(Draft) Minutes of the 122nd Meeting of the Kwai Tsing District Council
Date: 10 March 2020 Time: 10:00 a.m. – 5:09 p.m. Venue: K&T DO Conference Room
Attendee Time of Arrival Time of Departure
Mr SIN Chung-kai, SBS, JP (Chairman) Start of Meeting End of Meeting Mr CHEUNG Man-lung (Vice-chairman) Start of Meeting End of Meeting Mr CHAN Chi-wing Start of Meeting 4:51 p.m. Mr CHEUNG Kwan-kiu, Steve Start of Meeting End of Meeting Mr CHOI Nga-man Start of Meeting End of Meeting Mr CHOW Wai-hung, Rayman 10:10 a.m. End of Meeting Mr HON Chun-yin Start of Meeting End of Meeting Mr HUI Kei-cheung Start of Meeting End of Meeting Miss KWOK Fu-yung Start of Meeting End of Meeting Mr KWOK Tsz-kin Start of Meeting End of Meeting Mr LAM Siu-fai Start of Meeting End of Meeting Mr LAU Chi-kit Start of Meeting End of Meeting Ms LAU Kwai-mui Start of Meeting End of Meeting Mr LEUNG Chi-shing 3:45 p.m. End of Meeting Miss LEUNG Ching-shan Start of Meeting End of Meeting Mr LEUNG Kam-wai Start of Meeting End of Meeting Ms LEUNG Kar-ming Start of Meeting End of Meeting Mr LEUNG Kwok-wah Start of Meeting End of Meeting Mr LEUNG Wing-kuen Start of Meeting End of Meeting The Hon. LEUNG Yiu-chung 10:04 a.m. 3:03 p.m. Miss LO Yuen-ting Start of Meeting End of Meeting Mr NG Kim-sing Start of Meeting End of Meeting Mr SIN Ho-fai Start of Meeting End of Meeting Mr TAM Ka-chun, Warren Start of Meeting End of Meeting Mr TONG Ho-man Start of Meeting End of Meeting Mr TSUI Hiu-kit Start of Meeting End of Meeting The Hon. WAN Siu-kin, Andrew 10:07 a.m. 1:08 p.m. Mr WONG Bing-kuen 10:23 a.m. End of Meeting
1 Mr WONG Chun-tat Start of Meeting End of Meeting Miss WONG Pit-man Start of Meeting End of Meeting Mr WONG Tin-yan Start of Meeting End of Meeting Mr WONG Yun-tat, Ivan Start of Meeting End of Meeting
In Attendance
Mr CHENG Kin, Kenneth, JP District Officer, Kwai Tsing District Office Dr WONG Lap-gate, Michael Chief Manager of Kowloon West Cluster, Hospital Authority cum Deputy Hospital Chief Executive (Operations), Princess Margaret Hospital Dr LUK Wan Chief of Service of Department of Family Medicine and Primary Health Care, Kowloon West Cluster, Hospital Authority Mr TSE Chun-chung, John District Commander (Kwai Tsing), Hong Kong Police Force Ms TSE May-may Police Community Relations Officer (Kwai Tsing), Hong Kong Police Force Mr IU Wing-kan, Kan Deputy District Commander (Kwai Tsing) (Acting), Hong Kong Police Force Ms WONG Yuen-ching Officer-in-charge, District Intelligence Section, Kwai Tsing District, Hong Kong Police Force Mrs LAI CHAN Wai-fan, Clara Senior Housing Manager (Kwai Chung), Housing Department Mr CHU Wai-lun, Thomas Chief Engineer/West 2 (Acting), Civil Engineering and Development Department Ms MA Sau-ching, Annisa District Social Welfare Officer (Tsuen Wan and Kwai Tsing), Social Welfare Department Ms LUI Hiu-fai, Monica Chief Transport Officer/New Territories South West, Transport Department Ms MAR Suk-fong District Environmental Hygiene Superintendent (Kwai Tsing), Food and Environmental Hygiene Department Ms LIM Ting-ting, Sylvia Chief Leisure Manager (New Territories West), Leisure and Cultural Services Department Mr FUNG Hon-wa, Harris District Leisure Manager (Kwai Tsing), Leisure and Cultural Services Department
2 Miss LO Pui-yiu, Sapphire District Lands Officer (District Lands Office, Tsuen Wan and Kwai Tsing), Lands Department Mr YIM Wai-hung Administrative Assistant/Lands (District Lands Office, Tsuen Wan and Kwai Tsing), Lands Department Miss YIM Yik-huen, Bonnie Assistant District Officer, Kwai Tsing District Office Miss HO Yin-king, Susanne Senior Liaison Officer (1), Kwai Tsing District Office Ms HUNG Mei, Eunice Senior Liaison Officer (2) (Acting), Kwai Tsing District Office Mr CHAU Ka-nin, Eric Senior Liaison Officer (3), Kwai Tsing District Office Mr WONG Man-kit, Timothy Senior Executive Officer (District Council), (Secretary) Kwai Tsing District Office Miss NG Kai-yue, Eliza Executive Officer I (District Council), Kwai (Assistant Secretary) Tsing District Office
3 Responsible Department Opening Remarks
The Chairman welcomed all to the 122nd meeting of the Kwai Tsing District Council (K&T DC).
2. Mr TAM Ka-chun, Warren enquired why the seating arrangement for Members was different from that for the previous meeting.
3. The Chairman said that the Secretariat would make changes to Members’ seating arrangement for every meeting with the view to providing members of different political sectors with more or less the same chance for facing the camera.
Confirmation of the Following Minutes of Meetings of K&T DC: i) the 121st Meeting Held on 7 January 2020 ii) the 19th Special Meeting Held on 16 January 2020
4. Mr TAM Ka-chun, Warren moved a motion to confirm the minutes. The motion was seconded by Mr HON Chun-yin. K&T DC endorsed the said minutes unanimously.
Introduction of Paper
The Hospital Authority’s General Anti-epidemic Measures and Related Service Arrangements (Proposed by the Hospital Authority) (K&T DC Paper No. 21/I/2020 and No. 21a/I/2020)
5. Dr WONG Lap-gate, Michael, Chief Manager of Kowloon West Cluster, Hospital Authority (HA) cum Deputy Hospital Chief Executive (Operations), Princess Margaret Hospital, and Dr LUK Wan, Chief of Service of Department of Family Medicine and Primary Health Care, Kowloon West Cluster, HA, introduced the paper with a slide show.
6. Mr HON Chun-yin put forth opinions as follows:
(i) The transmissibility of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) was high but the locations of the designated clinics in Kwai Tsing district (i.e. the South Kwai Chung Jockey Club General Out-patient Clinic (“South Kwai
4 Responsible Department Chung GOPC”) and the Mrs Wu York Yu General Out-patient Clinic) were very close to residential buildings. Even though those designated clinics were equipped with better ventilation facilities, it was hard to dispel the doubts of the public.
(ii) Since the stock of N95 respirators was relatively low, he suggested that HA should proactively source more protective equipment from local manufacturers for healthcare staff.
7. Dr LUK Wan responded that despite the high transmissibility of COVID-19, the mode of transmission was through patients’ secretions, which could travel about 1 metre, instead of the air. Therefore, the public should pay attention to personal hygiene, such as by wearing masks and washing hands frequently. There were relevant standards for the anti-epidemic specifications and triage measures of the designated clinics, which he believed would be effective in preventing the virus from spreading in the community.
8. Dr WONG Lap-gate, Michael responded that as follows:
(i) HA had sourced protective equipment globally and made the purchase it at market prices rather than through tendering.
(ii) One local manufacturer had expressed the intention to produce N95 respirators but the production had yet to commence.
(iii) The global epidemic situation was serious and many countries restricted the export of masks. N95 respirators were in shortage and healthcare staff must use them prudently so that the stock could last for a longer time.
9. Miss LO Yuen-ting pointed out that some members of the public called clinics to reschedule their follow-up appointments but their calls remained unanswered for a long period of time. The clinics only replied to them after they sought help from Members and made applications for changing the dates in writing. Some members of the public resorted to visiting the clinics to reschedule their appointments and this increased the flow of people in clinics, which ran counter to HA’s anti-epidemic measures. In this connection, she put forth enquiries as follows:
(i) Why the calls in the clinics remained answered over a long period of
5 Responsible Department time.
(ii) Whether clinics would take the initiative to contact persons who did not attend follow-up appointments as scheduled.
(iii) How information on the opening hours of public hospitals and clinics was disseminated.
10. Dr WONG Lap-gate, Michael responded that specialist out-patient services of public hospitals operated as normal but there were fewer quotas for follow-up consultations per day. HA would take the initiative to contact patients in stable conditions and they could choose to collect their medications without seeing the doctor, so the telephone lines were relatively busy. To improve service quality, he would assign more staff to answer phone calls.
11. Dr LUK Wan responded that general out-patient clinic (GOPC) services also operated as normal. Since many members of the public called the clinics, the lines became busy. He apologised for the inconvenience caused and promised to assign more staff to answer phone calls. Apart from making phone calls, the public could also use the one-stop mobile application “HA Go” to manage matters relating to follow-up consultations.
12. Mr CHOW Wai-hung, Rayman regretted that HA decided to make South Kwai Chung GOPC a designated clinic without prior local consultation because it caused panic among residents nearby and the impact was particularly significant on chronic patients and the elderly. He would like to know under what circumstances designated clinics would operate and whether all the designated clinics would commence operation at the same time or in phases.
13. Dr LUK Wan responded that during the melamine incident in 2008 and the outbreak of human swine influenza (HSI) in 2009, South Kwai Chung GOPC operated as a designated clinic and assisted in triaging the large number of patients who sought consultation at hospitals. He understood the concerns of the public but stressed that HA had established procedures. When there was widespread community transmission of an infectious disease and hospital services had reached the threshold, HA would activate the designated clinics for triage purposes to alleviate the pressure on hospitals and Accident and Emergency Departments (AEDs) and reduce the risk of cross-infection among patients at hospitals. In view of the current situation of the
6 Responsible Department epidemic, it was not necessary to activate the above designated clinic for the time being.
14. Miss WONG Pit-man put forth enquiries as follows:
(i) It appeared that the inventories of protective gears were insufficient for frontline healthcare staff. In this connection, she would like to know how HA would source more anti-epidemic supplies and the current situation of replenishing the gears.
(ii) The Government’s sudden announcement of a list of buildings where persons under compulsory quarantine pursuant to the Compulsory Quarantine of Certain Persons Arriving at Hong Kong Regulation (Cap. 599C) were conducting quarantine (the list of buildings) had caused huge panic among the public. In this respect, she would like to know HA’s mechanism for disclosing information.
15. Dr WONG Lap-gate, Michael responded as follows:
(i) HA had procured protective equipment from over 30 countries worldwide (including Kosovo and Turkey) and accepted donations from the public. However, HA had certain requirements for the specifications of protective equipment and as a result, the procurement was more difficult than the purchase of equipment by the public. Nevertheless, after continued efforts by procurement staff, there had been sustained replenishment of surgical masks, protective gowns and face shields. Only the stock of N95 respirators was running low, which could support 1 month’s use.
(ii) The list of buildings was published by the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) under the Department of Health (DH). HA and CHP held a joint press conference every day, where the public could obtain the latest information.
16. Mr TAM Ka-chun, Warren put forth enquiries as follows:
(i) The current stock level and the average consumption over the past 30 days of protective equipment of the Kowloon West Cluster (KWC).
7 Responsible Department (ii) HA revised the guidelines on the use of personal protective equipment (the guidelines on protective equipment) 5 times between 6 February and 4 March. In this regard, he would like to know the quantity of protective equipment allocated to frontline healthcare staff per day and why the standards of protective equipment were revised.
(iii) The Basic Law and labour legislation protected employees’ right to strike. In this respect, whether KWC had any plan to deduct salary of or dismiss the healthcare staff who went on strike.
(iv) How HA would make up for the deferred non-emergency services for the public.
17. Dr WONG Lap-gate, Michael responded as follows:
(i) The inventory of protective equipment shown in the slide show was HA’s figures and there was no breakdown of inventories of various clusters or hospitals under HA. Based on the proportion of service volume, KWC accounted for about 16% of the inventory of protective equipment.
(ii) KWC used about 2 000 N95 respirators per day and the consumption of other protective equipment, such as protective gowns and face shields, was roughly the same. The consumption of surgical masks was higher.
(iii) HA only revised the guidelines on protective equipment twice on the instructions of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the United States and it was unrelated to the stock level of protective equipment. As some staff members uploaded the revised version that had not been finalised onto the internet and revisions were later made, the public misunderstood that the guidelines on protective equipment had been revised several times.
(iv) HA had established human resources procedures for handling strikes but no final decision had been made to date.
18. Miss LEUNG Ching-shan pointed out that South Kwai Chung GOPC provided services of a maternal and child health centre (MCHC) (vaccinations for newborn babies) and a thoracic out-patient clinic and hoped that HA would reconsider the
8 Responsible Department location of the designated clinic.
19. Dr LUK Wan responded as follows:
(i) Standards were higher for the software and hardware facilities of designated clinics. South Kwai Chung GOPC had better infection control measures and facilities and staff training and was therefore selected as designated clinic during the outbreaks of HSI and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome in 2009 and 2015 respectively.
(ii) If the designated clinic was to be activated, it would be ensured that there would be no cross-infection between visitors of MCHC and the thoracic out-patient clinic.
(iii) The current situation of the epidemic was still within control and it was not necessary to activate the above designated clinic for the time being.
20. Mr TONG Ho-man pointed out that Kwai Luen Estate was very close to South Kwai Chung GOPC (a walking distance of about 1 minute only). He enquired whether HA had formulated any additional measure to safeguard the residents’ health.
21. Dr LUK Wan reiterated that COVID-19 was transmitted through patients’ secretions rather than the air airborne, so it would be safe to keep a distance of 1 to 2 metres from patients. Besides, anyone who entered the area of a designated clinic must wear a mask and clinics would also provide alcohol-based handrub and install air filters to minimise the risk of the virus spreading to the community.
22. Mr NG Kim-sing pointed out that COVID-19 patients might have no symptoms at the early stage. The number of residents near South Kwai Chung GOPC had increased substantially and it was indeed not satisfactory to set up a designated clinic so close to residential buildings. He believed that the campus of the former Kwai Chung Public School would make a better site selection. Also, he enquired about the triage arrangements of the designated clinic and how the patients would get to the clinic.
23. Dr LUK Wan responded as follows:
(i) According to what was known so far, only a small number of COVID-19 patients had no symptoms at the early stage and they would still develop
9 Responsible Department symptoms such as fever and influenza at later stages.
(ii) HA adopted the containment strategy (“early notification”, “early isolation” and “early diagnosis”) to manage the epidemic and had enhanced the Laboratory Surveillance Programme in AEDs and GOPCs for early identification of COVID-19 patients to minimise the risk of community transmission.
(iii) Standards were higher for the software and hardware facilities of designated clinics. Ventilation facilities, settings for segregating patients, triage arrangements for patients, patients’ flow of consultation, infection control measures and facilities were all subject to stringent standards. A longer review would be needed for the selection of a new site, so the decision of making South Kwai Chung GOPC a designated clinic remained unchanged for the time being.
24. Ms LEUNG Kar-ming put forth opinions as follows:
(i) She expressed gratitude and support to the healthcare staff who had been standing fast at their posts. Their selflessness and bravery deserved respect.
(ii) Some members of the public told her that specialist and GOPCs disseminated messages in a chaotic manner and their enquiry calls were often unanswered for a long period of time. She suggested that HA should announce more information, such as opening hours of clinics, through website and K&T DC.
(iii) Some elders could not attend follow-up appointments at clinics because of a lack of masks. She suggested that HA should mail the appointment slips together with masks to them.
25. Dr WONG Lap-gate, Michael said that he would consider Member’s advice but given that HA’s current stock of masks was running low, he would reconsider it when the stock went up.
26. Mr WONG Yun-tat, Ivan put forth opinions and enquiry as follows:
10 Responsible Department (i) The healthcare staff who went on strike did not back away but adopted an alternative approach to urge the Government to close the border. They had made substantial contributions and struggled with their conscience too.
(ii) The public was very concerned that the designated clinics were close to residential buildings. He hoped that HA would draw on the experience of the HSI outbreak in 2009 by explaining the operation of the designated clinics in greater detail.
(iii) Since it was not known when the epidemic would end, the Government should manufacture masks on its own or look for more local manufacturers.
(iv) He would like to know what measures HA had to assist the visually impaired and the deaf-mute in attending follow-up medical appointments.
27. Dr LUK Wan responded as follows:
(i) Since a lot of patients with fever sought consultation during the outbreak of HSI in 2009, HA decided to activate the designated clinics in the 18 districts, and one of which was South Kwai Chung GOPC. Members of the public with influenza symptoms should seek consultation at designated clinics, where there were better crowd management and medicine prescription measures.
(ii) If designated clinics were to be activated due to COVID-19 outbreaks in the future, HA would release details of the relevant arrangements as soon as possible, including categories of patients in treatment, triage arrangements, and follow-up and treatment of suspected cases.
28. Dr WONG Lap-gate, Michael said that there were several local manufacturers who produced masks. HA might use the masks they manufactured provided that they could gain accreditation. HA needed to further study whether it would manufacture masks on its own.
29. Mr WONG Chun-tat put forth enquiries as follows:
11 Responsible Department (i) What the testing method for COVID-19 was at present.
(ii) Who could take the test.
(iii) Whether HA would introduce more rapid testing methods to enhance the accuracy.
30. Dr LUK Wan responded as follows:
(i) Ribonucleic acid reagents, whose accuracy was higher than the other testing methods, were adopted at present. From 19 February to 6 March, 7 700 tests were conducted, 5 of which were confirmed cases.
(ii) Since 19 February, patients at AEDs and GOPCs aged 18 or above, presented with fever and respiratory symptoms or mild chest infection could take the test. Since 28 February, the eligibility for testing was extended to cover patients below 18 years old and those patients with fever or respiratory symptoms subject to clinical assessment of physician in charge.
31. The Hon. LEUNG Yiu-chung pointed out that the suspension of visiting arrangement in all public hospitals had tremendous impact on patients who were bedridden for a prolonged period of time (such as stroke patients and those in a vegetative state hospitalised in Lai King Building of Princess Margaret Hospital). They usually needed assistance from family members in stretching to reduce the chance of bedsores. He enquired what measures HA had to let them stay in touch with family members.
32. Dr WONG Lap-gate, Michael said that he understood the needs of patients who were bedridden for a prolonged period of time and thanked their family members for helping take care of them. However, in view of the relatively poor health conditions of those patients, which made them susceptible to external viruses, it was decided that the visiting arrangement should be suspended and patients’ conditions to be regularly reported to their family members through phone calls instead, which he hoped that family members would understand. After the epidemic eased, the visiting arrangement would be resumed as soon as possible.
33. The Hon. WAN Siu-kin, Andrew put forth opinions and enquiries as follows:
12 Responsible Department
(i) He expressed respect for all healthcare staff. He would like to know whether HA disregarded employees’ right to strike enshrined in the Basic Law and labour legislation and decided to hold the healthcare staff who went on strike liable.
(ii) How much longer the current stock of surgical masks could last, and whether the Government had assisted HA in procuring protective equipment.
(iii) He criticised HA for the poor site selection of the designated clinics and the frequent revisions to the guidelines on protective equipment. Having considered the lack of understanding of COVID-19 of various countries at present, he urged HA not to be rash in responding to the epidemic.
34. Dr WONG Lap-gate, Michael responded as follows:
(i) All healthcare staff of HA were professional and hard-working. He recognised their contributions to Hong Kong.
(ii) HA was a law-abiding body and would handle strikes in accordance with established human resources procedures.
(iii) KWC used about 600 boxes of surgical masks per day and the stock could last for more than 1 month. COVID-19 was transmitted mainly through droplets. Healthcare staff would put on full personal protective gears, including N95 respirators, when handling high-risk medical procedures such as aerosol generation; wearing surgical masks would give them adequate protection when they handle non-high-risk procedures.
(iv) The Government did assist HA in procuring protective equipment and its assistance was particularly important in solving customs clearance problems.
35. Mr LAM Siu-fai pointed out that a confirmed patient at Shek Lei Estate died but it was not until CHP made the announcement on 20 January that it was revealed that the patient had moved around in the community for over 10 days and had a travel history
13 Responsible Department before he had a fall at home and was sent to hospital. Residents of Shek Lei Estate in general were deeply dissatisfied with the Government’s lack of support or dissemination of information, which caused anxiety amongst them. Some residents stayed at home for a long time and even developed mood disorders.
36. Dr WONG Lap-gate, Michael responded as follows:
(i) Having considered that most COVID-19 patients sought consultation at GOPCs or private doctors before visiting AEDs and they might not be able to explain their travel history clearly, to avoid delay in the investigation of their travel history, HA had established connections with the Immigration Department and the computer system of its hospitals would display patients’ travel history within 1 month to increase healthcare staff’s alertness.
(ii) Under the Enhanced Laboratory Surveillance Programme, persons suspected to be infected with COVID-19 collected specimens of deep throat saliva by themselves and returned the specimens to AEDs or out-patient clinics for testing for early identification of patients to minimise the time they move around in the community . 37. Mr TSUI Hiu-kit put forth opinions as follows:
(i) He thanked the healthcare staff for their contributions.
(ii) Members of the public felt very anxious whenever they saw ambulancemen in protective gears sending patients to AEDs in the community where they were. He suggested that HA should set up a mechanism with housing estates, shopping malls and Members under which they would be notified of the testing results of suspected cases (including non-confirmed cases) so as to allay public concerns.
38. Dr WONG Lap-gate, Michael responded that when the Emergency Response Level was activated, ambulancemen would normally wear protective gears when transferring patients and the patients might not be related to COVID-19. In light of the large number of suspected cases, it would be hard for HA to notify the public of the testing results one by one. Nonetheless, the test for COVID-19 in general could be completed in 24 hours, so suspected cases could be regarded as non-confirmed cases if
14 Responsible Department CHP did not make any announcements after the said period.
39. Mr WONG Tin-yan put forth enquiries and opinions as follows:
(i) Regarding the video visit arrangement, whether patients and their family members were informed of the related arrangement, whether healthcare staff provided any assistance, and how persons with disabilities could use it.
(ii) As it was legal for healthcare staff to strike, why HA would still need to go through the established human resources procedures to ensure that they would not be punished. This greatly affected healthcare staff’s morale.
40. Dr WONG Lap-gate, Michael responded as follows:
(i) Patients were informed of the video visit arrangement when they registered for admission to hospital. Generally speaking, patients who could use mobile phones did not need healthcare staff’s assistance in conducting video visits whereas those who lacked self-care skills would have video visits of about 10 to 15 minutes under healthcare staff’s assistance.
(ii) Since a large number of healthcare staff joined the strike, the human resources department of HA needed time to look into the situation of each staff member before follow-up action could be taken.
41. Mr LEUNG Kam-wai put forth opinions as follows:
(i) He criticised HA for the highly ineffective dissemination of information and providing insufficient response time for the public before implementing its policy, which could easily result in panic. He suggested that HA should release the operational details of the designated clinics as soon as possible even though there was no need to activate them yet.
(ii) He urged HA to promise not to penalise the healthcare staff who joined the strike.
15 Responsible Department 42. Dr LUK Wan responded that designated clinics were part of a series of anti-epidemic measures. When hospital services reached the bursting point, designated clinics would be activated for triage purposes to alleviate the pressure on hospitals and AEDs. HA would announce the operational details of the designated clinics in due course in view of the development of the epidemic.
43. Mr SIN Ho-fai put forth enquiries and opinion as follows:
(i) There were media reports that the Chief Executive wrote “do not allow black sheep to stay at work at hospitals” in her report to the central government. In this connection, what views HA held.
(ii) Whether HA’s request that healthcare staff should extend the usage time of N95 respirators after the revision of the guidelines on protective equipment was compliant with WHO’s standards.
(iii) WHO’s standards had been called into question and he was doubtful about whether HA should follow its standards.
44. Dr WONG Lap-gate, Michael responded as follows:
(i) The staff members who returned to their posts after the strike were equally professional and he believed that they also served patients wholeheartedly.
(ii) HA had all along adopted protective equipment of relatively high specifications to manage the epidemic. As the world gained better understanding of COVID-19, WHO and CDC had lowered the standards of protective equipment needed in response to the epidemic and the use of N95 respirators also followed WHO’s standards. According to WHO’s standards, since COVID-19 was transmitted through droplets, healthcare staff must wear full personal protective gears, including N95 respirators, when handling high-risk medical procedures such as aerosol generation.
45. Mr HUI Kei-cheung was very dissatisfied with and condemned the Government’s anti-epidemic measures. In this connection, he put forth the demands as follows:
16 Responsible Department
(i) To hold a public consultation on the site selection of the designated clinics in Kwai Tsing district.
(ii) To publish the list of buildings with confirmed cases on a real-time basis every day.
(iii) To safeguard healthcare staff’s labour rights and interests and human rights, and not to penalise staff members who joined the strike.
(iv) To ensure that frontline healthcare staff had adequate supply of protective equipment.
(v) HA had to prudently respond to the epidemic.
46. Dr LUK Wan said that if there was a need to activate the designated clinics, details on their mode of operation would be announced as soon as possible. Healthcare staff would certainly do their best and concerted efforts by the public were also needed to fight the epidemic.
47. Dr WONG Lap-gate, Michael responded as follows:
(i) HA would certainly do its best to procure and prudently use protective equipment.
(ii) The healthcare staff who went on strike also served the public wholeheartedly. HA would decide on the handling method after learning the details of each case.
48. The Chairman received an extempore motion as follows:
The Kwai Tsing District Council Opposes the Selection of the South Kwai Chung Jockey Club General Out-patient Clinic and the Mrs Wu York Yu General Out-patient Clinic as Designated Clinics and Suggests Considering Other Sites, Including but Not Limited to the Former Kwai Chung Public School and the Kwai Chung Park Site, for the Purpose of Temporary Designated Clinics. (Moved by Mr NG Kim-sing and seconded by Mr TONG Ho-man, Miss
17 Responsible Department LEUNG Ching-shan, Mr CHOW Wai-hung, Rayman and the Hon. WAN Siu-kin, Andrew)
49. The Chairman put the above extempore motion to the vote for acceptance. Members unanimously accepted the extempore motion for discussion.
50. Of the Members who participated in the vote, there were 24 votes for, 0 vote against and 6 abstentions. The extempore motion was endorsed.
(Post-meeting note: The Secretariat sent HA’s written reply to Members on 13 March 2020. Please refer to K&T DC Circulation (Information) Paper No.13/2020 for details.)
(The Chairman announced that discussion on agenda items 3 and 4 would be combined.)
Information Paper
Briefing on Public Order Situation from August 2019 to January 2020 (Proposed by the Hong Kong Police Force) (K&T DC Paper No. 22/I/2020)
Discussion Items
Discussion on Conflicts between the Police and the Public in Kwai Tsing (Item carried forward from the 19th Special K&T DC meeting)
51. Mr HUI Kei-cheung requested the police officers in the public gallery to leave the conference room, as the auditorium was not open to public in this meeting.
52. Chief Superintendent TSE Chung-chun, District Commander (Kwai Tsing) of the Hong Kong Police Force (“the Police”) introduced the public order situation in Kwai Tsing and the main points were as follows:
(i) The crime situation of Kwai Tsing district last year was similar to the trend in the whole territory. A total of 2 962 crimes were recorded in 2019, being a rise of 491 cases or around 20% compared with the previous year. Since late June last year, violent incidents and a series of
18 Responsible Department illegal acts arising from events opposing the proposed legislative amendments worsened the crime situation in the whole territory and even Kwai Tsing was no exception. From July to December 2019, the crime rate in Kwai Tsing district soared by 23.5% when compared with the same period in 2018.
(ii) There were mainly two crime categories registered with rise. The first one was directly related to violent incidents arising from events opposing the proposed legislative amendments, including criminal damage and arson etc. There were also offences that endangered public safety, e.g. riot and unlawful assembly. The total number of crimes from such category alone increased by over 210 cases, among which the total number of criminal damage was even more than double and that for arson was up by as much as nearly two-fold. The second crime category on rise was related to quick cash crime. The Police cut down the manpower in the police districts to tackle the enormous amount of violent incidents arising from the opposition to the proposed legislative amendments, coupled with the economic downturn, the culprits took advantage of all that to loot a burning house. In the second half of 2019, the number of burglary and robbery totalled 75 cases, which was more than double compared with the same period in the previous year.
(iii) Around 40% of the offenders that brought damage to the Kwai Tsing community were not residents of the district. Besides, around 60% of the arrestees who were involved in the offence of “possession of offensive weapons” were also not residents of Kwai Tsing. Metal balls, hammers, extendable poles, axes, even petrol bombs, etc. were found in them when they were arrested.
(iv) According to the information from the Transport Department (TD), in the past 9 months, around 50 sets of traffic lights and 38 roads were maliciously damaged by the rioters. About 1 700 metres of roadside fences and 206 sq. metres of pavement bricks were damaged in Kwai Tsing district by the rioters. Besides, 28 shops were maliciously damaged and 26 innocent citizens were attacked.
(v) No crime could ever be tolerated in a civilised society. He appealed to the public (including Members) to condemn violence together with the
19 Responsible Department Police.
(vi) The Police, as a law-enforcing agent, the commitment to maintain the law and order would not waver. Recently, the Task Force and the Criminal Investigation Team of Kwai Tsing Police District joined hands and detected 4 robberies in Kwai Tsing district within 2 days, including a robbery in Tsing Yi in which the victim was put in headlock and another in which the culprit broke into an industrial building in Kwai Chung with knife. In late January this year, 3 rioters in black hurled petrol bombs outside Kwai Chung Police Station. The Police swiftly identified the rioters and found a large quantity of petrol bombs in an industrial building in the district. The case was very near the acts of domestic terrorism and that was worrying. For any acts that damaged the community and breached public peace, the Police would adopt “zero tolerance” and give the severest condemnation.
(vii) Kwai Tsing Police District would continue with 3 tasks 1) to keep enforcing the law stringently; 2) to conduct intelligence-led operations; and 3) to enhance the communication work with the community.
(viii) One of the agenda items of the meeting was “Discussion on Conflicts between the Police and the Public in Kwai Tsing”. The Police absolutely did not agree with the wording of “conflicts between the Police and the public” as based on the past minutes, the Police made arrest only in response to someone breaking the law. That was not “conflicts between the Police and the public”. Conflicts would not appear between those who were law-abiding and against violence and the Police.
(ix) The Police would keep closer contact with the residents and stakeholders (including schools, merchants and non-government organisations) in Kwai Tsing District. He hoped that Members could proactively promote law-abiding awareness together with the Police to urge the citizens not to break the law, not to obstruct the Police in performing their duties, and even more, not to connive at those who committed crimes.
(x) The Police attached great importance to having rational communication
20 Responsible Department with Members. Since the Commander would be engaged in other duties in the afternoon on that day, notice had been given to the Secretariat prior to the meeting that they had to leave at 1 pm.
53. The Hon. WAN Siu-kin, Andrew put forth opinions as follows:
(i) For the conflicts between the police and the public that took place every day, the Police was still being unrepentant and ignored incidents of the Police assaulting members of the public. Not only did they fail to seek solution, they even pointed their fingers at K&T DC and the public. He felt angry and disgusted for it.
(ii) A large number of people were arrested on 30 July 2019, so crowds convened outside Kwai Chung Police Station in the hope of accompanying the arrestees to leave. Yet, the Police, without declaring the offences they had committed, wielded pepper spray at them, and then there was even “bald sergeant” who aimed his gun at the crowds.
(iii) Many chaotic scenes were sparked off by the Police’s improper handling. For example, in the protest in Kwai Tsing on 25 August 2019, if the Police did not close the MTR station and main traffic routes suddenly, it would not have stirred up public fear, which subsequently turned into police-public clashes.
(iv) For the incident on 11 November 2019 in which a traffic officer rammed his motorbike into a crowd, the Police said that it would be dealt with seriously, but only gave verbal warning to the police officer concerned in the end and subsequently allowed him to return to his duty, which was hardly convincing for the public.
(v) He relayed that members of the public hoped to restore a peaceful environment for the community soon.
54. Chief Superintendent TSE Chun-chung pointed out that before making criticism, Members did not mention to the public that before the Police enforced the law, the community had already been wantonly destructed, the traffic was totally paralysed due to road-blocking, and there were people being cornered and assaulted. The Police reiterated that if there was a breach of public peace or violent incident, it was necessary
21 Responsible Department for the Police to take resolute enforcement actions.
55. Mr WONG Bing-kuen put forth opinions as follows:
(i) He expressed his recognition of the Police for they were willing to respond to Members’ enquiries directly.
(ii) Since the introduction of the Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2019 (“the Bill”), the Government wilfully persisted in it and acted against the views of the public, resulting in the continuous police-public clashes that had lasted for several months and could only withdrew the Bill at last. The course had demonstrated that the Government was training “brutal police” to pave way for a regime of autocracy and dictatorship in the future. Political issues should be resolved by political resorts instead of letting the Police handle by violent means.
(iii) He hoped that the Police could show mercy to the protesters with a rational attitude and stop using violence against the protesters after arresting them, but let them contact their families and lawyers as soon as possible.
(iv) Installing wire fences on footbridges did not help solve the problem.
56. Chief Superintendent TSE Chun-chung responded as follows:
(i) The Police was a law-enforcing department which upheld the principle of political neutrality and would not handle political issues.
(ii) The Police had been communicating and co-ordinating with members of the public in a rational manner. However, for rioters who breached public peace, including hurling petrol bombs, shot with metal balls and splashed corrosive liquid, the Police must enforce the law stringently.
(iii) The Police would certainly strive to protect the rights of the arrestees.
57. Mr WONG Yun-tat, Ivan put forth opinions and enquiry as follows:
22 Responsible Department (i) He regretted over the Police being reduced to the hatchet men for the Government to suppress the opposition movement in connection with the proposed legislative amendments. From restricting the freedom of assembly to the “indigenous villages-triads-police collusion” occurred in Yuen Long MTR Station during which the 999 hotline disregarded reports from the public, people had lost confidence in the Police. He wondered if the 721 Incident would happen in Kwai Tsing district and would like to know Mr TSE Chun-chung’s views on the 721 Incident.
(ii) The Police indiscriminately attacked people in Prince Edward MTR Station while it was broadcast live in the television on 31 August 2019. It was heart-wrenching.
(iii) The Police had not reflected on their brutal acts. The police officers assaulted members of the public, often with their faces masked and no warrant card shown. They were also hostile to young people, protesters and members of the public, and fired tear gas rounds in the vicinity of residential areas, but the Government refused to establish an independent commission of inquiry, which could hardly quell public fury.
(iv) He urged the Police to stop covering up their violent acts with lies.
58. Chief Superintendent TSE Chun-chung responded as follows:
(i) For the two incidents and the issue on the 999 hotline mentioned by Member, the Police Public Relations Branch (PPRB) had already made response to.
(ii) The Police’s spokesmen had been explaining the incidents to the public with facts, so the Police absolutely did not agree to the allegation of “lies”.
(iii) The Police would enhance the law enforcement actions in Kwai Tsing district in the future and conduct more intelligence-led work to ensure that residents in Kwai Tsing district could have a good community to live and work in.
59. Mr KWOK Tsz-kin put forth opinions and enquiries as follows:
23 Responsible Department
(i) Cheung Hang Estate and Cheung Wang Estate in Tsing Yi were originally peaceful communities, and yet the Police suddenly arrested and assaulted members of the public on the night of 5 October 2019.
(ii) Members of the public were scared of the Police after experiencing the 721 and 831 Incidents, and he enquired how the Police would allay public concern.
(iii) He enquired how the Police protected the rights of the arrestees, e.g. by allowing them to contact their families and lawyers.
60. Chief Superintendent TSE Chun-chung responded as follows:
(i) If there was no chaos in Kwai Tsing district, there would be no need for riot police to appear. If there was a breach of public peace, the Police would definitely take resolute enforcement actions.
(ii) The chaotic situation weakened the manpower in the police districts, coupled with the economic downturn, there was sign that the overall law and order in Kwai Tsing Police District had deteriorated. The Police would strive to deploy more police officers to conduct high-profile patrols with a view to deterring those who attempted to or were committing crimes, and would proactively arrested those who attempted to or were committing crimes by stop-and-search.
(iii) The Police would strive to ensure that the rights of the arrestees were protected. Due to the great number of arrestees, the bail process always took a longer time to complete. The arrangement concerned had room for improvement and review would be conducted.
61. Mr LEUNG Kam-wai put forth opinions as follows:
(i) The brutal acts of the Police were legion and at the moment he would only point out the arbitrary arrests in Kwai Chung Estate, including: On 1 October 2019, a citizen was arrested when shopping in Kwai Chung Shopping Centre, on 15 November 2019, a citizen was attacked with pepper spray in an elevator leading to a footbridge in Tai Wo Hau, on 25
24 Responsible Department November 2019, 2 citizens were cornered and arrested at the podium in a housing estate by 30 police officers with the reason unknown.
(ii) The crime figures provided by the Police were only the number of persons arrested, for which there might not be necessarily enough evidence for prosecution, showing that the Police’s problem of arbitrary arrest had become more serious.
(iii) The Police accused a teacher of leading students to break the law on 24 February 2020, but the allegation was found invalid upon investigation. The teacher concerned taught in a school in Ma On Shan (not Kwai Tsing district). The persons arrested in the incident were mostly unconditionally released, but no clarification or apology was seen from the Police.
(iv) He condemned the Police for firing as many as a hundred of tear gas rounds in Kwai Chung Estate on 13 and 14 November 2019, bringing grave impact to the nearby residents, kindergartens and elderly homes and severely affecting the health of the public.
62. Chief Superintendent TSE Chun-chung pointed out that the Police definitely did not agree to the accusation of “arbitrary arrest”. The Police made arrest based on reasonable doubt and basic evidence at all times, and prosecution would be made if there was sufficient proof.
63. Mr TSUI Hiu-kit enquired when he could make a remark.
64. The Chairman responded that each Member would take turn to speak.
65. Mr HUI Kei-cheung said that he suspected there were still other police officers in the public gallery and the office of the Kwai Tsing District Office (“K&T DO”).
66. The Chairman pointed out that K&T DC could only manage the order at the conference. The area inside the K&T DO office should be responsible by K&T DO.
(Representative of the police confirmed no police officer in the public gallery.)
67. Mr TSUI Hiu-kit put forth opinions as follows:
25 Responsible Department
(i) Illegal parking in the district was severe, and the issue of illegal parking at bus stops, minibus stops and roundabouts particularly affected the traffic. The problem would even be tougher if the illegally parked vehicles were large ones. He hoped the Police could enhance their efforts in combating illegal parking.
(ii) Some members of the public expressed it was difficult to get in touch with the Police and hoped the situation concerned could be improved.
68. Chief Superintendent TSE Chun-chung responded as follows:
(i) The causes of illegal parking were many, including the number of vehicles and community planning, but one of the reasons was the low degree of law-abiding awareness of the public. Even parking space was available in the car parks, the citizens still parked their vehicles illegally on the street. It was always the citizens’ responsibility to observe the law. Even if the Police reduced law enforcement actions due to a shortfall of manpower, that would not make any excuse for members of the public to break the law.
(ii) The number of Fixed Penalty Notice (“Fixed Penalty Ticket”) against parking contraventions issued in 2019 was down by 26% compared with 2018. As the society was becoming more stable, the number of Fixed Penalty Ticket issued by the Police in December 2019 was up by 70% from November and it further rose by 22% in January 2020 compared with that in December 2019.
(iii) Given that the workload on the anti-riot front was on a decrease, the Police promised to devote more resources in combating illegal parking to respond to the concern of the public and Members with a view to reducing road safety problems resulted from illegal parking.
69. Mr CHEUNG Kwan-kiu, Steve put forth opinions and enquiry as follows:：
(i) Previously, a member of the public was asked to make apology by riot police in order to be let through. In the past, the Police ignored illegal parking and the public had no way to turn to for assistance, and they were
26 Responsible Department also absent from the 19th K&T DC special meeting. The Police should make apology to K&T DC and the public indeed.
(ii) The Police assaulted members of the public, the press and councillors into coma for many times, and there was traffic officer driving motorbike dangerously. Yet, the Police still did not admit police brutality up to the present, and even no punishment was given to the police officers involved. It was no surprise that the public’s satisfaction rating of the Police was hitting a new low.
(iii) He requested the Police to give an account of the number of people being assaulted by the Police and the number of police officers who had violated the Police General Orders in the past year.
70. Chief Superintendent TSE Chun-chung responded as follows:
(i) Regarding the number of complaints, the Police received 1 639 complaints in early March, and 541 of them were identified as reportable complaints. For 70% among those, statements had been taken with the complainants and the investigations had commenced. Some of the cases of which the investigations were completed had also been transferred to the Independent Police Complaints Council (IPCC) for review.
(ii) The police officer of the Traffic Branch mentioned by Member was not under Kwai Tsing Police District. The Commissioner of Police stated to the public earlier on that the police officer concerned had been rebuked and investigation would continue.
71. The Chairman said that if the Police considered the time to respond to Members was not enough, a special meeting could be arranged separately.
72. Chief Superintendent TSE Chun-chung opined such special arrangement was unnecessary. He only hoped that the time for making remarks could be evenly allotted to Members and the police representatives.
73. The Hon. LEUNG Yiu-chung put forth opinions and enquiry as follows: (i) He wished to know the reason why the representatives of the Police were absent from the 19th K&T DC special meeting.
27 Responsible Department
(ii) This discussion item should be conducted on the premise of arbitrary assault and excessive violence of the Police. Members also brought up the accusations with a number of real incidents. Yet, the Police kept avoiding the questions, which was disappointing.
(iii) The Police took too long to investigate the complaints and there was suspicion that the police officers were favourably biased. For the unlawful conducts of the police officers, the Police mostly handled in a lenient manner. They made arbitrary arrests and made the public scared, and yet their charges would be withdrawn even when finally put under trial in the court.
(iv) The Police deployed tear gas in densely populated areas (including Kwai Fong MTR Station and next to the elderly home), endangering the health of the public.
(v) The Police had responsibility to take enforcement actions against illegal acts, but he could not accept they used excessive force against the arrestees.
(vi) The Police turned a blind eye to other livelihood issues such as wounding, noise nuisance and traffic accidents.
74. Chief Superintendent TSE Chun-chung responded that as follows:
(i) The Police respected K&T DC very much and would certainly attend the meeting under feasible circumstance to conduct constructive communication with Members and take the chance to release authentic information.
(ii) Without the presence of rioters, the Police would never have deployed tear gas out of no reason. Since the rioters had breached public peace, assaulted others and blocked the roads, the Police had to step in and use proportional force. The decision on using force was also a result of prudent assessment, including of the environment at the scene and the safety of people present at the scene (including the police officers).
28 Responsible Department 75. Mr LEUNG Wing-kuen opined that the Police Force had been absent in Hong Kong for more than half year. For example, illegal parking during the Chinese Lunar New Year was serious but no one handled even the public continuously made reports. He opined that since the Police could not take care of the problem, relevant duties should be passed to other departments.
76. Chief Superintendent TSE Chun-chung responded as follows:
(i) In order to handle the chaos in the different districts, the Police was facing great challenge in the manpower in the past 9 months, which inevitably affected some of the policing work serving members of the public, but they absolutely did not agree to the Member’s accusation that the Police was too preoccupied with suppression of the people that other policing duties were ignored.
(ii) In the past 9 months, large-scale road-blocking in groups, destruction of public property, arson, making of bombs, etc., were seen in Hong Kong. All were very serious offences that were close to acts of domestic terrorism, depriving the public of a good living environment. To date, Members still stayed silent for those collective violent incidents but glorified the violent behaviours and connived at the large-scale collective violence, making them no difference from being the accomplices.
(iii) As the atmosphere of the society became more stable in recent months, Kwai Tsing Police District had gradually resumed different aspects of policing work.
77. Mr LEUNG Kwok-wah put forth opinions as follows:
(i) The subjects of many violent incidents were not seen arrested by the Police. He suspected the police officers disguised as protesters to commit those crimes.
(ii) In an arrest that took place on 2 October 2019, a police officer sneered protesters for living in public rental housing (PRH) and having no social status. He requested the police to apologise in regard of the insulting statements on PRH residents.
29 Responsible Department (iii) He wondered how the Police could maintain good communication with the residents when they were absent from the Estate Management Advisory Committee (EMAC) meeting in recent months. He also praised the former Police Community Relations Officer for being very responsible when he was in office.
(iv) There were often coaches obstructing the road surface where Shek Pai Street turned into Castle Peak Road. He wrote to lodge a complaint on 2 January 2020 but no improvement was seen up to the moment. Since the road session was on a gentle slope that it would pose great danger to pedestrians in case of traffic accidents, so he urged the Police to enhance the law enforcement as soon as possible.
(v) He condemned police brutality.
78. Chief Superintendent TSE Chun-chung responded as follows:
(i) The Police absolutely disagreed to the accusation of “police officers disguised into protesters to engage in violent incidents”. The Police had been striving to arrest people involved in violent incidents. To take the case of Best Mark 360 being destructed earlier on as example, the arrested person was neither a police officer. The Police encouraged Members to appeal to the public for making immediate report in case they witnessed violent incidents so as to allow the Police to find out the identity of the persons involved. The Police requested Members not to keep repeating fake information and fake news being circulated as facts.
(ii) He had recorded the illegal parking issue on Shek Pai Street for follow-up. Hong 79. The Chairman asked the Police to give written reply in regard of their attendance Kong of the EMAC meeting. Police Force 80. Mr LAU Chi-kit put forth opinions and enquiry as follows:
(i) He stated he had seen police officer issue Fixed Penalty Tickets to illegally parked vehicles prior to the meeting.
30 Responsible Department (ii) He asked based on which section of the Police General Orders the Police could fire tear gas in Kwai Fong MTR Station, and why the Police used tear gas but not pepper spray to tackle protesters.
(iii) The police officers lost control of their emotion and used abusive language in the course of arresting the protesters, showing no professional ethics of them at all (a video clip was presented as supporting evidence).
(iv) The Police always parked the police vehicles at the roundabouts, wasting the resources of the police and neglecting other duties like patrolling and combating illegal parking.
81. Chief Superintendent TSE Chun-chung responded as follows:
(i) Kwai Fong MTR Station was a semi-open space. Before the Police arrived at Kwai Fong MTR Station to enforce the law, a large number of rioters had already been damaging inside the station, hurling smoke bombs and shooting with metal balls. Since the shooting range of metal balls was longer than that of pepper spray, firing tear smoke to disperse the rioters was the appropriate force.
(ii) Parking police vehicles at strategic location in a high profile was one of the anti-crime measures that served to warn those with attempt to commit crimes to draw back.
82. Ms LEUNG Kar-ming put forth opinions as follows:
(i) Supported stringent law enforcement by the police.
(ii) She opined that the ones who should make apology were the offenders who had damaged public order in the past half year. They severely disturbed members of the public. Countless number of public property was destroyed and cost public funds to do the maintenance. Those public funds could had been better utilised, such as in welfare for the elderly or fighting the epidemic.
(iii) Welcomed the police to step up the efforts in combating illegal parking.
31 Responsible Department
(iv) In view of the rising number of shop thefts, she hoped that the Police could step up patrols to restore peace in the society.
83. Chief Superintendent TSE Chun-chung pointed out that as the tension in the society alleviated, the Police had enhanced the efforts in the enforcement work in the frontline and stringently combatted illegal parking to ensure the well-being of members of the public.
84. Mr CHOW Wai-hung, Rayman put forth opinions as follows:
(i) At an early stage, he could show relatively more understanding to the frontline police officers for the pressure they were under. Yet, later on he found that the police officers mostly executed their duties with hostility towards the young people and reporters as if they were their enemies, and as a result used excessive force and made arbitrary arrest. He agreed that no violence should be supported, and yet he also opposed to police brutality.
(ii) He suspected the Police connived at their subordinates attaching badges in their uniform on their own.
(iii) On 1 October 2019, the “raptors squad” entered the podium of a shopping mall in Kwai Chung Estate to arrest people and sparked clashes between the police and the public in which people hurled stones. He opined that the violent incident occurred as a result of the Police enforcing the law with hostile emotion.
85. Chief Superintendent TSE Chun-chung pointed out that the Police would not tolerate any violent acts and called on Members to condemn violence together with the Police. The Police reiterated that the enforcement was only targeted at offenders and rioters.
86. Mr CHOI Nga-man put forth opinions as follows:
(i) The Police had enhanced the law enforcement against illegal parking recently, but there were still some areas missed. For example, there was a vehicle that illegally parked outside the Lai King Disciplined Services
32 Responsible Department Quarters over a long period of time, but no enforcement action was seen from the Police.
(ii) On 5 March 2020, a traffic officer had his hands off the handlebars of the motorcycle for several seconds and raised his arms up and down in the air when driving on the Stonecutters Bridge. He asked if this had violated the rules stipulated in the Road Users’ Code for Motor Cycles.
(iii) In the demonstration that took place on 8 March 2020, a male who was not in the procession was sprayed pepper spray by the riot police. He requested an explanation from the Police.
(iv) A Member of K&T DC was not injured when being arrested by the Police, but sustained obvious injuries in the body after being released and needed to go to the hospital for medical examination. He requested an explanation from the Police.
(v) The Police was allocated with sufficient amount of protective gowns and masks. He suggested they should share a certain amount of the protective equipment with the firemen.
87. Chief Superintendent TSE Chun-chung responded as follows:
(i) Kwai Tsing Police District had arranged the traffic complaints in the district previously received in order of priority and would take enforcement actions based on the existing resources. The police district had already recorded the illegal parking issue outside the Lai King Disciplined Services Quarters and would follow up later on.
(ii) In connection with Members of the district being arrested in other district, since the case of the Member concerned was under investigation by other police district and it was noted that he had lodged a complaint to the Police, it was not appropriate to discuss in the meeting.
88. Miss WONG Pit-man put forth opinions and enquiry as follows:
(i) Many police officers lost control of themselves when arresting the protesters. She suspected their mental status was unstable and they
33 Responsible Department were not suitable to discharge duties with guns. Since the Police had obtained enough resources to purchase equipment and had overtime work allowances, she suggested resources should be allocated to subsidise the police officers to see psychiatrists.
(ii) One of the suggestions in IPCC’s report was to set up an independent commission of inquiry to thoroughly investigate police brutality. She asked if the Police would respond to the advice.
(iii) The Government and the top management of the Police connived at their subordinates’ brutal acts which destroyed the reputation that had taken the Police a hundred years’ hard work to establish. They randomly assaulted and sexually assaulted people who were only suspects. It was hard for the society to restore peace and she urged to dissolve the Police Force.
89. Chief Superintendent TSE Chun-chung pointed out that amid the chaotic situation in the past 9 months, the senior management of the Police always commanded and supervised the operations against the violent rioters in person at the scene. To ensure the frontline police officers could make correct judgement when discharging their duties, the Police arranged clinical psychologists to make assessment of the mental status of the police officers from time to time. In case any officer was found not suitable to perform their duties, appropriate deployment would be made.
90. Mr TAM Ka-chun, Warren put forth opinions and enquiries as follows:
(i) Even Mr TSE Chun-chug had not assumed the post in mid-January, there should be other police representatives who knew the reason why the Police was absent from the 19th K&T DC special meeting. He requested an explanation.
(ii) There were riot police asking people to make apology in order to be let through. In this regard, he also requested the Police to apologise.
(iii) Figures on illegal parking were missing in the briefing on public order situation submitted by the Police. He requested provision of the actual number of Fixed Penalty Tickets issued by the Police in 2019.
34 Responsible Department (iv) It was extremely inappropriate that the Police officers always insulted the protesters.
(v) The Government and the Police were the culprits that destroyed the law and order of Hong Kong. Members of the pro-establishment camp even helped waste public funds.
91. Chief Inspector TSE May-may responded that a written reply in connection with the absence from the 19th K&T Dc special meeting had been submitted earlier on.
92. Chief Superintendent TSE Chun-chung pointed out that the Police was above board and reasonable in enforcing the law and needed not apologise. He also agreed that any insulting language directed at members of the public was wrong.
93. Mr CHEUNG Man-lung put forth opinions as follows:
(i) Members of the pro-establishment camp blindly supported the Police and disregarded public fury that it was reasonable for them to lose many seats in the 2019 District Council Election.
(ii) The entrance and exit of Cheung On Bus Terminus were often obstructed by illegally parked vehicles, but the Police decided to combat illegal parking in uphill areas where the roads were wider. He suspected that the Police was partial to pro-establishment Members’ constituencies.
(iii) Mr KWOK Tsz-kin was suddenly arrested when he was shopping in Mong Kok and he was not injured at that moment. Yet, no arrangement was made for him to notify his lawyer and family of his situation while in custody, which lasted for as long as 15 hours. He was even found sustaining multiple injuries upon release.
(iv) A member of the public was subdued to the ground by 5 to 6 police officers in Tsing Yi MTR Station. Inside the Tsing Yi Police Station, he could not obtain contact with the outside world and was arranged to receive medical examination at the hospital after more than 10 hours. He doubted if the rights of the arrestees in the police station were protected and that concerned the public a lot.
35 Responsible Department (v) He felt strange for so many dead body found cases in Hong Kong that were identified as no suspicious and he wished to observe a moment of silence for them.
94. Chief Superintendent TSE Chun-chung said that they would not join the mourning in silence and had notified the Secretariat that due to other duties engaged, they had to leave at 1pm (at present).
95. The Chairman reminded the Police that District Council (DC) meetings were relatively long and that they should reserve enough time for the meetings.
(Representatives of HKPF left the meeting.)
96. Miss KWOK Fu-yung was discontented with not being arranged to make a remark and asked the Chairman according to what principle he decided the order of speaking of Members.
97. The Chairman said that he had fairly arranged the order of speaking of Members.
(The Chairman adjourned the meeting at 1:08 pm and the meeting resumed at 2:30 pm.)
98. Members requested the Police to provide the following information after the meeting:
(i) To include the following information in the briefing on public order situation: Hong Kong (a) The number of dead body found cases since 2018 (must include Police the number of bodies found in other districts but later identified as Force bodies of Kwai Tsing residents and the number of bodies found in Kwai Tsing District), gender of the bodies and whether the cases were identified as suspicious.
(b) The number of Fixed Penalty Tickets issued against parking contraventions by the Police (to list by the 31 constituencies in Kwai Tsing district).
36 Responsible Department (ii) The number of deception in relation to the purchase of anti-epidemic supplies.
(iii) The establishment and scope of duty of traffic officers and traffic wardens.
(iv) The number of patrols conducted by the Police in Kwai Shing West Estate and Kwai Shing Circuit.
(v) The number of anti-burglary patrols conducted and the number of Fixed Penalty Tickets against parking contraventions in Lai Wah Constituency (under Cheung Sha Wan Police Division).
(Post-meeting note: The Secretariat sent HKPF’s written reply to Members on 19 March 2020. Please refer to K&T DC Circulation (Information) Paper No. 16/ 2020 for details)
Implementation of the 10 New Livelihood Initiatives (Proposed by Mr WONG Bing-kuen) (K&T DC Paper No. 23/D/2020 and 23a/D/2020)
99. Mr WONG Bing-kuen introduced the paper and put forth opinions as follows:
(i) The Home Affairs Department (“HAD”) asked Members to read the Government press release on their own in the written reply, and yet there was no information on what he had enquired about. He acquired part of the information only after reading the blogs of the principal officials. For example, the total asset limit of the Old Age Living Allowance (OALA) for married couple had been raised to $750,000 and the allowance for the unemployed had been replaced.
(ii) He was disappointed that no representative from the Government attended the meeting to respond to the issue.
100. Mr CHENG Kin, Kenneth, JP, District Officer (Kwai Tsing) (the District Officer) pointed out that the Secretariat had referred the issue to the Office of the Chief Executive for their consideration and HAD was authorised to provide a consolidated reply. Since the questions raised by Members covered a wide range of policy areas, it
37 Responsible Department might not be ideal to arrange all relevant government department representatives to attend the meeting. Therefore, Members were advised to decide on the items they wished to acquire details of and then request for the Secretariat’s assistance to make enquiries.
101. Ms MA Sau-ching, Annisa, District Social Welfare Officer (Tsuen Wan and Kwai Tsing), Social Welfare Department (“SWD”) pointed out that the 2019 Policy Address had provided a new development direction for the Old Age Living Allowance (OALA), but details of implementation had to be announced in due course.
102. Mr TAM Ka-chun, Warren enquired the implementation details of lowering the eligible age of the beneficiaries in respect of the $2 transport fare concession (“the concession”) from 65 to 60 or above.
103. Ms LUI Hiu-fai, Monica, Chief Transport Officer/NT South West, Transport Department (TD) responded that the Labour and Welfare Bureau and TD was recruiting consultant to help review the concession scheme. The review of the scheme was expected to complete in the middle of this year, and the implementation arrangement of the improvement suggestions would be announced by then.
104. The Chairman enquired the reason why review was needed if it was decided that the eligible age of the beneficiaries would be lowered to 60 or above.
105. Ms LUI Hiu-fai, Monica responded that the review included various aspects, such as the coverage, monitoring mechanism and financial commitment. The consultant would provide suggestions on improving the concession scheme upon completion of review.
106. Mr TAM Ka-chun, Warren pointed out that at present, citizens over 65 or above could enjoy fare concession with an Elderly Octopus Card and asked if the Octopus Cards Company would introduce another type of Octopus Card to identity persons aged 60 or above.
107. The Hon. LEUNG Yiu-chung enquired if the review included the examination on the feasibility of lowering the age of the beneficiaries.
108. Ms LUI Hiu-fai, Monica responded that the age limit of the beneficiaries was also part of the review.
38 Responsible Department
109. The Hon. LEUNG Yiu-chung that members of the public generally considered the Government had decided to lower the age of the beneficiaries to 60 or above, and it was only the question of announcing the implementation details at this stage. He requested TD to make a clarification.
110. Ms LUI Hiu-fai, Monica responded that the Government had made a suggestion to lower the age of the beneficiaries, but all the details would be announced upon completion of the review, including the payment arrangement for persons aged 60 or above.
111. Mr WONG Bing-kuen pointed out that he had raised specific enquiries in the paper. Relevant departments should answer one by one, rather than asking Members to read the government press release on their own. He then criticised the absence of implementation time for many policies, which would only be reduced to empty promises at the end.
112. The District Officer said that the Secretariat had relayed Members’ views in the paper to relevant departments. As for questions concerning the implementation details of specific new policies, the Secretariat could help ask relevant departments whether they had supplementary information to provide.
(Post-meeting notes: The Secretariat sent Labour and Welfare Bureau’s written reply to Members on 8 April 2020. Please refer to K&T DC Circulation (Information) Paper No. 18/2020 for details.)
Installation of Wire Fences on Footbridges (Proposed by Mr WONG Bing-kuen, Mr WONG Yun-tat, Ivan, Mr LEUNG Kam-wai and Mr HUI Kei-cheung) (K&T DC Paper No. 24/D/2020 and 24a/D/2020 (Revision))
113. Mr WONG Bing-kuen introduced the paper and put forth opinions as follows:
(i) The Highways Department (HyD) did not respond to question nos. 1, 3, 4 but only responded to part of question no. 5, and did not send representative to attend the meeting.
(ii) The prior matter at the moment was prevention against the epidemic.
39 Responsible Department While hurling of objects from the footbridges was not a territory-wide problem, there was no pressing need to install wire fences.
114. Mr LEUNG Kam-wai pointed out that HyD had been avoiding questions on which department and persons at which rank made decision on the installation of wire fences on the footbridges, but only got away by saying it was a collective decision by the government departments. It was obviously a political mission.
115. Mr HUI Kei-cheung put forth opinions as follows:
(i) He regretted that HyD sent no representative to attend the meeting and expressed his condemnation.
(ii) He requested HyD to give an account of the locations and total expenses Highways on the installation of wire fences, and the number of object-hurling cases Department that took place on those footbridges in the past.
116. Mr WONG Yun-tat, Ivan put forth opinions as follows:
(i) He criticised it was a waste of public funds to install wire fences on footbridges, which was purely a political mission. Besides, no hurling of objects for road-blocking was seen on the footbridges in Kwai Tsing district during the anti-FOO amendment movement. There was indeed no urgency to install wire fences.
(ii) HyD should devote the resources to works such as road maintenance.
117. The Hon. LEUNG Yiu-chung enquired if department representatives only needed to give written replies in lieu of attending the meetings.
118. The District Officer responded that the Secretariat had already played the role as a co-ordinator and tried their best to invite government department representatives to the meetings, but it was not in their control as to whether the departments would respond at the end.
119. Mr CHOW Wai-hung, Rayman put forth opinions as follows:
(i) He opined that the current term of K&T DC was not accorded with
40 Responsible Department proper respect. The response of the Government to Members was more perfunctory compared with the past and no consultation was made in the district for a lot of matters.
(ii) HyD should first explain why they accorded priority to the installation of wire fences for which no imminent need was seen, and caused works like road maintenance and hillside escalator links and elevator system to delay.
120. Mr LAM Siu-fai put forth opinions as follows:
(i) Many footbridges in the district were coverless where the pedestrians were exposed to the threat of objects falling from height, and yet no covers were added to those footbridges by HyD, showing that HyD was only installing the wire fences by order of other decision makers.
(ii) The wire fences made the public stressed and affected them emotionally.
121. The Hon. LEUNG Yiu-chung requested the District Officer to relay K&T DC’s request to the Government Secretariat that the department representatives must attend K&T DC meetings.
122. The District Officer said he would relay Members’ views.
123. Mr WONG Bing-kuen pointed out pan-democratic Members had gained a sweeping victory in the current term of DC, but this made the government officials adopt a perfunctory attitude and ignore Members’ enquiries. It was gradually moving towards a totalitarian and non-accountable mode of governance.
124. Mr HUI Kei-cheung opined that HyD did not answer Members’ enquiries in the written reply they provided, nor were they willing to send representatives to attend the K&T DC meeting. This was a totalitarian resort that paid not respect to the democratic system and K&T DC. He opined that the District Officer should follow up on it. Moreover, he opined that TD representatives should be able to provide information on the issue of wire fences installation.
125. Miss KWOK Fu-yung pointed out that the Government would conduct consultation even for minor works such as installing roadside railings and lamp posts.
41 Responsible Department While installation of wire fences involved the interests of different stakeholders, it was even more important to make district consultation. She stressed that installation and removal of the wire fences both cost public funds, so it should be dealt with prudently.
126. The Chairman received an extempore motion as follows:
Kwai Tsing District Council Requests the Government to Immediately Stop All the Installation Work of Wire Fences on Footbridges in Kwai Tsing District and Remove The Wire Fences Already Installed on Footbridges. (Proposed by Mr WONG Bing-kuen and seconded by Mr HUI Kei-cheung and Mr LEUNG Kam-wai)
127. The Chairman put the extempore motion to vote for acceptance. Members unanimously accepted the above extempore motion for discussion.
128. Mr WONG Bing-kuen pointed out that the structure of the wire fences was fragile and vulnerable to damage, and would instead contribute materials for those who hurled objects and blocked the roads. He appealed to Members for supporting the extempore motion.
129. The Chairman put the extempore motion to the vote. Of the Members participated in the vote, there were 22 votes for, 0 vote against and 4 abstentions. The extempore motion was endorsed.
130. Mr HUI Kei-cheung again requested HyD to provide written reply containing the following content:
(i) The department/staff that decided on the installation of the wire fences on Highways footbridges and the justifications. Department
(ii) The cost of the installation of the wire fences on footbridges.
(iii) The locations and timetable of the plan to install the wire fences on footbridges.
(Post-meeting note: The Secretariat sent HyD’s written reply to Members on 19 March 2020. Please refer to K&T DC Circulation (Information) Paper No. 14/2020 for details.)
42 Responsible Department The Home-Office Arrangement of Government Departments and District Council Secretariat (Proposed by Mr SIN Ho-fai, Mr TAM Ka-chun, Warren and Mr CHEUNG Kwan-kiu, Steve) (K&T DC Paper No.25/D/2020)
131. Mr SIN Ho-fai introduced the paper and put forth opinions as follows:
(i) Due to the work-from-home (WFH) arrangement, the K&T DC meetings had become nearly paralysed. Members wished to conduct the 20th special meeting on 30 January 2020 as scheduled, but the glass door in K&T DO that led to the conference room of K&T DC was locked. As a result, the meeting could only be held at the podium on 2/F of Kwai Hing Government Offices Building. Besides, the Secretariat had not yet uploaded the audio record and minutes of the meeting to the website of K&T DC, harming the public’s right to know.
(ii) The Secretariat should decide whether to delay the meeting or seek another venue after consulting the chairmen of the meetings.
132. The District Officer responded as follows:
(i) The WFH arrangement was an anti-epidemic measure.
(ii) The Secretariat would make arrangement to cancel, postpone or seek another venue for the meetings after consulting the opinions of the chairmen of the meetings.
(iii) The glass door leading to the K&T DC’s conference room was under management of K&T DO. Since K&T DO implemented WFH arrangement on 30 January 2020, the glass door was locked.
133. Mr TAM Ka-chun, Warren put forth opinions as follows:
(i) During the implementation of the WFH arrangement, it was difficult for Members to communicate with the frontline officer of different departments, hindering the anti-epidemic work and the support to the public.
43 Responsible Department
(ii) He wished to know the work arrangement of the civil servants during the WFH period.
(iii) He stressed that the Secretariat was not entitled to cancel the K&T DC meetings, and requested the Secretariat to upload the audio record and minutes of the 20th special meeting to the K&T DC website as soon as possible.
134. The Chairman said that the Director of Home Affairs agreed that no matter whether the Secretariat had provided secretarial service for the meetings, minutes should be written afterwards.
(The Secretariat’s note: After the 20th K&T DC special meeting, the Secretariat had been liaising with Members in the hope of obtaining the notice of meeting issued by Members, the audio record and papers of the meeting, etc. The Secretariat would follow up on related matters if the papers/files were obtained. As at 4 May 2020, the Secretariat had not received the papers/files yet.)
135. Ms MAR Suk-fong, District Environmental Hygiene Superintendent (Kwai Tsing), Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (“FEHD”), responded that after implementation of special work arrangement in government departments, the provision of public services by FEHD, including cleansing services, environmental hygiene, pest control, slaughterhouse, public markets, hawker management, cemeteries and crematoria and various licensing services more or less continued to remain normal. The Centre for Food Safety and the District Environmental Hygiene Offices also generally operated as usual. To reduce the risk of the spread of coronavirus in the community, the Health Education Exhibition and Resource Centre and the Centre for Food Safety were once closed. Their educational and outreaching programmes had also been cancelled.
136. Ms LUI Hiu-fai, Monica said that after implementation of the WFH arrangement, TD arranged the colleagues to work in the office in batches. Officers working from home could connect to the government email accounts via telephone and the internet to continue with their duties. Hence, the work of TD in the districts was not affected.
137. Mr FUNG Hon-wa, Harris, District Leisure Manager (Kwai Tsing), Leisure and Cultural Services Department (“LCSD”) pointed out that the free venues (including
44 Responsible Department parks and hard-surfaced soccer pitches) under purview of LCSD were open as usual. To maintain the management and operation of the venues, in particular hygiene and cleansing services, some of the staff needed to return to the office to work, while others who worked from home would keep contact with the offices and continue with their duties via telephone or other mobile service applications.
138. Mr CHEUNG Kwan-kiu, Steve put forth opinions and enquiry as follows:
(i) He was unsatisfied with the WFH arrangement because the initiative was not transparent that Members were unable to know the office hours of the government departments and the staff in charge of specific community services, causing difficulties in the prevention of epidemic. For example, the case in Hong Mei House, Cheung Hong Estate, Tsing Yi made the residents worry about the leakage of pipes, and yet no staff from the Housing Department (HD) could be located to handle it in February.
(ii) He wished to have clarification on whether it should be a decision by the chairmen to conduct the meeting as scheduled or not.
139. Mrs LAI CHAN Wai-fan, Clara, Senior Housing Manager (Kwai Chung), HD, responded as follows:
(i) The Estate Offices of PRH only opened every Monday, Wednesday and Friday since 10 February, but had resumed to every Monday to Friday from 10 am to 5 pm since 2 March.
(ii) In response to the anti-epidemic measures announced by the Government, staff of the Estate Offices were arranged to work either in office or at home in accordance with the special work arrangement. Staff working from home could perform their duties via telephone or intranet email. All the security, cleansing or maintenance services of the estates were not affected.
(iii) Some services (e.g. improvement works) might be affected by the special work arrangement. Some residents were also not willing to let the staff enter their home for maintenance because of the epidemic. The Estate Offices would co-ordinate as far as possible.
45 Responsible Department
(iv) HD would proactively check the units above and below the flats of the confirmed cases to see if there was any alteration of pipes. To cater for the time of the residents, some staff members needed to work outside their office hours.
140. Mr LAM Siu-fai put forth opinions as follows:
(i) He pointed out that during the outbreak of SARS in 2003, the government departments were operating as usual, making the work in epidemic prevention more smooth.
(ii) Apart from the fact that it was difficult to contact HD’s maintenance staff, there were also the unemployed who sought help from SWD but in vain.
(iii) Each department should provide an emergency hotline for the public to seek help.
141. Ms MA Sau-ching, Annisa responded that the Integrated Family Service Centres under the purview of SWD had been operating as usual to continue to handle welfare issues and counselling work. However, to reduce gathering of crowds, the centres temporarily closed some of the non-essential facilities (e.g. kid’s corner) and cancelled organisation of groups and activities.
142. Mr HON Chun-yin opined that during the epidemic, the government departments should shoulder more responsibilities, and that more DC meetings should be held for discussion.
143. Mr CHOW Wai-hung, Rayman pointed out that during the epidemic, huge amount of cases requesting pipe maintenance were outstanding, putting heavy pressure to the Estate Offices, cleansing workers and security guards, and yet no support from HD was seen. He requested HD to recruit additional staff to accelerate the maintenance work in order to reduce the residents’ panic of being infected.
144. Mrs LAI CHAN Wai-fan, Clara responded as follows:
(i) HD was also very concerned about the safety of the pipes and would proactively check the pipes in the flats for the residents in need and
46 Responsible Department flexibly deploy manpower to handle the workload.
(ii) Taking into account the workload of the cleansing workers and security guards, if the service contractors had the need to increase staff, HD would exercise discretion. Besides, the cleansing workers of estates were given masks every day.
145. Mr CHEUNG Man-lung pointed out that the deteriorating economic development had made the number of wage default cases increase. However, during the WFH arrangement, many citizens could not make enquiries about labour legislation. He hoped that in case WFH arrangement was again implemented, the government departments should provide hotlines for the public to contact them.
(The meeting was chaired by the Vice-chairman.)
146. Mr WONG Bing-kuen asked HD and FEHD when they would release the allowances from the Anti-epidemic Fund to the cleansing workers and security guards through the contractors.
147. Mrs LAI CHAN Wai-fan, Clara said that supplementary information would be Housing provided after the meeting. Department
(Post-meeting note: HD added that a measure established under the Anti-epidemic Fund was “anti-epidemic work to support cleansing workers and security workers employed by service contractors of the Government and the Housing Authority (HA)”, which was to provide financial support to the frontline workers of service contractors of the Government and HA in their anti-epidemic efforts, and gave the workers recognition for their committed services provided at this critical juncture.
During the epidemic, the cleansing workers, toilet attendants and security workers under the service contract of the Government and HA would receive a monthly allowance of $1,000 for a period of no less than 4 months, and it was expected to benefit around 62 000 workers.
HA and the government departments would actively contact the contractors, and given the contractors could timely provide the information of the cleansing and security workers, they would target to effect payments for the first round of the monthly allowance to the contractors by the end of March 2020 and for contractors to release the
47 Responsible Department allowance to their eligible employees.)
148. Ms MAR Suk-fong responded as follows:
(i) The Government established the Food Licence Holders Subsidy Scheme and Licensed Hawkers Subsidy Scheme under the Anti-epidemic Fund, which had been opened for application on 5 March 2020. As at the date of submission of the application, the licensed food premises must be still in operation. The amount of subsidies for different types of licences were as follows:
(a) Licence holders of general restaurants, marine restaurants and factory canteens could obtain a one-off subsidy of $200,000.
(b) Licence holders of light refreshment restaurants, fresh provision shops, food factories, bakeries and siu mei and lo mei shops could obtain a one-off subsidy of $80,000.
(c) Licensed hawkers could obtain a one-off subsidy of $5,000.
The above measure was expected to benefit 28 000 food licence holders and 5 000 licensed hawkers.
(ii) To support small and medium enterprises, the Government announced on 26 February 2020 to extend last year’s relief measure to continue the rent concessions of 50 per cent (air-conditioning charges not included) for public market stalls for 6 months with effect from 1 April 2020.
(iii) Under the Anti-epidemic Fund, around 17 000 contract cleansing workers and toilet attendants of FEHD could obtain a monthly allowance of $1,000 for a period no less than 4 months.
(The Chairman resumed the chair.)
149. Miss KWOK Fu-yung put forth opinions as follows:
(i) The WFH arrangement of the civil servants had caused inconvenience to the public. For example, the public was not able to get into contact with
48 Responsible Department the Estate Offices and that the applications for vehicle licences were delayed. She hoped that the Government could strike a balance between disease prevention and the needs of members of the public.
(ii) During the Lunar New Year, 1823 stopped handling complaint cases Efficiency submitted in electronic form, while the hotline remained unanswered Office over a long period of time. She requested the department concerned to explain the situation in written reply.
(Post-meeting note: The Secretariat sent the Efficiency Office’s written reply to Members on 19 March 2020. Please refer to K&T DC Circulation (Information) Paper No. 15/2020 for details.)
150. Ms LEUNG Kar-ming put forth opinions as follows:
(i) She thanked the HD staff for immediately following up on the issue of pipes raised by the residents. However, other general maintenance works were delayed due to the additional workload. She suggested HD should set up a special support team dedicated to pipe works.
(ii) It did not matter where the civil servants performed their duties. The most important was to reply to public enquiries swiftly. She suggested K&T DO should create mobile communication groups to timely update Members of the latest anti-epidemic information.
151. Mrs LAI CHAN Wai-fan, Clara said that she would relay Members’ suggestions to the department.
(Post-meeting note: HD added that the department attached great importance to the maintenance of drainage pipes in PRH. If the residents were concerned that the current pipe status or pipes altered after renovation might bring hygienic risk, they could seek assistance from the Estate Offices. The professional and technical team in charge would accord priority to the relevant cases as far as possible.)
152. The District Officer responded as follows:
(i) The aim of the WFH arrangement for the civil servants was to reduce social contact in order to reduce the chance for the virus to spread. He
49 Responsible Department hoped that Members could understand.
(ii) The Home Affairs Enquiries Centres of the District Offices continued to provide limited services (including making oath/affirmation and free legal consultation) during the WFH period.
(iii) Government staff working from home would communicate with each other via emails. Externally, K&T DO had created mobile communication groups with Members on 10 February 2020 to facilitate the communication.
(iv) Staff of K&T DO had been striving to mobilise community resources to help fight the epidemic and played a co-ordinating role to follow up with different government departments on the demands raised by Members. The mobile communication groups would be used more frequently for the release of information in the future.
153. Mr TAM Ka-chun, Warren put forth opinions and enquiries as follows:
(i) He reiterated that during the WFH period, it was difficult to contact the staff of relevant government departments and he wished to seek a solution.
(ii) There was a lag in the Secretariat’s handling of Members’ remunerations and he wished to know the actual duties of the staff in charge of the remuneration issues during the WFH period.
154. The District Officer pointed out that HAD had extended Members’ application deadline for remunerations in response to the anti-epidemic measures. Besides, except specific dates, the Secretariat had arranged staff to be on duty in the office to keep handling Members’ applications for remunerations.
155. The Secretary pointed out that the Secretariat only implemented complete WFH arrangement in 2 of the working days in February, while there were staff members on duty in the office for all other working days.
156. The Chairman pointed out that various government services had generally resumed, but it might be necessary to WFH again anytime in response to the evolving
50 Responsible Department situation of the epidemic worldwide. In this connection, he requested the District Officer to compile an inter-government departmental emergency telephone list to facilitate Members’ continuous communication with the government departments amid the implementation of WFH arrangement.
157. Miss LO Pui-yiu, Sapphire, District Lands Officer (District Lands Office, Tsuen Wan and Kwai Tsing), Lands Department (LandsD) pointed out that LandsD had invited Members to meet early on when the current term of K&T DC assumed office. Some hotlines were given to Members as emergency contacts. Besides, during the WFH period, some staff (e.g. Executive Assistants/Lands) also forwarded their office calls to their private phones so that Members could reach them beyond office hours.
158. Mr TAM Ka-chun, Warren requested K&T DO to submit the list within 2 weeks.
159. Ms LEUNG Kar-ming requested to include DH in the directory.
(Post-meeting note: K&T DO released the Contact List of Representatives of Government Departments in Regular Attendance in K&T DC Meetings During the “Special Working Arrangement” in the K&T DO/Members mobile communication group on 23 March 2020. The list was also sent to all Members through email.)
Motion: Requesting the Advertising Panels on Rain Shelters in Each Constituency and the Noticeboards Placed by the Kwai Tsing District Office in Rural Villages to Be Made Available for the District Council Member of the Relevant Constituency to Publicize Community Information (Moved by Miss WONG Pit-man and seconded by Mr HON Chun-yin, Mr CHEUNG Kwan-kiu, Steve, Mr SIN Ho-fai and Mr CHEUNG Man-lung) (K&T DC Paper No. 28/D/2020 and 28a/D/2020)
160. Miss WONG Pit-man introduced the paper.
161. The District Officer responded as follows:
(i) Most of the rain shelters with back panels and the noticeboards were projects under the District Minor Works (DMW) programme in the district. K&T DO mainly utilised the above space to provide information that the Government wished to disseminate to the public and that related to K&T DC, such as promotion of voter registration, anti-epidemic policies, and district-wide activities sponsored by K&T DC
51 Responsible Department and festive promotion.
(ii) Members could use banner sites or the noticeboards available for them to use in housing estates for the purpose of publicising urgent information and discuss how to solve the problem of insufficient publicity spots with the relevant Government departments. Since the rain shelters and noticeboards had specific use, it was inappropriate to make them available for individual Members to publicise information.
162. Mr HON Chun-yin put forth opinions as follows:
(i) Some members of the public opined that it was rather wasteful to use the rain shelters for promotion of activities and festivals and preferred to obtain more important information about the community.
(ii) HD had reduced the areas for Members to put up posters and banners displayed on the roadside were unfit to contain too much detailed information. Therefore, he opined that the opening up of the rain shelters and noticeboards by K&T DO would make K&T DC’s work more transparent and be conducive to enhancing K&T DC’s image.
163. Mr LAU Chi-kit put forth opinions as follows:
(i) There were 4 private housing estates in his constituency, all of which had already formed owners’ corporations to manage matters of the housing estates. The number of publicity spots they gave Member of the current term was smaller than in the past and Members’ effectiveness of publicity had weakened.
(ii) The locations of K&T DO’s rain shelters and noticeboards were better and suitable to be made available for Members to report K&T DC’s work (not for personal publicity) to let the public better understand K&T DC’s operation.
(iii) He suggested making the noticeboards in Cheung On Estate Bus Terminus available for Members’ use.
164. Mr SIN Ho-fai put forth enquiry and opinions as follows:
52 Responsible Department
(i) Whether the management right of the noticeboards concerned belonged to K&T DC or K&T DO.
(ii) He pointed out that it was hard for Members of constituencies of private housing estates to seek publicity spots and agreed that the same number of rain shelters should be made available in each constituency for its Member to disseminate information.
(iii) He suggested making some of the village noticeboards used by villagers available for Members’ use.
165. Mr CHEUNG Kwan-kiu, Steve pointed out that the places for Members to publicise information were inadequate at present, making it hard for the public to obtain information from K&T DC. The rain shelters concerned should be used for the purpose of information release.
166. Mr TAM Ka-chun, Warren put forth enquires as follows:
(i) Whether the management right of the rain shelters and noticeboards belonged to K&T DC or K&T DO.
(ii) What the cost of putting up stickers onto the rain shelters was.
(iii) If K&T DC endorsed the motion to make available the rain shelters and noticeboards in various constituencies, whether K&T DO could still refuse to accept Members’ suggestion.
167. Miss LEUNG Ching-shan pointed out that K&T DC had endorsed the setting up of official Lennon Wall in the district and suggested returning the rain shelters and noticeboards to the public.
168. Mr CHEUNG Man-lung said that Members could use the rain shelters and noticeboards to communicate with the public, such as helping the Government explain its anti-epidemic policies, rather than for personal publicity. Besides, he opined that publicity spots were even more insufficient in village areas and housing estates under the Tenants Purchase Scheme. Some Members were blamed by residents for not publicizing information in a timely manner and thus, K&T DO’s provision of more
53 Responsible Department places for publicity was much needed.
169. Miss KWOK Fu-yung put forth opinions as follows:
(i) K&T DC had explored ways to maintain the information updates and the hygienic conditions of the noticeboards in the past, but no conclusion was reached. She welcomed new discussion on the issue.
(ii) The content displayed on the noticeboards at present was a bit homogeneous and of poor hygiene. It was rather hard for them to attract public attention, so there was room for improvement.
(iii) If it was decided that the rain shelters and noticeboards should be made available, it had to be discussed how to regulate the content displayed, such as whether it could contain publicity of a Member/political party and whether it truly reflected the circumstances of the respective constituency.
170. Mr TSUI Hiu-kit put forth opinions as follows:
(i) HD and LandsD had respective regulations on publicity spots for Members. If K&T DO decided to open up the rain shelters and noticeboards, it should clarify who would regulate them and censor whether the content displayed was appropriate, and ensure that every Member would be allotted an equal number of noticeboards.
(ii) It was easier to conduct promotional activities in village areas than in areas of private housing estates.
(iii) He suggested using the funding for DMWs to make noticeboards for the Member of each constituency. If Members were allowed to use K&T DO’s noticeboards, it might lead to the wrong impression that K&T DO supported individual Members.
171. The District Officer welcomed Members’ opinions on how to make the content of the rain shelters and noticeboards closer to the community but stressed that the rain shelters and noticeboards were made with public funds and should be used to disseminate information from the Government and K&T DC that related to the entire
54 Responsible Department district.
172. Ms LEUNG Kar-ming suggested that the content displayed on all the noticeboards should be consistent and primarily information close to the needs of the public, such as the eligibility criteria for OALA, the addresses of offices for welfare applications and the procedures for applications under the Community Care Fund.
173. Mr NG Kim-sing put forth enquiry and opinions as follows:
(i) He further enquired whether the management right of the noticeboards belonged to K&T DC or K&T DO.
(ii) Under the existing mechanism, Members could borrow HD and LandsD’s publicity spots and this did not give rise to the impression that these departments supported individual Members, so there was no cause for Member’s concern.
(iii) He suggested that LCSD and TD should also make their venues available for Members to display information.
174. Mr CHOW Wai-hung, Rayman put forth opinions as follows:
(i) K&T DC could lay down guidelines to regulate the content displayed on the noticeboards.
(ii) HD’s new measure of cutting the publicity places for posters and banners in housing estates had reduced the number of channels for Members to report their work and the Government’s policies to the public.
(iii) K&T DO was slow in updating the information on the rain shelters and noticeboards. If they were made available for Members’ use, Members could help update the information and ease the workload of K&T DO’s staff.
175. Miss WONG Pit-man was of the opinion that Members would not use the noticeboards for personal publicity, but in fact, they only hoped that the public could obtain information from more channels. She said that despite technological advancement over the years, dissemination of information through traditional channels
55 Responsible Department was still very important for the elderly community.
176. Mr SIN Ho-fai further enquired about K&T DO’s response to making available village noticeboards. Also, he pointed out that reference could be made to LandsD’s practice of setting out guidelines to regulate the content on noticeboards.
177. Mr TAM Ka-chun, Warren further enquired about the management right of the rain shelters and noticeboards and under which funding item rain shelter stickers were made.
178. Mr CHEUNG Man-lung pointed out that it was really wasteful that Members were given posters printed by various departments from time to time but lacked publicity spots for putting them up. He opined that K&T DO could make reference to HD’s practice of loaning publicity spots to Members given its effectiveness.
179. Mr TSUI Hiu-kit put forth opinions as follows:
(i) He reiterated that publicity was harder in private housing estates than in village areas and K&T DO should assist in providing noticeboards near private housing estates.
(ii) No information about Members was allowed on K&T DO’s noticeboards in the past and any sudden change would lead the public to think that the content displayed was supported by K&T DO. He suggested changing the appearance of the noticeboards to avoid confusion among the public.
(iii) For the sake of fairness, he requested the number of noticeboards in each constituency to be the same.
180. Mr LEUNG Wing-kuen pointed out that rain shelter stickers should be funded by K&T DC and the information posted on the noticeboards primarily related to K&T DC, so handing the management right over to K&T DC should not be a big problem.
181. The Chairman put the motion to the vote. Of the Members who participated in the vote, there were 23 votes for, 4 votes against and 1 abstention. The motion was endorsed.
56 Responsible Department 182. The District Officer responded as follows:
(i) The rain shelters were built with the funding for DMWs and managed by K&T DO after completion. The cost of rain shelter decorations was paid under K&T DC’s funding item of “beautification of rain shelters”
(ii) K&T DC’s noticeboards were used for publicising information relating to K&T DC’s work and their content was updated by K&T DO.
183. The Chairman asked the Planning and District Facilities Management Committee to follow up on the issue concerned at its meetings.
Enquiries
184. The Chairman said that he received an enquiry before the meeting and approved a shorter notice in accordance with order 28 of the Kwai Tsing District Council Standing Orders (the Standing Orders) because it related to epidemic prevention work.
185. Mr LAM Siu-fai and Mr CHEUNG Man-lung said that there were a number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Kwai Tsing district but K&T DO had yet to provide any actual support. In this respect, they put forth enquiries as follows:
(i) What roles K&T DO took when an epidemic or a disaster happened, and whether HAD would be involved.
(ii) Whether K&T DO had a set of procedural arrangements in advance in its co-ordinating role/allocation of resources/co-ordination of local departments in response to epidemics or disasters.
(iii) When the second case was confirmed in Hong Mei House, K&T DO provided anti-epidemic packs to the affected residents:
(a) Whether it was K&T DO or HAD’s decision to distribute that batch of anti-epidemic packs.
(b) Before the second case was confirmed in Hong Mei House, some Members enquired about K&T DO’s provision of support in anti-epidemic supplies when there were confirmed cases of
57 Responsible Department COVID-19 in other areas of Kwai Tsing district but were told that there was no stock. When the Hong Mei House incident took place, however, there were suddenly anti-epidemic supplies for distribution. Where did the anti-epidemic packs in the incident come from? How was the stock discovered? In the end, how many were distributed, how many people benefited, and how many packs were left?
(c) Further to the above, it was obvious that not every confirmed case of COVID-19 in Kwai Tsing district received K&T DO’s support in anti-epidemic supplies. What were the actual criteria for handing out anti-epidemic supplies? How many confirmed cases should there be within how big an area to receive the above support?
186. The District Officer responded as follows:
(i) K&T DO would take on the co-ordinating and collaborating roles in the event of a disaster or major incident, such as:
(a) After super typhoon Mangkhut hit Hong Kong in 2019, K&T DO was responsible for gathering the demands of the community and referring them to the designated government departments for follow-up.
(b) In response to the serious traffic accident at Fanling Highway on 18 December 2019, as the bodies of some victims were sent to the Kwai Chung Public Mortuary, K&T DO immediately set up an inter-government departmental help desk there for assistance and public enquiries.
(ii) After the outbreak of COVID-19, he created mobile communication groups to maintain close contact with Members and members of the community (including chambers of commerce, local organisations and people who held financial resources). Tens of thousands of anti-epidemic supplies (including face masks, alcohol-based handrub and bleach) were successfully deployed for the public because of those groups. He had participated in the distributions of anti-epidemic
58 Responsible Department supplies several times and the locations included the constituency of the Member who raised the questions.
(iii) The Hong Mei House incident happened suddenly and it was immediately decided to evacuate residents of the units concerned after he had an inter-government departmental meeting with CHP in that evening. Since it was suspected that the virus was transmitted through pipes in the confirmed case in Hong Mei House and it smacked of the Amoy Gardens incident in 2003, residents of that block suffered from much greater panic than those of housing estates with isolated confirmed cases. Therefore, it was decided that anti-epidemic supplies should be urgently distributed to the residents living there for the purpose of consolidating residents’ confidence. K&T DO did not hand out anti-epidemic supplies to the residents there when the first case was confirmed in Hong Mei House.
(iv) He reported at the previous K&T DC meeting that K&T DO was purchasing anti-epidemic packs with the funding for the District-led Actions Scheme (DAS), but no anti-epidemic packs were procured at that time due to the large quantity. Nonetheless, K&T DO used other funding to purchase 1 000 anti-epidemic packs to be distributed for year-end clean-up event, 200 of which were given to the elderly who used the service of Hong Kong Alzheimer’s Disease Association and the remaining 800 happened to be just enough for Hong Mei House residents to meet their urgent needs. Hence, K&T DO’s staff put the anti-epidemic packs into residents’ mailboxes in person.
(v) K&T DO deployed resources in the district while striving to purchase anti-epidemic packs with DAS funding as soon as possible until each public housing unit could get one.
187. Mr CHEUNG Man-lung put forth opinions as follows:
(i) He thanked K&T DO for its efforts and was glad that some members of the community were willing to donate anti-epidemic supplies.
(ii) He suggested that K&T DO should notify Members of every distribution of anti-epidemic supplies for assistance in publicity work to reassure the public.
59 Responsible Department 188. The District Officer responded that K&T DO had deployed resources in the district for distribution of anti-epidemic supplies in all the constituencies with confirmed cases. Nevertheless, some donors of anti-epidemic supplies made specific requests, such as specifying target recipients and inviting specified persons to distribute them, while some even requested not to let Members know the donation and K&T DO must respect donors’ will. If anti-epidemic supplies were purchased by K&T DO, it would definitely discuss with Members the details of distribution.
189. The Chairman said that he knew that some commercial organisations wished to donate anti-epidemic supplies, and he would inform all Members when the details of distribution were confirmed.
Information Paper
Reports of the Kwai Tsing District Area Committees (Proposed by K&T DO) (K&T DC Paper No. 26/I/2020)
190. Members noted the paper.
Report Item
Reports of the K&T DC Committees (Proposed by the Secretariat of K&T DC) (K&T DC Paper No. 27/R/2020)
191. Members noted the paper.
Any Other Business
192. The Chairman received an extempore motion as follows: The Kwai Tsing District Council Strongly Requests that Restaurants at Cooked Food Centres Managed by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department Should Be Included in the Scope of the Anti-epidemic Fund. (Moved by Mr LEUNG Kwok-wah and seconded by Mr LEUNG Wing-kuen, Mr HON Chun-yin, Mr NG Kim-sing, the Hon. WAN Siu-kin, Andrew, Mr HUI Kei-cheung, Mr WONG Bing-kuen, Mr TONG Ho-man, Ms LAU Kwai-mui, Mr LAM Siu-fai and Mr LAU Chi-kit)
60 Responsible Department
193. The Chairman put the above extempore motion to the vote for acceptance. Members unanimously accepted the extempore motion for discussion.
194. Mr LEUNG Kwok-wah introduced the motion. He pointed out that there were few customers at Wo Yi Hop Road Cooked Food Market amid the epidemic but the cooked food stalls concerned were not included in the scope of the Anti-epidemic Fund because they did not any hold food business licences. He considered it rather unfair and urged FEHD to revise the relevant requirements.
195. Ms MAR Suk-fong replied that cooked food stalls at cooked food centres were market stalls and did not fall under any licence category. Under the continued implementation of last year’s relief measures for SMEs, market stalls managed by FEHD would continue to receive a 50% rent concession (air-conditioning charges not included) between 1 April and 30 September 2020.
196. Mr KWOK Tsz-kin enquired whether factory canteens/organisation canteens, which were exempted from holding a food business licence, were also not included in the scope of the Anti-epidemic Fund.
197. Ms MAR Suk-fong said that the Anti-epidemic Fund only subsidised food premises which held FEHD licences.
198. Miss LO Pui-yiu, Sapphire pointed out that since land leases of industrial buildings generally prohibited restaurant operation, if one intended to open a factory canteen/organisation canteen in an industrial building, one might have to apply for a “waiver letter to permit a canteen within an industrial building” from LandsD to exempt the land use restrictions in the lease provisions (no waiver fee for this waiver, free application), but one still needed to apply for a Factory Canteen Licence for the operation of food business from FEHD in accordance with the Food Business Regulation.
199. Mr LEUNG Kwok-wah requested FEHD to consider covering all types of food premises.
200. Mr LEUNG Wing-kuen opined that a grant of one-off subsidy would enable cooked food centres to use the money more flexibly and was of greater help than rent concession.
61 Responsible Department 201. The Chairman put the extempore motion to the vote. Of the Members who participated in the vote, there were 28 votes for, 0 vote against and 0 abstention. The extempore motion was endorsed.
(Post-meeting note: The Secretariat sent the written reply from FEHD to Members on 8 April 2020. Please refer to K&T DC Circulation (Information) Paper No. 17/2020 for details.)
202. Mr TAM Ka-chun, Warren enquired whether it was in compliance with the Standing Orders that some papers for this meeting were sent to Members only 1 day before the meeting.
203. The Secretary said that the Secretariat would send papers submitted by the relevant departments to Members right after receiving them and the Standing Orders only stated that the agenda of a meeting shall be issued to Members 5 clear working days before the meeting.
204. Mr TSUI Hiu-kit pointed out that KMB’s lost trip situation was very serious in recent months.
205. The Chairman told Members to follow up on the relevant issue at Traffic and Transport Committee meetings.
Date of Next Meeting
206. The next meeting was scheduled to be held on 12 May 2020 (Tuesday).
Kwai Tsing District Council Secretariat May 2020
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