Minutes of the 24 th Meeting of the HKSAR Third Term of Wong Tai Sin District Council (Summary Translation)
Date: 6 September 2011 (Tuesday) Time: 2:45 p.m. Venue: Conference Room, Wong Tai Sin District Council, 6/F, Lung Cheung Office Block, 138 Lung Cheung Road, Wong Tai Sin, Kowloon
Present:
Chairman:
Mr. LI Tak-hong, MH, JP
Vice-chairman:
Mr. WONG Kam-chi, MH, JP
Wong Tai Sin District Council Members:
Mr. CHAN Lee-shing Ms. CHAN Man-ki, Maggie Mr. CHAN On-tai Mr. CHAN Wai-kwan, Andie Mr. CHAN Yim-kwong, Joe Mr. CHOI Luk-sing, MH Mr. CHOW Ching-lam, Tony, MH Mr. CHUI Pak-tai Mr. HO Hon-man Mr. HO Yin-fai Mr. HUI Kam-shing Mr. KAN Chi-ho, BBS, MH Ms. KWOK Sau-ying Mr. LAI Wing-ho, Joe Mr. LAM Man-fai, JP Dr. LAU Chi-wang, James, BBS, JP
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 1 Mr. LEE Tat-yan, MH Mr. MOK Chung-fai, Rex, MH Mr. MOK Kin-wing Mr. MOK Ying-fan Dr. SHI Lop-tak, Allen, MH, JP Mr. SO Sik-kin Mr. TO Kwan-hang, Andrew Dr. WONG Kam-chiu, MH Mr. WONG Kwok-tung Mr. WONG Kwok-yan Mr. WONG Yat-yuk Mr. WU Chi-wai, MH Mr. YUEN Kwok-keung
In attendance:
Mr. CHEUK Wing-hing, JP Commissioner for Labour LD ) Re.: Item Miss Grace CHAN Wing-han Senior Labour Officer LD ) III(i) (Employment Services)(Operation) )
Mr. SUEN Kwai-leung Regional Commander (Kowloon East) HKPF ) Re.: Item Mr. LI Po-hung Police Community Relations Officer HKPF ) III(ii) (Wong Tai Sin) )
Ms. Jessica CHU Ha-fan Senior Town Planner/Kowloon 3 PlanD ) Re.: Item Mr. Anthony LO Kam-yan Chief Engineer/Kowloon 1 CEDD ) III(iii)
Mr. Anthony LO Kam-yan Chief Engineer/Kowloon 1 CEDD ) Re.: Item Mr. TONG Kin-shing Senior Engineer DSD ) III(iv) Mr. Richard SIU Yee-lin Senior Town Planner/Kowloon 4 PlanD )
Mr. Victor CHENG Pat-leung Secretary General (Ag.) HKEAA ) Re.: Item Mr. K. F. TAM Manager – Projects HKEAA ) III(v) Mr. Bernard V. LIM, JP Principal AD&RG ) Mr. C. H. YIP Senior Architect AD&RG ) Mr. Sunny CHAN Architectural Executive AD&RG ) Dr. LEE Kuan Hong Associate Director Scott Wilson Ltd ) Mr. Wallace P. M. CHAN Senior Engineer Scott Wilson Ltd ) Ms. Flemy YIP CExO(HKEAA) EDB ) Mr. CHOW Chun-wah Principal Assistant Secretary for THB ) Re.: Item Transport & Housing (Transport)7 ) III(vi) Mr. Samson LAM Sau-sang Assistant Secretary for Transport & THB ) Housing (Transport)7B ) Ms. Amy CHOW Pui-yue Senior Engineer / Shatin to Central HyD ) Link 1(Ag.) )
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 2 Mr. YIK Ming-sui Senior Co-ordination Engineer MTRCL ) Mr. NG Sui-yuen Design Manager–SCL(East-West)(Ag.) MTRCL ) Ms. CHAN Fong-ting Public Relations Manager – Projects MTRCL ) and Properties ) Mr. Richard SIU Yee-lin, Senior Town Planner PlanD )
Mr. SHIU Wai-chuen, William, JP District Officer (Wong Tai Sin) WTSDO Mr. David Michael GUNTON District Commander (Wong Tai Sin) HKPF Ms. Lily NG District Social Welfare Officer SWD (Wong Tai Sin/Sai Kung) Mr. Peter CHUI Si-kay Senior Engineer / 6 (Kowloon) CEDD Mr. HSU Kam-lung Senior Housing Manager/Wong Tai Sin HD Mr. Kelvin AU Senior Transport Officer /Wong Tai Sin TD Mr. WONG Wai-wan, MH District Environmental Hygiene FEHD Superintendent (Wong Tai Sin) Mr. George LAM Hok-hay District Leisure Manager LCSD (Wong Tai Sin) Mr. Freddy CHIK Yu-fai Assistant District Officer (Wong Tai Sin) WTSDO Mr. Patrick CHUNG Chan-yau Senior Executive Officer WTSDO (District Management) Mr. TING Tin-sang Senior Liaison Officer 1 WTSDO Ms. Phyllis PANG Suk-wah Senior Liaison Officer 2 WTSDO Mr. Nathan YAM Yiu-hung Executive Officer I (District Council) WTSDO
Secretary:
Ms. Maggie LAM Pui-fun Senior Executive Officer WTSDO (District Council)
Opening Remarks
The Chairman welcomed everyone to the 24th meeting of the Wong Tai Sin District Council (WTSDC), especially Commissioner for Labour Mr. CHEUK Wing- hing, JP and Senior Labour Officer (Employment Services)(Operation) Miss Grace CHAN who attended the meeting for agenda item III(i).
2. The Chairman welcomed Senior Engineer/6 (Kowloon) of Civil Engineering and Development Department (CEDD) Mr. Peter CHUI who stood in for Mr. Anthony LO; Senior Housing Manager/Wong Tai Sin of Housing Department Mr. HSU Kam- lung who stood in for Mrs. SUNG CHEUNG Mun-chi; and Senior Transport Officer/Wong Tai Sin of Transport Department (TD) Mr. Kelvin AU who stood in for Mr. FAN Yung-kuen.
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 3 3. The Chairman informed Members that the agenda had to be revised since representatives of Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) visited WTSDC. The revised agenda had been faxed to Members and tabled by the Secretary.
4. The Chairman advised Members that a suggested schedule for discussion for the 24th meeting was tabled. Members raised no objection to it.
I Confirmation of the Minutes of the 23 rd Meeting of the Wong Tai Sin District Council held on 5 July 2011
5. The minutes of the 23rd meeting of WTSDC held on 5 July 2011 were confirmed without amendment.
II Progress Report on Matters Arising from the 23 rd Meeting of the Wong Tai Sin District Council (WTSDC Paper 58/2011)
6. The Chairman informed Members that establishment of Working Group on Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Holistic Centre for Youth Development had been endorsed by circulation. The first Working Group meeting had been held on 15 August 2011. On 31 August 2011, Tung Wah Group of Hospitals had sent a letter to WTSDC on progress of the project.
7. Members noted the paper.
III(i) Commissioner for Labour’s Visit to the Wong Tai Sin District Council
8. The Chairman welcomed Commissioner for Labour Mr. CHEUK Wing- hing, JP and Senior Labour Officer (Employment Services)(Operation) Miss Grace CHAN to WTSDC, and invited Mr. CHEUK to introduce the department’s work.
9. Mr. CHEUK said he was glad to attend the WTSDC meeting in the capacity of Commissioner for Labour. He would like to take this opportunity to brief Members on the department’s major tasks as it had no standing representative in WTSDC.
(i) Job Placement Service and Measures
(a) Job placement service was a core business of Labour Department (LD), and the department had devoted a large amount of resources into this service. LD established 12 Job Centres, through which
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 4 information on employment and vacancies, career counselling service, etc. were provided free of charge. Job seekers in Wong Tai Sin might go to the Kowloon East Job Centre on 7/F, Stelux House; or other Job Centres;
(b) Job seekers might also use the Interactive Employment Services on the Web (iES) to obtain the latest information on vacancies. Those who had registered with a Job Centre or iES might gain access to job referral service via the hotline (2969 0888), instead of going to Job Centres in person. In addition, there were 19 “Job Explorer” touch-screen Vacancy Search Terminals in Wong Tai Sin. These terminals could be found at Kowloon East Job Centre and the office of Social Welfare Department (SWD) at Stelux House, as well as the SWD office and the Public Enquiry Service Centre of Wong Tai Sin District Office (WTSDO) at Lung Cheung Office Block;
(c) In July 2011 LD posted information on about 80 000 private sector job vacancies, an increase of 19% compared with the same period last year, viz. the department had handled about 4 000 vacancies per working day on average. In July 2011, LD had also assisted 15 000 job seekers to secure a job, an increase of 20% compared with the same period last year;
(d) LD organised large-scale job fairs in various districts. Seven large- scale job fairs had been held in the first seven months of 2011, offering more than 13 700 job vacancies of various trades to about 10 000 fair-goers. Kowloon East Job Centre had also arranged 57 recruitment days during January to July 2011, offering 3 600 vacancies to job seekers in the district; (e) LD had set up two Recruitment Centres at Revenue Tower in Wanchai to meet the eminent manpower needs of the catering and retailing industries. To speed up the recruitment process, the employers could interview job seekers in the Recruitment Centres; and
(f) Various programmes were provided to different age groups and different job seekers. These programmes included Youth Pre- employment Training Programme and Youth Work Experience & Training Scheme (YPTP&YWETS), Employment Programme for the Middle-aged, Work Orientation and Placement Scheme for the disabled, etc.
(ii) Curbing Illegal Employment
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 5 (a) To protect employment opportunities for local people, LD committed itself in the fight against illegal employment. During routine inspections, Labour Inspectors would check the employees’ identity documents according to the Immigration Ordinance. In 2010, the Labour Inspectors mounted 140,000 inspections; and more than 60 000 inspections in the first seven months of 2011. LD would also mount joint operations with other law enforcement departments. 217 and 113 joint operations had been taken in 2010 and the first seven months of 2011 respectively, resulting in the arrest of 438 and 202 illegal workers; and
(b) Through various channels, such as public transport and newspaper advertisements, leaflets, etc., LD reminded employers of the serious consequences of employing illegal workers from time to time.
(iii) Promoting Harmonious Labour Relations
Even though there had not been any serious labour disputes in recent years, LD would still give priority to assist employees involved in winding-up cases. In 2010, LD had handled about 20 500 cases of labour dispute and employment claim, with the majority of employment claims. With the recovery of local economy, the number of labour dispute and claim cases had dropped 16% in 2010 as compared with 2009. LD’s efforts had also been effective, with a high settlement rate at 73%. Despite the sound local economy, Hong Kong was still affected by other external economic factors, such as the economic problems in the United States, Euro debt crisis, etc. In this connection, LD would keep an eye on the market and strengthen its services in a timely manner, so as to assist people in need.
(iv)Statutory Minimum Wage (SMW)
(a) The Minimum Wage Ordinance (MWO) had come into force on 1 May 2011. As Statutory Minimum Wage (SMW) was new to Hong Kong, LD had carried out considerable publicity and preparatory work in this regard, including the setting up of a 24-hour hotline (2717 1771) to answer public enquiries on MWO. The hotline had answered about 26 000 enquiries in April and May 2011, about 7 000 in June, about 2 700 in July and 1 800 in August (as at 28 August). The downward trend reflected that employers, employees and the public were familiar with the new ordinance gradually;
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 6 (b) In case of labour dispute, one might seek assistance through the hotline, or use the consultation and settlement services available in the 10 offices established by LD’s Labour Relations Division. From 1 May to the end of August, LD had mounted more than 12 000 inspections relating to MWO. Apart from distributing leaflets on SMW to employers and employees, as well as explaining MWO, Labour Inspectors would also conduct spot check on the compliance of the ordinance. In May and July, LD had also held large-scale job fairs for low-income industries, such as catering and retailing, that were more likely to be affected by SMW;
(c) During the 12 000 inspections, LD had revealed 51 suspected cases where employees’ pay might be below the SMW requirements. Among these 51 cases, 42 had been revealed in the first two months after MWO had become effective, and only five and four in July and August respectively. After LD’s follow-up actions, most of the employees concerned were receiving a pay not below SMW; and
(d) Regarding the overall employment scene, the unemployment rate remained at 3.4-3.5% after SMW had become effective, and there was even a slight downward trend. With the labour market approaching full employment, it would be unlikely to have further drop in unemployment rate. On the contrary, the rate might even rebound, triggered by changes in external economic factors. Currently, LD was handling more than 10,000 vacant posts for the manpower-deprived catering and retailing industries. The local economy was generally good at the moment, but the situation in the coming months should depend on external economic factors.
(v) Work Incentive Transport Subsidy (WITS) Scheme
(a) LD would replace the existing Transport Support Scheme (TSS) with the new WITS Scheme in October. The scheme encouraged cross-district employment and the existing TSS only covered four remote districts, namely Islands, Tuen Mun, Yuen Long and North District. The new WITS Scheme would be open to residents of 18 districts, and cross-district employment was not one of the eligibility criteria. LD had started promoting the new scheme in mid-April and reminded potential applicants to keep proof of income or asset from April onwards. Moreover, same promotion activities would be launched soon; and
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 7 (b) The new scheme would be open to applications from October. Applicants might apply for subsidy for the previous six to 12 months dating back to April 2011. Applicants meeting the monthly income and asset limits and working no less than 72 hours per month might apply for full-rate subsidy of $600 per month, and those working less than 72 hours but at least 36 hours per month might apply for half-rate subsidy of $300 per month.
As a conclusion, Mr. CHEUK sought WTSDC’s support so that LD could continue its public services. He was pleased to answer Members’ questions.
(Mr. WONG Kwok-tung and Mr. Rex MOK, MH arrived at the meeting at 3:00 p.m.)
10. Dr. WONG Kam-chiu, MH said although the unemployment rate had dropped to 3.4% and the employment population had risen. The middle-aged people with low educational attainment and poor bargaining power had to take up low-wage jobs that required little skills, such as security guards or cleaning workers. Hence, he suggested assistance in employment be provided to them. Also, he appreciated LD’s efforts in providing employment assistance to young people, but commented that the department failed to support associate degree (AD) graduates adequately. Many AD graduates told him that it was difficult for them to find an ideal job. He suggested something be done to help these young people who were “stuck in the middle”.
11. Mr. CHUI Pak-tai said LD tended to take a tolerant attitude when handling labour disputes. Despite the good intention behind this approach, the department’s reluctance to prosecute employers involved in blatant breach of labour legislation would undermine the interest of employees. He commented that there was a huge difference of the bargaining powers between employees and employers, whereas most of the cases involved the latter’s breach of legislation. Hence, with LD’s tolerant attitude, the employers would not be prosecuted. “False self-employment” was a serious problem at present, and it was particularly common in the transport industry. As “false self- employees” would not be protected by insurance, their livelihood would be suffered if there was any mishap. This was an exploitation of these employees’ rights. He understood that employers might not be able to afford employee benefits, but the problem had to be faced squarely and solved, so that no more employees and their families would suffer in the future.
12. Mr. HO Yin-fai thanked Mr. CHEUK for visiting WTSDC and listening to Members’ comments. He opined that even though labour legislation as a whole was being perfected, certain unfairness could still be found in individual ordinances. A case
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 8 in point was holidays – why there was a difference between the numbers of labour holidays and general holidays, despite the fact that both of them were employees’ holidays. Hence, it had been suggested that both types of holidays be aligned so that all employees were entitled to the same number of holidays. Recently, the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (FTU) had suggested introduction of “paternity leave”, which was popular overseas. He remarked that as one of the family members, the father had to look after the family and the children when the wife was pregnant or hospitalised for delivery of a baby. Hence, the provision of “paternity leave” would enable him to look after the family and consequently improve his sense of belonging to his job. He considered that the above suggestions, among others, could enhance labour legislation. In addition, he was pleased to see that LD had carried out more than 10,000 inspections in respect of SMW. However, he was worried that such inspections were only ad hoc measures during the initial period and unscrupulous employers might still try to cut the wage in future. He hoped that inspections could be continued to ensure long-term effectiveness of the ordinance. Finally, he hoped that LD would maintain its professional services despite the enormous workload.
13. Mr. MOK Kin-wing welcomed Mr. CHEUK to come to WTSDC and listen to Members’ views. He opined that the WITS Scheme to be launched in October was inherited from TSS. The new scheme would provide subsidy to low-wage, low-skilled people in 18 districts, so as to encourage them to seek employment instead of relying on social welfare. He commented that intention of the new scheme was good, but the community thought otherwise. TTS was open to individuals only, whereas the WITS Scheme was household-based. Although the new scheme was formulated on the basis of community-wide discussions, it still suffered from certain administrative problems. For instance, since a household income limit was imposed, it was possible that low- wage parents were excluded from the scheme because their high-paid children had exceeded the prescribed household income limit, and the children had no intention to support their parents financially. Similar cases were also found in the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) Scheme, where children were required to sign a “Declaration of Not Providing Support to Parents” before their parents could get assistance. FTU suggested that low-wage people not entitled to the WITS Scheme be subsidised through the Community Care Fund (CCF), just like the means- tested/administrative-audited $6,000 subsidy provided to new arrivals. In addition, it was suggested that LD and CCF co-ordinated with each other and provided assistance to low-skilled and low-wage people who needed travel allowance. He emphasised that inflation was so high and travelling expenses corresponded to a large portion of certain people’s income, but they were excluded from WITS Scheme because the scheme was household-based.
14. Mr. LEE Tat-yan, MH thanked Mr. CHEUK for visiting WTSDC. In his own constituency in Rhythm Garden, he was often asked by young couples about the possible introduction of “paternity leave”. He shared Mr. HO Yin-fai’s view and agreed
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 9 that a husband might not be able to concentrate on his job as he had to look after the family after the wife’s delivery, thus the proposed introduction of “paternity leave” was in line with public expectation and should be considered as an improvement to the legislation concerned. In addition, he shared Mr. MOK Kin-wing’s view on the WITS Scheme and commented that people still misunderstood that the scheme was open to residents of remote areas such as the North District, Islands, the New Territories, etc. Therefore, he suggested publicity in different media be stepped up to promote the scheme as well as the application procedures. He also pointed out that some residents had asked whether they needed to keep receipts of travelling expenses and not to use Octopus card if they wanted to apply for WITS, showcasing the lack of publicity on the scheme. Finally, he commented that despite the current SMW of $28 per hour, inflation rate hit 16-year high, and many families had told him about their hardship. Also, he had reservation about Mr. CHEUK’s claim of “full employment”, and said some people had to lower their expected wage in order to secure a job. Hence he suggested SMW be reviewed as soon as possible, to bring substantial improvement to the livelihood of the grassroots.
(Ms. Maggie CHAN arrived at the meeting at 3:25 p.m.)
15. Mr. WONG Kwok-tung commended LD for its outstanding performance. He said the Labour Tribunal’s performance and its serious attitude exceeded his expectation. As a legal professional, he could not go to the Labour Tribunal, but the public’s comments had given him an impression that the tribunal excelled in perspectives of judgement, objectivity, efficiency, etc. Regarding complaints of illegal employment that he had received, Mr. WONG commented that illegal employment was a severe offence under labour legislation, and offenders were liable to imprisonment upon conviction. However, members of the public did not realise that merely checking the identity documents was not sufficient. LD staff would ask for other things during inspections, such as record of work experience, among the others. Therefore, he suggested the Government step up publicity and explain the requirements clearly. In addition, he discovered that even though employers would copy employees’ “Hong Kong Identity Card”, they did not realise the importance of the word “Permanent” on the identity card. In fact, not all holders of “Hong Kong Identity Card” could work in Hong Kong legally. Moreover, hotlines of Government departments concerned were so busy that people might not be able to obtain the information required – and many innocent people were then convicted. He suggested that Government step up publicity in this regard and let employers know the need to check potential employees’ job record, residential address, etc. It could be difficult for employers to verify identity of Southern Asian people who could speak Cantonese fluently, resulting in many prosecutions liable to a minimum of three-month imprisonment upon conviction.
16. Mr. WU Chi-wai, MH pointed out that the existing individual-based scheme would be replaced by the WITS Scheme, a household-based and means-tested scheme to
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 10 be launched in October. In this connection, he enquired how LD would define “household”, and whether an “honour system” would be adopted to allow applicants declare the number of household members they had. Moreover, given that the income limit for households of six or more was over $30,000, he enquired if anything would be done by LD to avoid abuse of the scheme. He commented that the WITS Scheme should be individual-based and open to all eligible person. Also, he and other Democrats, as well as supporters of “dual” travel allowance all hoped that LD would consider the above suggestion seriously. On the other hand, as the introduction of SMW had triggered a number of changes in the community, he believed that the legislation concerned would be subject to review in the coming year. He also said discussions on SMW had suggested that introduction of SMW would cause adverse effects, such as the recruitment problem of drivers in the transport industry, or the unwillingness of security guards and management staff of the security industry to get promotion. Therefore, he enquired if LD had taken any preparatory and supporting measures to facilitate the introduction of SMW, and would like to hear LD’s comments on the above adverse effects. He understood that such problems might merely economical ones. For instance, industries might solve their recruitment problems by a pay rise, but this might trigger an increase in travelling expenses. He enquired if LD had provided any support to help grass roots who suffered from “side effects” of SMW.
(Mr. CHAN Lee-shing left the meeting at 3:30 p.m.)
17. Mr. CHAN On-tai suggested self-occupied properties be waived from the means test in respect of the WITS Scheme. He pointed out that certain foreign domestic helpers had not mentioned about cancer in the health declaration made before they came to Hong Kong. However, they were diagnosed with cancer soon after arrival, and their poor employers had to pay for the medical expenses. He said if one did not disclose his/her cancer when procuring insurance, the insurance company might reject related claims if the insured was diagnosed with cancer within one year after procurement of insurance, since cancer was not an acute disease but a chronic health problem. Many residents had reflected the above problem to him. As it was unfair to employers if they were prosecuted for such incidents, he suggested a mechanism be established for employers to lodge an appeal. Moreover, the prevailing legislation provided that long service payment should be given to foreign domestic helpers who had provided a continuous service for five years or more. In this connection, he asked whether the payment could be waived by mutual agreement between the employers and the domestic helpers, to encourage continuation of sound employment relations. Finally, he suggested different identity documents be printed in different colours for easy identification by potential employers and medical professionals, as the identity cards of foreign domestic helpers and Hong Kong people were identical. He urged LD to liaise with departments concerned in this regard, for the avoidance of wrong accusation.
18. Mr. CHOI Luk-sing, MH said “Caring Employers” activities had been
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 11 launched four years ago to help rehabilitated people affected by SMW. No profit had been made during the first two years when preparatory and recruitment works were carried out with great difficulties. The organiser could barely manage to break-even in the third year when some major catering groups had started to recruit rehabilitated people. Unfortunately, activities last year had been a failure and no recruitment could be made. According to the organiser, some entities had used to recruit rehabilitated people with an hour rate of $16. Despite the need for extra guidance and assistance, as criticised by existing staff members, employers had still recruited rehabilitated people to support rehabilitation and to fulfil social responsibility. However, it was no longer cost- effective to pay $28 per hour to employ a rehabilitated person who required guidance and assistance. Hence, an employer who could hire 10 people could now hire only a fraction of it. In addition, parents of rehabilitated people reflected that they would rather let their children earn less and join the community again, so that they needed not to look after them at home. However, the rehabilitated people’s interest was undermined by the need to observe the SMW requirement. As such, Mr. CHOI suggested rehabilitated people be exempted from the SMW requirement, or Government subsidy be provided to make up the difference between the actual hourly rate and SMW, so as to benefit these people and to use public resources more fairly.
19. Mr. SO Sik-kin thanked Mr. CHEUK for visiting WTSDC. He commented that compared with other Government departments, LD had done relatively little publicity work in Wong Tai Sin. In addition, he found it rather difficult to seek assistance from LD on SMW or labour dispute, or to look for further information on SMW-related matters. Moreover, he had never seen any LD representative visiting housing estates that employed more than 100 people. Mr. SO said SMW was a big nuisance to owners’ corporations. Even though the wage of the majority of staff in his housing estate met the SMW requirement of $28 per hour, there were still a number of problems. For instance, since security guards and cleaning workers were paid at an hourly rate of $28, senior management staff, such as team leaders and vice team leaders asked for a pay rise. At present, it was difficult to hire security guards for an hourly rate less than $35, but the management fee could barely hike and such increase would be subject to residents’ resistance. On the other hand, while he shared some other Members’ views on “unscrupulous employers”, he had also seen many “unscrupulous employees”. A case in point was a staff member in his estate who had twisted his ankle at work. After the incident, three to four staff members in the estate applied for sick leave of six months or more using the same reason, despite the fact that they walked normally when they were not seeing a doctor, who would grant them a two-month or three-month sick leave. This problem had troubled the management. He commented that staff injured at work would be allowed to take leave, but he was worried that some employees would attempt to cheat management or OC members, and thus suggested LD formulate guidelines to protect the interests of both employees and employers.
20. In response to Members’ comments, Mr. CHEUK said:
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 12 (i) After SMW had come into effect, more aged or less educated people were attracted to the labour market by the increased salary. The employment rate remained stable, and even had an upward trend. In addition, alleged employment problems facing middle-aged and less educated people were not substantiated by the data. However, the Government would continue to monitor and assess the actual impacts of SMW;
(ii) YPTP&YWETS was designed to help young job seekers aged 15-24 with an education attainment of AD or lower levels;
(iii) More than 4,200 and almost 5,000 summonses had been issued to law- defying employers in 2009 and 2010 respectively. LD always acted as a moderator when handling labour disputes, but it would take prosecution actions when blatant breach of labour legislation was substantiated;
(iv) General holidays and statutory holidays involved different legislations enacted under different contexts. Legislation about general holidays defined closing dates of public bodies, Government departments, banks and educational institutions; while statutory holidays were dates that employees were not required to work. Thorough studies were required to make up the five-day difference – primarily about the Easter holidays - between the two types of holidays. He commented that aligning the numbers of statutory holidays with general holidays involved complex implications, including whether foreign domestic helpers were entitled to enjoy the new holidays. If so, their employers would be required to take up the housework on these holidays;
(v) LD had noted requirements of paternity leave proposed by different strata of the labour sector and started to study the same. As these proposals had significant socio-economical implications, careful and thorough study was required. It was anticipated that the study would be completed in a few months;
(vi) During discussion of the WITS Scheme by the LegCo Finance Committee, Members of different political parties or sectors had expressed different opinions towards the basis of the means tests. However, the Government needed to inject public funds to where they were most needed. He clarified that the means test of the WITS Scheme was household-based instead of family-based, whereas a household could be made up of more than one family. There were
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 13 primarily two types of households. One of them was core families comprising parents and unmarried children or unmarried siblings. By definition, married children and married sibling belonged to different core families, even though they lived under one roof, and thus they might submit separate WITS applications. Another type of household comprised people who lived together and shared living expenses;
(vii) Regarding possible provision of subsidy through CCF to people not entitled to the WITS Scheme, he understood that organisations concerned had put forth the suggestions to relevant bureaux;
(viii) LD had stepped up publicity programmes on the WITS Scheme, of which details would be announced next week the soonest. Applicants were not required to submit any receipts of travel expenses. Instead, they only needed to declare the form of transport to work, and the fare;
(ix) The Government had already disseminated the message of anti-illegal employment through posters, booklets, webpages, etc.;
(x) Regarding the difficulties in recruiting drivers or frontline security guards after SMW was in place, he said there was mobility in the labour market and such mobility was determined by market mechanism. For instance, a catering worker might seek to become a security guard for a better work environment. People with low skill and low education level who found it difficult to secure a job might consider attending training programmes. Currently, there were a number of training programmes with skills which were required by the society, so as to help them secure jobs;
(xi) He agreed that self-occupied properties should be excluded from the means test under the WITS Scheme;
(xii) LD would relay Members’ suggestion about printing different identity cards in different colours to departments concerned;
(xiii) At the legislative stage, the Government had given due consideration and carried out thorough consultation on mechanism required by the disabled people under SMW, and realised that some disabled people might have employment difficulties after the introduction of SMW. Therefore, a transitional arrangement was in place to allow disabled people to choose whether they would like to be employed for a wage not less than SMW after 1 May 2011, or continue their existing pay until a productivity assessment was conducted to determine their
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 14 minimum wages; and
(xiv) Before SMW was launched, viz. from December 2010 to April 2011, LD had written to resident organisations, including more than 10 000 OCs on three occasions, according to a list provided by HAD, to provide information on SMW and to invite them to briefing sessions on MWO. Industry-specific Reference Guidelines for property management industry and security services industry were also produced.
21. Quoting Mr. WONG Kwok-tung’s comment, viz. “not all holders of Hong Kong Identity Card could work in Hong Kong legally”, the Chairman enquired whether the confusion was due to lack of publicity.
22. Mr. CHEUK said departments concerned had produced booklets, posters and webpages to advise the public not to employ illegal workers and to inform them of the features of the identity cards.
23. Regarding the provision of Government subvention to make up the difference between the actual pay of a disabled person and SMW, as proposed by Mr. CHOI Luk-sing, MH, the Chairman enquired if LD would consider it accordingly.
24. Mr. CHEUK said there was no plan to subsidise disabled persons. He added that the transitional arrangement and the productivity assessment for persons with disabilities under MWO were drawn up by LD after thorough discussions with disabled people, parents’ groups and rehabilitation organisations. 25. Mr. MOK Kin-wing added that foreign domestic helpers’ right of abode in Hong Kong had become a heated topic of the community recently. As legal proceedings were in progress, it was undesirable for him to show his support or opposition on this occasion. He enquired whether LD had drawn up any plan to help foreign domestic helpers to seek jobs if they became permanent citizens of Hong Kong and were allowed to change jobs freely. In addition, he enquired if LD had assessed the impact of the above on low-skilled local workers and the local job market.
26. Mr. SO Sik-kin enquired if LD had formulated any policy concerning foreign domestic helpers who became permanent citizens of Hong Kong after residing in the territory for more than seven years. He also opined that LD should inform the public of such policy as soon as possible. He commented that lots of foreign domestic helpers had resided in Hong Kong for more than seven years, and was worried that they would affect the overall development of Hong Kong if they became permanent citizens.
27. Mr. CHUI Pak-tai reiterated that the problem of false self-employment was serious and many people were genuinely self-employed. Moreover, self-employment was problem-prone. He commented that the Government had not formulated any policy
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 15 concerning insurance or economic matters relating to self-employed people, irrespective of their self-employment genuine or not. As such matters might have adverse impacts on these people’s families as well as the community, he suggested the Government give holistic consideration to these matters.
28. Mr. CHAN On-tai urged LD to show samples of Hong Kong Permanent Identity Card and Hong Kong Identity Card on its webpage or publicity materials for potential employers’ reference, so that they would not breach the law inadvertently.
29. Mr. CHEUK’s response was summarised below:
(i) LD had already drawn up a contingency plan regarding the issue of foreign domestic helpers’ right of abode in Hong Kong. As legal proceedings were in progress, it was not appropriate to predict the outcome of the case at this stage;
(ii) The policy governing the granting of right of abode to foreign domestic helpers who had resided in Hong Kong for more than seven years fell under the jurisdiction of the Immigration Department, and this was the focus of the judicial review. The court would make a decision in this regard;
(iii) A study on self-employment had revealed that many people in Hong Kong were self-employed. If there was any employer-employee relationship between individual service provider and the service user, the employer should procure workmen’s compensation insurance and provide employment-related benefits. If an employer recruited staff by means of “false self-employment” and did not take up his responsibilities as an employer, he committed a crime. The court would only consider such cases with regard to task assignment, provision of tools, where the profit went, etc., instead of the nature of the agreement. If the employer was found recruiting staff by means of “false self-employment”, he should provide his staff with the welfare they deserved retrospectively, and might be convicted of the offence; and
(iv) LD had disseminated anti-illegal employment messages and features of different identity cards through posters, booklets, webpages, etc.
30. The Chairman thanked Mr. CHEUK and asked him and the LD representative to note and follow up Members’ advice.
(Mr. CHEUK Wing-hing, JP and Miss Grace CHAN left the meeting at this juncture.)
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 16 III(ii) Representative of Hong Kong Police Force’s Visit to the Wong Tai Sin District Council
31. The Chairman welcomed Regional Commander (Kowloon East) Mr. SUEN Kwai-leung, District Commander (Wong Tai Sin) Mr. David Michael GUNTON and Police Community Relations Officer (Wong Tai Sin) Mr. LI Po-hung of Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) to WTSDC.
32. Mr. SUEN Kwai-leung said he was glad to attend the WTSDC meeting on behalf of Commissioner of Police. He thanked WTSDC for its support and assistance to HKPF all along, especially in fight crime programmes such as the “Healthy Teens in Wong Tai Sin” held on 9 July 2011 – an activity intended to encourage teenagers to participate in healthy events and stay away from drugs. He then reported the crime situation of the territory in the first seven months of 2011. Highlights were as follows:
(i) Overall Crime Situation in 2011
There were 43 793 crime cases in the first seven months of 2011, down 279 (0.6%) from 44 702 cases in the same period last year. The overall law and order in Hong Kong remained stable. In the first seven months of 2011, 7 551 cases of violent crime was recorded, down 490 (6.1%) when compared with the same period last year. Most categories of crimes recorded a fall, of these the most noteworthy were wounding and serious assaults (down 262), missing motor vehicles (down 135) and serious narcotics offences (down 82). Some of the categories that showed significant rises were deception (up 515), criminal damage (up 84) and pickpocketing (up 38).
(ii) Crimes of Police Concern
(a) Juvenile Crimes
The number of young persons arrested for criminal cases had dropped continuously. 4 577 young persons (20.7% of total arrests) had been arrested during the first seven months of 2011, down 263 (5.4%) when compared with the same period last year. The crimes committed by them were mainly shop theft, wounding, serious assault and serious narcotics offences, showcasing that HKPF’s efforts in preventing and fighting juvenile crimes had been effective. HKPF would continue its publicity, educational
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 17 and enforcement efforts against juvenile crimes. As juvenile crimes was a complicated social issue that required concerted efforts of departments and professional bodies, in particular their support in publicity, education, rehabilitation and counselling, HKPF urged DCs and other stakeholders, including SWD, Education Bureau (EDB), schools, parents, and voluntary agencies specialised in youth matters to continue to join hands and curb juvenile crimes.
(b) Narcotics Offences
A total of 1 228 serious narcotics offences had been recorded in the first seven months of 2011, down 82 (6.3%) from 1,310 in the same period last year. 1 673 persons had been arrested for such offences, representing a down 84 (4.8%) when compared with the same period last year. Among the arrested, 428 were young people, down 57 (11.9%) when compared with last year. Despite the drop in the number of narcotics cases in the seven months in question, the number of serious narcotics cases involving cocaine and “ice” had risen slightly. A report published by ACAN’s Central Registry of Drug Abuse revealed that young people usually took drug at home or at public leisure venues. In this connection, HKPF, LCSD and property/venue management should liaise closely with each other and patrol public leisure venues frequently to observe the drug-taking young people. Through cross- professional and cross-departmental collaboration HKPF would continue to tackle drug problems by means of enforcement, forfeiture of drug-traffickers’ profit, increased penalty, preventive education and publicity.
During the summer vacation, young people might spend more time on web-surfing, hanging out and seeking summer jobs. Hence, they would become preys of unlawful elements easily, or be made used by them to commit crimes. To tackle such crimes, including employment-related fraud, drug offences, etc., HKPF would step up publicity, intelligent collection and enforcement efforts, as well as cross-organisation collaboration.
(c) Fraud Cases
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 18 HKPF had received a total of 3,433 reports of fraud in the first seven months of 2011, up 515 (17.6%) when compared with the same period last year. Categories of fraud cases that showed a more significant rise included “telephone deception” and “internet commercial scam”, up 170 and 114 respectively. In the first seven months of 2011, HKPF had received 981 reports of telephone reception. Despite the hefty rise of 170 (21%) from 811 in the same period of last year, the number of telephone deception cases had seen a considerable drop of 35.8% from 1,529 during the period between June and December 2010. The drop in number was mainly due to HKPF’s stepped up efforts in publicising the scam “guess who I am”, and the cracking down of a syndicate concerned by Mainland police early this year. In addition, HKPF had also formed a task group to coordinate investigations on telephone deception cases. In the first seven months of 2011, 14 persons, including 10 Mainlanders and three Taiwanese involved in 13 telephone deception cases had been arrested. HKPF would continue to co-operate with other Government departments, public/private bodies and Mainland police on publicity of fraud prevention. In the first seven months, HKPF had received 463 reports of “internet commercial scam”, up 114 (32.7%) from 349 in the same period last year. Among these reports, 337 were about online auction and shopping. To tackle crimes relating to online auctions more effectively and professionally, HKPF had formed a task group to investigate online auction scam, and took a number of enforcement actions from January 2010 to July 2011, leading to detection of 228 cases and 52 arrests. As swindlers would request the preys to mail goods aboard, HKPF had liaised with Hongkong Post and major couriers in town and established a mechanism for effective tracking and interception of swindled goods, in order to minimise victims’ loss. 10 cases with swindled goods had been successfully recovered through the mechanism.
(iii) HKPF’s Operational Priorities
Workload of HKPF had not been lightened despite the drop in local crime rate. In the first seven months of 2011, HKPF had received 1 200 000 “999” calls, including 53 000 calls seeking
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 19 emergency assistance, 581 000 about criminal or non-criminal offences (up 5%), 3 933 about public events (up 32%), and 8 521 about traffic accidents. To maintain law and order, HKPF should be professional and supported by the public. In January 2011, the Commission of Police had set out six operational priorities. To this end, HKPF had achieved the following in the past six months:
(a) Violent Crime
Number of violent crime cases in general had dropped by 6.4%. Among these cases, wounding and serious assaults had dropped 6.6%.
(b) Triads, Syndicated and Organised Crime
HKPF had taken a number of undercover operations in the first six months of 2011, and the number of arrests related to triad offences had risen 14.7%. As more than half of these cases involved young people, HKPF would continue to keep an eye on triad societies’ recruitment of young members. (c) Dangerous Drugs
In the first six months of 2011, there had been 6.5% fewer cases of serious narcotics offences, among which cases of drug trafficking had decreased by as many as 14.1%. Also, the dangerous drug seized by HKPF had increased significantly. The above figures showcased HKPF’s devotion in tackling drug offences, in particular interception of local and overseas drug sources.
(d) Quick Cash Crime
There had been 2.4% more cases of quick cash crime in the first six months of 2011. HKPF would continue to step up collection of intelligence on which operations were based. To alert the public of the crime, more educational and publicity efforts would be made. In addition, strategic deployment would be made for patrolling blackspots of such crime.
(e) Public Safety and Road Safety
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 20 Road safety had improved slightly in the first six months of 2011. There had been 1% less traffic accidents, and related casualties had dropped 4% as well. HKPF would continue to take traffic enforcement actions flexibly and professionally, and protect road users from hazards associated with drink driving, drug driving, speeding and illegal road racing.
(f) Terrorism
HKPF would continue to guard against terrorist attacks. In 2009, the Force had established a Counter Terrorism Response Unit to protect critical infrastructures in Hong Kong. It was also anticipated that operation of the Critical Infrastructure Security Co-ordination Centre would begin by the end of this year. The Co-ordination Centre mainly tasked to establish a liaison mechanism with stakeholders of the infrastructures and conduct risk assessments, thereby enhancing the stakeholders’ counter-terrorism capability and protecting the infrastructures. HKPF would continue with its quality service orientation and strike for excellence. It would maintain high visibility policing for robust and immediate emergency and tactical response. He invited WTSDC and the public to work with the Force, so that Hong Kong could be one of the safest and most stable societies in the world.
(Mr. WONG Yat-yuk left the meeting at 4:10 p.m.)
33. Mr. CHAN On-tai was impressed by the excellent work of HKPF. He hoped that the Force could tackle illegal racing at Lung Cheung Road, as residents of Tin Ma Court, Tin Wang Court and Wang Tau Hom had been suffering for many years, especially during small hours of weekends. Once he drove near Wing Kwong College at Lung Cheung Road, and saw some cars driving very fast – possibly over 180km/h. This could be a hazard to other road users. He suggested HKPF impose severe punishment on those involved in illegal road racing, and introduce a registration system for modified vehicles, in a bid to deter illegal road racing in a multifaceted manner. He also appreciated the work of HKPF in Wong Tai Sin District, and once again requested the Force to curb the problem of illegal road racing at Lung Cheung Road.
34. Mr. SO Sik-kin thanked Mr. SUEN Kwai-leung for visiting Wong Tai Sin. With HKPF’s unfailing efforts, Hong Kong’s crime rate had been dropping gradually. He was glad to see that, and encouraged HKPF to continue the good work. Affected by the exaggerating plots in TV series, rebellious young people challenged the Police as a
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 21 heroic act. He supported stringent enforcement actions by the Police, and suggested the department step up educational efforts to guide young people to be law-abiding. He did not accept to obstruct a police officer in the execution of his duty, and commented that HKPF should take stringent enforcement actions. He also noticed that breaching of law was not uncommon in major housing estates. For instance, some people liked to park their car illegally at Tsui Chuk Garden. Even though the estate management office locked these cars, the drivers just drove the cars away, and commit legal parking again and again. Despite the fact that adequate evidence was collected by the estate management office, the Police would only verbally advise the offenders. On the other hand, more than a decade ago an offender of illegal parking was sentenced a fine of $2,000 with criminal record. While the two cases were identical in nature, the enforcement measures were different. Traffic in private estates was also problematic. For instance, some drivers liked to accelerate and take over on roads marked with double white lines, but the Police did not enforce against such an extremely dangerous behaviour.
35. Mr. HUI Kam-shing commented on the abuse of power conferred to the Police, as well as security matters of the district. He believed that abuse of police power was unlikely in the Kowloon East Region. The increasing number of public events was putting extra workload and pressure on police officers who were deployed to maintain order during petitions and parades. Recently, many people commented that the Police was tightening the enforcement against matters related to public order, parades and protests. In this connection, he reminded the Police to handle such matters tactfully. HKPF was so professional that most members of the public would expect it to endeavour to facilitate public gatherings, instead of meeting protestors with violence intentionally. Hence, he urged Mr. SUEN to maintain the good image of HKPF. In a recent burglary case in Chuk Yuen South Estate, the burglar had pretended that he was the occupier and asked the locksmith to open the door, so that he could enter the flat and got the properties. In this connection, he asked whether HKPF had any mechanism to regulate locksmiths, such as requesting them to verify clients’ identities before they provided service, so as to protect the interest of flat occupiers.
36. Mr. CHUI Pak-tai praised the HKPF for its crime fighting achievements, but commented that it should improve the handling of petitions. During Vice Premier of the State Council Mr. LI Keqiang’s visit to Hong Kong last month, the Police had imposed various restrictions to petitioners, a case in point was the way it had treated the resident of Laguna City, as well as the unlawful detention of a few Hong Kong University students. The entire community, especially the academic sector, was shocked. As a frequent petitioner, he thought that the Police had been excessively tough to protestors, not to mention the reprisal afterwards. Even if members of the public participated in
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 22 parades peacefully, the Police would still try to impose restrictions on them brutally and by means of threatening, such as video-taping the activities. Hong Kong enjoyed the freedom of parade and protest – this was a very important value. If the Government intended to make use of the Police to impose restrictions on such activities, it would lead to deterioration of the relation between petitioners and the Police. The Police should be responsible for loss of control. If the Police handled the petitioners harsher, the relation between petitioners and the Police would be worse. Hong Kong was proud of its freedom of parade and protest, but the Police did not agree. This would affect Hong Kong’s image of rule of law and was against the culture of Hong Kong. It would threaten freedom of speech.
37. Dr. Allen SHI, MH, JP thanked Mr. SUEN Kwai-leung for visiting WTSDC and his encouraging performance report. He incited the Police to keep up its good work. Also, he thanked HKPF for its public services over the years. As this was the last meeting of the current term of DC, he took the opportunity to thank District Commander. HKPF was a professional force which had a good track record of striking a balance between maintaining order and allowing protestors to voice their opinion. He hoped that the Police would stick to this fine tradition and guarantee people’s freedom of speech. 38. Mr. Andie CHAN thanked Mr. SUEN Kwai-leung for visiting WTSDC. He praised HKPF for its professional services, including intelligence collection, manpower deployment, etc., which had made Hong Kong one of the safest cities in the world. The good law and order in Hong Kong offers peace of mind to foreign visitors. This was an intangible economic asset. Although some of the ways in handling parades was not perfect, the media tended not to mention facts such as police officers injured by mill barriers or how they endeavoured to maintain order. In addition, these media would not publicise in detail, nor analyse the reasons why participants of parades confronted police officers with violence. He felt sad whenever he saw police officers facing violent confrontation. When a police office discharged his duties, he had to ensure the safety of passers-by and protestors and, at the same time, to maintain order as far as possible. His endeavour, however, was rewarded in wide criticism. This was unfair to the Police.
39. Mr. HO Hon-man agreed that HKPF had done a very good job in fighting crime, and he even joined WTSDC Chairman LI Tak-hong, MH, JP and Mr. YUEN Kwok-keung to visit District Commander (Wong Tai Sin) and showed their appreciation to the Police’s crime fighting efforts. A couple of years ago police officers had exercised discretion when handling traffic offences because of the unsatisfactory economic condition, but some drivers just took it for granted. At present, the problem of illegal parking at clearways between San Po Kong and Kwun Tong was serious, causing traffic congestion frequently. Hence, he suggested the Police step up its enforcement efforts against illegal parking at clearways. In addition, he had received complaints lodged by a number of people, saying that few drivers would stop and let pedestrians cross the road at zebra crossings near Tai Shing Street Market and the vicinity of Tsz Wan Shan.
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 23 Therefore, he requested the Police to patrol these areas frequently. There were more and more enthusiasts of cycling, and he rode bicycle at night rather frequently. In consideration of the fact that there was a bicycle accident every two nights in the past week, he suggested the Police put more efforts in urging cyclists to observe road legislations. In addition to risks caused by illegal road racing, as mentioned by Mr. CHAN On-tai, illegally modified vehicles were also hazardous, and created noise as well. As a Kwun Tong resident who used to live in Wang Tau Hom, he always suffered from noise emanated from illegally modified vehicles. However, no police officer would stop these vehicles and demand an inspection. For the sake of public safety, he hoped that the Police would step up prosecution against illegal modification of vehicles.
40. Mr. SUEN Kwai-leung thanked Members for their support to the work of HKPF, and commented that the department would treat this as a treasured encouragement. His response to Members’ questions and suggestions were as follows:
(i) Illegal Road Racing
Road safety was one of HKPF’s operational priorities in 2011. HKPF actively dealt with illegal road racing, in particular black spots of the problem like Lung Cheung Road. As the Regional Commander (Kowloon East), he undertook to follow up the problem of illegal road racing in the district for improved prevention and detection of the same.
(ii) Traffic Law Enforcement
It was HKPF’s policy to enforce traffic law flexibly, i.e. frontline police officers might exercise discretion when handling traffic offences. However, any traffic offence that might directly affect road safety or cause severe obstruction would face tough actions by the officers.
Road accidents involving bicycles saw an upward trend in 2011. To increase public awareness of cycling safety, HKPF’s Traffic Branch Headquarters would launch a series of events in this regard.
Mr. David GUNTON would follow up the problem of illegal parking at Tsui Chuk Garden, as well as vehicle security matters in private housing estates.
(iii) Police Challenged by Young People
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 24 Despite young people’s challenge, HKPF would maintain law and order in a professional manner. On youth education and publicity, HKPF had already organised a number of activities jointly with community groups, District Councils, Fight Crime Committee, etc.
(iv) Handling of Parades and Protests
HKPF handled parades and protests according to an established practice, which had not been tightened in the past few years or recently. The public treasured Hong Kong as a free and civilised community. The Government fully respected people’s freedom of speech, as well as their right to parade and protest. As such, the Police would take appropriate and balanced actions in parade and protest in a peaceful, safe and orderly manner, and to minimise inconvenience caused to other people. To this end, the Police would conduct a thorough evaluation of every parade and protest, and make necessary arrangements according to factors such as number of participants, venue, nature, etc.
(v) Security Measures Taken During the Visit of Vice Premier of the State Council
Commissioner of Police had attended a meeting of LegCo Panel on Security last Monday, and would attend another meeting of the Panel next Monday, to provide further information on the security measures taken by the Police during the visit of Vice Premier of the State Council.
He once again thanked all WTSDC Members and community leaders for their support and encouragement to HKPF, which would continue to endeavour to improve its work.
(Mr. Andrew TO left the meeting at 4:40 p.m.)
41. Mr. CHUI Pak-tai added that the worsening relation between petitioner and Police had caused a negative impact on Hong Kong. He urged the Police to relax restrictions and suppression against protestors. Suppression or reprisal of any kind would only worsen the mutual relation, and people who protested in a peaceful manner would not tolerate it if the Police handle their actions this way. At present, the society, including the cultural sector, were dissatisfied with the way Police handled petitions. Such malpractice could hurt the reputation of Hong Kong as an international city. The Government should treasure the freedom and mutual respect enjoyed by the society.
42. The Chairman thanked Regional Commander (Kowloon East) Mr. SUEN
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 25 Kwai-leung and District Commander (Wong Tai Sin) Mr. David Michael GUNTON for following up and noting Members’ advice.
(Mr. SUEN Kwai-leung and Mr. LI Po-hung left the meeting at this juncture.)
III(iii) Amendments to the Approved Kai Tak Outline Zoning Plan No. S/K22/2 (WTSDC Paper 59/2011)
43. The Chairman welcomed Chief Engineer of Civil Engineering and Development Department (CEDD) Mr. Anthony LO, and Senior Town Planner of PlanD Ms. Jessica CHU to the WTSDC meeting. He drew Members’ attention to a submission from a resident of The Latitude received before the meeting, and invited Ms. Jessica CHU to introduce the paper.
44. Ms. Jessica CHU made a PowerPoint presentation on the paper. On 17 May 2011, PlanD and CEDD had consulted WTSDC on “Kai Tak Development – Urban Design Enhancement”. After consulting other organisations on the same subject, the amendment items concerned had been submitted to Town Planning Board (TPB) for consideration on 5 August 2011 and, upon it’s endorsement, gazetted on 26 August 2011. The gazettal was followed by a two-month public inspection period ending on 26 October 2011, in accordance with section 5 of Town Planning Ordinance. The major amendment items were set out below:
(i) Kai Tak City Centre
(a) Preservation or Lung Tsun Stone Bridge Remnants
Having consulted the public on preservation of Lung Tsun Stone Bridge, sense of space of the Lung Tsun Stone Bridge Preservation Corridor (Preservation Corridor) and optimisation of town planning, the Government suggested the Preservation Corridor be widened to 30m to provide adequate space for facilities and activities. In addition, the widening might also make it easier for the public to view the remnants. On the other hand, the two adjoining land parcels would also be rezoned as “Open Space (3)” to facilitate master planning necessary for the preservation of the remnants.
Provision of the Preservation Corridor also necessitated rezoning of land in its peripheral. To tie in with development of the Preservation Corridor, it was suggested that three sites abutting it be rezoned as “Comprehensive Development
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 26 Area” (CDA), and a planning brief be drafted to set out detailed development parameters and design specifications. Any developer who intended to develop these three sites should make a planning application, which would be subject to scrutiny of DC Members and the public.
Regarding development of the three sites adjacent to the Preservation Corridor, the plot ratios and building height restrictions for CDA(4) and CDA(5) would be the same as those set out on the approved outline zoning plan; whereas CDA(3) would be rezoned from “commercial / residential” to “commercial” to stimulate development of the area. To ensure that people could enjoy the view of the Lion Rock, plot ratio for CDA(3) would be lowered from 4.5/5 to 4, and the building height restriction of the area’s southern portion would be lowered from 110/45 mPD to 70/13 mPD.
To match the setting of the Preservation Corridor, CDA(3) would be zoned for low-density commercial development to create a sense of openness, leading to a reduction in residential floor area. Therefore, more residential floor area should be provided at the other side of Kai Tak City, and the ratio of residential to non-residential developments should be adjusted too. However, the overall plot ratio would remain at 7, and building height profile would also remain unchanged.
In the past consultation exercises, the public had opined that development of Lung Tsun Stone Bridge and its peripheral area should not be ignored, and the majority of them hoped that the Preservation Corridor could link up with Kowloon Walled City Park direct. In this connection, a subway was proposed to connect the Preservation Corridor and Shek Ku Lung Road Playground, which would provide surface access to Kowloon Walled City Park. Another subway across Prince Edward Road East (PERE) along Kai Tak River was also proposed. The Government would carry out a consultation exercise on the package development of Kai Tak River in due course. Counting in the two subways, as well as the elevated walkway across PERE set out on the original outline zoning plan, there would be three connection points within a distance of 300m. Hence the Government suggested the PERE portion of the elevated walkway be curtailed and
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 27 replaced by the two subways, with the retention of the curvilinear portion as a focal point of the city and a landmark of the commercial area.
In addition, the Government knew that some industrial buildings in San Po Kong were currently used by art groups or artists as studios, drama performance venues, design houses, etc. As such, it was suggested that the site in question be rezoned from “Commercial” to “Other Specified Uses” annotated “Arts and Performance Related Uses”. Moreover, building height restriction for the site would be lowered from 60mPD to 15mPD to dovetail with the elevated walkway, and the plot ratio decreased from 3.5 to a gross floor area (GFA) of 11 600 m2. The site would be used to provide a major platform on which the general public could enjoy outdoor performances staged by artists, schools and other organisations. The reduction in GFA would result in corresponding reduction in non-residential area in Kai Tak City. To maintain Kai Tak City’s role as a commercial area, it was suggested the size of non-residential area (for commercial and office uses) be remained unchanged, and the said reduction in GFA be offset in CDA(2). Also, twin towers would be built on CDA(1) and CDA(2), for which the plot ratios were both 8. There were two building height restrictions, viz. 40mPD and 175mPD respectively. While the plot ratio for CDA(1) would drop from 9.5 to 8, that for CDA(2) would increase from 4.5 to 8. The Kai Tak Nullah in Kai Tak Development Area (KTDA) would be improved and become Kai Tak River, which would form a gateway with the twin towers and the landmark structure of a rounded landscaped elevated walkway;
(b) Realignment of the Underground Shopping Street (USS)
Noting that the public wished the USS could serve as a link between Kowloon City and Kai Tak, the department suggested the alignment of USS be amended. To build a continuous USS, it was suggested the USS be realigned to run outside the planned commercial sites, or along the site/subzone boundaries;
(c) Cluster of Government Offices
In response to the public’s request for provision of additional
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 28 Government services in KTDA, the Kai Tak Government Offices (KTGO) would be built for completion in 2014, and part of the Wanchai Tower would be reprovisioned at two sites adjacent to KTGO. Moreover, 2.8 hectares of land in San Po Kong had been earmarked for building a Government office cluster;
(ii) South Apron
It was suggested the carriageway at the South Apron area be moved from the waterfront to the centre of the runway, and widened from 15m to 20m.
In addition, after thorough study by CEDD, it was suggested that design of the road network be amended. There would be fewer flyovers in the new design, and a number of amenity areas would be merged and rezoned as “Government, Institution and Community (GIC) facilities”. To improve pedestrian connection, the planned landscaped walkway would be realigned, and three elevated walkways joining Kowloon Bay would be added;
(iii) Runway
(a) Enhancement of Accessibility to the Waterfront
It was suggested the road and the Landscaped Deck Above (LDA) at the waterfront be moved to the Central Boulevard; and boundary adjustment be made to the adjacent land plots accordingly. The width of the northern promenade and southern promenade would become 35m and 25m respectively;
(b) Tourist Node
The Cruise Terminal at the end of the runway would be completed in 2013, with the GFA reduced from 50 000 m2 to 10 600 m2. The remaining 39 400 m2 would be transferred to the Tourist Node, so that the overall GFA could remain unchanged. A 45m wide building setback within the Tourism Node from the Cruise Terminal would be required to maintain a continuous vista extending from the Central Boulevard;
(iv) Other Refinements
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 29 (a) Designation of Non-building Areas
To enhance ventilation, visual permeability and urban design, new non-building areas would be designated at the Ma Tau Kok waterfront and north of the stadium zoned as “Commercial”, CDA(2) and “Arts and Performance Related Uses”.
To enhance the design of Kai Tak Square, it was suggested non-building areas be introduced for the delineation of buildings, and the building height restriction of three storeys imposed to the area along the pedestrian zone be relaxed.
In addition, an LDA would be provided at the Central Boulevard. To provide a greater view angle, it was suggested the LDA be flanked by non-building areas, which would increase the distance between buildings; and
(b) Other major refinements included realignment of roads, elevated walkways and LDA, as well as other technical amendments to the explanatory notes of the outline zoning plan.
(Mr. MOK Ying-fan left the meeting at 4:50 p.m., and Mr. Joe CHAN arrived at the meeting at 4:55 p.m.)
45. The Chairman said a written submission from Professor CHENG Ping-hung, Ms. CHAN Yuen-han, Mr. LAM Man-fai, JP and Mr. LI Tak-hong, MH, JP of the Community Alliance on Kai Tak Development (CAKTD) (Annex I) had been received before the meeting. He then invited Mr. LAM Man-fai to introduce the submission.
46. Mr. LAM Man-fai, JP introduced the submission (Annex I), and said he was impressed by the proposed widening of the Preservation Corridor, and development of the Lung Tsun Stone Bridge remnants and Kai Tak River into a cultural-tourist attraction. He put forward the following comments:
(i) Ventilation Problem Caused by the Twin Towers
The 175mPD twin-tower gateway was exceedingly tall and thus CAKTD was worried about possible “screen effect” caused by poor ventilation. Currently the five buildings of The Latitude had caused ventilation problem in San Po Kong, which depend solely on Kai Tak River for the supply of fresh air. CAKTD was worried that construction of the twin towers would intensify the ventilation problem in San Po Kong, Tung Tau Estate and Wong Tai Sin.
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 30 Wong Tai Sin was the hottest place among the 18 districts, and the temperature was 37°C last week. It was worrisome that the twin towers might block the only ventilation opening and even the ridgeline of the Lion Rock. People would no longer be able to see the Lion Rock from Kai Tak River. According to the original design, buildings in the area would be arranged in a stepped height manner, with the lowest ones near the shore. However, the opposite was set out in the current design, viz. the highest buildings would be located near the shore, and the lower ones near the Lion Rock. As the twin towers would be taller than The Latitude, and The Latitude was taller than Yue Xiu Plaza, ventilation would be affected;
(ii) Improvement to USS
The layout of USS was unidirectional. According to the proposed design of “Underground City” submitted to the Government, USS was not a single street but there was an underground network connecting a number of buildings. Similar design could be found in certain Japanese cities, where basement malls of various buildings were linked up by underground streets.
To improve connectivity, it was also suggested the two pedestrian subways connecting Lee Kau Yan Memorial School and Shek Ku Lung Road Playground with KTDA be linked up with USS. In this connection, Lee Kau Yan Memorial School and the petrol station should be relocated to facilitate widening of the subway entrance and to improve accessibility to the underground street, so that a genuine underground shopping city could be developed;
(iii) Deep Green Urban Design
It was suggested more green and smoke-free means of transportation be provided. As no final design for the monorail system had been set out in the amended outline zoning plan, and the proposed green coverage was only 30%, CAKTD suggested more vertical and rooftop greening be provided to increase the green coverage to more than 50%, so that the city would have “less concrete, more trees”.
Instead of building a road network at the estuary of the Kai Tak River, the Government should learn from the Pearl Delta and turn the area into a natural habitat by planting trees or building a wetland park. Moreover, cycling network should be provided to connect the estuary with San Po Kong, Kowloon City and Wong Tai Sin; and
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 31 (iv) Planning of Residential Area
According to the current design, living density in the residential area would be a random mix because the Government kept on amending land uses and needed to change the development intensity of adjacent sites to complement the amendments. The low-to-high arrangement of buildings from the shore had become something of the past, as tall buildings would be built along Kai Tak River. Therefore, the Government was urged to design strategically, instead of casually.
47. Mr. MOK Kin-wing said WTSDC had long been discussing with Head of Kai Tak Office, PlanD and CEDD, in a bid to maximise planning and development effectiveness concerning KTDA. While Mr. MOK welcomed most of the amendments, he was particularly interested in the progress of construction of pedestrian subway D1, of which ground investigation works had been completed. The subway would be a link between Choi Hung Estate and the upcoming public housing estate in KTDA. The two primary schools in Choi Hung Estate would be merged together and relocated to the public housing estate in KTDA. Therefore, if the pedestrian subway could not be completed before the new school commissioned, it was undesirable that students would need to take indirect routes or walk on carriageways. As construction works of the new campus had been started but the subway was still under planning, he would like know the progress concerned. In addition, he suggested elevators be installed at the subway. On the other hand, a deck-free design was adopted for the development of Kai Tak River, but the sea outlet of the river was covered by carriageway. As the design was incomplete and ugly, he suggested the river be separated from the carriageway, or the carriageway be moved under the river, so that the entire Kai Tai River could remain deck-free. Moreover, he enquired if the Government had considered installing tourist facilities at wider sections of Kai Tak River, so that visitors might row a boat in the river and enjoy the beautiful scene on the river banks. Finally, he thought the twin towers were too high and suggested other designs be considered. A case in point was building an n-shaped structure across Kai Tak River. Such a design could lower building height and would not affect ventilation.
48. Dr. Allen SHI, MH, JP said Hong Kong had only a few land plots available for development. Therefore, careful planning was required for such a large piece of land. The Kai Tak site was precious and had high commemorative value, so landmark structures similar to the Sydney Opera House, London Bridge, etc., as well as international exhibition venues representing Hong Kong should be built. By adopting an integrated model of development encompassing both exhibition and entertainment facilities, such landmark structures could provide exhibition venues and promote economic development of Hong Kong. On the other hand, Dr. SHI suggested the section of Kai Tak River near Wong Tai Sin be covered by earth-filling, to address the
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 32 year-long sludge accumulation problem and to provide more land for development. In view of the lack of yacht berths, he suggested the front section of the river, which was cleaned naturally by tidal movements, be preserved for mooring purposes. He also suggested unique structures be built at the end of the runway.
49. Mr. CHUI Pak-tai was concerned about the construction of two 175mPD buildings in KTDA. During the DC consultation on the construction of The Latitude, he had raised strong objection for the possible screen effect caused by such skyscrapers. However, people at that time had not attached much importance to the problem of “screen building” and the need to protect the environment. Moreover, the developer would provide peripheral facilities. As such, WTSDC had agreed to the construction of The Latitude. As people cared about “screen buildings” now, he expressed his appreciation to the concept of environmental protection put forth by Mr. LAM Man-fai, JP, and commented that while commercial facilities could increase pedestrian flow and help develop the district, Hong Kong had an over-provision of such facilities. Hence, income generated from consumer activities might not be able to cover the construction cost, resulting in waste of resources.
50. Mr. Joe LAI thanked PlanD for introducing the paper. He remarked that WTSDC Members had requested for construction of a regional hospital in KTDA but it was not shown on the paper. He thus enquired about the location and size of the regional hospital. In addition, he enquired if the flyover connecting the end of the runway with Kwun Tong would be used by vehicles, pedestrians, or both. Moreover, he commented that the flyover should be co-ordinated with monorail service, which should be extended to the Kwun Tong roundabout; and Hoi Yuen Road might be used as an interchange for Kwun Tong MTR Station, so as to strengthen the linkage between communities.
(Mr. CHOI Luk-sing, MH left the meeting at 5:15 p.m.)
51. Mr. CHAN On-tai was concerned about development of the waterfront near Kwun Tong Bypass. He opined that experience could be drawn from the Spanish people who set up fine dining restaurants in the coastal area of their country, so that patrons could enjoy sea view and fine cuisine at the same time. He also commented that area G10 on the plan (i.e. the waters between the runway and Kwun Tong waterfront) was beautiful and large, and thus suitable for aquatic activities. In addition, he enquired if underground car parks could be provided at areas G6 and G7 on the plan. The former airport was a popular place where people went to the waterfront to enjoy the view after dining in Kowloon City. As such, he opined that more parking spaces should be provided by improving the land and underground development of KTDA, so that shortage of parking spaces in the district could be alleviated. In addition, appropriate means of transport should also be provided to connect Kai Tak City with Kwun Tong Bypass.
52. Ms. Jessica CHU thanked Members for their enquiries and comments.
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 33 Under the motto of “Plan with the People”, the department had been amending the zoning plan of KTDA according to the views put forth by DC and the public. Her response was summarised as follows:
(i) Regarding the height of the twin towers, ventilation in the community had all along been an important aspect of the planning of KTDA. In this connection, ventilation assessment had been conducted to ensure the free flowing of air. In addition, ridgeline and the view of the Lion Rock from the view corridor would be preserved;
(ii) Apart from the main portion, USS could branch out to the bottom of other buildings;
(iii) PlanD had requested for a green coverage of not less than 30%, and there were a lot of parks in the district;
(iv) Building heights of the residential area was a thoughtful, instead of a random mix. If only short structures were built along Kai Tak River and taller buildings were only permitted at other places, the planned GFA might not be achievable. Therefore, a design consisting of mixed building heights was adopted to avoid the reduction in number of residential flats available;
(v) Ground investigation works for subway D1 had been completed. CEDD would give a detailed explanation;
(vi) The twin-tower gateway was a feature. Members were welcomed to comment on the current design, which consisted of building heights cascading down from the two towers to Kai Tak River;
(vii) Kai Tak was a precious site. The department hoped that it could become another office cluster similar to the one in Central. Hence, exhibition venues were indispensable, which had been planned in KTDA. Landmarks were very important too, as they would help promote Kai Tak worldwide. Therefore, featured designs such as the Kai Tak River, the rounded elevated walkway and the twin towers were planned;
(viii) The department noted Members’ worries about the possible screen effect caused by the twin towers, as The Latitude currently did. In fact, the purpose of the twin-tower design was to maintain building height while reducing the width, so that the screen effect would not be intensified by width of buildings;
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 34 (ix) The regional hospital would be built at two South Apron sites near the waterfront. The Food and Health Bureau had planned to build a hospital at a site zoned as “G/IC” in the South Apron area;
(x) In consideration of the presence of sea outlet of Kai Tak River and the beautiful view of the Victoria Harbour in Kai Tak, the department would endeavour to create a vibrant design for the waterfront. The waterfront might be used for aquatic activities in future, if the water quality could be improved; and
(xi) Under the proposed amendments, G7 and G8 would become part of the Central Kowloon Route. It was hoped that the widened Landscaped Decking Above could serve as a spacious walkway through which the public could go to the station from the Metro Park via the Stadium with ease.
53. Mr. Anthony LO said DCs concerned would be consulted on environmental- friendly transportation. It was anticipated that initial information would be available early next year, and DCs would be consulted again then. The consultation exercise would also cover the proposed linkage between road at the end of the runway and flyover in Kwun Tong. If the road system at the end of the runway could be connected with Kwan Tong, it could be linked up with the flyovers there as well. He understood that the majority of people in the district preferred joining the environmental friendly transportation system with MTR stations in Kwun Tong, Kowloon Bay, etc.. He would study the feasibility proactively. Compared with new development areas, working on developed areas like Kwun Tong would be more restrictive as such areas had little vacant space available. Regarding the provision of water-borne facilities, some stakeholders suggested berths, among others, but some people concerned hoped that the typhoon shelter could be preserved. As all sectors of the community would like to make use of the waters concerned, the department would listen to their views and consult DCs on the conceptual uses of the waters. To keep the connection with the Central Kowloon Link, part of the Kai Tak River should be decked. The department would minimise the decking required for the Kai Tak River near the apron area. Furthermore, construction of pedestrian subway joining Choi Hung Estate and the upcoming public housing estate in Kai Tai Development Area would be commenced soon after consultation with DCs.
54. The Chairman said many Members had reservation over the construction of the 175m twin towers, and some even raised objection to it. He asked the department to note Members’ comments, and reminded Members that they could send their views to writing or illustration to departments concerned during the consultation period.
55. Mr. CHAN On-tai reiterated that space at the waterfront near Kwun Tong
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 35 Bypass should not be wasted, hence fine dining restaurants – just like those in Spain - and parking spaces should be provided. In addition, he suggested building an underground car park beneath a turf at Kai Tak City Centre. The car park would attract drivers from San Po Kong and Ngau Tau Kok and consequently boost pedestrian flow of Kai Tak City Centre.
56. Dr. Allen SHI, MH, JP added that he appreciated the feature-rich town planning of Singapore, albeit the small size of the country. Hence, the department should plan KTDA carefully to give Hong Kong a new look and to develop the city into an international exhibition centre. Although there was a new exhibition venue near Hong Kong Airport, it failed to attract customers and encourage domestic consumption. On the other hand, an international exhibition centre in the urban area could promote spending on catering, entertaining, transportation, etc., in the territory. However, doing so near Wanchai Stadium could only intensify traffic congestion.
57. Mr. MOK Kin-wing added that the primary school in KTDA would be commissioned in 2013, and the public housing estate in 2013 or 2014. In this connection, he would like to know the progress of construction of pedestrian subway D1, and urged the department to speed up the construction of another two pedestrian subways serving the public housing estate in KTDA as soon as possible. On the other hand, he enquired if any open air performance area/theatre with seats would be provided in the site annotated “Arts and Performance Related Uses”.
58. Mr. Anthony LO said DC would be consulted on the construction of pedestrian subway D1 as soon as possible so that the works concerned could be commenced. An open plan design would be adopted for the open air performance area, which would sit against the Lion Rock and the seating would be arranged in a stepped height configuration.
59. The Chairman thanked representatives of CEDD for attending the WTSDC meeting, and hoped that departments concerned would note and follow up Members’ advice.
(Ms. Jessica CHU left the meeting at this juncture.)
III(iv) Kai Tak Development “Building Our Kai Tak River” Public Engagement Progress and Public Views Collected (WTSDC Paper 60/2011)
60. The Chairman welcomed Chief Engineer Mr. Anthony LO of CEDD, Senior Engineer Mr. TONG Kin-shing of DSD, and Senior Town Planner Mr. Richard SIU of PlanD who attended the meeting for this agenda item. He expressed his appreciation to DSD, which had completed the widening works of the Choi Hung Road northbound
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 36 near the Wong Tai Sin Police Station and solved the traffic problem there before the beginning of the new school year. After inspection, he was very satisfied with the works. The Chairman then invited Mr. Anthony LO to introduce the paper.
61. Mr. Anthony LO reported on the progress of “Building Our Kai Tak River” public engagement. He said the public engagement exercise had already come to an end and the findings were being summed up. The next stage of work would be about planning and design of different sections of the river. Mr. LO’s presentation centred on the views collected during the public engagement exercise.
(i) Views Collected During Stage 1 of the Public Engagement
The key objectives were to provide a green river corridor, to preserve urban and landscape axis as far as possible, and not to deck the river unless there was an absolute need to cover part of the river. Development of the river should be in harmony with the surrounding and the cultural features in the vicinity, such as Nga Tsin Wai Village and relic of Lung Tsun Stone Bridge. Connectivity of the river would also be improved, such as connecting the estuary with the waterfront with a subway or other sunken means. In addition, landscape and supporting facilities would also be provided.
(ii) Views Collected During Stage 2 of the Public Engagement Exercise
(The public views) were mainly about accessibility improvements, including provision of facilities for crossing the Prince Edward Road. According to the outline zoning plan completed recently, San Po Kong would be connected with Kai Tak by means of a subway, and the rounded elevated walkway would not be extended to Prince Edward Road. The department was considering the inclusion of both active and passive elements into its development plan, as active elements were not suitable for a densely populated area; and it was not desirable to add further passive elements into an area surrounded by heavy greeneries. The public had opined that the department should consider including lookout post, cycling track, jogging trail, feature footbridge, history of the river area, display of art and knowledge about environmental protection (e.g. live water), venues for community and cultural activities, catering facilities, etc. Also, the department would give focused consideration to greening of the nearshore region, planting of mangrove trees at the estuary, removal of existing perimeter fence
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 37 from the Morse Park for better integration (to the surrounding), as well as addition of leisure walking and ornamental facilities. The public concerned much about the preservation of relics of Nga Tsin Wai Village and integration of the same (with the river). Their comments about the road in front of Nga Tsin Wai Village would be followed up jointly by the department and TD. Planning work concerning the relocation of Lee Kau Yan Memorial School had yet to start, but consideration was being given to using a footbridge to connect the pedestrian subway beside the school that linked up KTDA. PlanD would study the possible relocation of Lee Kau Yan Memorial School and the petrol station. Regarding KTDA, the department would develop the gateway in a vibrant, dynamic and commercially viable manner. Since major sports facilities and MTR station would be provided in the vicinity of the Station Square, the department had to consider the discharge of mass crowd. As Kai Tak Square would be flanked by residential buildings, adequate space would be available to improve the environment. In addition, the department would also consider building landmarks at the nearshore area to attract people, and connecting Kai Tak Square with the waterfront promenade.
Mr. Anthony LO said some of the views collected had been incorporated into the project, and other views would be discussed and followed up actively with other departments.
62. Mr. SO Sik-kin was very satisfied with the department’s introduction. He was concerned about the road development in front of Nga Tsin Wai Village. WTSDC had suggested a new road be built in front of Chi Tak Public School, and the road between the village and the river be converted into a park to reduce the traffic beside the river. In addition, he also suggested the walkway be extended from Tai Shing Street to the leisure facilities at Tung Kwong Road.
63. Dr. Allen SHI, MH, JP thanked all WTSDC Members for their contributions towards the beautification of Kai Tak River, and encouraged all of them to keep up their efforts in serving the residents.
64. Mr. CHUI Pak-tai said while most WTSDC Members had supported decking the Kai Tak Nullah, he had disagreed with the idea. He opined that while water was frail and delicate apparently, it could also be powerful and strong profoundly. These qualities, as well as the cultures of water, could be used to improve residents’ living environment. He strongly supported the current proposal on development of Kai Tak River, and suggested the department pay more efforts in showing the qualities and cultures of water. He also commented that some ideas would be accepted by the residents after public discussions; and residents’ participation and assimilation of
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 38 cultures were more importance than the existence of the facilities.
65. Mr. LAM Man-fai was impressed by the direction of development of Kai Tak River, and acknowledged the discussions and support from the fellow Members and departments concerned. He commented that Kai Tak River was an excellent teaching material on environmental protection. He concurred with Mr. SO Sik-kin on his suggestion about redevelopment of the road between Nga Tsin Wai Village and Lee Kau Yan Memorial School into an event plaza for performances and arts events, with integration of cultural and commercial elements. The event plaza might be extended to KTDA, so that upper and lower streams of Kai Tak River could be integrated, and culture and the commercial activities could be enhanced. He suggested a footbridge be built to link up Morse Park and the river. As the football fields in Morse Park were very large, they absorbed much heat and increased the temperature. Since Wong Tai Sin was the hottest district in the territory, he hoped that Morse Park could be served as a temperature regulator.
66. Mr. CHAN On-tai enquired if decking of Kai Tak River was required for the construction of Kai Tak Gateway and Station Square. He suggested viewing facilities made of toughened glass and steel skeleton frame be provided at Kai Tak Gateway and Station Square, so that pedestrians might enjoy the view of Kai Tak River. Moreover, these facilities might help attract visitors.
67. Dr. James LAU, BBS, JP suggested buildings in Nga Tsin Wai Village be converted into a museum similar to the Cheonggyecheon Museum in Korea, and photographs be used to showcase the evolution of Kai Tak River from a “smelly nullah” into a beautiful river. He also shared Mr. LAM Man-fai’s suggestion regarding the development of the road between Nga Tsin Wai Village and Lee Kau Yan Memorial School into a large event plaza for staging performances.
68. The Chairman said WTSDC Members attached high importance to, and were very enthusiastic about the development of Kai Tak River. Lots of comments had been made at the current as well as previous meetings. He urged departments concerned to note and adopt Members’ comments and continue the discussion during works, to make Kai Tak River the best river in the world. The Chairman thanked CEDD, DSD and PlanD representatives again for attending the meeting.
(Mr. Anthony LO, Mr. TONG Kin-shing and Mr. Richard SIU left the meeting at this juncture.)
(Mr. CHUI Pak-tai left the meeting at 5:50 p.m.)
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 39 III(v) Redevelopment of the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority Premises at 17 Tseuk Luk Street, San Po Kong into the Assessment cum Examination Centres of the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (WTSDC Paper 61/2011)
69. The Chairman welcomed Secretary General (Ag.) Mr. Victor CHENG and Manager – Projects Mr. K.F. TAM of the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA); Principal Mr. Bernard LIM, JP, Senior Architect Mr. C.H. YIP and Architectural Executive Mr. Sunny CHAN of AD&RG; Associate Director Dr. LEE Kuan-hong and Senior Engineer Mr. Wallace CHAN of the Scott Wilson Ltd.; and Chief Executive Officer (HKEAA) of the Education Bureau (EDB) Ms. Flemy YIP.
70. Mr. Victor CHENG said he was glad to visit WTSDC and introduced the development plan for HKEAA’s Assessment cum Examination Centres (AEC) and the onscreen marking (OSM) system. Highlights of his PowerPoint presentation were as follows:
(i) OSM System
With developments in recent years, OSM had been adopted gradually in the marking of public examination papers. Every year, a few million papers were processed by thousands of markers using the OSM system. When an examination ended, the papers would be scanned and uploaded onto system, through which markers might mark the papers at various centres, improving confidentiality and efficiency.
(ii) Advantages of OSM
OSM ensured quality marking. For instance, to address community concerns about the different yardsticks adopted by different markers of the subject liberal studies, the same paper – or individual answers of a paper – might be marked by different markers in a bid to improve consistency. In this case, OSM might improve quality of marking in terms of fairness and reliability.
(iii) Uses of AEC
When no public examination was taken place, AEC would be used to conduct international or professional examinations, and as training venue for teachers and markers.
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 40 (iv) Facilities in AEC
In addition to conference room and common room, computers would also be installed in AEC for marking. Moreover, senior examination officers would be deployed to help markers in AEC. The OSM system had received the Hong Kong ICT Award in 2007.
(v) Location of AEC
As AEC would serve all teachers in the territory, HKEAA hoped that it could be located in Kowloon East by redeveloping the existing premises, so as to encourage teachers working or living in the region to participate in marking proactively.
71. Mr. Bernard LIM, JP made a PowerPoint Presentation on the design of AEC. Highlights were as follows:
(i) Land Use Assessment
Redevelopment of the HKEAA premises at Tseuk Luk Street would involve provision of a permanent AEC equipped with an OSM system, improvement to existing facilities, and addition of multi- purpose hall for conducting major examinations and training of assessment personnel. To minimise impacts caused to the adjacent Ho Lap College, building height of the15-storey AEC would be capped at 75mPD, providing a GFA of 18 000 m2. Impacts on solar exposure and ventilation would also be minimised by design. Good accessibility to AEC was guaranteed as there were already adequate public transport facilities in the vicinity. Greening would be provided on the podium of AEC to echo the parks and greeneries nearby, so that the visual in Ho Lap College would not be affected.
(ii) Building Design
G/F and 1/F of AEC would be designated as car park for transporting examination papers, so as to reduce the traffic impact to the area. A green garden would be provided on the podium; and examination rooms, OSM Centre and office would be accommodated on upper levels. To integrate AEC into the surroundings, green facilities would be provided on the podium and peripheral of the building. An escalator would be installed to connect G/F and podium of AEC, which would also be accessible through the car park. Also, a lift lobby would be provided at G/F
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 41 for disabled persons. There were 60 car parks. In addition to the podium garden, a publication centre, a multi-purpose hall and examination rooms would also be provided in AEC. Candidates might go to the examination rooms on 5/F – 7/F via the escalator on the podium; whereas the OSM Centre would be located on 8/F.
(iii) Design Concept
Design of AEC would centre on sustainable development. Apart from green elements, measures would also be taken to reduce the impacts on pedestrian and traffic flows. Thorough consideration had been made to the overall design of AEC to facilitate energy- saving and ventilation. Greening would also be introduced as appropriate for the sake of visual enhancement.
(Mr. MOK Kin-wing left at 6:00 p.m.)
72. Dr. WONG Kam-chiu, MH raised no objection to the redevelopment of the HKEAA premises, but hoped that the Government would take measures to reduce nuisance to adjacent school and residential flats in particular students of Ho Lap College during demolition and redevelopment. Hence, he suggested works be carried out on school holidays. Dr. WONG also enquired about number of staff to be working at AEC and the office hours concerned after commissioning of the building. He hoped that the Government would consult the local residents and provide further information for assessing impacts caused to the traffic and restaurants nearby.
73. Mr. LAM Man-fai, JP welcomed the development plan for AEC, which would provide more services to the education sector. He often passed by the HKEAA premises, which were adjacent to the only route to Choi Hung Road Playground. Many residents of San Po Kong thought the HKEAA premises a mysterious place of no admittance because the building was used to store examination papers. Currently, residents could only go to Choi Hung Road Playground via a dirty lane between the HKEAA premises and a factory building. As building height of the HKEAA premises would hike significantly after redevelopment, environment of the lane would further be worsen. He suggested the car park be moved to the basement or one upper level. A design similar to the HSBC Headquarters could be adopted in AEC, i.e. it would be open to the public for accessing Choi Hung Road Playground, and facilities such as coffee shop, etc. would be provided therein.
74. Mr. CHAN On-tai concurred that the car park should be moved to the basement, so that G/F could be vacated for other uses. He commented that greening of
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 42 AEC was inadequate, thus suggested its exterior walls be greened with creepers, so as to improve air quality and appearance of the building. In addition, he also suggested security in AEC be strengthened, and unused examination rooms be used as study rooms. He opined that residential flats in the district were small in general and opening unused examination rooms after office hours might optimise the use of AEC.
75. Mr. Rex MOK, MH supported redevelopment of the HKEAA premises, especially establishment of the OSM Centre. Most school heads hoped that HKEAA could release examination results as soon as possible. Vice Premier of the State Council Mr. LI Keqiang had mentioned, during his visit to Hong Kong, that more Mainland university places would be available to Hong Kong students. However, the enrolment period of Mainland universities would have been ended when results of Hong Kong examinations were released. Therefore, he hoped that with the OSM system in place, examination results could be released earlier. He added that there were a lot of schools in Kowloon East and most of the schools were willing to work in tandem with HKEAA and release teachers to mark papers at the OSM Centre nearby when they were free. On the other hand, Principal of Ho Lap College had confided to him about construction noise and the possible impact on the structure of the school, in consideration of the age of the school premises. Therefore, he advised that regular meetings should be held, so that departments concerned could provide the school with information on progress of works, structural impact on the school, etc.
76. Mr. WU Chi-wai, MH supported the development plan for AEC and concurred with Mr. CHAN On-tai on the proposed use of examination rooms as study rooms. As AEC was located beside Wah Hing Industrial Mansions, he suggested a floating garden design be adopted to enhance ventilation. To streamline management and logistic arrangements in respect of confidential documents, he suggested all storerooms for such documents be centralised in a specific floor level and a separate access be provided, instead of designating a place on every floor level. Due to the imposition of building height restriction, the new HKEAA premises had not used the land plot optimally. To provide room for future expansion, he suggested the building be widened and shortened, so that another one or two levels might be built in future. In addition to information about examinations, information about further studies might also be provided on the premises. As there was no information centre in further education in Hong Kong, he suggested an integrated information centre be established in the new HKEAA premises, through which the public could obtain information about examinations and further studies at ease.
(Mr. Rex MOK, MH left the meeting at 6:10 p.m.)
77. Mr. Joe LAI said candidates sitting in different examinations on the same day would have to wait on the HKEAA premises. As there was not any attraction nearby
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 43 and no seating was available on the existing HKEAA premises, candidates would have to wait in the car park. He opined that the new premises should be designed with the candidates’ needs in mind, so as to lessen their stress. In this connection, he suggested G/F of the new premises be integrated with the Choi Hung Road Playground, to provide candidates and teachers with a comfortable environment. On top of information about examinations, useful information about further studies might also be provided on the premises, and there might be a bookshop too.
78. Mr. Allen SHI, MH, JP strongly supported the redevelopment plan for the HKEAA premises but was concerned about interior design of the building. He enquired if HKEAA would computerise examination system to save paper and the efforts in distributing and returning examination papers, and to enhance security. He suggested touch screen computers be used for input of answers by students.
79. DR. James LAU, BBS, JP suggested an open design be adopted for lower levels of the HKEAA premises, where the basement would be used as a car park and G/F be opened to the public for better integration with the vicinity. He pointed out that under the redevelopment plan for Nga Tsin Wai Village, residential buildings would be elevated one level up so that G/F could be open to the public. A similar design echoing that and matching with the overall development of Kai Tak River might be adopted for the HKEAA premises, so that the building could be integrated with the community seamlessly. He opined that by adopting an open design for G/F, the premises would look more handsome and it was a good idea to open the premises to the general public. He also suggested similar design be adopted for most of the Government buildings, to integrate these buildings into the surroundings.
80. Mr. Victor CHENG thanked Members for their comments. His response was summarised as follows:
(i) Around 300 people would be working on the premises, and the number of candidates would vary from a few hundreds to about 1 000, depending on the scale of examinations. Generally speaking, examinations and marking would be conducted in different time slots, so it was anticipated that people flow on the premises would not be peaked at certain times of a day, as in an ordinary office building. Moreover, the traffic assessment report revealed that the premises would only cause marginal impact on the traffic condition in the vicinity.
(ii) The green podium of the premises could be used as candidates’ common area. The beautiful environment of the podium might help candidates relax and unwind themselves. In addition, this area
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 44 would also serve as a direct access to the customer service centre and resources centre inside the building.
(iii) Establishment of a customer service centre was being considered by HKEAA. The centre, to be located in the building, would provide information about examinations and further studies to the students and the education sector, as well as publications and examination materials for sale. Since the area of the new premises would be larger than the current one, the customer service centre could not be designed until the finalised planning of the new premises.
(iv) HKEAA was involved in handling and marking of examination papers, which were confidential tasks. In this connection, three separate accesses connecting to the podium/service centre, marking centre and storeroom for examination papers would be provided to the public, teachers and HKEAA personnel respectively. Equal attention would be paid to secrecy and ease of use when designing these accesses.
(v) HKEAA was responsible for conducting public examinations in Hong Kong from March to August every year, and for conducting and administering more than 200 international examinations in other months of the year. In addition, the facilities on its premises would be used for teachers’ training. Therefore, AEC would be open on a year round basis. HKEAA would consider the feasibility of using unused rooms as study rooms.
(vi) HKEAA had introduced its development plan to and obtained support from Ho Lap College. HKEAA also undertook to meet the needs of the school, and monitor impacts on the surroundings during construction. It would convene regular meetings with residents and organisations in the vicinity to minimise impacts on residents and schools.
(vii) HKEAA would study ways to maximise the plot ratio, as well as to improve ventilation and integration with the vicinity. As a community facility, the HKEAA premises would be designed to blend with the community as far as possible.
(viii) Since the HKEAA premises were a public facility, the land uses were subject to the stipulations on the land lease. HKEAA would study the feasibility of introducing facilities that complied with the land lease and other legislation/guidelines.
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 45 81. Mr. Bernard LIM, JP also responded to questions about design of the HKEAA premises. His response was summarised below:
(i) They would discuss with Ho Lap College before the commencement of works and would identify ways to minimise impacts on the school. Regular meetings would also be held to communicate with residents and organisations in the vicinity.
(ii) Greening would be applied to the entire HKEAA premises. At the side facing Tseuk Luk Street, there would be a green podium open to the public during daytime. Security level would be stepped up at night. The green podium would both be a visual treat and a leisure space for the public. HKEAA would discuss with LandsD on possible relaxation of land use in due course. Greening would be applied around the premises as far as practicable for visual enhancement.
(iii) The redevelopment project was a public works project. Additional underground levels would involve extra cost. However, feasibility study would still be carried out, to improve the environment of the lane between the HKEAA premises and Wah Hing Industrial Mansions, to enhance greening and the view. Suitable colour scheme and setting would be chosen to create an ambience in the podium that could help candidates to relax and unwind.
(iv) PlanD had capped the building height of the HKEAA premises at 75mPD, and imposed a restriction to the floor area. In view of the restriction by project vote, it would be difficult to make any significant change to the design. However, fine-tuning of certain design elements, such as ventilation and greening, could be considered.
82. In view of the fact that construction works concerning redevelopment of the HKEAA premises would take four years, Mr. WONG Kam-chi, MH, JP enquired about arrangement of HKEAA’s routine work. He commented that tasks undertaken by HKEAA were important and should not be interrupted, and hence demanded a detailed explanation. 83. Mr. Victor CHENG said the new senior secondary school curriculum had been officially launched, thus operation of HKEAA would not be suspended because of the construction works. HKEAA would lease commercial premises and set up temporary facilities. HKEAA hoped that permanent facilities could be available as soon as possible, so that rental payment in respect of temporary facilities, and consequently operating cost and examination fees could be lowered. He emphasised that HKEAA’s
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 46 development plan was formulated after years of study and thorough consideration.
84. Mr. WONG Kam-chi, MH, JP further enquired about whether HKEAA had decided the location of its temporary office, and whether all operations of HKEAA could be localised in the selected site.
85. Mr. Victor CHENG replied that upon commissioning of the new premises, HKEAA would re-arrange all operations, as well as facilities such as marking centre, office, storerooms, etc. temporarily relocated in various sites during redevelopment under one roof again.
86. Mr. Bernard LIM, JP said it was hoped that funding application in respect of the redevelopment plan could be submitted to LegCo in early 2012. The construction works would be commenced in late 2012 for completion in 2015.
87. Mr. CHAN On-tai added that vertical greening of the HKEAA premises’ exterior wall should not affect effectiveness of the waterproof layer, and adequate moisture and soil should be provided to support growth of the plants. Regarding temporary relocation of HKEAA office, he suggested that HKEAA might borrow or hire venues from Hong Kong Productivity Council, Hong Kong Polytechnics University, Open University of Hong Kong, technical institutes, etc. He commented that some of their venues had been left vacant for an extended period, so HKEAA might consider borrowing such venues for the sake of cost cutting.
88. The Chairman concluded that Members supported HKEAA’s redevelopment plan in general. He thanked representatives of HKEAA, AD&RG, the Scott Wilson Ltd. and EDB for attending the meeting, and invited them to note and follow up Members’ comments. WTSDC supported HKEAA’s redevelopment plan.
(Mr. Victor CHENG, Mr. K.F. TAM, Mr. Bernard LIM, JP, Mr. C.H. YIP, Mr. Sunny CHAN, Dr. Lee Kuan-hong, Mr. Wallace CHAN and Ms. Flemy YIP left the meeting at this juncture.)
III(vi) Shatin to Central Link (Wong Tai Sin Section) (WTSDC Paper 62/2011)
89. The Chairman welcomed Principal Assistant Secretary for Transport and Housing Mr. CHOW Chun-wah, Assistant Secretary for Transport and Housing Mr. Samson LAM; Senior Engineer (Ag.) Ms. Amy CHOW of Highways Department (HyD); Senior Project Engineer Mr. YICK Ming-sui, Design Manager (Ag.) Mr. NG Sui-yuen and Public Relations Manager Ms. CHAN Fong-ting of MTR Corporation Ltd.
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 47 (MTRCL); and Senior Town Planner Mr. Richard SIU of PlanD.
90. Mr. CHOW Chun-wah gave a PowerPoint presentation of the paper, which set out the latest progress of the Shatin to Central Link (SCL) project. The first stage amendments to the scheme for SCL project, comprising mainly technical revisions, had been gazetted on 15 July 2011 according to the Railways Ordinance. Many local people had commented on the SCL proposal. THB would study their views, in a bid to incorporate them into the second stage amendments to be published by the end of the year as far as practicable. At present, the bureau and MTRCL were working out details of the SCL project, with a view to optimising the design of various items. The Government and MTRCL had reported the latest progress of the project to WTSDC’s Task Force on Shatin to Central Link (SCLTF) on 22 August 2011, and would continue to maintain close liaison with DCs, residents and various stakeholders when finalising details of the project. Progress of follow-up actions was set out below:
(i) Ma Chai Hang Recreation Ground (MCHRG)
At the last meeting, SCLTF members had commented on the location of the indoor games hall (IGH) and arrangement in respect of reprovisioning of MCHRG. The following was proposed for consideration:
(a) The IGH and tennis court be located near Tin Wang Court. The football bitch located at Fu Yuen House would have less visual impacts;
(b) The football pitch be reprovisioned near Ma Chai Hang Road with an east-west orientation; whereas IGH and the tennis court be reprovisioned near the slope at Chuk Yuen Road;
(c) The IGH be located near Ma Chai Hang Road for reduced visual impacts. Layout of the existing MCHRG would not be altered, apart from swapping the locations of jogging trail and tennis court; and (d) The IGH be built at the existing tennis court site.
In respect of the above proposals, the Government and MTRCL had set out in the paper the possible visual implications on housing estates nearby, as well as the estimated completion dates. They would continue to consult local communities and WTSDC, to ensure that compensatory facilities to be provided at MCHRG could meet local needs. Upon finalisation of the relevant designs, the Government and MTRCL would seek planning approval from
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 48 Town Planning Board (TPB), with a view to carrying out the reprovisioning of MCHRG and the SCL project concurrently.
In view of residents’ grave concerns about environmental and traffic impacts regarding the use of MCHRG as temporary works site, MTRCL would form a community liaison group before the construction stage. The group would maintain close liaison with, and listen to views from schools and other stakeholders in the vicinity, so as to minimise the project’s impacts on the community. During the construction period, the Government and MTRCL would form a site liaison group to co-ordinate all works, in order to minimise impacts on vehicular and pedestrian flows, and to ensure the smooth operation of bus stops. Also, the Government and MTRCL would report to WTSDC on the traffic impact assessment in a timely manner.
(ii) Diamond Hill Stabling Sidings
To provide more vacant space in Diamond Hill for future development, MTRCL was studying the feasibility of converting the Hung Hom Freight Yard beside Hung Hom Station into stabling sidings, so as to lower the throughput and consequently the size of Diamond Hill Stabling Sidings. In addition, MTRCL would endeavour to move ventilation facilities away from residential area, and to join hands with the Government to study the feasibility of providing a pedestrian link serving Rhythm Garden, among other peripheral facilities after completion of the study on Diamond Hill Stabling Sidings.
(iii) Improvement to Tsz Wan Shan Pedestrian Link
Upon completion of all statutory procedures and obtaining funding approval from LegCo, the Government and MTRCL would start the improvement works as soon as possible, preferably in 2012 for completion in phases between 2014 and 2016.
(iv) Structural Safety and Redevelopment Potential
A number of railway works, including the Island West Line, Kwun Tong Line Extension and Island South Line (East), as well as SCL
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 49 being planned, were regulated under Railways Ordinance, Buildings Ordinance, etc. To ensure structural stability and safety, MTRCL would employ professionals to study possible impacts of tunnelling works on buildings and facilities nearby. Moreover, it was required to submit reports to BD and other departments’ approval before commencement of works. For the sake of safety, a comprehensive and effective mechanism commonly adopted in railway works would be in place to monitor the works in progress, and other departments concerned would also keep an eye on the works to ensure safety of buildings nearby. Upon finalisation of detailed design and construction method, the Government would explain to the residents in writing that the tunnelling works would not affect structural safety of buildings along the railway.
(v) Pedestrian Link Serving Tsui Chuk Garden
TD had contacted residents of the Garden, and would follow up traffic arrangement in the vicinity, including service improvement regarding bus route no. 211 and estate bus route no. KR21. TD had also noted residents’ request for a pedestrian link connecting the Garden with Wong Tai Sin MTR Station, and would keep in touch with them and follow up the matter proactively.
The Government and MTRCL would maintain close liaison with WTSDC and local communities on matters relating to the SCL project. They believed that the project could improve the traffic condition in Wong Tai Sin.
91. The Chairman said three Members had made written submissions on this topic.
92. Mr. SO Sik-kin introduced his submission (Annex II). He said he had been supporting the SCL project all along, but would like to reflect worries of residents’ of Tsui Chuk Garden about the tunnelling works’ possible impacts on building safety and redevelop potential of the Garden, beneath which tracks of SCL (Wong Tai Sin) section would be laid. He requested the Government and MTRCL not to commence works before the provision of written guarantees of structural safety of buildings along the railway. In addition, he commented that it was premature to go into the details of compensatory facilities of MCHRG at this stage, but urged the Government to look squarely local needs for barrier-free accesses. He opined that when there was a traffic jam at Ma Chai Hang Road or Chuk Yuen Road, people might use such accesses to go to the MTR station nearby or other places in the district. Finally, he reiterated his support for early commencement of SCL works, but requested the Government to guarantee in writing the structural safety of buildings affected, and to build barrier-free accesses as
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 50 soon as possible.
(Mr. WONG Kwok-tung left the meeting at 6:45 p.m.)
93. Mr. HUI Kam-shing introduced his submission (Annex III) and remarked that the seven mutual aid committees of Chuk Yuen South Estate had raised objection to the compensation package in the residents’ forum, thus urged the Government to reconsider the need to acquire MCHRG as temporary works site and for the construction of permanent ventilation facilities. Pointing out that there should be a fifth proposal, in addition to the four existing ones set out in the paper, Mr. HUI said residents had rejected the idea of building an IGH at MCHRG but suggested park and recreational facilities be provided. The Government and MTRCL should come to the district and consult the residents direct. He was also concerned about the formation of the Community Liaison Group, and enquired whether it would be responsible for SCL works to be carried out in the Wong Tai Sin district or only individual areas. In order not to affect the traffic of the very busy Chuk Yuen Road and Ma Chai Hang Road, he requested that no works site entrance should be located at the two roads, if it was necessary to use MCHRG as a temporary works site. Also, he requested the Government to provide estimation of dump truck traffic volume at different times of a day.
94. Mr. CHAN On-tai introduced his submission (Annex IV) and said he, as well as representatives of Tin Ma Court and Tin Wang Court had carried out a site inspection at MCHRG on 2 September 2011. The residents disagreed with the Government’s proposed acquisition of MCHRG as temporary works site, and requested that: (i) no dump truck should be allowed to use Ma Chai Hang Road; (ii) the IGH be moved near Tin Wang Court and be expanded to accommodate a children’s IGH, a stage with lighting and sound systems, a study room and a reading room; (iii) the footbridge at Ma Chai Hang be extended and connected with the IGH; and (iv) barrier-free access be provided beside Lung Cheung Government Secondary School to connect the Wong Tai Sin MTR Station. Finally, he hoped that MTR Fare Savers could be installed in the district as soon as possible. 95. Dr. WONG Kam-chiu, MH said the Government had received a myriad of public views and planned to publish the second stage amendments to the scheme for the SCL project by the end of this year. In this connection, he enquired if the Government had short-listed suitable suggestions and conducted feasibility studies accordingly. He requested the Government and MTRCL to report the latest position of the project to WTSDC and SCLTF to facilitate further deliberation. He also reflected that residents, including those living in the Tropicana Garden, were very much concerned about impact on their buildings’ structural safety caused by the works, and requested the Government to provide written guarantee on the same and end their worries.
96. Mr. LEE Tat-yan, MH said he had long been supportive of the SCL project and hoped the Government and MTRCL could look squarely at views of residents living along the track. He was concerned about the design of Diamond Hill Stabling Sidings,
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 51 and had written to the Secretary for Transport and Housing on adoption of fully- depressed configuration. In this connection, he enquired about latest position regarding his proposal. Moreover, in consideration of the concern of residents of Rhythm Garden over the provision of direct access connecting the MTR station, he urged the Government to build the pedestrian link across Choi Hung Road as soon as possible.
97. Mr. HO Yin-fai said wide consultation on the SCL project had been carried out and most Wong Tai Sin residents supported the project. As the project would directly affect the residents and would take some time to complete, he urged the Government and MTRCL to listen to views of the local people and satisfy their requests as far as practicable, so that their worries on related matters, including the acquisition of MCHRG as temporary works site and building ventilation facilities, could be alleviated.
98. Mr. KAN Chi-ho, BBS, MH commented that after lengthy discussions, most people had become supportive of the SCL project and he acknowledged the positive attitude of the Government and MTRCL towards views of the local communities. As some of the suggestions had yet to be confirmed, he suggested the Government and MTRCL fine tune the proposal with stakeholders such as local communities, resident representatives, etc., for early commencement of the SCL project.
99. Mr. Andie CHAN was concerned about the volume of vehicular traffic when MCHRG was used as temporary works site. He suggested a traffic impact assessment be conducted, and requested that no dump truck should be allowed to use Ma Chai Hang Road, in order not to affect the traffic condition.
100. The Chairman concluded that WTSDC had long been keeping an eye on the SCL project (Wong Tai Sin Section), and Members’ had reflected residents’ views to the Government and MTRCL through various channels. He said agreement had been reached on some matters, such as the improvement works to pedestrian link facilities in Tsz Wan Shan, public transport interchange and coach park near Wong Tai Sin Temple, etc., and urged the Government to carry out the said works as soon as possible. Regarding the Diamond Hill Stabling Sidings, Members urged the Government to move the entire stabling sidings to Hong Hom Freight Yard, or minimise its size and use fully depressed configuration if it was built at Diamond Hill CDA. In addition, he requested the Government and MTRCL to follow up concerns of residents of Tsui Chuk Garden and Tropicana Gardens over structural safety and redevelopment potential of buildings, and to consider installing barrier-free facilities in the district. There were a variety of views regarding reprovisioning of MCHRG and operation of construction site. On top of the four proposals set out in the paper, there was also another one put forth by Members. If the “stadium package” (sic.) was adopted, WTSDC requested that standard facilities be provided. Also, the Government and MTRCL were requested to keep in touch with local communities. He suggested MTRCL form a working group similar to the one established by HD when redeveloping the Tung Wui Estate, so as to consult
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 52 various stakeholders and minimise environmental and traffic impacts caused to the district. He hoped THB and other departments, as well as MTRCL would note and follow up Members’ views, so that the SCL project could be commenced as early as possible for the benefit of people.
(Mr. KAN Chi-ho, BBS, MH left the meeting at 7:10 p.m.)
101. Mr. SO Sik-kin suggested an SCLTF be formed in the next term of WTSDC to monitor progress of the SCL project. In addition, he hoped HyD would respect the residents to voice their opinions towards the project by displaying of banners.
102. Mr. HUI Kam-shing highlighted that WTSDC had yet to agree on the detailed arrangement regarding reprovisioning of MCHRG, and urged the Government and MTRCL to continue to follow up WTSDC’s views.
103. Mr. CHAN On-tai added that he suggested the Government build a jogging trail around the football pitch in the reprovisioned MCHRG.
104. The Chairman thanked Principal Assistant Secretary for Transport and Housing Mr. CHOW Chun-wah, Assistant Secretary for Transport and Housing Mr. Samson LAM, and other departmental representatives for attending the meeting for this agenda item. He remarked that WTSDC was looking forward to the early commencement of the SCL project, and asked the Government and MTRCL to note and follow up Members’ comments, as well as to co-ordinate different works.
(Mr. CHOW Chun-wah, Mr. Samson LAM, Ms. Amy CHOW, Mr. YICK Ming-sui, Mr. NG Sui-yuen, Mr. CHAN Fong-ting and Mr. Richard SIU left the meeting at this juncture.)
III(vii) Change in the Membership of the Committees under the Wong Tai Sin District Council (WTSDC Paper 63/2011)
105. The Chairman invited the Secretary to introduce the paper.
106. The Secretary said Co-opted Member Ms. WAN Ka-pik had resigned from the Community Building and Social Services Committee (CB&SSC). In accordance with Wong Tai Sin District Council Standing Orders, any change in membership of the committees under WTSDC should become effective subject to WTSDC’s endorsement.
107. Members endorsed the change in membership of CB&SSC.
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 53 IV. Progress Reports
108. The Chairman drew Members’ attention that the Progress Report of the 22nd Meeting of the Housing Committee held on 30 August 2011 (WTSDC Paper 71/2011), the Progress Report of the 23rd Meeting of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Committee held on 1 September 2011 (WTSDC Paper 72/2011), and the Progress Report of the District Management Committee meeting held on 2 September 2011 (WTSDC Paper 77/2011) were on table.
(i) Progress Reports of the 23 rd Meeting of the Community Building and Social Services Committee held on 12 July 2011 (WTSDC Paper 64/2011)
109. Members noted the paper.
(ii) Progress Report of the 23 rd Meeting of the District Facilities Management Committee held on 19 July 2011 (WTSDC Paper 65/2011)
110. Members noted the paper.
(iii) Progress Report of the 23 rd Meeting of the Traffic and Transport Committee held on 26 July 2011 (WTSDC Paper 66/2011)
111. Members noted the paper.
(iv) Progress Report of the 23 rd Meeting of the Finance, General and Economic Affairs Committee held on 2 August 2011 (WTSDC Paper 67/2011)
112. Members noted the paper.
(v) Progress Reports of the 24 th Meeting of the Community Building and Social Services Committee held on 16 August 2011 (WTSDC Paper 68/2011)
113. Members noted the paper.
(vi) Progress Report of the 24 th Meeting of the Finance, General and Economic Affairs Committee held on 23 August 2011
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 54 (WTSDC Paper 69/2011)
114. Members noted the paper.
(vii) Progress Report of the 24 th Meeting of the District Facilities Management Committee held on 25 August 2011 (WTSDC Paper 70/2011)
115. Members noted the paper.
(viii) Progress Report of the 22 nd Meeting of the Housing Committee held on 30 August 2011 (WTSDC Paper 71/2011)
116. Members noted the paper.
(ix) Progress Report of the 23 rd Meeting of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Committee held on 1 September 2011 (WTSDC Paper 72/2011)
117. Members noted the paper.
(x) Progress Report of the 4 th Meeting of the Task Force on Shatin to Central Link of the Wong Tai Sin District Council held on 14 July 2011 (WTSDC Paper 73/2011)
118. Members noted the paper.
(xi) Progress Report of the 1 st Meeting of the Working Group on Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Holistic Centre for Youth Development of the Wong Tai Sin District Council held on 15 August 2011 (WTSDC Paper 74/2011)
119. Members noted the paper.
(xii) Progress Report of the 5 th Meeting of the Task Force on Shatin to Central Link of the Wong Tai Sin District Council held on 22 August 2011 (WTSDC Paper 75/2011)
120. Members noted the paper.
20111017-3_DC%5BM24%5D-e.doc 55 (xiii) Progress Report of the 16 th Meeting of the Working Group on Government and Public Utilities Works Projects held on 23 August 2011 (WTSDC Paper 76/2011)
121. Members noted the paper.
(xiv) Progress Report of the Wong Tai Sin District Management Committee Meeting held on 2 September 2011 (WTSDC Paper 77/2011)
122. Members noted the paper.
V. End of Meeting
123. The Chairman thanked Members and representatives of Government departments for attending the last meeting of this DC term, and expressed his gratitude for their co-operation and support in the past four years.
124. The meeting adjourned at 7:15 p.m.
Wong Tai Sin District Council Secretariat Ref: WTSDC 13-5/5/53 Pt.16 October 2011
Note: Should there be any discrepancies between the Chinese and English versions, the Chinese version shall prevail. This English summary translation is for reference only.
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