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HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL — 24 February 1993 2069 OFFICIAL RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Wednesday, 24 February 1993 The Council met at half-past Two o'clock PRESENT THE PRESIDENT THE HONOURABLE JOHN JOSEPH SWAINE, C.B.E., LL.D., Q.C., J.P. THE CHIEF SECRETARY THE HONOURABLE SIR DAVID ROBERT FORD, K.B.E., L.V.O., J.P. THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY THE HONOURABLE NATHANIEL WILLIAM HAMISH MACLEOD, C.B.E., J.P. THE ATTORNEY GENERAL THE HONOURABLE JEREMY FELL MATHEWS, C.M.G., J.P. THE HONOURABLE ALLEN LEE PENG-FEI, C.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE STEPHEN CHEONG KAM-CHUEN, C.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE MRS SELINA CHOW LIANG SHUK-YEE, O.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE HUI YIN-FAT, O.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE MARTIN LEE CHU-MING, Q.C., J.P. THE HONOURABLE DAVID LI KWOK-PO, O.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE NGAI SHIU-KIT, O.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE PANG CHUN-HOI, M.B.E. THE HONOURABLE SZETO WAH THE HONOURABLE TAM YIU-CHUNG THE HONOURABLE ANDREW WONG WANG-FAT, O.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE LAU WONG-FAT, O.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE EDWARD HO SING-TIN, O.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE MARTIN GILBERT BARROW, O.B.E., J.P. 2070 HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL — 24 February 1993 THE HONOURABLE MRS PEGGY LAM, O.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE MRS MIRIAM LAU KIN-YEE, O.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE LAU WAH-SUM, O.B.E., J.P. DR THE HONOURABLE LEONG CHE-HUNG, O.B.E. THE HONOURABLE JAMES DAVID McGREGOR, O.B.E., I.S.O., J.P. THE HONOURABLE MRS ELSIE TU, C.B.E. THE HONOURABLE PETER WONG HONG-YUEN, O.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE ALBERT CHAN WAI-YIP THE HONOURABLE VINCENT CHENG HOI-CHUEN THE HONOURABLE MOSES CHENG MO-CHI THE HONOURABLE CHEUNG MAN-KWONG THE HONOURABLE CHIM PUI-CHUNG REV THE HONOURABLE FUNG CHI-WOOD THE HONOURABLE FREDERICK FUNG KIN-KEE THE HONOURABLE TIMOTHY HA WING-HO, M.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE MICHAEL HO MUN-KA DR THE HONOURABLE HUANG CHEN-YA THE HONOURABLE SIMON IP SIK-ON, J.P. DR THE HONOURABLE LAM KUI-CHUN DR THE HONOURABLE CONRAD LAM KUI-SHING THE HONOURABLE LAU CHIN-SHEK THE HONOURABLE EMILY LAU WAI-HING THE HONOURABLE LEE WING-TAT THE HONOURABLE GILBERT LEUNG KAM-HO THE HONOURABLE ERIC LI KA-CHEUNG, J.P. HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL — 24 February 1993 2071 THE HONOURABLE FRED LI WAH-MING THE HONOURABLE MAN SAI-CHEONG THE HONOURABLE STEVEN POON KWOK-LIM THE HONOURABLE HENRY TANG YING-YEN, J.P. THE HONOURABLE TIK CHI-YUEN THE HONOURABLE JAMES TO KUN-SUN DR THE HONOURABLE SAMUEL WONG PING-WAI, M.B.E., J.P. DR THE HONOURABLE PHILIP WONG YU-HONG DR THE HONOURABLE YEUNG SUM THE HONOURABLE HOWARD YOUNG, J.P. THE HONOURABLE ZACHARY WONG WAI-YIN DR THE HONOURABLE TANG SIU-TONG, J.P. THE HONOURABLE CHRISTINE LOH KUNG-WAI THE HONOURABLE ROGER LUK KOON-HOO THE HONOURABLE ANNA WU HUNG-YUK ABSENT THE HONOURABLE RONALD JOSEPH ARCULLI, J.P. THE HONOURABLE MARVIN CHEUNG KIN-TUNG, J.P. IN ATTENDANCE THE HONOURABLE MRS ANSON CHAN, C.B.E., J.P. SECRETARY FOR ECONOMIC SERVICES MR MICHAEL LEUNG MAN-KIN, C.B.E., J.P. SECRETARY FOR TRANSPORT MR YEUNG KAI-YIN, C.B.E., J.P. SECRETARY FOR THE TREASURY 2072 HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL — 24 February 1993 THE HONOURABLE JOHN CHAN CHO-CHAK, L.V.O., O.B.E., J.P. SECRETARY FOR EDUCATION AND MANPOWER MR MICHAEL SUEN MING-YEUNG, J.P. SECRETARY FOR HOME AFFAIRS MR ALISTAIR PETER ASPREY, O.B.E., A.E., J.P. SECRETARY FOR SECURITY MR JAMES SO YIU-CHO, O.B.E., J.P. SECRETARY FOR RECREATION AND CULTURE THE HONOURABLE MICHAEL SZE CHO-CHEUNG, I.S.O., J.P. SECRETARY FOR CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS MR ANTHONY GORDON EASON, J.P. SECRETARY FOR PLANNING, ENVIRONMENT AND LANDS MRS SHELLEY LAU LEE LAI-KUEN, J.P. SECRETARY FOR HEALTH AND WELFARE THE CLERK TO THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL MR CLETUS LAU KWOK-HONG HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL — 24 February 1993 2073 Sessional Papers 1992-93 No. 58 — Li Po Chun Charitable Trust Fund Annual Report for the Period 1 September 1991 to 31 August 1992 No. 59 — Trustee's Report on the Administration of the Education Scholarships Fund for the year ended 31 August 1992 Oral answers to questions Abandoned vehicles 1. MR CHIM PUI-CHUNG asked (in Cantonese): Regarding the problem of vehicles being abandoned at various locations in Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council of the following: (a) the latest number of abandoned vehicles and how it compares with that of the same time last year; (b) the departments which are responsible for the disposal of abandoned vehicles and their respective duties; and (c) whether it has any plans to review the existing practice for the disposal of abandoned vehicles and to introduce effective measures to deal with the problem, for example, requiring registered car owners who do not seek renewal of their vehicles' licence upon expiry to prove to the Administration within a specified period that the vehicles have been properly disposed of? SECRETARY FOR TRANSPORT: Mr President, on the first part of the question: (a) 283 abandoned vehicles were removed in the last quarter of last year, compared with 86 in the same period of 1991. On the second part of the question: (b) Three departments are involved. For vehicles abandoned on government land, the Buildings and Lands Department requires owners to move them by a certain date. If this is not done, the vehicles are towed away. Vehicles abandoned on public roads are handled by the police in a similar way. 2074 HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL — 24 February 1993 In addition, the Transport Department operates two car surrender centres offering a free disposal service for old cars. The department also monitors the activities of a car-crushing yard operated by a government contractor, where abandoned vehicles are delivered for scrapping. On the last part of the question: (c) It is present policy to provide facilities for owners to dispose of old vehicles lawfully when they are no longer roadworthy. This policy works well. Most owners either take their old vehicles to one of the surrender centres or sell them to private scrapyards. Only a small proportion of unserviceable vehicles are abandoned. There are no plans to change the existing practice. The suggestion that owners be required to prove that their vehicles have been properly disposed of if they do not renew their vehicle licence has been considered before. However, non-renewal of a vehicle licence does not necessarily mean that the vehicle has been disposed of. For example, the owner could be absent from Hong Kong for a long time or the vehicle may be under repair. To establish the reasons for non-renewal of a licence in each case would require time-consuming investigation, which is not justified by the scale of the problem. MR CHIM PUI-CHUNG (in Cantonese): Mr President, we learnt from the Secretary's reply that firstly the number of abandoned vehicles in 1992 is 230% higher than that of 1991 and secondly as three departments are involved in the task, it is close to a situation where "everybody's business is nobody's business". Will the Administration make public the practical measures it will take to resolve the problem? I fail to see what has made giving an answer so difficult on such a minor issue when Hong Kong can do so well and is so successful in other areas. SECRETARY FOR TRANSPORT: Mr President, I refute the implications evident in the first part of Mr CHIM's question. The departments involved are working under strict regulations and clear instructions. There is no overlapping of work or lack of efficiency. With regard to the first part of the question, the number of abandoned vehicles has increased because of a backlog in the past years. The police mounted a special operation during last year to clear the backlog. This explains the increase in the last year. HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL — 24 February 1993 2075 MR SIMON IP: Mr President, our beautiful countryside is being raped by the indiscriminate dumping of vehicles, especially in the New Territories, and this is quite evident when one drives along the roads in the New Territories. Would the Secretary for Transport please explain what is being done to remedy the situation? SECRETARY FOR TRANSPORT: Mr President, I believe this is a matter on land use planning and I would defer to the Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands. SECRETARY FOR PLANNING, ENVIRONMENT AND LANDS: Mr President, thank you. There are two situations as regards the use of land in the New Territories for such activities as the dumping of vehicles or other storage uses of this kind. The first situation is that in the areas covered by the 31 development permission areas in respect of which plans have been published in the last year or so, the use of land for this purpose needs to be the subject of an application to the Planning Department. And when applications of this kind are made, if they are made in areas which have been designated for open storage use, they can be approved under conditions which will control the form of the use and such other matters as prevention of environmental degradation. The second category is those dumps which have existed prior to the introduction of the new town planning legislation in the last couple of years, which enables us to impose development permission areas.