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The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:
The Legislative Council will hold a meeting this Wednesday (March 12) at 11 am in the Chamber of the Legislative Council Building. During the meeting, Members will debate a motion on improving the public hospital services in Kowloon East.
The motion, to be moved by Hon Alan LEONG Kah-kit, states: "That, as the current funding provision for the Kowloon East Hospital Cluster is far more insufficient than other clusters and lags far behind the needs of the population and the communities of Kwun Tong and Tseung Kwan O, resulting in the Kowloon East Hospital Cluster failing to provide comprehensive health care services, which is not only contrary to the vision of “meeting community demands and expectations” but also exerts tremendous pressure on the frontline health care personnel and impedes their provision of most suitable services for the residents within the districts, this Council strongly urges the Administration to:
(a) taking the opportunity of the present huge surplus and not affecting the services of other hospital clusters, allocate more resources, according to the population and community structure of the Kowloon East Hospital Cluster, to expeditiously improve the public hospital services in Kwun Tong and Tseung Kwan O, and solve the problem of residents in the two districts having to seek medical treatments in other clusters, and in particular, the implementation of the United Christian Hospital’s reconstruction plan must be expedited; and
(b) focusing on the long-term demand of health care services in various districts, study and review the mechanism of hospital cluster planning as well as the logic of operation of hospital services."
Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki, Hon Fred LI, Hon Albert HO, Hon Ronny TONG Ka-wah, Hon James TO, Dr Hon Joseph LEE Kok-long, Hon LAU Kong-wah and Hon Frederick FUNG will move separate amendments to Hon Alan LEONG Kah-kit’s motion.
Members will also debate a motion on enhancing sex education. The motion, to be proposed by Hon SIN Chung-kai, says: "That, as the recent circulation of pornographic photos purporting to be artistes on the Internet has aroused public concern and wide media coverage, some members of the education sector and parents worry that the incident may adversely affect the values and personal conduct of children and youngsters; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to:
(a) pay proper attention to the impact of Internet information on children and youngsters, and allocate additional resources to facilitate parents and educational and youth groups to promote moral education, respect for privacy and sex education; and
(b) review the contents of sex education programmes in schools so as to enable children and youngsters to acquire correct knowledge and concepts about sex at a suitable time."
Hon Audrey EU will move a resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance to extend the period for amending the Antiquities and Monuments (Withdrawal of Declaration of Proposed Monument) (No. 128 Pok Fu Lam Road) Notice, which was laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 20 February 2008, to the meeting of 9 April 2008.
Hon Miriam LAU will move another resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance to extend the period for amending the Rating (Exemption) Order 2008 and Trade Descriptions (Definition of Diamond) Regulation, which were laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 5 March 2008, to the meeting of 23 April 2008.
On government motions, the Secretary for Education will move a resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance to amend the Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications (Appeal) Rules, which was laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 20 February 2008.
The Secretary for Food and Health will move another resolution under the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance to approve the Pharmacy and Poisons (Amendment) Regulation 2008 and the Poisons List (Amendment) Regulation 2008, which were made by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board on 15 February 2008.
The Secretary for Transport and Housing will also move a resolution under the Magistrates Ordinance to amend the Third Schedule to the Magistrates Ordinance.
On Members’ bill, Second Reading Debate on The English Schools Foundation (Amendment) Bill 2007 will be resumed. If the Bill is supported by Members and receives its Second Reading, it will then go through the Committee Stage and be read the third time.
During the meeting, Members will also ask the Administration 20 questions on various policy areas, six of which require oral replies.
The agenda of the above meeting can be obtained via the Legislative Council InfoFax Service (Tel: 2869 9568) or the Legislative Council web site (http://www.legco.gov.hk).
Members of the public are welcome to observe the proceedings of the meeting from the public galleries of the Legislative Council Chamber. They may reserve seats by calling 2869 9399 during office hours. Seats will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis. Members of the public can also listen to the meeting via the audio webcast system on the Legislative Council homepage.
Ends/Monday, March 10, 2008
Issued at HKT 18:34
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