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The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:
The Legislative Council will hold a meeting on Wednesday (May 17) at 11am in the Chamber of the Legislative Council Building. During the meeting, Members will debate a motion on supporting the conclusions and recommendations of the Public Accounts Committee on the development of a site at Sai Wan Ho.
The motion, to be proposed by Dr Hon Philip Wong, says: "That, as recently the community is widely concerned that the conclusions made by the Government-appointed Independent Committee of Inquiry on the Sai Wan Ho Development on Inland Lot No. 8955 in its report published on May 9 this year are not in total accord with those made by the Public Accounts Committee ('PAC') in its report laid on the table of the Legislative Council on February 15 this year regarding the development of a site at Sai Wan Ho, this Council reaffirms its support for the conclusions and recommendations of PAC and urges the Government to fully implement the recommendations of PAC."
Members will also debate a motion on financial assistance to patients of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome and their families. The motion, to be moved by Dr Hon Fernando Cheung, states: "That, in view of the ex-gratia nature and the anticipated shortfall of the Trust Fund for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ('the Trust Fund'), this Council urges the Government to implement the following measures to assist the patients of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ('SARS') and/or their families:
(a) relaxing the Trust Fund's $500,000 ceiling on special ex-gratia financial assistance for each eligible recovered or 'suspected' SARS patient;
(b) extending the scope of the Trust Fund to cover also families of the deceased 'suspected' SARS patients;
(c) granting special ex-gratia relief payments to families with deceased elderly SARS patients irrespective of whether the affected families had been relying on the deceased for financial support; and
(d) injecting additional funds into the Trust Fund."
Moreover, Members will debate another motion on review on Urban Renewal Strategy. The motion, to be moved by Hon Alan Leong Kah-kit, states: "That, as the vision and direction of urban renewal set out in the Urban Renewal Strategy ('the Strategy') often deviate greatly from the ideal when they are put in practice, which not only seriously jeopardises the interests of the affected residents and shop operators who are deeply dissatisfied and frustrated due to their being deprived of their rights to choose and their misery, and even impedes the efficacy of the Hong Kong community as a whole in dealing with the problem of urban ageing; and as the Urban Renewal Authority ('URA') gives people the impression of focusing solely on commercial interests when launching redevelopment projects and also fails to observe the principles set out in the Strategy, such as the 'people-centred' approach, this Council urges the Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands to face up to the deficiencies and shortcomings of the existing Strategy, to immediately discharge his statutory duty to review the Strategy which has been in force for five years, after conducting public consultation, and to create conditions for URA to play the role of a more forward-looking pioneer to more effectively address the problem of urban ageing; the issues to which special attention should be paid in conducting the review should include:
(a) devising a comprehensive urban regeneration strategy, and adopting a more flexible and creative mindset that could better meet the needs of the local community, in order to replace the existing strategy which is led under a demolition and redevelopment mode;
(b) implementing a community planning regime whereby relevant professionals are encouraged to participate in the early stage of consultation to help consolidate the views of different sectors on urban regeneration, so as to enable the relevant parties to participate effectively and truly implement universal planning through a bottom-up approach; and striving to retain the cultural and economic activities which have local characteristics, with a view to preserving the original planning layout, social network and living style in the local communities;
(c) not adopting a separatist attitude when devising updated blueprints and formulating reform strategies for local communities, but rather promoting coordination among the communities and making concerted efforts together with neighbouring communities in pursuing overall developments, so as to achieve the best synergy;
(d) elevating to the cross-bureaux level the planning and decision-making in urban regeneration; removing unnecessary bureaucratic restrictions so that different departments can all take part in planning new communities, thereby more effectively addressing the economic, social and cultural problems caused by changes in the local communities; and strengthening social impact assessments to fully reflect the implications of the projects on different groups in the local communities;
(e) reviewing the legislation such as that which relates to buildings and town planning, etc, in order to better tie in with the different needs of the urban regeneration projects; and providing adequate choices for the affected residents; and
(f) adopting more flexible financing and loan options to more effectively assist residents and shop operators in improving the community environment; and preventing URA from operating on a purely commercial model or even reducing itself to becoming a statutory real estate developer."
Hon Cheung Hok-ming, Hon Frederick Fung, Hon Chan Yuen-han and Hon James To will move amendments to Hon Alan Leong Kah-kit's motion separately.
On government motions, the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food will move a resolution under the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance to seek the Council's approval to the Pharmacy and Poisons (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulation 2006 and the Poisons List (Amendment)(No. 2) Regulation 2006, which were made by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board on April 26, 2006.
On bills, the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel Bill will be introduced into the Council for First and Second Readings. Debate on the Bill will be adjourned. Meanwhile, Members will resume Second Reading debate on the Dentists Registration (Amendment) Bill 2005. 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).
People 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.
Ends/Monday, May 15, 2006
Issued at HKT 17:21
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