;

(2)

whether it knows if HA will conduct COVID-19 tests for all patients of public hospitals before they are discharged and allow them to be discharged only when their test results are negative, so as to cut the transmission chains as far as possible; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(3)

as HA plans to conduct regular COVID-19 tests only for certain categories of healthcare personnel, whether it knows if HA will consider conducting regular tests for all healthcare personnel of public hospitals;

(4)

whether it knows the respective quantities of surgical masks of various protection levels and specifications currently kept in stock by HA, and the numbers of days for which the stock can last; the channels through which surgical masks are procured, as well as the criteria for allocating surgical masks of different protection levels to healthcare personnel; and

(5)

as certain private hospitals have stipulated that they only accept visits by persons wearing surgical masks but not those wearing CuMasks, whether it knows the relevant requirements of public hospitals at present?

Question 3
(For written reply)

(Translation)

"HKeMobility" mobile application

Hon CHAN Han-pan to ask:

The Transport Department ("TD") launched in July 2018 the "HKeMobility" mobile application ("app") to allow members of the public to search for real-time traffic and transport information anytime to facilitate their route planning. Regarding the app, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

of the up-to-date number of downloads and daily user count of the app, and whether such figures meet the targets set when the app was launched;

(2)

given that quite a number of members of the public wish to obtain, via the app, the real-time arrival information of franchised buses and green minibuses to facilitate their route planning, of the measures put in place by the Government to spur all relevant public transport operators to provide the app with such information;

(3)

of the number of public car parks operated by the private sector the real-time parking vacancy information of which is currently available on the app; whether, in order to facilitate drivers' search for car parking spaces, the Government will consider spurring, by way of enacting legislation or other measures, the operators of such car parks to supply such information to the app;

(4)

of the (i) up-to-date development cost and (ii) annual operating expenditure of the app; and

(5)

whether TD will step up the promotion of the app and enhance the app's functions?

Question 4
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Return2hk Scheme

Hon KWOK Wai-keung to ask:

Under the "Return2hk - Travel Scheme for Hong Kong Residents returning from Guangdong Province or Macao without being subject to quarantine under the Compulsory Quarantine of Certain Persons Arriving at Hong Kong Regulation (Cap. 599C)" ("Return2hk Scheme"), Hong Kong residents, upon fulfilment of specified conditions, will be exempted from the 14-day compulsory quarantine when returning to Hong Kong from Guangdong Province or Macao. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

of the total and daily average numbers of Hong Kong residents returning to Hong Kong under the Return2hk Scheme since its implementation on 23 November last year;

(2)

given that from February to November last year, about 2 000 person-times of Hong Kong residents in Fujian Province benefited from the "special scheme to deliver prescription medications to Hong Kong residents who are currently in Guangdong and Fujian Provinces with urgent need for medications", whether the Government will extend the scope of application of the Return2hk Scheme to those Hong Kong residents who are in Fujian Province; and

(3)

as the epidemic is under control in most provinces and municipalities on the Mainland, whether the Government will extend the scope of application of the Return2hk Scheme to those Hong Kong residents who are in such places?

Question 5
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Quality of coastal waters of the Victoria Harbour

Dr Hon Priscilla LEUNG to ask:

Some members of the public have complained to me that coastal waters (particularly in the vicinity of the Hung Hom Promenade) of the Victoria Harbour ("the Harbour") give off unbearable stenches from time to time, causing nuisance to members of the public. It is learnt that one of the sources of the stenches is the discharge of sewage into the Harbour from certain private buildings in the Kowloon West District as their foul water pipes have been wrongly connected to the storm drain systems ("misconnections of foul water pipes"). On the other hand, the Environmental Protection Department commenced a consultancy study in 2016 to further enhance the quality of coastal waters of the Harbour. In May 2019, the Government indicated that the consultant would submit a report of the entire study within that year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

of the annual Water Quality Objectives compliance rate of the Harbour water control zone in each of the past two years;

(2)

of the number of cases of misconnections of foul water pipes which the Government followed up in each of the past three years and, among such cases, the number of those which have now been rectified, with a breakdown by District Council district;

(3)

among the cases mentioned in (2), of the respective numbers of those in which (i) rectifications were made after the owners had been given warnings/advice, (ii) rectifications were made after the owners had received statutory repair/removal orders or had been prosecuted, (iii) rectifications were still not yet made after the Government had taken law enforcement actions, and (iv) rectification works were carried out by government contractors; whether it has reviewed the effectiveness of the relevant law enforcement actions; if so, of the outcome; and

(4)

when it will publish the report of the aforesaid consultancy study; what measures the Government will take to follow up the recommendations put forward in that report for improving the quality of coastal waters of the Harbour and addressing the problem of near-shore stenches, as well as the implementation timetable and estimated expenditure for such measures?

Question 6
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Anti-epidemic measures

Hon Alice MAK to ask:

Some members of the public have criticized that since the outbreak of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 ("COVID-19") epidemic, the anti-epidemic measures promulgated by the Government from time to time were of a great variety, with some of them even taking effect within a short period of time. As such, the general public failed to keep abreast of such measures and act accordingly. On the contrary, the Government of the United Kingdom ("UK") has put in place a four-tiered alert system for the COVID-19 epidemic and stipulated the anti-epidemic measures that the public and society must take under each tier of alert. For instance, when Tier 4 alert comes into force, the public are not allowed to go out unless necessary, all non-essential retail outlets must close, etc. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

whether it will, by following the practice of the UK Government, put in place a tiered alert system for the COVID-19 epidemic and stipulate the anti-epidemic measures that members of the public must take when different tiers of alert come into force; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(2)

of the current maximum total number of COVID-19 tests that can be conducted daily by public and private laboratories; whether it has assessed if Hong Kong currently has enough testing capacity to implement universal compulsory testing; if it has assessed and the outcome is in the negative, whether it has plans to increase the testing capacity and the number of specimen collection points; and

(3)

given that the Government issues compulsory testing notices from time to time to require persons who were present on specified premises during specified periods to undergo COVID-19 tests, whether the Government will draw up clear guidelines and criteria for the relevant arrangements and improve the dissemination of information, so as to facilitate members of the public to understand in a more convenient and quicker manner (i) whether they are persons subject to compulsory testing, and (ii) the ways for undergoing testing; if so, of the details?

Question 7
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Property conveyancing procedures and related irregularities

Hon Paul TSE to ask:

The Law Society of Hong Kong ("Law Society") has recently uncovered after an investigation that a former clerk (commonly known as "legal executive") of a law firm ("the firm") dishonestly misappropriated the money of the firm's clients, and the firm allegedly breached the provisions of the Solicitors' Accounts Rules (Cap. 159F), including overdrawing on clients' accounts and allowing unqualified persons to be signatories of clients' accounts. The Law Society has appointed another law firm as the Intervention Agent ("the Agent") to handle the follow-up work. It has been reported that as the firm was mainly engaged in the business of sale and purchase ("S&P") as well as mortgages of second-hand property units, quite a number of property buyers deposited money with the firm. As it takes time for the Agent to handle the follow-up work, such buyers may not be able to engage in time alternative solicitors to take over matters related to their S&P transactions, and get back the transaction money deposited with the firm, resulting in their failure to complete property transactions by the deadlines specified in the S&P agreements, and hence their suffering of huge losses. Besides, as the case may involve criminal offences committed by the partners of the firm, those clients who have suffered losses may not be able to receive compensation through the Solicitors' Professional Indemnity Fund. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

whether it knows the respective numbers of property buyers and sellers affected by the aforesaid case, and the total amount of money involved in the property transactions concerned;

(2)

of the measures in place to help expedite the work of the Agent, so that the affected clients may get back the transaction money deposited with the firm as early as possible so that they may complete the transactions in time and avoid huge losses;

(3)

whether it has studied the causes of the case, and if there are inadequacies in the relevant regulatory regime and execution work;

(4)

of the measures in place to assist those victims who have been unable to complete property transactions due to the aforesaid case in recovering their monetary losses expeditiously; and

(5)

as some members of the public have pointed out that the transaction of a second-hand property currently involves the procedures of checking all previous deeds of the property by the solicitors of the buyer and seller to verify the title (and also the preparation of a certified copy of the assignment in case the assignment has been lost), and such procedures are time-consuming and cumbersome, incurring additional transaction costs and indirectly creating opportunities for unscrupulous personnel of law firms to commit offences for gains, whether the Government will expedite the review of such procedures, and implement as soon as possible the Land Titles Ordinance (Cap. 585) which was enacted as early as in 2004, so as to streamline the property conveyancing procedures, and reduce the solicitors' fees payable and the risks to be borne by members of the public in buying and selling properties?

Question 8
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Heritage conservation work

Hon Tony TSE to ask:

Earlier on, the Government decided, on grounds of safety, to demolish a disused underground cistern at Bishop Hill in Sham Shui Po. When the demolition works were in progress last month, some residents discovered that the cistern had distinctive architectural features, including an array of Romanesque stone pillars and red-brick arches inside the cistern. Subsequently, the Water Supplies Department ("WSD") halted the demolition works, and confirmed that the cistern had been completed as early as in 1904. Later on, the Government admitted that WSD had consulted the Antiquities and Monuments Office ("AMO") in 2017 on the proposed demolition works, but the latter had decided, on the understanding that the cistern was an ordinary water tank, that no grading exercise was required, thus leaving this heritage structure on the brink of complete destruction. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

whether WSD, in consulting AMO on the cistern in 2017, furnished AMO with information such as relevant building plans, photos, the year of construction and historical records;

(2)

as a number of waterworks installations have been declared monuments, and the Red Brick Building (a pumping station in Yau Ma Tei which, same as the cistern, previously formed part of the water supply system of Kowloon) has also been accorded Grade 1 historic building status, why AMO, without making in-depth verification and conducting a site inspection, came to the understanding in 2017 that the cistern was an ordinary water tank;

(3)

given that four stone pillars and part of the upper structure of the cistern have been demolished, whether the authorities have gathered and retained all the demolished materials for use in the restoration works as necessary;

(4)

as the Secretary for Development has earlier on stated that experts will be arranged within three months to assess the historic value of the cistern so that the Antiquities Advisory Board may give a grading to the cistern in March this year, whether the relevant work can be expedited;

(5)

whether it will conduct public consultation on the long-term conservation options for the cistern, and invite related professional bodies to give views on matters such as revitalization of the cistern and utilization of the space;

(6)

whether it will consider opening up the cistern, upon completion of the necessary strengthening and maintenance works and before the implementation of the conservation option, with restrictions for visit by members of the public and tourists who have made appointments;

(7)

as WSD has, in response to media enquiries, advised that the two fresh water service reservoirs located at Magazine Gap Road in the Mid-level and Hatton Road at the Peak, both with a history of over a century, were demolished in 2010 and 2011 one after another, of the construction history and architectural features of these two service reservoirs, together with the details of as well as the vetting and approval procedures for the relevant demolition works;

(8)

whether it will ask various bureaux and government departments to draw up a list of all the pre-war buildings under their management and, for those buildings among them which are under planning for demolition and may have higher historic and architectural values, submit the relevant information expeditiously to AMO for detailed reviews; and

(9)

whether it has learnt a lesson from this incident and whether it will take improvement measures, including expanding the definition of "buildings" that need to be graded and reviewing the communication process between AMO and other government departments?

Question 9
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Integrated Waste Management Facilities Phase 1

Hon CHAN Hak-kan to ask:

Regarding the Integrated Waste Management Facilities Phase 1 currently under construction, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

of the latest progress of the aforesaid works, including the percentage of completion;

(2)

of the latest expenditure situation of the works, and the details of various expenditure items; whether any expenditure items have incurred cost overruns at present; if not, whether it expects such situation will occur;

(3)

whether it has assessed if the target that the aforesaid facilities will be fully commissioned by 2025 as scheduled can be met; and

(4)

whether it has formulated contingency plans to handle the situation where the works have to be suspended due to some construction workers having been confirmed to be infected with the Coronavirus Disease 2019; if so, of the details, including the measures in place to prevent works delays and cost overruns; if not, the reasons for that?

Question 10
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Human papillomavirus vaccination programme

Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask:

The Government announced in 2018 the expansion of the Hong Kong Childhood Immunization Programme ("HKCIP") to incorporate the human papillomavirus ("HPV") vaccination programme for the prevention of cervical cancer. Starting from the 2019-2020 school year, Primary Five and Primary Six female students may respectively receive the first dose and the second dose of HPV vaccine free of charge. It is learnt that as schools across the territory suspended classes on a number of occasions last year due to the epidemic, the implementation of the HPV vaccination programme has been affected, and not until October last year did the Department of Health complete the administration of the first dose of HPV vaccine to all female students. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

of the number of schools across the territory participating in the HPV vaccination programme, and the up-to-date number of Primary Five female students who have received such vaccination;

(2)

as it is learnt that the immunization coverage rate of primary school students under HKCIP has been as high as 97%, how such coverage rate compares to the relevant figure of HPV vaccination programme;

(3)

as it is learnt that some schools have requested students to return to school to receive HPV vaccination during the period of class suspension, whether it has assessed the impact of this arrangement on the HPV vaccination coverage rate;

(4)

as the Hong Kong Cancer Strategy 2019 announced by the Government has stated an interim target immunization coverage rate of 70% for completion of the administration of two doses of HPV vaccine to the first cohort of eligible female students, whether the present uptake rate has reached the target; and

(5)

as the US Food and Drug Administration has recently approved the use of nine-valent HPV vaccine for the prevention of oropharynx cancer as well as other head and neck cancers caused by HPV, whether the Government will expand the HPV vaccination programme to cover male students and other female students of suitable ages under 18, so as to reduce the incidence of the relevant cancers as soon as possible; if so, of the relevant plan; if not, the reasons for that?

Question 11
(For written reply)

(Translation)

The New Territories cycle track network

Hon Kenneth LAU to ask:

The Government is developing a cycle track network in the New Territories with a total length of about 82 kilometres, comprising the Tuen Mun to Ma On Shan backbone section ("Tuen Ma Cycle Track") which was linked up last year, and the Tuen Mun to Tsuen Wan backbone section ("Tuen Tsuen Cycle Track") which is under construction. Some members of the public have complained that cyclists have to dismount at a number of sections along the Tuen Ma Cycle Track and some of the sections are even at the junctions with roads, leading to the dangerous situation of bicycles and vehicles competing for road space. Besides, as there are too many bollards installed at the junctions of the Tuen Ma Cycle Track and the various pedestrian crossings and the bollard spacing is too small, accidents are prone to occur. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

of the number of complaints about the ancillary facilities of the New Territories cycle track network received by the Government in each of the past three years, with a breakdown by type of facilities; what follow-up actions that the Government has taken (including whether it has carried out improvement works);

(2)

of the number of traffic accidents which occurred in the New Territories cycle track network and the resultant casualties in each of the past three years, with a breakdown by type of accidents; what follow-up actions that the Government has taken (including whether it has carried out improvement works); and

(3)

whether the cycle track section of the Tuen Tsuen Cycle Track from Tsing Tsuen Bridge to Bayview Garden in Tsuen Wan can be completed within this year on schedule, and of the latest implementation timetable of the cycle track section from Bayview Garden to Tuen Mun?

Question 12
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Regulation and development of Chinese medicine

Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask:

Regarding the regulation and development of Chinese medicine ("CM"), will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

as a study has pointed out that there are minimal differences in the requirements to be met and the documents to be submitted for the respective registration of new proprietary Chinese medicines ("pCms") in Hong Kong and on the Mainland, but due to the different registration systems for pCms in the two places, it takes about five years or more for Hong Kong-registered pCms to go through the Mainland's registration procedure afresh before they may be sold on the Mainland, and that the Government indicated last year that it would explore with the Mainland authorities matters on facilitating the use of Hong Kong-registered pCms on the Mainland, what progress has been made in the exploration;

(2)

whether, in the long term, it will consider afresh exploring with the Mainland authorities the setting up of a mutual recognition system for pCm registration between the two places; if so, of the details and timetable; if not, whether it will consider taking the first step of jointly setting a common standard for registration of new pCms in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area ("Greater Bay Area");

(3)

as the Mainland authorities announced in September last year that designated healthcare institutions operating in the nine Mainland cities of the Greater Bay Area would be allowed to use Hong Kong-registered drugs with urgent need clinically, subject to approval by the Guangdong provincial authorities, whether the Government will discuss with the Mainland authorities (i) the inclusion of Hong Kong-registered pCms in the relevant directory of drugs, and (ii) the designation as designated healthcare institutions of all high-quality hospitals in the Greater Bay Area, as well as those clinics of Hong Kong's Chinese medicine practitioners ("CMPs") practicing in the Greater Bay Area and clinics run by funds from Hong Kong; if so, of the details and timetable; if not, the reasons for that;

(4)

whether it will discuss with the authorities of Guangdong and Macao the collaboration in (i) establishing a clinical trial network for CM in the Greater Bay Area, (ii) drawing up a set of internationally recognized standards for clinical trials on CM, and (iii) establishing an international CM clinical research centre in the Greater Bay Area, so as to promote the research and development of CM in the Greater Bay Area; if so, of the details and timetable; if not, the reasons for that;

(5)

given that single CM granules supplied to CMPs for dispensing a prescription to replace any regular herbal medicines are exempted from registration, but in recent years some single CM granules have been tested and found by overseas authorities to contain toxic substances, and there have been cases in Hong Kong in which such medicines were found to have an aerobic count exceeding the prescribed limit and a wholesaler suspected of having made false claims on the production standard, whether the Government will consider amending the legislation to stipulate that (i) all single CM granules must be registered, or (ii) only those single CM granules produced by those manufacturers which conform to the specified production standards may be exempted from registration; and

(6)

whether the Government will discuss with the competent authorities of CM in the Greater Bay Area and other Mainland cities (i) the collaboration in developing a mechanism for CM teleconsultation and treatment, as well as making complementary arrangements in aspects such as electronic medical records and modes for diagnoses and treatments, and (ii) the joint development of diagnostic and treatment plans or expert consensus in integrated Chinese and Western medicines that have greater efficacy, as well as the clinical collaboration modes (including the modes of inspection of patients, consultation and case conferences to be jointly undertaken by Chinese and Western medicine practitioners)?

Question 13
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Treatment of food waste

Hon CHAN Chun-ying to ask:

The quantity of food waste discarded by Hong Kong people each day exceeds 3 600 tonnes, accounting for some 30% of the total municipal solid waste volume. The Government has implemented the Pilot Scheme on Food Waste Collection ("the Pilot Scheme") since July 2018, with a view to devising the arrangements for the collection of food waste from the establishments in the commercial and industrial ("C&I") and the public sectors, as well as the delivery of such food waste to the Organic Resources Recovery Centre ("ORRC") at Siu Ho Wan, so as to tie in with the commissioning of the first phase of ORRC in the same month. Although ORRC has a food waste treatment capacity of 200 tonnes each day, the quantity of food waste collected each day on average through the Pilot Scheme in 2019 only amounted to about 100 tonnes, representing just half of the design treatment capacity of ORRC. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

whether it has conducted a review on the effectiveness of the Pilot Scheme in the collection of food waste; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(2)

whether the Environmental Protection Department ("EPD") has assessed if the proportion of C&I establishments participating in the Pilot Scheme is on the low side; if EPD has assessed and the outcome is in the affirmative, whether EPD will introduce measures to raise the participation rate; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

(3)

given that the second phase of the Pilot Scheme was rolled out at the end of last year, under which domestic food waste will also be progressively collected in addition to the collection of food waste from establishments in the C&I and the public sectors , and EPD will invite the participation of more stakeholders, including all private and public housing estates with experience in source separation of food waste, whether EPD has provided incentives to encourage the participation of more private and public housing estates; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Question 14
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Supply of public housing

Hon Wilson OR to ask:

The Hong Kong Housing Authority ("HA") publishes the updated public housing construction programme ("PHCP") on an annual basis, setting out the volumes of public housing production for the relevant financial year and the ensuing four years. Regarding the supply of public housing, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

since a comparison of the PHCP published in 2020 with the one published in the preceding year shows that the estimated years of completion of the 11 public housing projects listed in Table 1 have been deferred for one year, (i) of the problems resulting in the need to defer the estimated years of completion of such projects, (ii) whether the problems have been solved, and (iii) (if they have not been solved) of the estimated time when the problems can be solved (set out in Table 1);

Table 1

Project	(i)	(ii)	(iii)
Northwest Kowloon Reclamation Site 6 Phase 1
Pak Tin Phase 7
Pak Tin Phase 8
Diamond Hill Phase 1
Northwest Kowloon Reclamation Site 1 (East)
Pak Tin Phase 10
Diamond Hill Phase 2
Fat Tseung Street West
Tseung Kwan O Area 65C2 Phase 1
Queen's Hill Phase 3
Hang Fu Street, Tuen Mun Area 16

(2)

given that the public housing projects estimated to be completed in the financial year of 2023-2024, as set out in the PHCP published in 2019, included the two projects listed in Table 2, of (i) the reasons for such projects no longer being included in the PHCP published in 2020, and (ii) the years of completion of such projects according to the latest estimate (set out in Table 2);

Table 2

Project	(i)	(ii)
San Kwai Street
Tai Wo Hau Road Phase 2

(3)

as the Secretary for Transport and Housing ("STH") indicated in a blog article he published on 10 October 2020 that HA had planned to put up about 4 700 units for sale under the Green Form Subsidised Home Ownership Scheme in the coming months, of the public housing projects from which those units are drawn and the expected dates on which those units will be open for applications;

(4)

given that STH indicated in the aforesaid blog article that an average number of about 26 000 public rental housing ("PRH") units (including about 14 000 new units and about 12 000 recovered units) had been allocated to PRH applicants in each of the past five years, but he indicated in his reply to a question raised by a Member of this Council on 13 May 2020 that the number of PRH units recovered by HA in each of the past five financial years which could be used for re-allocation ranged from 7 744 to 9 972, of the reasons for the inconsistency in such figures; and

(5)

of the specific measures in place to (i) shorten the procedure that need to be gone through for sites that are "not spade-ready" to become "spade-ready" and (ii) minimize the uncertainty of the outcome of such procedure, so as to ensure that public housing projects can be completed as scheduled?

Question 15
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Hiring of taxis and other vehicles by the Government

Hon Frankie YICK to ask:

Under the Use of Hourly-hired Taxis for Duty Journeys Scheme ("the Scheme"), government officers of various government departments may hire taxis on an hourly basis as a means of transport when they undertake duty journeys, provided that there are operational needs and it is cost effective to do so. Furthermore, the Government hires other types of commercial vehicles to meet operational needs. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

of the total number of hirings of taxis under the Scheme and the total expenditure so incurred by various government departments in each of the past five years, as well as the average expenditure and duration per hiring;

(2)

how the expenditure incurred in the provision of transport services under the Scheme in the past five years compares with the expenditure that would have been incurred had such services been provided by means of maintaining a government fleet;

(3)

whether the Government has reviewed and improved the Scheme since its introduction in 2003; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; given that the Scheme is more cost-effective than maintaining a government fleet, whether the Government will encourage government officers to make more use of the Scheme; and

(4)

of the total number of hirings of other commercial vehicles and the total expenditure so incurred, by the Government for government officers' duty journeys in each of the past five years, together with a breakdown by type of vehicles?

Question 16
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Conservation of waterworks installations of historic value

Hon Vincent CHENG to ask:

Earlier on, some members of the public protested against the demolition of a disused underground cistern at Bishop Hill in Sham Shui Po by the Water Supplies Department ("WSD"), causing wide public concern about this century-old cistern which is structurally intact and featured with Romanesque style architecture, and WSD has now halted the demolition works. Regarding conservation of waterworks installations of historic value, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

given that four stone pillars and part of the upper structure of the cistern have been demolished, whether the authorities have examined the years of existence and origins of such demolished materials; if so, of the details, and whether the same or similar materials can be found for restoration purposes;

(2)

whether the preliminary strengthening and tidying up works for the cistern have been completed; if not, when such works will be completed; whether not until the completion of such works will the authorities allow experts to enter the cistern to conduct inspection for assessing its historic value;

(3)

given that the Antiquities Advisory Board ("AAB") will give a grading to the cistern in March this year, of the timetable for studying the conservation options and conducting the restoration works;

(4)

how the authorities will conduct consultation on the conservation options for the cistern, including the parties to be consulted and the consultation timetable; what channels through which members of the public may express their views;

(5)

if the authorities will conduct a study on whether or not other structures at Bishop Hill which are of historic value have to be conserved; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(6)

as it has been reported that the authorities are conducting a study on the historic building and heritage value of four service reservoirs which were completed before World War II, whether the study has been completed; if so, of the outcome; whether any parts of the structures concerned have been demolished, thereby making it difficult for them to be restored; if so, of the details;

(7)

as the Commissioner for Heritage has indicated that a review has been conducted on the incident in which the staff of the Antiquities and Monuments Office mistook in 2017 this century-old cistern as an ordinary water tank and hence did not take follow up action, of the review outcome, including whether the mistake was attributable to insufficient manpower of conservation experts; if so, of the remedial measures; what measures are in place to regain public confidence in the conservation work of the Government; and

(8)

whether the authorities will, by making reference to overseas practices (e.g. the Sydney authorities' conversion of a disused reservoir into Paddington Reservoir Gardens), restore the cistern into a park and undertake to expedite the restoration works, so as to make this public space available for use by members of the public as early as possible; if so, of the additional public facilities to be provided by the authorities in this public space?

Question 17
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Services provided to young people and the working youth

Hon LUK Chung-hung to ask:

Regarding the services provided to young people and the working youth, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

of the number of non-governmental organizations which provided social services with young people and the working youth as targets in each of the past three years, and set out by name of organization (i) the type of organization to which they belonged, (ii) the amount of subsidy by public funding received each year (if applicable), (iii) the number of relevant employees, and (iv) the number of service recipients (with a breakdown by age group);

(2)

whether the Home Affairs Bureau, the Labour and Welfare Bureau and the Education Bureau commissioned in the past three years any organizations to implement new service projects with young people and the working youth as targets; if so, set out by name of project (i) the number of organizations, (ii) the name of organizations, (iii) the amount of subsidy by public funding received each year, and (iv) the number of service recipients each year (with a breakdown by age group); and

(3)

given that the disturbances arising from the opposition to the proposed legislative amendments and the epidemic have dealt a heavy blow to society and the economy, seriously affecting the development and upward mobility of young people and the working youth, whether the aforesaid bureaux have plans to launch targeted service projects to help them face up to adversity and equip themselves so as to better meet the challenges ahead?

Question 18
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Retrofitting contactless payment systems to public car parks

Hon Jimmy NG to ask:

Currently, most public car parks adopt contact payment systems, causing inconvenience to motorists. When entering the car parks, motorists have to stop their vehicles and validate an Octopus card by tapping it on an Octopus processor, or get a parking ticket by pressing a button on a ticket issuing machine. When leaving the car parks, they have to stop their vehicles to tap the same Octopus card, or insert into a ticket slot a parking ticket with parking fee settled earlier at a shroff counter, or insert an unpaid parking ticket into a ticket slot and then make payment with an Octopus card. If the motorists have stopped their vehicles at a distance too far from the ticket issuing machines, the ticket slots or the Octopus processors, they have to get out of their vehicles. If the entrance/exit of a car park is located on an incline, their vehicles may roll back when starting up, which may easily cause traffic accidents. Regarding the retrofitting of contactless payment systems to public car parks, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

whether it will include the retrofitting of contactless payment systems to public car parks operated by the public and private sectors as one of the Smart Mobility measures being implemented by the Government;

(2)

given that the Government has earmarked $1 billion in the Budget of this financial year to set up the Smart Traffic Fund to promote research and application of vehicle-related innovation and technology, whether the Government will allocate funding from the Fund to subsidize operators of private-sector public car parks to retrofit contactless payment systems to their car parks; and

(3)

given that the Transport Department is preparing to retrofit to government tolled tunnels and Tsing Sha Control Area a free-flow tolling system, which uses radio frequency identification readers to detect the toll tags affixed on the windscreens of vehicles for automatic toll collection, whether the Government will incorporate public car parks into the said tolling system to bring convenience to motorists; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Question 19
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Anti-epidemic efforts targeted at foreign domestic helpers

Hon WONG Kwok-kin to ask:

The Government is currently implementing anti-epidemic stipulations such as prohibiting group gatherings ("no-gathering order") and requiring the wearing of a face mask ("mask order") in public places. However, during weekends and holidays, there are still quite a number of foreign domestic helpers ("FDHs") gathering in public places, which increases the risk of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 ("COVID 19") spreading. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

of the cumulative number of cases, as at the 19th of this month, in which FDHs were confirmed to have contracted COVID-19;

(2)

of the respective up-to-date numbers of FDHs issued with fixed penalty notices ("FPNs") by the law enforcement agencies for violating the (i) no-gathering order and (ii) mask order, and set out in the table below by law enforcement agencies (a) the number of FPNs and (b) the type of locations where law enforcement took place (e.g. park and restaurant);

Law enforcement agency	(a)		(b)
Law enforcement agency	(i)	(ii)	(i)	(ii)
Hong Kong Police Force
Food and Environmental Hygiene Department
Department of Health
Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department
Leisure and Cultural Services Department
Home Affairs Department
Housing Department
Total:			Park: …	Park: …

(3)

whether it will consider prohibiting any person from setting up tents in public places during the epidemic, so as to discourage FDHs from gathering and sharing meals in public places during weekends and holidays, thereby reducing the risks of the epidemic spreading; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(4)

as the Government provides a one-off free COVID-19 test to all FDHs in Hong Kong from the 18th of last month to the 31st of this month, of the number of eligible FDHs, the number of FDHs who have undergone the tests so far, and whether it has assessed the effectiveness of the initiative; whether it will provide free COVID 19 tests for FDHs on a regular basis and designate FDHs as a targeted group subject to regular compulsory testing; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

(5)

of the new measures put in place by the Labour Department to provide FDHs and their employers with comprehensive anti-epidemic information and support, so as to prevent the occurrence of cluster outbreaks among FDHs?

Question 20
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Smart Government

Hon Jeffrey LAM to ask:

In 2017, the Government released the Smart City Blueprint for Hong Kong, which listed "Smart Government" as one of the major areas and proposed a number of measures to make use of innovative technology to enhance public services. However, in recent years, whenever the Government introduced new schemes (such as the Caring and Sharing Scheme in 2018 which disbursed $4,000 to eligible persons and last year's Employment Support Scheme), it still took quite a long time to establish related computer systems beforehand, and applicants were often required to fill in information repeatedly. In addition, it is learnt that the transmission of information on anti-epidemic work does not go smoothly among various government departments and public organizations. Some information is still transmitted through non-digital means (such as fax), rendering information processing labour-intensive, time-consuming and error-prone. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

of the government department(s) and their staffing establishments responsible for coordinating the efforts of various policy bureaux and government departments in implementing electronic services, and the relevant service indicators;

(2)

of the process and average time taken for implementing electronic services in respect of existing public services;

(3)

given that last month the Government launched "iAM Smart", a one-stop personalized digital services platform to enable members of the public to use various online services after logging in, with a single digital identity, the iAM Smart mobile application on their personal mobile phones, of the respective numbers of public services which can be provided through iAM Smart (i) at present and (ii) in future; whether it will set a target for the percentage of public services to be provided online; and

(4)

whether it has specific plans for extensive application of artificial intelligence in the coming three years to enhance the efficiency in the provision of public services; if so, of the details?

Question 21
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Relief proposals

Hon Paul TSE to ask:

To cope with the wave of small and medium enterprises closing down and the surge in the number of unemployed persons, I have put forward for a number of times a total of nine relief proposals which have widely incorporated the views of the public, details of which are as follows: allowing members of the public to make early withdrawal of part of the accrued benefits from their Mandatory Provident Fund ("MPF") accounts ("accrued benefits"), allowing members of the public to use their accrued benefits for first-time home purchase, allowing members of the public to use their accrued benefits as collateral for taking out loans from banks, making contributions to MPF schemes by the Government on behalf of all employers and employees in Hong Kong for half a year, providing a universal full waiver or substantial reduction of salaries tax, paying government rent by the Government on behalf of all property owners for one year, providing a full one-year waiver of rates for self-occupied properties, granting flat owners who are unemployed exemption from paying the Special Stamp Duty when selling their properties, and handing out cash to members of the public again by making reference to the policy of the Macao Government. Nevertheless, the Government has rejected all of them. Some members of the public have criticized the Government for disregarding the plight of millions of members of the public from the middle and sandwich classes as well as the grassroots amid the epidemic, and they feel very indignant and disappointed. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

given that when taxpayers anticipate a decrease of more than 10% in their income for this financial year as compared with that of the previous financial year, they may apply to the Inland Revenue Department for the holding over of the payment of the whole or part of the provisional tax under the Inland Revenue Ordinance (Cap. 112), whether the Government will, by making reference to this practice, allow employers and employees of enterprises who have suffered substantial reduction of income to apply for the holding over of the payment of the whole or part of their MPF contributions for three or six months;

(2)

whether it will consider allowing employers and employees to suspend making MPF contributions for six months, so as to respond to the demand of members of the public;

(3)

whether it will reassess the feasibility of the aforesaid nine proposals put forward by me;

(4)

as the Government has time and again turned down my proposals relating to MPF on grounds that such proposals will undermine the integrity of the MPF system, whether the Government has assessed if preserving the integrity of the MPF system (to which, as far as I know, the majority of Members of this Council object) immutably, and thus paying a lot of social costs for this, is tantamount to attending to trifles and neglecting essentials; and

(5)

as the Financial Secretary has earlier on called upon members of the public to express their views on the coming Budget, but the aforesaid nine proposals are, as far as I know, supported by most of the Members of this Council and quite a number of members of the public, and therefore are "people's aspirations", whether the Government will consider afresh such proposals; if not, whether it has assessed if the Government, by objecting to all my proposals without providing any compromise proposal, will give members of the public a perception that it is conducting "fake consultation", "determined to go its own way" and insisting on being "detached from reality", and will lose people's support?

Question 22
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Creation of time-limited jobs

Hon Holden CHOW to ask:

With the economy of Hong Kong having been hard hit by social movements and the Coronavirus Disease 2019 epidemic, a wave of layoffs has emerged in recent months. With a view to mitigating the unemployment situation, the Government has earmarked $6 billion to create a total of around 30 000 time-limited jobs in both the public and private sectors within two years. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

of the number of time-limited jobs that have been created so far, with a breakdown by industry; the number of applicants for such jobs, and the number of appointees who have reported duty;

(2)

whether it will consider organizing short-term training courses related to such jobs (e.g. courses related to landscaping and anti-epidemic work) through various channels, so as to assist the unemployed grassroots in applying for these jobs; and

(3)

whether the various government departments and (according to its understanding) the various public and private organizations will create more time-limited jobs in addition to such jobs?

Legislative Council

Agenda Wednesday 20 January at 11:00 am, Thursday 21 January and Friday 22 January 2021 at 9:00 am on both days

I.Laying of Papers on the Table of the Council

II.Written Questions

III.Member's Motion

Council meeting on 20, 21 and 22 January 2021 Laying of Papers on the Table of the Council

22 questions to be asked at the Council meeting on 20, 21 and 22 January 2021

Agenda

Wednesday 20 January at 11:00 am,
Thursday 21 January and Friday 22 January 2021 at 9:00 am on both days

I.
Laying of Papers on the Table of the Council

II.
Written Questions

III.
Member's Motion

Council meeting on 20, 21 and 22 January 2021

Laying of Papers on the Table of the Council