(Translation)
Minutes of the 7th Meeting of Sham Shui Po District Council (5th Term) under the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Date: 10 January 2017 (Tuesday) Time: 9:30 a.m. Venue: Conference Room, Sham Shui Po District Council
Present
Chairman Mr CHEUNG Wing-sum, Ambrose, BBS, MH, JP (Left at 2 p.m.)
Members Mr CHAN Kwok-wai (Arrived at 9:35 a.m.) Mr CHAN Wai-ming, MH Ms CHAN Wing-yan, Joephy (Arrived at 9:35 a.m.) Mr CHENG Wing-shun, Vincent, MH Ms CHOW Wing-heng, Zoé Mr CHUM Tak-shing (Arrived at 12:35 p.m., left at 7:35 p.m.) Mr HO Kai-ming, Kalvin Mr KONG Kwai-sang (Arrived at 9:40 a.m., left at 7:16 p.m.) Mr LAM Ka-fai, Aaron, BBS, JP (Arrived at 9:40 a.m.) Ms LAU Pui-yuk Mr LEE Tsz-king, Dominic Mr LEE Wing-man Mr LEUNG Man-kwong Mr LEUNG Yau-fong (Arrived at 2:34 p.m.) Ms NG Mei, Carman (Left at 3:03 p.m.) Ms NG Yuet-lan Mr TAM Kwok-kiu, MH, JP Mr WAI Woon-nam Mr WONG Tat-tung, Dennis, MH, JP Mr YAN Kai-wing (Arrived at 2 p.m., left at 3 p.m.) Mr YEUNG Yuk (Arrived at 9:34 a.m.) Mr YUEN Hoi-man - 2 - Action by
In Attendance Mr LEE Kowk-hung, Damian, JP District Officer (Sham Shui Po) Miss CHAN Pui-ki, Kiki Assistant District Officer (Sham Shui Po) 1 Miss CHEUNG Yun-chee, Freda Assistant District Officer (Sham Shui Po) 2 Ms CHAN Tsz-yee, Emily Senior Liaison Officer 1, Sham Shui Po District Office Mr WONG Leung-ping, Ben Senior Liaison Officer 2, Sham Shui Po District Office Ms NG Suk-min, Min Senior Liaison Officer 3, Sham Shui Po District Office Mrs MAK LAU Wai-mun, Acting District Commander (Sham Shui Po), Hong Josephine Kong Police Force Mr LAU Hiu-fai, Alfred Acting Police Community Relations Officer (Sham Shui Po District), Hong Kong Police Force Mr CHUNG Yu-san Engineer/2 (Kowloon), Civil Engineering and Development Department Mrs KWOK LI Mung-yee, Helen District Social Welfare Officer (Sham Shui Po), Social Welfare Department Mr LUK Chi-kwong Chief Leisure Manager (Hong Kong East), Leisure and Cultural Services Department Ms LAI Mei-ling District Leisure Manager (Sham Shui Po), Leisure and Cultural Services Department Mr LAI Kah-kit District Environmental Hygiene Superintendent (Sham Shui Po), Food and Environmental Hygiene Department Mr TSE Chick-lam Chief Manager/Management (Kowloon West and Sai Kung), Housing Department Miss AU Mei-lin, Rebecca Senior Housing Manager/KWS 2, Housing Department Mr CHOY Chik-sang, Mario Chief Transport Officer/Kowloon, Transport Department Mr MA Siu-cheung, Eric, JP Under Secretary for Development Miss LAU Bo-yee, Winnie Chief Town Planner/Strategic Planning, Planning Department Ms CHAN Hau-yin, Margaret Senior Town Planner /Strategic Planning 5, Planning Department Mr KWAN Yiu-man Senior Education Officer (School Building), Education Bureau Miss NG Hoi-yan Project Manager (School Building) 2, Education Bureau Ms TAM Wai-ling, Mary Assistant Project Manager (School Building) 22, Education Bureau Mr WONG Tat-hung, Albert Chief School Development Officer (Sham Shui Po), Education Bureau Ms LAW Hau-yee, Maggie Senior School Development Officer (Sham Shui Po) 3, - 3 - Action by Education Bureau Mr WONG Chi-leung Senior Project Manager 125, Architectural Services Department Ms CHAN Man-wai Project Manager 144, Architectural Services Department Mr LAW Sin-hang, Billy Senior Architect/13, Architectural Services Department Mr LEE Chung-yam, Paul Engineer/Planning 1, Transport Department Mr LEE Yuk-hung Supervisor, Pak Tin Catholic Primary School Ms TSE Chi-mei Principal, Pak Tin Catholic Primary School Mr MOK Hing-wing, Stephen Division Commander (Sham Shui Po), Hong Kong Police Force Ms WONG Wai-man Senior Building Surveyor, Buildings Department Mr Peter DY Senior Manager (Building Rehabilitation), Urban Renewal Authority Mr SO Ngai-long Senior Manager (Community Development), Urban Renewal Authority Mr NG Mun-sing Town Planner/Sham Shui Po 2, Planning Department
Secretary Ms CHEUNG Ching, Jenny Senior Executive Officer (District Council), Sham Shui Po District Office
- 4 - Action by Opening Remarks
The Chairman welcomed Members and representatives of government departments to the seventh meeting of the Sham Shui Po District Council (“SSPDC”) (5th Term). He then welcomed Ms Josephine LAU, Acting District Commander (Sham Shui Po) of the Hong Kong Police Force (“HKPF”), who attended this meeting in place of Mr HUI Chun-tak, Steve; Mr Alfred LAU, Acting Police Community Relations Officer (Sham Shui Po District) of HKPF, to attend this meeting in place of Mr KO Chun-pong, Bon; Ms LAI Mei-ling, District Leisure Manager (Sham Shui Po) of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, to attend the future meetings in place of Ms LEE Kar-mei, Camay, who had been transferred out; and Mr CHUNG Yu-san, Engineer/2 (Kowloon) of the Civil Engineering and Development Department, to attend this meeting in place of Mr WONG Chi-sing, Janson. Furthermore, Miss Rebecca AU, Senior Housing Manager/KWS 2 of the Housing Department (“HD”), would attend the meeting in the afternoon in place of Mr TSE Chick-lam.
Item 1: Confirmation of minutes of the 6th meeting held on 8 November 2016
2. The minutes of the above meeting were confirmed without amendment.
Item 2: Matters for discussion
(a) “Hong Kong 2030+: Towards a Planning Vision and Strategy Transcending 2030” (SSPDC Paper 1/17)
3. The Chairman welcomed Mr Eric MA, the Under Secretary for Development, and the representatives of the Planning Department (“PlanD”) to the meeting.
4. Mr Eric MA introduced Paper 1/17. Ms Margaret CHAN introduced the study proposals in “Hong Kong 2030+: Towards a Planning Vision and Strategy Transcending 2030” (“Hong Kong 2030+”) with the aid of PowerPoint.
5. Mr TAM Kwok-kiu raised the following views and enquiries: (i) he reckoned that “Hong Kong 2030+” still championed the mode of promoting growth through infrastructural development. He pointed out that some civic groups looked askance at the population projections made by the Government. Since the population projections would directly affect the entire planning (e.g. whether it was necessary to develop a new core business district), the authorities must project the population accurately so as to map out the direction of development and inform the public; (ii) the authorities wanted to create land through reclamation but to his knowledge, members of the public neither supported reclamation in Victoria Harbour, nor did they reach - 5 - Action by consensus on carrying out reclamation at other sites. In this connection, he queried whether it was desirable to promote growth through infrastructural development and held that the authorities should carry out consultation on this so as to forge public consensus; (iii) it was incumbent upon Hong Kong, a world city, to cut greenhouse gas emissions, fight global climate change and promote biodiversity. He asked whether reclamation and infrastructural projects would have impact on the environment and climate change; (iv) he opined that “Hong Kong 2030+” had neither address the urgent housing needs of Hong Kong people; nor had it proposed any specific solution for that. Hong Kong was beset by the problem of urban decay while there would not be enough land for building subsidised housing in the next decade. He therefore suggested releasing land in old districts to cope with housing needs.
6. Mr WAI Woon-nam raised the following views and enquiries: (i) he reckoned that the Government had rushed into implementing some projects without consultation. He enquired about the period and areas of consultation for “Hong Kong 2030+” and hoped that the authorities and the relevant government departments would work out better plans for the future; (ii) the Bureau estimated that Hong Kong would witness a nearly 300-fold increase in the number of old private residential units in the future. He recalled that an urban renewal plan for the next 20 years had been worked out when the Land Development Corporation was transformed into the Urban Renewal Authority (“URA”) but the current redevelopment progress was still slow; (iii) URA would commence study on the urban renewal of Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok District. He held that there were also many old buildings in Sham Shui Po District (“SSP District”) and the residents had asked URA to take the lead in redeveloping the district. Yet the authorities did not made any long-term planning for SSP District and the overall condition of the district had not been improved; (iv) the reclamation at Kau Yi Chau would affect people living on Lantau Island and hence should be handled with care.
7. Mr KONG Kwai-sang raised the following views and enquiries: (i) “Hong Kong 2030+” was a large scale planning exercise. He casted doubt on the justifications for the relevant planning and wanted to know the details of public consultation and whether the authorities had any forethought about it; (ii) Hong Kong was bound by international agreements on climate change, biodiversity and energy saving and carbon reduction. He reckoned that the development of artificial island at eastern Lantau by reclamation would destroy biodiversity and affect environment and queried how the project could save energy, cut emission and comply with the relevant agreements.
8. Mr Kalvin HO raised the following views and enquiries: (i) how the authorities would realise the suggested visions . For example, the authorities estimated that the number of private residential units aged 70 years or above would increase to about - 6 - Action by 326 000 in 2046 and he wondered whether the authorities had set aside enough land for urban renewal and redevelopment. He said that the number of old buildings redeveloped by URA each year after its establishment was small. According to the estimation made by the authorities on the number of old buildings in the future, around 10 000 old residential units might have to be redeveloped each year, about ten times of the current number. He asked how the authorities would deal with that; (ii) “Hong Kong 2030+” brought forth the ideas of carrying out reclamation and promoting biodiversity but the two issues were conflicting in nature. He queried how the reclamation project in Kau Yi Chau could promote biodiversity; (iii) “Hong Kong 2030+” suggested building Hong Kong as a low carbon city and he wondered whether the authorities had assessed the carbon emission of the project; (iv) “Hong Kong 2030+” proposed for the development of high-tech industry but the vacancy rates of Hong Kong Science Park and the Cyberport were quite high. He wanted to know how the authorities could ensure that the project would be successful.
9. Ms Carman NG raised the following views and enquiries: (i) there were many opinions in green groups on “Hong Kong 2030+”. She enquired about the targets of “Hong Kong 2030+” and the conservation policies of the Government, worrying that the projects in question would relegate to “white elephant projects”; (ii) she reckoned that the planning of “Hong Kong 2030+” would have far-reaching impacts; even the next generation would be affected. Therefore, the environmental and conservation issues involved, for example, how to protect green belts and country parks, should be properly handled while the public be fully consulted with a view to assessing whether the projects were worth implementing.
10. Mr Eric MA gave a consolidated response as follows:
(i) At present, the housing demand was keen in Hong Kong, with about 300 000 households waiting for public housing and there was still a certain demand for land in the long run. In this connection, the Government should take reference to the population projections by the Census and Statistics Department (“CSD”) and carry out long-term planning as soon as possible on top of short and medium-term planning.
(ii) “Hong Kong 2030+” was put together according to the overall needs of Hong Kong and adequate land supply could open up more opportunities for economic activities. Many talents wanted to stay in Hong Kong, start their own businesses, develop technology and promote re-industrialisation; however, the remaining space in Hong Kong Science Park was scarce. In view of this, enough land should be reserved so that the opportunity for developing high-tech industry would not be missed due to problems such as high rents and land shortage, etc. Besides, space should also be - 7 - Action by reserved for resettlement of residents affected by urban renewal; hence long-term planning was needed.
(iii) The studies carried out by “Hong Kong 2030+” (including land demands) took reference to the baseline population projection of CSD.
(iv) “Hong Kong 2030+” aimed to map out a directive and long-term development framework before formulating relevant policies and implementing other follow up work. He cited the growing number of vehicles as an example and pointed out that apart from meeting the traffic demand through infrastructural developments, studies should also be carried out to formulate relevant vehicle management policies. Besides, URA had launched a pilot scheme on urban renewal in Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok District to study the use of innovative methods in urban renewal. It was expected that there would be much follow up work in the future.
(v) The Government had no predetermined stance on “Hong Kong 2030+” and was now carrying out public engagement activities on the study, including consulting the views of various District Councils (“DCs”). The public engagement period would last for six months. The Government was open-minded about the issue and welcomed the views of various parties.
11. Miss Winnie LAU gave a consolidated response as follows:
(i) The population projections of “Hong Kong 2030+” were made based on the estimated figures of CSD. Taking into account factors such as birth rates, net inflow/out flow of people and the use of One-way Permit (“OWP”) quotas, etc., the Department compiled the high, middle and low population projections for the future Hong Kong based on the past trends. Under the baseline projection (i.e. the middle population projection), CSD projected that according to the current trend of less than 150 OWPs used each day, the number of OWP quotas used each day would fall gradually to 100. Hence, it was projected that the population might peak at 8.22 million in 2043 before falling to 7.8 million in 2064. Under the high population projection, the population would keep growing and it was expected that the population of Hong Kong would grow to nearly 9 million in 2046. Since there was a certain difference between the high and the low population projections, coupled with the fact that the planning process would normally take more than ten years or even a longer period of time, “Hong Kong 2030+” had prudently adopted the number of population growth of the middle projection as the research baseline when planning the - 8 - Action by long-term land demand.
(ii) Population growth not only would bring about housing needs, it would also generate demands for ancillary facilities (e.g. open space, community facilities and supporting infrastructural facilities). Because of this, “Hong Kong 2030+” had also set aside enough land for open space, community facilities and supporting infrastructural facilities. Moreover, the Government also commissioned a consultant company to forecast the land demands of various market-led economic activities. For example, it was estimated that in the future Hong Kong would need about 1 million square metres of Grade A office space in core business district. Hence, “Hong Kong 2030+” proposed developing the third core business district in East Lantau Metropolis.
(iii) At present, Hong Kong only had a moderate performance at liveability while the population and building ageing problems were especially serious. Therefore, it was hoped that age-friendly and relevant measures could be adopted to improve urban design.
(iv) The Government had launched in 2011 the Enhancing Land Supply Strategy Study and two stages of public engagement exercises on the development of rock cavern and reclamation outside Victoria Harbour were conducted. At that time the public in general supported adopting the six-pronged approach to increase land supply, including the creation of land by reclamation outside Victoria Harbour. In stage 2 consultation, the public generally accepted carrying out reclamation in the central waters, which was ecologically less sensitive and not a habitat for the Chinese White Dolphins, for the development of an artificial island. When carrying out reclamation, the Government would proactively consider including elements such as eco-shorelines and the building of waterways, etc. to protect ecological environment.
(v) The Environment Bureau (“ENB”) and the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department had also participated in the development of the “Hong Kong 2030+” strategies. “Hong Kong 2030+” laid stress on conservation and the linking of places with high ecological values in a bid to promote the biodiversity of Hong Kong.
(vi) “Hong Kong 2030+” suggested adopting the strategy of building a smart, green and resilient city in response to climate change. “Hong Kong 2030+” also hoped to improve “home-job balance” and cut carbon emission by reducing the number of travels made by residents. - 9 - Action by 12. Mr Eric MA added that “Hong Kong 2030+” did not make any proposal to develop country parks.
13. Ms NG Yuet-lan raised the following views: (i) the Government should respect the views collected after the public consultation was conducted, including the ones on environmental protection. She pointed out that the Government had no intention to resume the land of the golf course in its North East New Territories development plan, which suggested that it had not listened to public views; (ii) the Government should not underestimate future population; (iii) she worried that the artificial island would eventually be used for developing high-class residential area. She hoped that the authorities would handle carefully the problems of renewal and development of old districts and waste no reserves and resources of Hong Kong.
14. Mr YUEN Hoi-man raised the following views and enquiries: (i) he agreed that Hong Kong should be developed as a more liveable city and hoped that the Department would give specific explanations on how “Hong Kong 2030+” could enhance and regenerate the environmental capacity of Hong Kong; (ii) PlanD had commissioned a consultant company in 2010 to assess the air ventilation in Cheung Sha Wan District. The consultant company had made a number of suggestions to improve the air ventilation (e.g. to set height restrictions, reserve building gaps and “Government, Institution or Community” sites) but the plan proposed by the Government last year for the development of Cheung Shun Street did not adopt the suggestions made by the consultant company. He hoped that the authorities would attach importance to air ventilation when carrying out city planning; (iii) light pollution had greatly affected the living of residents. As there was currently no law to regulate light pollution, he hoped that the authorities would enact laws to regulate light pollution or add relevant clauses in land leases to make Hong Kong more liveable; (iv) “Hong Kong 2030+” did not set the average living space per person and he hoped that the Department would explain on that.
15. Ms LAU Pui-yuk raised the following views and enquiries: (i) she supported the direction of planning ahead of “Hong Kong 2030+”; (ii) “Hong Kong 2030+” pointed out that the number of old residential units would grow 300-fold to about 326 000 in 2046, and hence urban renewal efforts should be stepped up and redevelopment areas expanded. Yet the proposals contradicted URA’s current approach which was demand-led and emphasized restoration and maintenance of old buildings. She asked whether the authorities had consulted the views of departments responsible for building restoration and redevelopment on “Hong Kong 2030+”; (iii) she hoped that the authorities would formulate strategies for redevelopment and revitalisation of old buildings, for example, to require old buildings of a certain age to be assessed for the needs for redevelopment. - 10 - Action by 16. Mr Dennis WONG raised the following views: (i) he was glad to see “Hong Kong 2030+” explored the long-term planning of Hong Kong and considered that it was worth supporting. He hoped that the issue could be discussed from the perspective of actual needs; (ii) he agreed that there were needs for redeveloping old districts. However, since redevelopment took a long time and space was needed for relocating residents affected, the development of new towns and the redevelopment of old districts should be carried out in unison; (iii) high rents had forced enterprises to opt out of Hong Kong. The authorities should face up to the problem and balance the needs of stakeholders; (iv) he hoped that the authorities could pay equal attention to problems such as environmental protection, population ageing, youth entrepreneurship and talent retention, etc. during the development process.
17. Mr YEUNG Yuk raised the following views and enquiries: (i) the Government had had no long-term planning in respect of social welfare and urban renewal and had been dragging its feet on that; yet it put forth “Hong Kong 2030+”. He queried whether there were any political purposes; (ii) “Hong Kong 2030+” did not address the issues of climate change, smog and rising number of vehicles while the reclamation and infrastructural projects proposed by it would only exacerbate climate change; (iii) he pointed out that there were many brownfield sites in Hong Kong. It was not that there was no land for development but that the Government did not develop it.
18. Mr CHAN Wai-ming raised the following views and enquiries: (i) “Hong Kong 2030+” was worthy of support for it had set the direction for future economic and industrial development of Hong Kong and created opportunities for our next generations; (ii) he held that the Government should be forward-looking and review the past development from various perspectives. It was irresponsible to ditch the overall development of Hong Kong on account of some problems; (iii) he supported the formation of suitable economic belts through the development of northern New Territories and East Lantua; and complementing the future development of Hong Kong in medical, education, transportation areas; (iv) he wanted to increase the transparency of “Hong Kong 2030+” and the opportunities for public participation.
19. Mr Eric MA gave a consolidated response as follows:
(i) As it took time to develop land and new development areas, planning should be done as soon as possible. The publication of “Hong Kong 2030+” fell in line with the practice of updating the long-term planning of Hong Kong around once every decade. “Hong Kong 2030+” aimed to work out the long-term directive framework; the Government still had to follow up on/refine various proposals. - 11 - Action by (ii) A public engagement report setting out the views collected would be compiled after the public engagement stage was finished. The views on redevelopment and social welfare facilities, etc. collected during the public engagement period would be referred to relevant departments for consideration. The Government had conceived the idea of having a high level inter-departmental steering group to coordinate the implementation of the proposals of “Hong Kong 2030+” in the future.
(iii) The medium-term land supply measures launched by the Government included the development of Kwu Tung North, Hung Shui Kiu and Yuen Long South, which would involve brownfield sites of about 340 hectares. However, since those brownfield sites had been used for various purposes and businesses, detailed studies should be carried out for the relocation of the relevant businesses.
20. Miss Winnie LAU gave a consolidated response as follows:
(i) Environmental capacity referred to the ability of natural environment to support human activities and biodiversity. Strategic Environmental Assessment was now being carried out under “Hong Kong 2030+”, in the hope of enhancing biodiversity and environmental capacity through the protection of places with high ecological values, creation of eco-corridors, revitalising water bodies and abandoned agricultural land and setting up of natural parks, etc.
(ii) “Hong Kong 2030+” aimed to cut carbon emission, effluent discharge and electricity demand through green transportation, effluent reuse and waste-to-energy, etc.
(iii) ENB would announce its action plan on climate change in this year and “Hong Kong 2030+” had also made recommendations to fight climate change.
(iv) It was agreed that the planning of old districts should be improved to address the “double-ageing” problem.
(v) Since complicated issues such as affordability were involved, “Hong Kong 2030+” did not propose to quantify the average living space per person. However, it recommended that conditions should be provided by creating development capacity so as to increase the average living space per person.
(vi) “Hong Kong 2030+” hoped to broaden the economic base so as to increase - 12 - Action by career options for young people; and to support business start-ups by means of providing more co-work space, etc.
(vii) “Hong Kong 2030+” called for increasing the supply of different types of elderly housing, adopting more universal designs and providing elderly facilities in housing estates so as to build an age-friendly environment.
21. Mr TAM Kwok-kiu said that he agreed that Hong Kong needed development. However, since development would bring about all kinds of social problems, the Government should provide more data for discussion of various parties. He also moved a provisional motion.
22. Mr YEUNG Yuk raised the following views and enquiries: (i) many public housing estates in SSP District would be aged 50 years or above in 2030 and he wanted to know whether the authorities had any workable plan for urban renewal; (ii) apart from rental factor, more had to be done to retain talents and attract investments, for example, to improve air quality, etc. However, the document did not address this issue.
23. Mr YUEN Hoi-man raised the following views and enquiries: (i) he enquired about the target for average living space per person, in the belief that a target should be set for the average living space per person to make Hong Kong more liveable; (ii) if the authorities considered that there was a shortage of land, why not considered resuming the land of Fanling Golf Course and curbing land hoarding by real estate developers.
24. Ms NG Yuet-lan raised the following views: (i) she agreed that the authorities should consider developing the land of Fanling Golf Course; (ii) quite a number of green groups held that Kwu Tung North should be conserved and had carried out many studies. The Government should value their opinions.
25. Mr Kalvin HO raised the following views: (i) he hoped that the authorities could incorporate data of population projections and environmental assessments into the consultation document; (ii) he reckoned that the authorities should set up a database to keep the information of brownfield sites, idled sites and idled military sites, pointing out that there were many idled military sites which should be better utilised; (iii) “Hong Kong 2030+” proposed building roads connecting to Sham Shui Po, he wanted to know where the connection points were.
26. Ms Zoé CHOW said that sustainable development included social, environmental and economic development. Apart from economic development, “Hong Kong 2030+” should also give weight to social and environmental issues such - 13 - Action by as cultural conservation, retention of community characteristics, social mobility and income disparity, etc.
27. Mr Dominic LEE said that the existing Buyer’s Stamp Duty had impeded urban redevelopment, resulting in a slower urban renewal process in recent years. He hoped that the Government would do something in this respect to facilitate urban renewal.
28. Mr Eric MA gave a consolidated response as follows:
(i) “Hong Kong 2030+” involved high level planning and was difficult to set out the nuts and bolts in each policy area. Yet the public could visit the website of “Hong Kong 2030+” and view the information pertaining population projections and other relevant policies, etc.
(ii) PlanD would conduct comprehensive study on the conditions of brownfield sites in this year to ascertain their numbers and current land uses.
(iii) The Government was vigorously planning to develop brownfield sites for other purposes. It planned to put the brownfield sites in Kwu Tung North, Hung Shui Kiu and Yuen Long South of about 340 hectares as well as those in New Territories North of about 200 hectares for comprehensive development.
(iv) As far as the Fanling Golf Course was concerned, the Home Affairs Bureau (“HAB”) was now reviewing the private recreational lease and the Development Bureau would follow up on the development of the relevant site according to the outcome of the review.
(v) The Government had been actively following up on urban renewal issue and maintaining close liaison with URA. The redevelopment projects under the demand-led approach were mainly small scale development projects; the authorities would examine their economic benefits.
29. Miss Winnie LAU gave a consolidated response as follows:
(i) It was agreed that air quality had everything to do with talent retention and therefore “Hong Kong 2030+” had proposed to update the recommendations relating to air quality assessment in the Technical Circular on Air Ventilation Assessment and the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines. - 14 - Action by (ii) “Hong Kong 2030+” had yet to propose a quantified average living space per person but its long-term target was to increase the average living space per person; public views were welcomed.
30. The Chairman concluded that DC supported the planning vision and strategic direction proposed by “Hong Kong 2030+” and hoped that the authorities would proactively adopt Members’ views and finish the study as soon as possible so that the recommendations under the strategy could be implemented as soon as possible. He asked the authorities to follow up on the unaddressed issues with the Secretary.
31. Mr Kalvin HO said that Members did not support the direction of “Hong Kong 2030+” unanimously.
32. The Chairman said that a provisional motion moved by Mr TAM Kwok-kiu and seconded by Ms NG Yuet-lan was received.
33. Mr TAM Kwok-kiu introduced the content of the provisional motion as follows: “Given that ‘Hong Kong 2030+’ has recognised the seriousness of population and building ageing but offered no specific measures to achieve the target of enhancing liveability, SSPDC strongly demands that ‘Hong Kong 2030+’ adopt a bottom up planning approach and strategies to release land resources in old districts so as to address the demands for housing sites, in particular those for subsidised housing, and improve the space, community and environmental facilities in Sham Shui Po and old urban districts while rising to the challenges posed by climate change.”
34. Mr Dennis WONG suggested adjourning the meeting to discuss the content of the provisional motion.
35. The Chairman announced that the meeting would be adjourned for ten minutes.
(The meeting was adjourned.)
36. The Chairman announced that the meeting was resumed. He said that an amended motion moved by Mr CHAN Wai-ming and seconded by Mr Dominic LEE was received.
37. Mr CHAN Wai-ming introduced the content of the amended motion as follows: “This Council supports the planning vision and strategy proposed by ‘Hong Kong 2030+’ to keep Hong Kong a liveable, competitive and sustainable Asia’s World City. SSPDC strongly requests that ‘Hong Kong 2030+’ adopt a diversify planning approach and strategies to release land resources in old districts so as to address the demands for housing sites, in particular those for subsidised housing, and improve the - 15 - Action by space, community and environmental facilities in Sham Shui Po and old urban districts while rising to the challenges posed by climate change.”
38. Mr TAM Kwok-kiu remarked that Members had different views towards “Hong Kong 2030+” and they did not support it unanimously. The provisional motion moved by him asked mainly for formulating redevelopment strategies for old districts to improve the liveability of Hong Kong. In view of this, he reckoned that the amended motion was a parallel motion.
39. Mr KONG Kwai-sang said that he had many doubts about the content of “Hong Kong 2030+” and reckoned that the development issue should be explored from different perspectives. In this connection, he did not agree to the amended motion for its assertion that this Council supported the direction of “Hong Kong 2030+”.
40. Mr YUEN Hoi-man shared the same vision of developing a liveable city as suggested by “Hong Kong 2030+”. However, he had reservation on the development strategy and suggested that the Member who submitted the amended motion should consider revising it.
41. Mr Kalvin HO said that “Hong Kong 2030+” was still under consultation and this Council should only stake out its position after the authorities put forth specific proposals. In this connection, he did not agree to expressing support for “Hong Kong 2030+” at this stage.
42. Mr Dennis WONG said that “Hong Kong 2030+” painted a vision for the future. Although Members had different opinions regarding the details, no one opposed its direction and hence he supported the amended motion.
43. Ms NG Yuet-lan remarked that she did not oppose the relevant direction but it would be inappropriate to use the word “support” since the authorities had no specific strategies for the time being. In this connection, she proposed using the word “noted”.
44. The meeting voted on the amended motion moved by Mr CHAN Wai-ming by open ballot.
45. The voting result was as follows:
For: Mr CHAN Kwok-wai, Mr CHAN Wai-ming, Ms Joephy CHAN, Mr Vincent CHENG, Mr Ambrose CHEUNG, Mr Aaron LAM, Ms LAU Pui-yuk, Mr Dominic LEE, Mr LEE Wing-man, - 16 - Action by Mr LEUNG Man-kwong, Mr Dennis WONG (11)
Against: Ms Joephy CHAN, Mr Kalvin HO, Mr KONG Kwai-sang, Ms Carman NG, Ms NG Yuet-lan, Mr TAM Kwok-kiu, Mr WAI Woon-nam, Mr YEUNG Yuk (8)
Abstain: Mr YUEN Hoi-man (1)
46. Ms NG Yuet-lan said that she voted against the motion because “Hong Kong 2030+” did not put forward any specific strategies.
47. The Secretary announced the voting result: 11 Members voted for the motion, 8 Members voted against it and 1 Member abstained. The Chairman declared that the amended motion was carried.
48. Mr TAM Kwok-kiu remarked that Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People’s Livelihood voted against the motion because the strategy of promoting growth by means of infrastructural development proposed by “Hong Kong 2030+” was not appropriate.
(b) Building of a primary school with 30 classrooms at Tonkin Street, Cheung Sha Wan for the reprovisioning of the Pak Tin Catholic Primary School (SSPDC Paper 2/17)
49. The Chairman welcomed the representatives of Education Bureau (“EDB”), Architectural Services Department (“ArchSD”), Transport Department (“TD”) and Pak Tin Catholic Primary School (“PTCPS”) to the meeting.
50. Mr KWAN Yiu-man, Miss NG Hoi-yan, Ms TSE Chi-mei and Mr WONG Chi-leung introduced Paper 2/17 with the aid of PowerPoint.
51. Mr Aaron LAM raised the following views: (i) the existing school facilities fell short of the social expectations for education facilities. Therefore, he opined that new school premises should be built to provide better learning environment for students; (ii) the new school premises would be located at a site which had been used by a school and was now occupied by a temporary car park. The location was not only easily accessed and its environment was also good; (iii) resident organisations in the vicinity wanted to strengthen exchange with the school and borrow its assembly hall or facilities. He hoped that the school would adopt an open policy and lend its facilities for use of the residents.
52. Mr LEE Wing-man raised the following views: (i) he supported the - 17 - Action by reprovisioning plan; (ii) the school premises of PTCPS were decrepit and could not fulfil the educational requirements nowadays. The last-term DC had been calling for the rebuilding of the school; (iii) the population of Sham Shui Po would grow in the future and many of them would be pupils. The new school premises were situated at the town centre; a convenient location for students to go to school; (iv) he hoped that the funding application would be smoothly endorsed by the Legislative Council so that the school could be rebuilt as soon as possible.
53. Ms Carman NG raised the following views and enquiries: (i) the surroundings of PTCPS were densely developed. Although the school could not be rebuilt in-situ at Pak Tin Estate, she was glad that the school and EDB had endeavoured to identify another site for the provisioning of PTCPS; (ii) as there were many schools in the vicinity of Cheung Sha Wan and there was also a newly-built public housing estate nearby, she asked whether the ancillary transport facilities could cope with the needs; (iii) whether TD would plan other ancillary transport facilities for students living in Pak Tin Estate to go to the new school other than taking MTR and Bus Route No. 214. Given that the residents of Sham Shui Po East did not have enough ancillary transport facilities to go to schools at Hoi Lai Estate, she urged TD to learn from the past experience and plan as early as possible to facilitate students living in Pak Tin Estate to go to the new school; (iv) the redevelopment of Pak Tin Estate did not include the development of the current site of PTCPS. She enquired about the future use of that school premises.
54. Ms Zoé CHOW raised the following views and enquiries: (i) residents living in the vicinity of Cheung Sha Wan Estate welcomed the reprovisioning of PTCPS. Many housing developments would be completed in SSP District and both the population and the number of pupils would increase. The new school premises could help solve the problem of insufficient resources of the old school premises and provide more activity rooms and space for students, which could benefit their learning and growth; (ii) she pointed out that the golf course nearby was now being used for housing development; rodents were frequently seen at the site and mosquito infestation was serious in summer time. She worried that the school-building project would bring similar problems and enquired about how to improve that. She also urged the Government to provide relevant ancillary facilities properly; (iii) the school had a vehicle access and a pedestrian access at Tonkin Street which could help divert pedestrian and traffic flow. However, Tonkin Street was a busy street and she worried that school buses accessing to or exiting from the school during peak hours might affect the traffic of Tonkin Street. She hoped that TD would pay more attention to that; (iv) the relevant land slot was now used as temporary car park. Given the gravity of the parking problem in the district, she hoped that the departments concerned would face to it. - 18 - Action by 55. Mr Vincent CHENG raised the following views and enquiries: (i) he recognised PTCPS’s efforts in nurturing pupils; (ii) given the uniqueness of the pupils in SSP District, he had suggested EDB accord priority to rebuild schools in the same district if new school premises were to be built. He pointed out that other than PTCPS there were still many schools with poor hardware and facilities in the district which could be rebuilt; (iii) Tonkin Street was a busy street and he wondered whether school bus lay-bys could be provided inside the school; (iv) he was concerned about the noise pollution problem during the construction of the school and hoped that departments would follow up on the issue; (v) whether the school would keep its name PTCPS.
56. Mr WAI Woon-nam raised the following views and enquiries: (i) Members had kept tabs on the reprovisioning of PTCPS since HD announced its plan to redevelop Pak Tin Estate and were glad to see that the primary school would be moved to Tonkin Street. It was hoped that the new school premises, which were appropriately located, would be more convenient to pupils; (ii) since the new school premises would be adjacent to a newly-built housing estate, he asked whether noise barriers would be provided so that the noise generated by them would not affect each other. He also hoped that various departments would review different noise mitigating measures; (iii) he hoped that EDB would give an account of the future use of the original site of PTCPS.
57. Mr TAM Kwok-kiu raised the following views and enquiries: (i) he welcomed the reprovisioning plan and was glad to see that PTCPS would have new school premises to continue its educational work; (ii) although the setting and space of the school premises would be improved, he opined that more could still be done. He urged the school and EDB to considered whether there would be resources and space to add hardware such as green facilities (e.g. emission control equipment) to make better use of school space; (iii) he suggested the school introduce “community-based” measures to address community needs with the hardware of the school to achieve development through mutual cooperation. For example, there was a lack of facilities such as assembly halls in the community and if the school assembly hall could be available for use, it would not only blend education with community life but also give rise to a public perception that the land resources used by the school could address educational needs and was also a facility favourable to the community, thereby achieving win-win. Yet this required the policy and resource support from EDB.
58. Mr LEUNG Man-kwong raised the following views: (i) he welcomed the reprovisioning plan of PTCPS at Tonkin Street. When residents moved into public housing estates nearby such as Fu Cheong and Wing Cheong, there was always a lack of school places and many pupils could not find a suitable school near their homes. The new PTCPS could provide more school places and help cope with the needs - 19 - Action by generated by the increased population after the completion of redevelopment projects in the new reclamation area and the area near Tonkin Street; (ii) in the past, school reprovisioning works or in-taking of residential buildings bred all kinds of problems (e.g. noise pollution problems) due to inadequate communication. He hoped that during the construction of the new school premises, the school could strengthen communication with public housing estates, resident organisations and non-government organisations (“NGOs”) nearby so that the school could develop together with the stakeholders in its vicinity and keep serving the residents in the district.
59. Ms Joephy CHAN raised the following views and enquiries: (i) she supported the reprovisioning plan. Under the plan, the number of classrooms would be increased from 21 to 30 and the facilities which had been in short supply (e.g. guidance activity rooms, assembly hall and multi-purpose activity areas, etc.) would also be provided to enhance the quality of teaching; (ii) she was concerned about the collaboration between the school and community organisations and suggested that the school should consider supporting district child care services on top of lending out venues. She believed that that would be well-received by the public; (iii) she wanted to know how the original school premises in Pak Tin would be used; (iv) she hoped that the relevant departments would address the issue of school buses picking up and dropping off pupils after the new school premises were in use; (v) there were frequent complaints from different organisations or residents about the illegal parking problems near Tonkin Street and Lai Chi Kok Road. She had also reflected the problem to the Police. The site of the new school premises in Tonkin Street was currently occupied by a car park. Illegal parking problem would deteriorate if the number of parking spaces decreased while the demand for them surged after the public housing estates were completed and various facilities came into operation. She hoped that the relevant departments would plan as early as possible; (vi) when piling works was carried out earlier at the golf course site, residents nearby (including those living in Cheung Sha Wan Estate and Lai Kok Estate) complained about the noise and environmental hygiene. She hoped that the relevant departments would implement noise prevention measures (including the use of acoustic canvas) and limit the hours of piling works so as to minimise the impact on residents.
60. Miss NG Hoi-yan was glad that Members supported the reprovisioning plan and gave a consolidated response as follows:
(i) Under the current reprovisioning arrangements, the original school premises of PTCPS would be handed over to the Government after the reprovisioning work. The Bureau would pay close attention to the progress of the reprovisioning project and assess whether the premises were suitable to be used for school premises or other educational purposes - 20 - Action by according to the existing mechanism. If the Bureau confirmed that there was no need to use the premises for school premises or other educational purposes, it would inform PlanD or relevant departments according to the mechanism so that they could consider other suitable long-term purposes.
(ii) The new school premises had several school bus lay-bys and school buses could enter the school area for picking up and dropping off pupils. Since the buses would not park at roadside, the traffic of Tonkin Street would not be affected.
61. Mr WONG Chi-leung gave a consolidated response as follows:
(i) ArchSD would plan the piling works properly to shorten its period. It would also recommend the contractor to use high quality machines and step up noise leakage prevention measures to minimise the impact on residents.
(ii) The Department would urge the contractor to increase the frequency of site cleaning and adopt various measures to prevent mosquito breeding and rodent infestation.
(iii) The Department would ensure that the total area of vertical and horizontal greening in the school would be no less than 20% of the site area under the current planning so that students could enjoy a green campus.
62. Mr Paul LEE gave a consolidated response as follows:
(i) The school would provide adequate transport ancillary facilities in accordance with planning standards and allow vehicles to enter the school area to pick up and drop off pupils. As the current traffic volume of Tonkin Street was not yet over its capacity, it was expected that traffic congestion would not be caused.
(ii) The location of the proposed school premises was now a temporary car park. It was believed that vehicles would park at the car park nearby after the school was built. TD would keep communicating with the Lands Department in a bid to identify places nearby for use as temporary car parks. It would also study on the implementation of traffic improvement measures including adding parking spaces at the streets in the vicinity.
63. Miss NG Hoi-yan added that EDB had encouraged schools to open their facilities and allow community organisations to rent school premises as far as possible - 21 - Action by to strengthen cooperation between schools and the community. The Bureau was glad to see that the school planned to lend out facilities for use of the locals. When working out the design of the school premises, the assembly hall would be located near the entrance to facilitate members of the public to go to the assembly hall.
64. Mr LEE Yuk-hung responded that the name of the school would be decided by the sponsoring body. Since the school in Pak Tin was decades old and was much loved by the alumni, the school would consider carefully the views of Members and stakeholders on the name of the school. It would also make reference to the practices of other relocated schools ran by Hong Kong Catholic Diocese and set out in bracket the districts where the new schools situated after the school names, for example, Yaumati Catholic Primary School (Hoi Wang Road) and Tai Kok Tsui Catholic Primary School (Hoi Fan Road).
65. Ms Carman NG enquired of HD and PlanD about their planning for the original site of PTCPS.
66. Miss NG Hoi-yan responded that according to the existing arrangements, PTCPS had to hand over the original school premises for the disposal of the Government after reprovisioning. EDB would keep tabs on the progress of the reprovisioning project of PTCPS and review and handle the relevant school premises according to the existing mechanism. If it was certain that there was no need for EDB to use the vacant school premises for school or other educational purposes, EDB would, according to the mechanism, inform PlanD and other relevant departments so that they could consider other suitable long-term uses.
67. Ms Carman NG demanded HD or PlanD to answer her questions. She pointed out that a primary school would be built after Block 13 of Pak Tin Estate was redeveloped. After PTCPS was relocated, the vacant school premises should be used according to the needs of the redevelopment project as a whole; otherwise the planning would be unsatisfactory.
68. Mr TSE Chick-lam responded that the school premises were government property managed by EDB.
69. Mr TAM Kwok-kiu said that the time required for the redevelopment of Block 13 of Pak Tin Estate and the building of the new school premises of PTCPS was almost the same. He hoped that EDB and HD could discuss as soon as possible how the original site of the school should be used with a view to better utilising land resources. He believed that stakeholders in the district would like to see the Government started consulting the district on the use of the land in question as soon as possible. He hoped that the relevant departments would follow up on the issue. - 22 - Action by 70. Ms Zoé CHOW raised the following views: (i) the paper pointed out that the project was expected to be commenced at the fourth quarter of 2017 and finished at the third quarter of 2020. She urged the relevant departments to plan the project properly (e.g. to project the rainy period accurately) and launch it as scheduled after provisions were sought so that residents could have a clear picture and hence making less enquiries; (ii) TD said that vehicles would be diverted to the car park nearby and traffic improvement measures implemented; she urged the Department to follow up on that as soon as possible.
71. Mr WONG Chi-leung responded that the time required by the project had already counted in the rainy period. ArchSD would follow the schedule as far as possible, in the hope that the project would be completed on time.
72. The Chairman concluded that this Council supported the redevelopment plan proposed in the paper and hoped that EDB and the School would heed Members’ views.
(c) Objection to the reinstatement of TSA at Primary 3 level (SSPDC Paper 3/17)
73. The Vice-chairman remarked that since the Chairman had left the meeting for another commitment in the afternoon, he would preside over the discussion of the remaining agenda items.
74. Mr YUEN Hoi-man introduced Paper 3/17。
75. Ms Zoé CHOW supplemented as follows: (i) she objected the reinstatement of the Territory-wide System Assessment (“TSA”) at Primary 3 level, hoping that pupils did not have to forsake happy learning for better examination results during their childhoods. During a public hearing of the Legislative Council conducted earlier, a pupil reflected the plight of the primary education in Hong Kong now. She pointed out that pupils had to face heavy pressure and did not have enough time for dining and playing; which would hamper their development; (ii) she hoped that the Bureau would review the objectives of TSA.
76. The Vice-chairman welcomed the representatives of EDB to the meeting.
77. Mr Albert WONG gave a consolidated response as follows:
(i) TSA was designed to gauge students’ attainment of the basic competencies (“BCs”) in Chinese Language, English Language and Mathematics at the end of Primary 3, Primary 6 and Secondary 3 to see whether the teaching was effective. The schools could adjust their teaching strategies for the - 23 - Action by next learning stage according to the relevant information.
(ii) TSA was a low-stake assessment. At student level, TSA would not provide results of individual students; therefore, it would not be used as indicator of advancement in education. At school level, TSA would provide feedbacks for schools and EDB would not use the results for classifying schools; let alone using it as an index for closing schools.
(iii) In the past, Primary 6 students had to take part in TSA and the Pre-Secondary One Hong Kong Attainment Test. To lessen their pressure, the Bureau announced in November 2011 that Primary 6 TSA would be suspended in 2012 and 2014.
(iv) The Bureau proposed to enhance the arrangements of TSA on 11 April 2014 by implementing Primary 6 TSA in every odd-number year and Pre-Secondary One Hong Kong Attainment Test in every even-number year. The Bureau would not provide BC attainment rates of students to individual primary schools; it would only provide Item Analysis Reports.
(v) A Coordinating Committee on Basic Competency Assessment and Assessment Literacy (“Coordinating Committee”) was established in October 2014 to give advice on the development direction of TSA. Taking into account various public opinions, the Coordinating Committee conducted a comprehensive review on TSA in 2015 and recommended in February 2016 that a Tryout Study be implemented at Primary 3 level. More than 50 schools participated in the study on a voluntary basis and the assessment was completed in June that year.
(vi) The Coordinating Committee submitted a study report to the Bureau on 9 December 2016 and the study areas included: (1) assessment papers and question design - the questions were in general more easy and the number of texts in the reading assessment was reduced (the number of Chinese texts was adjusted from three to two and English from four to three); (2) school reports - to provide four sets of reports to schools instead of one, with detailed analysis on the questions, etc. The schools participated in the Tryout Study responded positively, pointing out that students could finish the assessment papers without extra drillings.
(vii) Some media reports pointed out that the data obtained through TSA could help schools enhance and improve teaching effectiveness. Some reports held that it was undesirable if schools knew nothing about the learning effectiveness of students. - 24 - Action by 78. Ms Maggie LAW gave a consolidated response as follows:
(i) The Coordinating Committee conducted a comprehensive review on TSA in late October 2015 and submitted a report in February 2016.
(ii) The Coordinating Committee studied various administrative arrangement options such as conducting TSA in alternate years, on a sampling basis and with alternate subjects and found out that no single option could respond to or address all the concerns of the society. Conducting TSA in alternate years would only mean alternate-year drillings for schools adopting over-drilling practice, which would affect learning and teaching at different year levels. If TSA was to be conducted on a sampling basis, the schools were uncertain about which students would be selected for assessment and students would still feel the pressure.
(iii) The Coordinating Committee reaffirmed the intent and value of the establishment of TSA and agreed that the data collected could help improve learning and teaching. At that time the Coordinating Committee suggested conducting a Tryout Study to review the paper designs so as to match with the learning of students. Moreover, different reporting formats were available to cope with the needs of individual schools. The report provided analysis in four aspects and proposed ways to eliminate the incentives for drilling so as to dispel stakeholders’ doubts and improve teaching and learning. The Bureau was now studying the content of the report in details and collecting stakeholders’ views; it would announce the arrangements for TSA 2017 as soon as possible.
79. Mr YUEN Hoi-man raised the following views and enquiries: (i) if TSA was designed to assess students’ BCs, he wondered why all kinds of drilling exercises were available in the market and parents believed that drillings were necessary; (ii) the Bureau pointed out that conducting TSA on a sampling basis or in alternate years could not alleviate students’ pressure. He asked whether the Bureau had carried out studies on these two types of assessment methods; (iii) whether the Bureau would consider allowing schools, students or parents to decide whether to take part in TSA; he believed that that could help reduce unnecessary pressure and problem of drilling.
80. Mr Vincent CHENG raised the following views: (i) he did not oppose the conduction of various types of assessments by EDB but there were many public opinions towards TSA while schools and parents worried that over-drilling would affect students’ growth. Students had to do a lot of homework and TSA was one of the reasons. He urged the Bureau to face up to the problem and allow students to enjoy after school hours; (ii) he reckoned that the Bureau should assess whether the - 25 - Action by measures launched after the review could relieve the pressure on students and parents effectively; (iii) even though TSA was a low-stake assessment, it would still bring pressure to schools. He hoped that the Bureau would review its support to schools.
81. Ms Carman NG raised the following views and enquiries: (i) why the Bureau reinstated TSA at Primary 3 level. She pointed out that schools, parents and students were comparatively relaxed when TSA was suspended and that schools had reduced drillings and added more extra curriculum activities. She was a parent and knew well about the hardship students suffered from drillings. Parents were heavy-hearted when they knew about the reinstatement of TSA; (ii) she was concerned about the arrangements for Primary 3 TSA, pointing out that many primary school students had to attend tutorial classes after school and they should not be left to face more pressure. Moreover, she did not want to see the time parents spent together with their children being curtailed; (iii) there were various assessments in schools to test whether students could meet the learning requirements, hence she opined that there was no need to implement TSA; (iv) according to a newspaper report in 2016, the Tryout Study had failed to relieve students’ pressure. Many schools incorporated Primary 3 TSA exercises into the homework of Primary 1 students; drillings persisted. She hoped that the Bureau would implement measures favourable to students and pay more attention to student suicide problem.
82. Ms Zoé CHOW raised the following views and enquiries: (i) she enquired of the Bureau about the purposes of implementing TSA. If the results of TSA would not be used as an index for closing schools; nor would it be used to rank schools and individual students, she wondered why the Bureau did not consider scrapping it; (ii) she failed to understand why students still had to be assessed after sitting school examinations; (iii) how the Bureau could ensure that schools would not over-drill students because of TSA; (iv) she opined that the Bureau should care more about students’ mental health, organise more extra curriculum activities and promote communication among schools, parents and students.
83. Mr LEUNG Man-kwong raised the following views and enquiries: (i) he asked EDB to give an account of the function of TSA and consider whether it should be continued; (ii) it was difficult for the Bureau to ensure that schools would not drill students for better TSA results. He reckoned that the improved TSA results, whether they were due to drillings or more simple papers, could hardly be used as indicators for teaching, allocation of EDB resources and improvement of education policies. In view of this, he looked askance at the value of TSA; (iii) if TSA had nothing to do with school performance assessment and the Bureau would not deploy resources based on the results, for example, subsidise schools with worse results so that they could hire teachers and adopt activity approach in teaching, TSA was gratuitous. - 26 - Action by 84. Mr TAM Kwok-kiu raised the following views: (i) he believed that there were policy objectives for the establishment of TSA but some of them (e.g. school ranking) might no longer be necessary. He understood that the Bureau wanted to discern how much the students had learnt but the system would certainly put pressure on students, leaving them unable to learn happily; (ii) student suicide problem suggested that the outcome might not be good despite the Government had made substantial investment. He hoped that the Bureau would reflect on itself; (iii) the Bureau should trust educators and sponsoring bodies because they cared more about whether students had good foundations; (iv) the Bureau should take into account the performance of schools. It should devote more resources and help schools in need (e.g. schools with a large number of students from the newly-arrived families and disadvantage groups) to improve teaching conditions; (v) students should not be labelled according to their language or other abilities because their performance might vary at different learning stages; (vi) he agreed that there was no need to implement TSA.
85. Mr Albert WONG gave a consolidated response as follows:
(i) The report of the Coordinating Committee proposed implementing the improved TSA for schools territory-wide. The Bureau was now considering the proposal and had yet to decide whether Primary 3 TSA would be reinstated. It would make an announcement once there was any decision.
(ii) The students of the 50 schools taking part in the Tryout Study could still obtain satisfactory results without drillings. Some parents interviewed said that they did not know their children had sit for TSA and the students had felt no pressure.
(iii) TSA aimed to assess how much students had learnt at different learning stages and allow schools to get hold of their BC data. Schools, after obtaining BC data and discerning the performance in various aspects of students territory-wide, could strengthen training on individual abilities. The relevant measures were clear and scientific and similar measures were also adopted in countries like America and Canada.
(iv) The Bureau had used TSA to gauge school performances in the past. Since the implementation of the enhancement measures in 2014, the Bureau had kept confidential the relevant information and stopped making them public. Nor would it evaluate schools’ performance with TSA results. The Bureau would provide professional support to schools according to their TSA performance, for example, professional teams would be sent to schools to discuss with teachers how the learning and - 27 - Action by teaching strategies could be adjusted, etc.
(v) TSA had been implemented for years and was focused on assessing the BCs of students in Chinese, English and Mathematics which were closely related to day-to-day teaching. All parties needed time to learn about the new measures and the Bureau would also strengthen communication with parents and training of teachers.
(vi) The Bureau issued “Guidelines on Homework and Tests in Schools - No Drilling, Effective Learning” and “Selection of Quality Textbooks and Curriculum Resources for Use in Schools (Supplementary Notes) – Prudent Selection and Use” on 31 October 2015 to remind schools that homework should not be too much and should be meaningful. Homework for lower grades should be interesting while that for higher grades stimulative to students’ thinking, creative, avoid learning by rote and were to a certain degree challenging so as to achieve happy learning. Although doing homework could produce positive effect and consolidate learning results, the Bureau reckoned that that should not take up too much after school time. Besides, the Bureau had issued letters to schools in late 2015, asking them not to take TSA as an excuse and require students to attend tutorials after school or sit mock TSA examinations. Besides, after-school tutorials or support must be approved by parents and they could determine whether their children should attend. Schools in this district had all followed the relevant requirements.
86. Ms Maggie LAW responded that the report submitted by the Coordinating Committee in February 2016 had recognised the original intention of the setting up of TSA, pointing out that the assessment was valuable at school level or even a territorial-wide level. The Coordinating Committee, when analysing different administrative arrangements, would consider whether they could reduce the incentives for drillings and provide objective data for reference of the Government and improve teaching, etc. The report explored the administrative arrangements of conducting TSA in alternate years, on a sampling basis and with alternate subjects of Chinese, English and Mathematics, pointing out that those arrangements could not reduce the incentives for drilling; some of them even failed to provide feedbacks for teaching and learning.
87. The Vice-chairman concluded that this Council hoped that the Bureau would heed Members’ views and consider carefully whether it was necessary to reinstate Primary 3 TSA. Moreover, it should also actively study improvement measures to lessen the pressure on students and parents. - 28 - Action by 88. Ms Carman NG remarked that Members who had spoken during the meeting were all against the reinstatement of TSA.
89. The Vice-chairman concluded that Members had expressed their views of opposing the reinstatement of Primary 3 TSA and hoped that the Bureau would take that seriously.
90. Mr LEUNG Yau-fong said that Members were explicitly opposed to the reinstatement of TSA even though no motion was moved.
91. The Vice-chairman remarked that his conclusion had pointed to the fact that Members who had spoken during the meeting had expressed their views of opposing the reinstatement of Primary 3 TSA.
92. Mr TAM Kwok-kiu said that the paper mentioned specifically that this Council demanded the Government to abolish TSA. Even though no motion was moved, Members who had spoken at the meeting were all subscribed to the relevant suggestion.
93. The Vice-chairman concluded that this Council demanded the Bureau to heed Members’ views and consider carefully whether it was necessary to reinstate Primary 3 TSA, actively study improvement measures and lessen the pressure of students and parents. He believed that his conclusion had summed up Members’ messages of opposing the reinstatement of TSA.
(d) Concerns over the crime situation in relation to South Asians syndicates in Sham Shui Po District Demanding to reinforce interdiction (SSPDC Paper 4/17)
94. Ms LAU Pui-yuk introduced Paper 4/17 and added that the paper aimed to draw attention to the law and order situation in the district; it did not mean to discriminate against South Asians.
95. The Vice-chairman welcomed the representatives of HKPF and the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (“FEHD”) to the meeting.
96. Mrs Josephine MAK responded with the aid of PowerPoint as follows:
(i) There were 4 681 crime cases (tentative figure) in SSP Police District in 2016; 29 cases fewer than the 4 710 cases in 2015. In 2016, there were 474 cases involving non-ethnic Chinese which represented about 10% of the total crime cases and was 2% slightly higher than the number in 2015. There were 2 409 people arrested in 2016, among them 377 people (about - 29 - Action by 16%) were non-ethnic Chinese; which represented about 12% increase than the 266 people arrested in 2015. About 38.5% of the people arrested were non-ethnic Chinese with Hong Kong Identity Card (“ HKID”) and 54.4% were non-refoulement claimants. The rest of them were mainly people with foreign passports or illegal immigrants.
(ii) The Police combated illegal immigration by means of intercepting at the source and had amended laws to suit enforcement needs. The Organised Crime and Triad Bureau and the Narcotics Bureau had frequently carried out joint operations with Mainland law enforcement authorities, for example, the “Peak Operation” in March 2016 which had successfully smashed human smuggling syndicates. Section 7A of the Immigration Ordinance (Cap.115) was also amended and gazetted in May 2016. The ordinance covered eight new origins of illegal migrants (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia and Sri Lanka). The Police would keep carrying out joint enforcement action with the law enforcement authorities of other countries.
(iii) There were about 18 000 non-ethnic Chinese living in SSP Police District, accounting for 4.5% of the population in the district. SSP Police District would employ three tactics to fight criminal activities committed by non-ethnic Chinese, including encouraging non-ethnic Chinese students and residents to take part in policing work to prevent crime and illegal activities; and conducting regular risk assessments for unpredictable incidents according to needs.
(iv) The Police organised various activities (e.g. Judo classes of Operation Breakthrough and visits to the Government Flying Service, etc.) for non-ethnic Chinese students through School Liaison Officers, NGOs and the Police Volunteer Service Corps to enhance their civic awareness and sense of belonging to Hong Kong. The Police also built connections with and disseminate anti-crime messages through mosques, ethnic minority shops and NGOs in the district. Besides, “SSP Security” Scheme was implemented in the police district to build connections with property management companies in the district. Publicity posters in English, Chinese and eight ethnic languages were posted at buildings in the district to encourage non-ethnic Chinese to contribute to the community crime-fighting efforts.
(v) The Police would adopt an intelligence-led approach and endeavour to nip criminal activities in the bud. The action targeted illegal activities, not the races or nationalities of criminals. The Police attached importance to - 30 - Action by residents’ sense of security in the district. Since residents had raised concern about the frequent occurrence of non-ethnic Chinese chasing and fighting on the streets after disputing over trivial matters, the Police would deploy uniformed police from time to time to patrol the areas where the people concerned assembled. Moreover, the Police would also take rigorous action against crimes involving vice, gambling and drugs. Law enforcement action (e.g. “Firebird” anti-vice operations in June 2016) was launched to stem illegal prostitution involving non-ethnic Chinese. Given that many fighting cases involved illegal gambling and drugs, the Police believed that the strengthening of the relevant work would help reduce crime.
(vi) The Police had stepped up patrol at relevant streets and toughened enforcement to address the problem of non-ethnic Chinese occupying roads and peddling goods illegally. Moreover, the Police also carried out joint action with FEHD, targeting at the second-hand electrical appliances recycling activities at Yee Kuk Street and Hai Tan Street while the Sham Shui Po District Office (“SSPDO”) would promote the message to shop owners that shop front extensions would affect residents’ living and block the traffic. It would also arrange meetings with shop operators with a view to solving the problem. As seen from the numbers of verbal warnings issued and the items seized by the Department, the situation had been greatly improved.
(vii) Many non-ethnic Chinese with HKIDs were born and bred in Hong Kong; they had made all kinds of contributions to Hong Kong society and should not be conflated with criminals. To strengthen publicity, the Police recruited 120 Junior Police Call members from schools with non-ethnic Chinese students in the district, organised various activities for them and arranged them to take part in anti-crime publicity work. Besides, the contributions made by non-ethnic Chinese were vigorously promoted. For example, a Pakistani who helped the Police crack a theft and burglary case was nominated the Best Security Guard of 2014 and another Pakistani security guard who helped solve a case would be nominated for the Good Citizen Award. The Police would make full effort to promote cultural integration and let the public understand that non-ethnic Chinese were also enthusiastic about the community and willing to contribute to community safety.
(viii) To address the illegal parking problem of goods vehicles peddling second hand items at Pei Ho Street, the Police and FEHD carried out nine joint operations near Pei Ho Street Market from August to December 2016. A - 31 - Action by total of 14 flea market hawkers were arrested by FEHD; nine of them were convicted. The Police would also issue fixed penalty tickets to vehicles blocking the roads; 100 tickets were issued at a section of Pei Ho Street between Lai Chi Kok Road and Yu Chau Street from October to November 2016. Between October and December 2016, the Police had received 20 complaints about noise nuisance near Apliu Street; five of them were reported to be caused by non-ethnic Chinese. Regarding the five complaints, since the Police found nothing unusual when they reached the scenes and the people who had reported the cases had not provided any contact information, the Police could not follow up on the cases. The Police would continue to deploy staff to properly enforce law at the above locations.
97. Mr LAI Kah-kit responded as follows:
(i) FEHD was concerned about the hawker problem near Pei Ho Street Market. It would deploy Hawker Control Teams to patrol there on a daily basis and arrange Hawker Control Task Forces to step up enforcement action from time to time.
(ii) Generally speaking, the Department would issue warning first and take prosecution action if the warning was not heeded. As far as elderly hawkers were concerned, the Department would exercise powers in a reasonable manner according to the actual circumstances. For hawkers peddling goods on vehicles, the Hawker Control Teams of FEHD would take enforcement action once there were enough evidences. Besides, the Department would take joint action with the Police on a regular basis to combat goods peddling activities on vehicles.
(iii) In 2016, there were 22 cases of unlicensed hawkers being arrested and prosecuted near Pei Ho Street Market; of which, 14 cases involved peddling goods on vehicles and nine of them involved South Asians. Besides, there were 101 cases of seizure of goods left by hawkers. As for Apliu Street, there were 14 cases of illegal hawkers being arrested and prosecuted and 116 cases of seizure of goods left by hawkers.
(iv) The Department would keep stepping up patrol and law enforcement action; it would closely liaise with the Police to handle hawker problem near Pei Ho Street Market.
98. Ms LAU Pui-yuk thanked the Police for its detailed report and raised the following views and enquiries: (i) she recognised that South Asians and the new - 32 - Action by arrivals were part of the community and knew well about the importance of cultural integration; (ii) as there was a falling trend in the sense of security of residents in the district (especially those living near Pei Ho Street and Apliu Street), she enquired whether the Department had any short-, medium- and long-term specific measures to handle the law and order problems involving South Asians near Pei Ho Street; (iii) she hoped that Pei Ho Street and its vicinity could keep clean and tidy.
99. Mr Dominic LEE raised the following views: (i) the number of crime cases involving South Asian syndicates was on the rise in recent years and the ways they committed crimes were increasingly cruel. Some of the cases were even committed by local South Asians partnered with bogus refugees, unsettling many members of the public; (ii) according to the figures provided by the Police just now, 38% of the 474 cases happened in SSP District were committed by non-ethnic Chinese with HKIDs; over half of them involved bogus refugees (54%). He therefore opined that fighting bogus refugees could deter over half the crimes; (iii) he did not see to the views of some people that the Police had exaggerated the number of crimes committed by South Asians or bogus refugees. He stressed that comparison should be made between the crime rates of South Asians and the locals; not between the number of crimes committed by South Asians and the overall number of crimes; (iv) South Asians accounted for 4% of the population in SSP District, yet they were involved in 10% of the crimes. If counting in the number of crimes committed by bogus refugees, the crime rate would be 10 times higher than that of the locals. The problem was so grave that it should not be overlooked. To keep the situation in check, the Government should not only crack down local South Asian criminals, but also sever the ties between bogus refugees and local South Asian syndicates. The Government should consider building “closed camps” and allow Hong Kong to withdraw from the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (“the Convention”) to solve the problem thoroughly.
100. Mr Vincent CHENG thanked the Police for its detailed report and raised the following views and enquiries: (i) according to the figures provided by the Police just now, over half of the crimes committed in the district involved torture claimants and the number was not a small one. He enquired about the types of crimes they committed and whether there were any specific measures to deal with torture claimants committing crimes in Hong Kong; (ii) residents held that some of the serious crimes were related to South Asians and worried that with so many South Asians the district might become a hotbed for serious crime. He enquired whether the Department had any specific measures to handle that; (iii) there were South Asians gathered at Pei Ho Street and Fuk Wa Street from time to time at night. They drank alcohol, fought and urinated near hawker stalls, causing nuisances to residents and stall operators. He asked whether the Department had any specific measures to deal with that. - 33 - Action by 101. Mr LEUNG Man-kwong raised the following views: (i) the paper asked for the establishment of database and liaison network, which was a territorial-wide issue and should be responded by the Security Bureau (“SB”); (ii) apart from implementing measures (e.g. closed camps) to scrimp bogus refugees coming to Hong Kong to commit crimes, he believed that getting hold of their whereabouts was also an important measure to prevent crime. He had suggested SB take reference to foreign experience and ask the relevant people to wear trackers to better trace their whereabouts; (iii) South Asians living in Hong Kong opined that bogus refugees knew about their habits and tended to target at them; therefore the problem of bogus refugees committing crimes had raised more concern among them than the locals; (iv) he hoped that SB would respond from the policy perspective and propose effective measures for prevention, tracking, publicity and communication to allay public fear.
102. Mr TAM Kwok-kiu raised the following views and enquiries: (i) the paper expressed grave concerns towards South Asian syndicates committing crimes. He asked whether the situation involved organised crimes and asked the Police to respond directly; (ii) he was glad to see the Police handling the illegal hawking activities in the streets; (iii) he hoped that the Department could strengthen its work in racial integration by promoting understanding with a view to soothing the concerns of residents living nearby; (iv) the Police had just mentioned that there were 18 000 non-ethnic Chinese residents in SSP District and about 2% of the crime cases were related to those people. However, he reckoned the non-ethnic Chinese involved in the cases might not necessarily residents of SSP District; some of them might come from other districts. To avoid misunderstanding from Members, he asked the Police to provide the PowerPoint they had just used for Members’ reference after the meeting.
103. Mr YUEN Hoi-man raised the following views: (i) he understood that the Police had made full effort to handle all kinds of problems. He hoped that the Police could provide information of relevant crimes after the meeting. On top of the percentages, he also wanted to know the actual figures; (ii) as indicated by the figures provided by the Police, the crime rates of South Asians were a bit high. The Police offered three strategies to combat South Asian crimes. He enquired whether there were any targets and specific measures for DC’s reference and recognised the Police’s effort to attach importance to residents’ sense of security; (iii) Hong Kong was an international city and had the obligation to comply with the Convention. Since China was a convention party, he worried that it would be disrespectful to the “One Country” concept if Hong Kong was to withdraw from the Convention; (iv) it was the crime that should be targeted, not the race; (v) he opined that it was workable for China to find places to accommodate torture claimants.
104. Mr CHUM Tak-shing raised the following views: (i) the paper touched on the - 34 - Action by crimes committed by South Asians born and bred here and bogus South Asian refugees; some of the crimes were committed by individuals while the others by organised crime syndicates. The reasons for them to commit crime were complicated; be they discrimination or unemployment, etc.; (ii) he enquired about how other departments would help those people face problems such as how to making a living, etc. and whether departments like the Social Welfare Department (“SWD”) and the Education Department had carried out work to eliminate public misunderstanding.
105. Mrs Josephine MAK thanked Members for their recognition and support towards the work of the Police and gave a consolidated response as follows: (i) public cooperation was needed for the Police to enforce law; (ii) among the 377 non-ethnic Chinese arrested, 35% involved theft (including miscellaneous theft and shop theft) and 16% involved fighting; (iii) according to legal definition, only crimes related to triads or crime activities organised and committed by two or more persons specified in the Schedule including triad activities, drug manufacturing and selling, etc. should be counted as organised crimes. No non-ethnic Chinese living in SSP District had committed such crimes for the time being.
106. Mr Stephen MOK responded that: (i) the Police would arrange different police units (including uniformed police, Police Task Force, Special Duties Squad, District Investigation Team, Emergency Unit and Police Tactical Unit of Kowloon West Region, etc.) to carry out patrols and stop suspicious persons for searching from time to time; (ii) the Police would adopt an intelligent-led approach and carry out relevant enforcement action once they obtained reliable intelligence; (iii) the Police would also invite the media to report on the solved cases so as to promote anti-crime messages.
107. Mrs Josephine MAK added that: (i) making use of community resources, the Police had installed CCTVs for 82 low-security buildings in the district to allow uniformed police officers to carry out patrols more flexibly and spend more time on street patrols; (ii) after CCTVs were installed, the crime figures in SSP Police District dropped obviously, in particular burglary cases which had fallen substantially by 24%. The Police believed that the law and order situation in SSP District would continue to remain at a low level in 2017.
108. Mr LAI Kah-kit responded that FEHD would arrange blitz operations to address the problem of urination near the hawker stalls.
109. Ms LAU Pui-yuk said that she hoped that the Police and FEHD would propose specific short-, medium- and long-term plans. For example to step up patrol and install more CCTVs and to focus on the problem of selling second hand items at the four streets including Pei Ho Street from 4 p.m. to late night so as to enhance residents’ sense of security. - 35 - Action by 110. Mr Dominic LEE said that he did not ask Hong Kong to withdraw from the Convention; he only advised the Central Government to exempt Hong Kong from complying with the Convention. He pointed out that there were precedents, for example, the United Nations Refugee Convention was not applicable to Hong Kong too.
111. Mrs Josephine MAK responded that the Police had strategies to tackle illegal parking of goods vehicles. If illegally-parked vehicles were found posing grave danger to pedestrians or other vehicles, the Police would issue fine tickets immediately. If the locations where the vehicles were parked did not pose immediate danger, the Police would give verbal warnings first before issuing fine tickets or taking tougher action.
112. Mr LAI Kah-kit responded that FEHD would adopt the approach of warning before enforcement action when handling the hawker problem; it would also strengthen manpower for the hours mentioned in the paper.
113. The Vice-chairman concluded that this Council had kept tabs on the law and order problem in the district and the public had paid close attention to the crimes committed by South Asians in recent years. The information provided by the Police indicated that the relevant crime rate was on the rise. He urged the Police and the relevant departments to note the concerns of Members and the public and implement workable measures to prevent crime and reduce the nuisance caused to residents by illegal peddling.
114. Ms LAU Pui-yuk was dissatisfied with the responses of the Police and FEHD. She required the two departments to provide concrete plan to promote, prevent and combat crimes after the meeting.
115. The Vice-chairman asked the departments to note and consider Members’ views as well as strengthening promotion and toughening law enforcement action.
(e) Request for implementing measures to take care of the homeless dwelling underneath the Tung Chau Street Flyover (SSPDC Paper 5/17)
116. Mr WAI Woon-nam introduced Paper 5/17.
117. The Vice-chairman welcomed the representatives of SSPDO, FEHD, SWD and HKPF to the meeting. He said that before the meeting the Secretariat had invited the Food and Health Bureau (“FHB”) to send staff to attend the meeting and the Bureau replied that the representative of FEHD would attend the meeting on its behalf. - 36 - Action by 118. The District Officer responded that:
(i) The relevant departments had been actively following up on the situation of street sleepers dwelling under the Tung Chau Street Flyover. In 2014, SSPDO launched the Pilot Scheme on Enhancement of District Administration (“Pilot Scheme”) and commissioned the Society for Community Organisation (“SoCO”) to strengthen the support service for street sleepers in the district with additional resources under the Pilot Scheme. Given that many street sleepers participating in the Pilot Scheme had health problems or mental rehabilitation needs, SSPDO, when implementing the District-led Actions Scheme (“DAS”), had kept funding SoCO to provide support to street sleepers and commissioned the Salvation Army to provide medical service so as to strengthen support to street sleepers.
(ii) After FEHD had announced the relocation plan of Yen Chow Street Temporary Hawker Bazaar (“Fabric Market”), SSPDO had been vigorously coordinating and following up on the issue of street sleepers dwelling underneath the Tung Chau Street Flyover. SSPDO hoped that a meeting could be held with street sleeper concern groups before Lunar New Year to listen to the needs of street sleepers. It would also fully consider their opinions and take into account their reasonable demands before working out a specific plan.
(iii) Street sleepers had different needs and problems. It took long-term effort, patience and love to handle this problem. Since cloth hawkers in the Fabric Market would move to Tung Chau Street Temporary Market, SSPDO was now coordinating with relevant departments to actively follow up on the situation of street sleepers dwelling underneath the Tung Chau Street Flyover.
119. Mrs Helen KWOK responded that:
(i) Under the coordination of SSPDO, SWD had been following up on the issue of street sleeper outside Tung Chau Street Temporary Market with relevant government departments. Apart from paying regular visits to obtain better understanding on the situation and needs of each street sleeper, the Department also provide funds regularly to Integrated Services Teams for Street Sleepers, Care and Support Networking Teams and Integrated Family Service Centres. The social workers of these organisations would pay visits regularly to provide suitable support to street sleepers, for example, to arrange temporary shelter, help street - 37 - Action by sleepers secure rental housing and refer the elderly, persons in ill-health and the disabled to HD for compassionate rehousing, etc. Other support services included counselling, employment guidance, financial assistance, personal support, medical referral and drug treatment, etc. were also provided. The Department hoped to enhance street sleepers’ motivation to receive support and encourage them to quit street sleeping as soon as possible and eventually be self-reliant.
(ii) As the backgrounds and needs of street sleepers varied, the Department had cooperated closely with relevant departments and NGOs to discuss and follow up on the cases of street sleepers regularly. The Department would keep complementing the work of relevant departments and NGOs to address the welfare needs of street sleepers.
(iii) In 2016 NGOs funded by SWD and SSPDO had provided 269 outreaching service for street sleepers dwelling outside Tung Chau Street Temporary Market. A total of 2 165 people were visited, with 100 follow up cases, 27 successful cases of public housing application and 216 referral cases including those for social security, medical social workers, medical service, wound care and escort service, etc.
120. Mr LAI Kah-kit responded that apart from regular cleansing service, FEHD would also carry out inter-departmental joint action with relevant departments such as SSPDO to keep the relevant site clean so as to address the environmental hygiene problems caused by street sleepers dwelling outside Tung Chau Street Temporary Market. From next week onward, the number of inter-departmental joint action would be increased to twice a week with a view to further improving environmental hygiene.
121. Mrs Josephine MAK responded that the Police had carried out “Operation Sunshine” underneath the Tung Chau Street Flyover, Nam Cheong Street and the Cheong San Lane Flyover. The Police had in total carried out 442 patrols and 561 stop-and-question or stop-and-search procedures in December 2016. Ten people were arrested near the Tung Chau Street Flyover; six of them were involved in drug cases while four were wanted due to reasons such as non-payment of fines, breaching of court orders and thefts.
122. Ms Zoé CHOW raised the following views and enquiries: (i) she understood that it would be difficult to solve street sleeper problem within a short period of time and opined that the needs of various parties should be balanced other than providing long-term support; (ii) she was glad to see that SSPDO opined that patience and love was needed to solve street sleeper problem. She pointed out that in the past FEHD - 38 - Action by had used strong-arm methods to turf out street sleepers, for example, to dampen their personal belongings when cleansing subways to force them to leave. She worried that with the approaching of festive season and the New Year, the Department would use strong-arm methods to turf out street sleepers so as to enhance environmental hygiene. She hoped that the Department could adopt other proper measures; (iii) she enquired about how SWD would enhance street sleepers’ motivation to quit street sleeping.
123. Mr TAM Kwok-kiu raised the following views and enquiries: (i) he was glad to know that the relevant departments planned to meet street sleeper concern groups before Lunar New Year and opined that discussions would not only improve street sleeping problem but also facilitate the Government’s work; (ii) the relocation of the Fabric Market had made the resettlement of street sleepers dwelling outside Tung Chau Street Temporary Market even more pressing. He hoped that HD would intensify its effort to help address the accommodation needs of street sleepers; (iii) as medical, social welfare and accommodation service would be needed to help street sleepers, he asked whether the relevant departments had worked out specific plan and timetable and how they saw the relation between street sleepers and the relocation of the Fabric Market.
124. Mr Vincent CHENG raised the following views and enquiries: (i) he agreed with the caring approach of SSPDO in handling street sleeper problem and the schemes launched to help street sleepers had achieved some results; (ii) apart from the area underneath the Tung Chau Street Flyover, street sleepers also gathered at other locations in the district (e.g. subways in Pei Ho Street and Kweilin Street), affecting environmental hygiene. He enquired about the progress of follow up action taken by relevant departments and asked for the data of complaints and follow up action; (iii) he enquired about how FEHD could ensure the cleanliness and tidiness of the above two subways. He agreed that the Department should neither employ strong-arm methods to turf out street sleepers, nor should it neglect their impact on the environment nearby.
125. Mr CHUM Tak-shing raised the following views: (i) street sleeper problem in Sham Shui Po had persisted for a long time. Although the relevant departments had implemented all kinds of measures, little results were produced. He suggested the departments carry out reviews to see whether the support was sufficient, for example, whether HD could satisfy street sleepers’ housing needs or whether there were too many cases for social workers to handle, with a view to improving the problem; (ii) he reckoned that the departments should better utilise resources and work out plans with a new mindset, for example, invite ex-street sleepers to share experience and encourage other street sleepers to quit street sleeping, etc. Otherwise, the problem would persist; (iii) since Members had not joined the discussions for the operations carried out and - 39 - Action by problems occurred, he opined that communication should be strengthened.
126. Mr WAI Woon-nam raised the following views and enquiries: (i) the street sleeper problem underneath the Tung Chau Street Flyover had existed for more than 20 years but the relevant departments had never launched new measures to handle it; (ii) after FEHD lost a court case pertaining the clearance of personal belongings of street sleepers, the relevant departments became more passive when handling the street sleeper problem; (iii) DC Chairman of the last-term had met street sleepers and the street sleepers had promised at that time that they would be self-reliant, would not affect environmental hygiene and cause nuisance to residents. He asked whether the relevant departments or NGOs could let residents know the situations of street sleepers; (iv) he had suggested the departments help street sleepers who knew each other to co-let cubicle apartments or sub-divided units in the short term and to provide temporary shelters to street sleepers in the medium term. In the long run, the Government should increase the supply of public housing to satisfy the housing needs of street sleepers. However, the relevant departments were yet to come up with short-, medium- and long-term measures to handle the street sleeper problem underneath the Tung Chau Street Flyover; (v) he had requested sitting in on the meetings of District Management Committee (“DMC”), in the hope of learning about the action taken by it and providing assistance; (vi) given that cloth hawkers would move into Tung Chau Street Temporary Market after Lunar New Year, he enquired about how the relevant departments would handle the street sleeper problem underneath the Tung Chau Street Flyover.
127. Ms NG Yuet-lan raised the following views: (i) the street sleeper problem in this district was a long-standing one and she agreed that short-, medium- and long-term policies should be formulated; (ii) it was learnt that street sleepers had to re-apply for admission after they moved into street sleepers’ shelters for three months. Since the procedures were complicated, many of them failed to handle that and relapsed to street sleeping; (iii) she recognised the work of SWD but the current situation indicated that the government resources might not be enough. She suggested helping street sleepers who knew each other to co-let sub-divided units or providing more compassionate rehousing through HD; (iv) the number of street sleepers in Hong Kong was on the rise but the Government had been dragging its feet to handle street sleeper problem; (v) various departments should strengthen cooperation with a view to helping street sleepers secure housing and quit street sleeping.
128. Ms LAU Pui-yuk raised the following views: (i) government departments had been handling the street sleeper problem underneath the Tung Chau Street Flyover and inside the two subways in the district with love and care. However, a lot of work had been done but little results were produced; (ii) residents of Nam Cheong Estate and - 40 - Action by morning walkers in Tung Chau Street Park had resigned themselves to the street sleeper problem; they had also lost confidence in the relevant departments; (iii) she agreed that continued support should be provided to street sleepers in the district and hoped that the relevant departments would work out measures with a new mindset to help street sleepers quit street sleeping; (iv) she enquired about the difficulties faced by NGOs when providing assistance to street sleepers; (v) environmental hygiene problems should not be overlooked. She cited the subways at Kweilin Street and Pei Ho Street as examples, pointing out that the odour problem remained serious after they were cleansed by FEHD for several times. The above subways were heavily used and the residents were deeply disturbed; (vi) she suggested that the relevant departments should work out short-, medium- and long-term policies for street sleeper problem and review the effectiveness of the measures regularly. She hoped that the relevant departments would respond proactively.
129. Mr KONG Kwai-sang raised the following views: (i) when handling the street sleeper problem, the departments concerned had to strike a balance between the interests of street sleepers and that of nearby residents; (ii) he advised the Government to build hostels for single persons to solve the current problem and reduce the conflict between street sleepers and residents; (iii) he requested the departments concerned to carry out long-term planning and give specific response to the above suggestion.
130. Mr LEE Wing-man raised the following views: (i) the street sleeper problem in the district was a long-standing and serious one. He suggested that relevant bureaux (e.g. Labour and Welfare Bureau) formulate policies to solve the street sleeper problem in SSP District as well as that in the territory; (ii) street sleepers were from different backgrounds and faced with different problems. Due to various reasons, some of them went back to streets after being allocated Public Rental Housing (“PRH”) flats. He suggested that the departments concerned provide suitable assistance to street sleepers based on their backgrounds and needs; (iii) the Government needed to formulate long-term policies to deal with the street sleeper problem, otherwise, nothing would be achieved even with all kinds of measures implemented.
131. Mr LEUNG Man-kwong raised the following views: (i) he had assisted street sleepers to contact SWD to follow up on their applications for PRH in the past; (ii) the Pilot Scheme and DAS implemented currently by SSPDO put emphasis on “custom-made”, understanding the reasons why street sleepers lived on streets before providing assistance to them based on their backgrounds and needs. Such approach was better than the routine approach used in the past; (iii) SSP District adopted a more humanising approach to handle the street sleeper problem and it produced effect to a certain extent. Although the number of street sleepers in the district did not drastically decrease, the problems concerning the street sleepers at Boundary Street and the flyover at Cheong San Lane had improved significantly; (iv) he opined that - 41 - Action by SSPDO should subsidies NGOs for helping street sleepers as before and collect more data to understand the problems faced by street sleepers; (v) he agreed that support from relevant bureaux was needed.
132. Mr LEUNG Yau-fong raised the following views: (i) most of street sleepers lived on streets because of misfortune. SSP District had been relatively kind to street sleepers, however, it was still unavoidable that some frontline officers treated street sleepers in an inappropriate way; (ii) he questioned whether the NGOs subsidised by SSPDO had made every effort to solve the problem, and suggested that the departments and NGOs concerned should follow up on the situation of street sleepers more deeply so that they could handle the problem more effectively; (iii) there was a case in the past in which a street sleeper lost their identity card and thus could not apply for assistance but had no one to turn to for help. The street sleeper finally got the help needed in SSP. He hoped that the departments concerned could be sympathetic and made every effort to provide assistance to street sleepers based on their needs so as to solve the street sleeper problem in the long run.
133. The District Officer gave a consolidated response as follows:
(i) The street sleeper problem was complicated and the departments concerned had done their utmost to provide assistance. Since the launching of the Pilot Scheme in 2014, a total of 90 street sleepers had successfully found a fixed abode with the assistance of NGOs, 27 of them used to live underneath the Tung Chau Street Flyover. Nevertheless, due to various reasons, some street sleepers went back to streets six months after they moved in their abodes.
(ii) With the efforts of SWD, FEHD and the Police, the hygiene condition of the subway at Kweilin Street had significantly improved while that of the subway at Pei Ho Street still had room for improvement. SSPDO would continue to follow up on the situation of the street sleepers at the above locations with the departments concerned, and would like to take this opportunity to thank these departments for their efforts.
(iii) SSPDO planned to invite two NGOs that were receiving subsidies under DAS to report their work progress to Members and share with them the difficulties encountered in doing frontline work. Members could then provide their views so that improvement could be made to the existing schemes.
134. Mrs Helen KWOK gave a consolidated response as follows: - 42 - Action by (i) The cases of the street sleepers outside the Tung Chau Street Temporary Market were more complicated and it was relatively difficult to increase their motivation for quitting street sleeping. She pointed out that each street sleeper had their own reasons for sleeping on streets. The Department and social workers of NGOs kept visiting them and hoped to help them quit street sleeping through building a trusting relationship. In addition, some NGOs that were receiving subsidies from SWD had launched peer schemes which invited ex-street sleepers to share their experiences to encourage other street sleepers to quit street sleeping.
(ii) There were two street sleepers in the subway at Kweilin Street originally. One of them had quitted street sleeping after repeated persuasion, while the other one had received medical treatment and joined a drug abstinence programme with the assistance of SWD and medical social workers. With the efforts of various parties, the attempt to help street sleepers in the subway at Kweilin Street to leave succeeded in October 2016. There were no street sleepers at that location now.
(iii) There were two to three street sleepers in the subway at Pei Ho Street during the daytime. SWD sent staff to visit them frequently and successfully helped one of them to receive medical treatment and move to a residential home for the elderly. The Department would continue to follow up on the cases of the street sleepers in the subway at Pei Ho Street.
(iv) During 2011 to 2012, the number of street sleepers in the district increased by about 100 each year. There was no increase in the number in recent years. Of the number of street sleepers in 18 districts, the proportion made up by the street sleepers in Sham Shui Po showed a decreasing trend. The Department would continue to make effort to handle the street sleeper problem.
(v) HD did not set a quota regarding compassionate rehousing. The Department would handle all cases referred by SWD and try its best to arrange PRH for the applicants concerned.
(vi) SWD attached great importance to the street sleeper problem in the district. The NGOs that were receiving subsidies from SWD would not let up and would exchange information about the latest situation of street sleepers with SWD regularly.
(vii) She agreed that the street sleeper problem involved a number of bureaux. The Department would continue to work together with the departments - 43 - Action by concerned to provide the required assistance to the street sleepers in the district.
135. Mr LAI Kah-kit gave a consolidated response as follows:
(i) Cleaning of subways was not within the purview of FEHD.
(ii) FEHD used bleach to clean the two subways at Kweilin Street and Pei Ho Street every day and the cleaning frequency would be increased to twice a day if the situation required. The Department would continue to cooperate with SWD to request street sleepers to move away temporarily so that the staff of FEHD could clean the subways.
(iii) FEHD planned to arrange for the cloth hawkers to move into Tung Chau Street Temporary Market after Lunar New Year. The Department would continue to liaise with them to discuss the relocation arrangements and the design details of the new fabric market, hoping that arrangements for the relocation can be made as soon as possible.
136. Mrs Josephine MAK responded that the Police would continue to carry out “Operation Sunshine” in a caring and reasonable manner to combat criminal activities such as drug taking, drug trafficking, etc. so as to maintain order in the district.
137. Mr TAM Kwok-kiu raised the following views: (i) the paper focused the discussion on the problem concerning the street sleepers underneath the Tung Chau Street Flyover. He opined that NGOs could only provide services within the framework as far as possible. To solve the problem completely, government departments had to come up with new ideas; (ii) before relocating the fabric market, FEHD must formulate plans to properly address the rehousing issue of street sleepers and submit the plans to DC for information; (iii) he hoped to meet street sleepers with the departments and NGOs concerned to listen to their demands directly.
138. Mr WAI Woon-nam raised the following enquiries and views: (i) failing to solve the problem concerning the street sleepers underneath the Tung Chau Street Flyover would result in the relocation of the Fabric Market being delayed, and failing to relocate the Fabric Market would result in the PRH construction plan being affected. The three were all linked up. He requested the departments concerned to respond to whether short-, medium- and long-term measures had been drawn up to solve the street sleeper problem; (ii) DC and street sleepers had reached an agreement in earlier years. He enquired if the NGOs concerned could explain the details to DC to fulfill street sleepers’ promises. - 44 - Action by 139. Ms NG Yuet-lan said that FEHD planned to relocate the cloth hawkers after Lunar New Year but the departments concerned failed to solve the problem concerning the street sleepers underneath the Tung Chau Street Flyover. She urged these departments to formulate practical proposals to handle the matter and speed up the handling process.
140. Mr LEUNG Yau-fong raised the following views: (i) the departments concerned had implemented numerous measures in response to the street sleeper problem but the outcome was not satisfactory; (ii) he deemed the approach of handling the issues of Fabric Market, street sleepers, etc. separately not comprehensive enough. He hoped that there would be a department (e.g. SSPDO) responsible for doing the coordination work, setting out the problems and solving them one by one. Only through this could the issues of street sleepers, etc. be dealt with effectively.
141. The District Officer gave a consolidated response as follows:
(i) SSPDO, together with SWD and FEHD, would meet with street sleeper organisations to listen to their demands directly. SSPDO would consider street sleepers’ views fully and draw up concrete plans to address to their reasonable demands.
(ii) SSPDO would consider arranging the NGOs that were receiving subsidies under DAS to report their work progress to Members and share with them the difficulties encountered in doing frontline work. He opined that a direct exchange of views between both parties would facilitate formulation of proper plans.
(iii) As the coordinating department, SSPDO would brief DC about its plans and consult Members before handling matters related to the street sleepers underneath the Tung Chau Street Flyover.
142. Mrs Helen KWOK said that SWD would continue to facilitate the work of SSPDO as far as possible and handle the street sleeper problem in the district properly.
143. The Vice-chairman concluded that the street sleeper problem was complicated and could not be solved in the short term. It was hoped that the government departments concerned would note Members’ views and concerns as well as continue to follow up on and properly handle the street sleeping problem in the area underneath the Tung Chau Street Flyover so as to facilitate the development the new fabric market.
144. The Vice-chairman said that he would now handle the motion (Motion 1) - 45 - Action by proposed by Mr WAI Woon-nam and seconded by Mr TAM Kwok-kiu in the paper and it read: “DMC should be committed to formulating measures for the homeless underneath the Tung Chau Street Flyover, including making plans to rehouse them, etc., in order to properly address the current situation of the homeless underneath the Tung Chau Street Flyover.”
145. The Vice-chairman said that he received an amended motion (Motion 2) proposed by Mr LEUNG Man-kwong and seconded by Mr CHAN Kwok-wai.
146. The Vice-chairman announced that the meeting would be adjourned for two minutes to handle the above motion.
(The meeting was adjourned.)
147. The Vice-chairman announced that the meeting was resumed and asked Mr LEUNG Man-kwong to introduce Motion 2.
148. Mr LEUNG Man-kwong introduced Motion 2 which was an amended motion and it read: “SSPDC urges government bureaux to formulate practical long-term policies to help rehouse street sleepers and deal with the street sleeper problem in an effective manner.”
149. Mr TAM Kwok-kiu said that the paper focused on the situation of the street sleepers underneath the Tung Chau Street Flyover. As Motion 2 and the paper were not related to each other at all, he questioned why the motion was an amended motion.
150. Mr WAI Woon-nam said that Motion 1 requested DMC to handle the problem concerning the street sleepers underneath the Tung Chau Street Flyover, which was completely unrelated to Motion 2. He questioned why the motion was an amended motion.
151. Mr Dennis WONG said that street sleepers were a territory-wide problem. In the past, there were some street sleepers who moved from Yau Ma Tei or Wan Chai District to Sham Shui Po, showing that the problem could not be solved by DMC alone. He agreed that comprehensive long-term policies should be formulated by bureaux. As for whether Motion 2 should be regarded as an amended motion, it should be judged by the Vice-chairman.
152. Mr Vincent CHENG said that SSP District was committed to solving the street sleeper problem but the situation had not yet improved. He opined that more efforts should be put into addressing the problem and bureaux should coordinate the work in this regard. - 46 - Action by 153. Mr YUEN Hoi-man said that he understood that DMC might not have enough resources to handle the street sleeper problem. However, as the contents of the two motions were completely different, Motion 2 should not be regarded as an amended motion.
154. Mr LEUNG Yau-fong said that Motion 1 targeted at the problem concerning the street sleepers underneath the Tung Chau Street Flyover. Although SSPDC could also discuss territory-wide policies, it should first handle district affairs and long-term policies should be left for bureaux to handle. He continued to say that he did not oppose formulation of long-term policies on the street sleeper problem by bureaux, but Motion 2 was not related to the problems concerning the street sleepers underneath the Tung Chau Street Flyover and the relocation of cloth hawkers at which the original motion targeted, and thus blurred the focus of the paper. He requested the Vice-chairman to make a judgment.
155. The Vice-chairman announced that the meeting would be adjourned for five minutes to deal with the meeting order.
(The meeting was adjourned.)
156. The Vice-chairman announced that the meeting was resumed.
157. Mr LEUNG Man-kwong said that the aim of proposing an amended motion was not to blur the focus. Some Members had mentioned about rehousing policies such as building hostels for single persons, etc., and he considered that it would be more appropriate if such matters were followed up by relevant bureaux. He would respect the Vice-chairman’s judgment.
158. Mr CHAN Kwok-wai said that he seconded Motion 2 because he wanted to urge the Government to formulate more comprehensive policies lest the same problem occur again in other districts after the problem concerning the street sleepers at Tung Chau Street was solved.
159. The Vice-chairman said that he would regard Motion 1 and Motion 2 as parallel motions and DC would vote on them separately. He hoped that Members could reach consensus by discussing with each other.
160. Mr TAM Kwok-kiu said that Motion 1 aimed to handle the relocation problem of “Pang Zai” in a comprehensive manner, which included the development of ancillary facilities at Tung Chau Street and the ways to handle the street sleepers there. He hoped that DMC would coordinate the work in this regard and submit work plans to DC, the specific measures therein could be discussed later. - 47 - Action by 161. Mr WAI Woon-nam said that Motion 1 requested DMC to address the situation of the homeless underneath the Tung Chau Street Flyover. He regretted that the District Officer failed to formulate short-, medium- and long-term corresponding measures.
162. Mr LEUNG Man-kwong proposed adjourning the meeting to deal with the contents of the motions.
163. Mr TAM Kwok-kiu opposed adjourning the meeting. He said that Motion 2 was not related to this issue and it was inappropriate to submit Motion 2.
164. The Vice-chairman said that the meeting would not be adjourned.
165. The meeting voted on Motion 1 proposed by Mr WAI Woon-nam by open ballot.
166. The voting result was as follows:
For: Mr CHUM Tak-shing, Mr Kalvin HO, Mr KONG Kwai-sang, Mr WAI Woon-nam, Mr LEUNG Yau-fong, Ms NG Yuet-lan, Mr TAM Kwok-kiu, Mr YEUNG Yuk and Mr YUEN Hoi-man (9)
Against: (0)
Abstain: Mr CHAN Kwok-wai, Mr CHAN Wai-ming, Ms Joephy CHAN, Mr Vincent CHENG, Mr Aaron LAM, Ms LAU Pui -yuk, Mr Dominic LEE, Mr LEE Wing-man, Mr LEUNG Man-kwong and Mr Dennis WONG (10)
167. The Secretary announced the voting result: 9 Members voted for the motion, no Member voted against it and 10 Members abstained. The Vice-chairman announced that Motion 1 was carried.
168. The meeting voted on Motion 2 proposed by Mr LEUNG Man-kwong by open ballot.
169. The voting result was as follow:
For: Mr CHAN Kwok-wai, Mr CHAN Wai-ming, Ms Joephy CHAN, Mr Vincent CHENG, Mr CHUM Tak-shing, Mr Kalvin HO, Mr KONG Kwai-sang, Mr Aaron LAM, Ms LAU Pui-yuk, Mr Dominic LEE, Mr LEE Wing-man, Mr LEUNG Man-kwong, Mr LEUNG Yau-fong, Mr Dennis WONG, Mr YEUNG Yuk - 48 - Action by and Mr YUEN Hoi-man (16)
Against: (0)
Abstain: (0)
170. The Secretary announced the voting result: 16 Members voted for the motion, no Member voted against it and no Member abstained. The Vice-chairman announced that Motion 2 was carried.
171. The Vice-chairman concluded that he would ask the Secretariat to forward the two motions to DMC and relevant bureaux after the meeting.
172. Mr CHUM Tak-shing enquired which bureaux the Secretariat would forward to.
173. The Vice-chairman said that the Secretariat would forward DC’s requests to the appropriate bureaux.
(f) Strongly demand the SAR Government to support and foster the implementation of “Pang Zai Community Fabric Fashion Centre” (SSPDC Paper 6/17)
174. Mr TAM Kwok-kiu introduced Paper 6/17 and said that the cloth hawkers’ representatives wanted to express their views in the meeting.
175. The Vice-chairman said that the request of the cloth hawkers’ representatives to brief DC about a proposal was received before the meeting. However, given the plan concerned was a long-term development which was not an urgent matter and the meeting time was limited, he would not arrange for these representatives to introduce the proposal in the meeting. He suggested that arrangements be made to let the departments concerned meet with stakeholders after the meeting so that all parties could have sufficient time to exchange their views.
176. Mr TAM Kwok-kiu said that allowing the cloth hawkers’ representatives to respond to Members’ questions during the course of the meeting would help DC make decisions regarding the requests of the paper.
177. The Vice-chairman said that he would see how the discussion went first before deciding how to deal with the matter.
178. The Vice-chairman welcomed the representative of FEHD to the meeting.
179. Mr LAI Kah-kit responded as follows: - 49 - Action by (i) The Tung Chau Street Temporary Market would be developed into a fabric market. FEHD had kept discussing the arrangements for Block 1 to Block 3 with the concern group, hoping to develop these three blocks into a fabric market of character and arrange for eligible cloth hawkers to move in. The Department would reserve some stalls and put them up for open auction so that people interested in the fabric industry, fashion design and clothes manufacturing could bid for them and develop the fabric market together.
(ii) The Department was still in the process of creating the design of Block 4 and Block 5. It had contacted fashion design schools in tertiary institutions earlier to understand their views on the development of the fabric market.
(iii) The Department noted the proposal submitted by the concern group and welcomed stakeholders to put forward their views which could add new elements to the fabric market.
180. Mr TAM Kwok-kiu raised the following enquiries and views: (i) comprehensive consideration was required for the development of the Tung Chau Street Temporary Market. He enquired if any bureaux other than FEHD had given response regarding the paper; (ii) apart from liaising with tertiary institutions, he enquired if the Department had also contacted the members of the concern group that were from tertiary institutions and the fashion industry to discuss the development direction of the fabric market.
181. Mr WAI Woon-nam raised the following enquiries: (i) he enquired which tertiary institutions FEHD had contacted and about the specifics of its proposal; (ii) DC had discussed the relocation of the Yen Chow Street Fabric Market many times. He enquired about the schedule concerned and the rehousing issue. He also enquired how departments other than FEHD would assist the cloth hawkers to relocate in order to facilitate the plan to construct PRH on the site of the Yen Chow Street Fabric Market; (iii) SSPDO and FEHD still had not promised to rehouse the cloth hawkers at the this stage. He requested FEHD to announce more details regarding the relocation.
182. Mr YEUNG Yuk raised the following views: (i) he was disappointed that only FEHD had given response to the paper; (ii) the cloth hawkers’ social enterprise proposal put forward detailed and clear suggestions about Block 1 to Block 5 of the fabric market. He opined that HAB also needed to respond to the social enterprise proposal. He hoped that SSPDO would give consideration to this and respond to the cloth hawkers’ requests. - 50 - Action by 183. Ms NG Yuet-lan raised the following enquiries and views: (i) the relocation of the cloth hawkers had been discussed for a long time. Residents hoped that the matter could be dealt with as soon as possible and that the problem concerning the street sleepers underneath the Tung Chau Street Flyover could be solved at the same time. They expected that the new fabric market would be developed into the “Dongdaemun” of SSP District; (ii) she hoped that SSPDO could help convey the views in this regard to the authority, inform Members of the exact schedule for the relocation of the cloth hawkers and address the rehousing issue of the cloth hawkers as soon as possible.
184. Mr YUEN Hoi-man raised the following views: (i) the cloth hawkers had put in a great deal of effort to prepare the proposal; (ii) DC had suggested before that a task force be set up to follow up matters related to the cloth hawkers. He opined that it was not enough to have only FEHD responsible for following up the matter at this stage and hoped that SSPDO would take a more proactive role and initiate the plan; (iii) an exact schedule was not yet available at this moment. He was worried that the plan would be further delayed and hoped that DC would set up a dedicated platform to follow up the matters in this regard.
185. Mr KONG Kwai-sang raised the following views: (i) only FEHD had given response to this issue all along, showing that the Government did not value the public’s views on the development of the fabric market. It still saw the cloth hawkers as general hawkers and only make relocation and rehousing arrangements for them; (ii) the cloth hawkers’ proposal gained the support of many residents. He asked the Government to attach great importance to creative industries, assign more departments to participate in the matter and study the proposal submitted by the cloth hawkers seriously.
186. Mr LEUNG Yau-fong raised the following views: (i) the Government promoted the bottom-up approach to formulate policies proactively in recent years. However, when dealing with matters related to the cloth hawkers, the Government only passed them to FEHD to follow up, showing that it only saw the cloth hawkers as general hawkers and believed that the problem would be solved by relocating them; (ii) he opined that the cloth hawkers’ sincerity and efforts regarding the development of the fabric market deserved appreciation; (iii) the cloth hawkers at Yen Chow Street were the only cloth hawkers left in the industry. He hoped that the Government would formulate policies to allow continuous development of the fabric market.
187. The Vice-chairman added that the Secretariat had invited FHB to send staff to attend the meeting. The Bureau said that FEHD would send staff to attend the meeting on its behalf. - 51 - Action by 188. Mr LAI Kah-kit gave a consolidated response as follows:
(i) FEHD had communicated with several local tertiary institutions before regarding the development of the fabric market. The Department would continue to follow up on the work in this regard.
(ii) Before the proposal was put forward by the cloth hawkers, the Department had already planned to reserve some space in the Tung Chau Street Temporary Market for developing a fabric market. The Department was still in the process of creating the design of Block 4 and Block 5, and would consider the proposal.
(iii) The Department met with the cloth hawkers on 16 December 2016 and noted that they wanted to have more space for development. The Department would have sufficient communication with the cloth hawkers before making the final decision, and hoped that both parties could reach consensus on matters such as the number of cloth hawkers to move in, the improvement works to be carried out after they moved in, etc.
(iv) The Department would convey Members’ views to the Bureau.
189. The District Officer said that matters related to the cloth hawkers were mainly handled by FHB and FEHD. SSPDO would provide active cooperation if the situation required and had set up an inter-departmental working group to handle the rehousing issue of the street sleepers underneath the Tung Chau Street Flyover in order to facilitate the relocation of the cloth hawkers. The Office would continue to follow up the matters in this regard.
190. Mr LEUNG Man-kwong raised the following views: (i) DC supported the establishment of the new fabric market in the Tung Chau Street Temporary Market; (ii) he hoped that FEHD and SSPDO would work closely together and that relevant departments would strengthen their communication with stakeholders and listen to all parties’ views to develop a diversified fabric market.
191. Mr Kalvin HO raised the following views: (i) developing the fabric market into the “Dongdaemun” of SSP District would require the support and cooperation of relevant bureaux; (ii) the current location of the Yen Chow Street Fabric Market was ideal and the cloth hawkers could make a living there. FEHD should not relocate the cloth hawkers forcibly if proper planning was not in place.
192. Mr TAM Kwok-kiu raised the following views: (i) the Government failed to address matters related to cloth hawkers in a proactive manner; (ii) he gave FEHD - 52 - Action by recognition for its work but criticised SSPDO for failing to address the problem in a proactive manner. He pointed out that DC had already reached consensus on this issue and SSPDO had the responsibility to help implement the plan. Given the cloth hawkers’ social enterprise proposal fell within the purview of HAB, he requested SSPDO to study the work plan concerned to evaluate whether HAB’s support was needed; (iii) he opined that DC agreed with the first demand put forward by the paper, i.e. “strongly demand the SAR Government to support and implement the development of the space in the Yen Chow Street Fabric Market into ‘Pang Zai Community Fabric Fashion Centre’”; (iv) he requested SSPDO to give response to another demand, i.e. “the SAR Government should set up an inter-departmental task force immediately and invite the Pang Zai concern group, SSPDC and other stakeholders to participate. It should also make reference to the proposal put forward by the Pang Zai concern group in order to implement the development of ‘Pang Zai Community Fabric Fashion Centre’”.
193. Mr WAI Woon-nam raised the following enquiries and views: (i) DC had been following up matters related to the cloth hawkers since November 2015 but no progress had been made in this regard so far; (ii) he hoped that SSPDO would give impetus to the relocation plan and the development of the fabric fashion market in an proactive manner; (iii) he hoped that the Government would give response to the demands put forward by the paper and relocate the cloth hawkers to the Tung Chau Street Temporary Market, otherwise, FEHD should allow the cloth hawkers to continue to operate in the Yen Chow Street Fabric Market.
194. Mr LEUNG Yau-fong raised the following views: (i) policies in this regard were formulated by FHB while FEHD was only responsible for implementation. He opined that without the attendance of a representative from FHB, the results produced by this discussion would be limited; (ii) the Department should not relocate the cloth hawkers hastily when supporting facilities were not yet available, lest the livelihoods of the cloth hawkers be affected. He suggested that the departments concerned suspend the relocation work temporarily and convey the views on the new fabric market to FHB after the meeting.
195. Mr YUEN Hoi-man said that social enterprise was one of the key elements of the new fabric market. He suggested that the Chairman write to HAB, the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau (“CEDB”) and FHB after the meeting to recruit policy support. If there was still no progress with the plan, DC needed to study whether a task force should be set up to follow up.
196. Mr LAI Kah-kit responded that FEHD would convey Members’ views to FHB and maintain communication with the cloth hawkers with a view to finalising the arrangements concerned as soon as possible. - 53 - Action by 197. The District Officer responded that SSPDO would convey Members’ views to HAB after the meeting.
198. The Vice-chairman concluded as follows: (i) DC had all along supported fostering and implementing the development of the new fabric market at Tung Chau Street; (ii) he requested the Secretariat to write to HAB, CEDB and FHB after the meeting to convey the views expressed and request the bureaux to give response and follow up; (iii) he requested FHB and FEHD to adopt the ideas of the cloth hawkers and stakeholders as far as possible when doing planning for the new fabric market so as to make its design more vibrant and diversified as well as meet users’ needs; (iv) he requested FEHD to arrange a platform for exchanging views after the meeting and maintain close communication with stakeholders to discuss in detail the arrangements concerning the cloth hawkers’ relocation and the new fabric market.
199. Mr TAM Kwok-kiu raised the following views: (i) FEHD had proposed before that the relocation be carried out before Lunar New Year, putting the cloth hawkers under pressure. He requested FEHD to give the cloth hawkers clarification regarding the relocation schedule; (ii) he requested FHB to give response to the cloth hawkers’ social enterprise proposal as soon as possible and passed it to DC for follow up.
200. The Vice-chairman said that he requested FEHD to note the views above and update DC on the latest situations in a timely manner.
(g) Combat bid-rigging in major repair works of private buildings Provide proper protection to the legitimate rights of small owners (SSPDC Paper 7/17)
201. Ms NG Yuet-lan introduced Paper 7/17.
202. The Vice-chairman welcomed the representatives of the Buildings Department (“BD”), URA and HKPF to the meeting. He said that the Secretariat had invited DEVB, the Home Affairs Department (“HAD”), the Competition Commission (“CC”), the Independent Commission Against Corruption (“ICAC”) and the Hong Kong Housing Society (“HKHS”) to send staff to attend the meeting but all parties could not send staff to attend the meeting. He asked Members to refer to the written replies by CC, ICAC, DEVB and HAB (Papers 20/17, 22/17, 23/17 and 24/17) and the pamphlets from ICAC.
203. Ms WONG Wai-man introduced Response Paper 21/17.
204. Mr Peter DY introduced Response Paper 25/17.
205. Mr Alfred LAU responded as follows: - 54 - Action by (i) The Police launched the RenoSafe Scheme together with BD, HKHS, URA, ICAC and HAD in September 2013 to combat crimes related to building repair and prevent building constructors from using unlawful means to affect the bidding results of repair works. ICAC would handle corruption-related cases while the Police would investigate cases that involved criminal offences.
(ii) The RenoSafe Scheme was coordinated by the Organized Crime and Triad Bureau of the Police. The Anti-triad Squads of Police Districts would contact the buildings that had participated in the Scheme in their districts and provide suitable assistance to the members of the owners’ corporations (“OCs”) of these buildings, such as explaining crimes related to building repair, providing hotline numbers of various departments, etc.
(iii) The Police would give talks in community halls to publicise the RenoSafe Scheme more widely. Members of the public could learn more about the Scheme through the Police Report as well as the website of the Police. In addition, the Police produced a short video about monopolisation of repair works for SSP District in 2016 with the aim of promoting the channels for reporting the crimes in this regard. The Police had showed the video in the Dragon Centre and the Golden Computer Arcade before and the public could also watch it on social media. A total of 112 buildings in SSP District had participated in the RenoSafe Scheme since its launching.
206. The District Officer asked Members to refer to the written reply by HAD (Paper 24/17) and said that District Offices of all districts would assign Liaison Officers to give proper and professional advice to OCs of the buildings in their districts, helping OCs solve building management problems. SSPDO had also taken the initiative to step up the publicity and education campaigns aimed at the buildings in the district and help OCs and owners of these buildings to follow up on building management problems and prevent bid-rigging.
207. Assistant District Officer 2 introduced the publicity and education campaigns by SSPDO as follows:
(i) One of the tasks of DAS of SSP District was to strengthen support to “three-nil buildings”. In 2016, SSPDO offered the owners of old buildings in the district courses in which analyses of building repair cases were given, with a view to increasing the owners’ knowledge about building management and repair to prevent bid-rigging. The first round of courses in 2016/17 ended in July 2016 and a total of 45 attendances were recorded. The second round of courses started in January 2017. - 55 - Action by Information related to building repair would also be provided in the courses.
(ii) SSPDO had already organised nine talks and tea gatherings. Relevant departments and organisations (including ICAC, the Labour Department, BD and URA) were invited to send staff to attend four of the gatherings to give participants information about building repair, corruption prevention, bid-rigging prevention, the “Smart Tender” Building Rehabilitation Facilitating Services (Pilot Scheme) (“Smart Tender Scheme”) etc.
208. Ms NG Yuet-lan raised the following views and enquiries: (i) she understood that various departments had put in a great deal of effort to follow up on the bid-rigging problem, however, bidding concerning old buildings was still often rigged; (ii) she took Ching Lai Court, a case she had handled, as an example and questioned the overly high repair fees for the court and the slope concerned and deemed the fees unreasonable; (iii) she enquired how government departments would cooperate effectively to combat bid-rigging.
209. Mr KONG Kwai-sang raised the following views: (i) the bid-rigging problem stemmed from poor flow of information and related information being known to a few contractors or consultant companies only; (ii) he suggested that a statutory body with credibility should act as a third party to monitor the level of service fees in order to combat big-rigging.
210. Mr LEUNG Yau-fong raised the following views and enquiries: (i) he paid frontline staff of URA compliments on their support and assistance to the owners who carried out repair works and hoped that the Authority would further enhance its services; (ii) he paid frontline staff of SSPDO compliments and hoped that the Office would enhance its support to them so that they could monitor whether there were any unlawful activities in OC meetings; (iii) many buildings would need repair in the future and the demand for the services in this regard in the market would be huge. If contractors colluded with OCs and consultant companies, owners might suffer losses as a result of bid-rigging; (iv) he enquired whether there was room for improvement in respect of written authorisation and the voting system of OC members of buildings, and how owners’ identity was verified; (v) he requested the costs of the works in this regard be monitored by a third party in order to combat bid-rigging and corruption; (vi) the effect of organising talks and tea gatherings on combating bid-rigging was limited. The Government should take the initiative to investigate bid-rigging cases, draw up guidelines and follow up on the problems together with the departments concerned; (vii) the Government launched the Mandatory Building Inspection Scheme without providing sufficient support to building owners. - 56 - Action by 211. Mr CHUM Tak-shing raised the following views and enquiries: (i) many bid-rigging cases concerning building repair works happened because the owners concerned did not get involved in the related matters proactively. Regarding this issue, the Government had reviewed the Building Management Ordinance before but no amendments had been made yet; (ii) most building owners did not understand the details of their works projects and whether the costs were reasonable. He enquired whether the Government and URA could provide more market information to building owners. Although URA had launched many schemes in recent years to enhance the support to building owners, they had to take the initiative to join the schemes in order to be benefitted. Also, the Smart Tender Scheme would charge building owners a fee which would discourage them to join; (iii) he suggested that the Government review the Competition Ordinance and the Building Management Ordinance, and set up an independent regulatory body dedicated to following up on cases of building repair works.
212. Ms LAU Pui-yuk raised the following views and enquiries: (i) bid-rigging would make the costs of building repair works and consultant fees much higher than the market level. Many OCs of buildings therefore enquired how to choose suitable consultant companies and contractors and prevent bid-rigging; (ii) she was disappointed that relevant departments failed to instigate any prosecutions and regretted that ICAC did not send any staff to attend the meeting; (iii) although the parties concerned had launched many schemes in recent years to combat bid-rigging, the measures implemented failed to bring about any effects. She hoped that the Government could follow up on problems such as price fluctuations of repair works, workmanship of mixed quality, workers’ hourly rate being lower than that of the statutory minimum wage, etc. to prevent bid-rigging; (iv) she enquired if the Police would step up its efforts in publicising the RenoSafe Scheme to encourage more building owners to join; (v) she enquired if URA could waive the fees charged by its Smart Tender Scheme to the building owners who had financial difficulties so as to encourage more owners to join; (vi) in many bid-rigging cases, OCs had already been established in the buildings involved. She hoped that SSPDO would step up its publicity and education campaigns to prevent bid-rigging; (vii) she requested the parties concerned to draw up specific measures to combat bid-rigging.
213. Mr Dennis WONG raised the following views and enquiries: (i) he supported the direction of Paper 7/17; (ii) many owners did not know how to prevent bid-rigging and choose suitable contractors. He enquired if the Government would consider drawing up guidelines and establishing a notification mechanism so that the owners who needed to put works out to tender could take part in bid evaluations only after understanding clearly the situation, with a view to preventing bid-rigging through strengthened combating efforts and education. - 57 - Action by 214. Mr WAI Woon-nam raised the following views: (i) the Government launched the Operation Building Bright (“OBB”) a few years ago, causing the number of building works in the market to increase sharply which might have triggered the bid-rigging problem indirectly; (ii) URA, the Police, HKHS, BD, etc. had all launched supporting schemes and anti-bid-rigging schemes. However, with numerous schemes available, owners would easily be confused; (iii) URA had urged OCs of buildings to sign contracts with consultant companies before but found out later that the costs charged were higher than the market level. In addition, many management companies, consultant companies and construction companies in the market were under the same corporation, making owners feel more uncertain; (iv) the public hoped that the Government could set up a department dedicated to handling building repair matters so that owners in need of help could seek assistance directly from it, preventing wrongdoers from taking advantage of these owners; (v) he requested SSPDO to follow up on the issue of voting by proxy.
215. Ms Zoé CHOW raised the following views and enquiries: (i) she believed that all Members were against bid-rigging and supportive of combating corruption. She enquired why the Government had not yet set up a dedicated department after all these years to regulate relevant consultant companies and OCs as a third party so as to increase transparency and prevent transfer of benefits; (ii) the Smart Tender Scheme of URA was a fee-charging scheme. She enquired whether the Authority would consider launching a free scheme so that more owners could be benefitted.
216. Mr Aaron LAM raised the following views: (i) there was a huge demand for building repair services in the market. The number of old buildings in Hong Kong would rise 300-fold by 2030; (ii) the repair works of a building would cost millions of dollars and that of an housing estate would cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Therefore, the industry of building repair was much larger than that of building construction and could affect much more members of the public. He thus agreed that an independent department should be set up to handle the bid-rigging problem and relevant departments or organisations such as the Police, ICAC, URA should be invited to send staff to join the department; (iii) most of the buildings in his constituency were single-block private buildings. When putting the repair works out to tender, owners of some of the buildings employed accounting firms to collect tenders and perform analysis. When it came to selecting contractors and consultant companies by the owners, the accounting firms would cover the company names. By using this method, the building owners successfully employed contractors and consultant companies to provide repair services at a more reasonable price; (iv) the bid-rigging problem was very complicated. The Government should use the resources of the society to conduct studies and follow up on the problem.
217. Mr LEE Wing-man raised the following views: (i) there were many bid-rigging - 58 - Action by cases in Hong Kong and the situation was severe; (ii) ICAC had the responsibility to combat bid-rigging syndicates. However, the Commission only provided a response paper and pamphlets and did not send staff to attend the meeting; (iii) the Government should step up its publicity and education efforts so that building owners would understand the bid-rigging problem and consider using the “blind tender” method mentioned by a Member just now to invite tenders in order to prevent corruption; (iv) he urged ICAC to step up its enforcement efforts and conduct investigation into all sorts of bid-rigging cases.
218. Ms WONG Wai-man gave a consolidated response as follows:
(i) When launching schemes such as OBB, the Mandatory Building Inspection Scheme and the Mandatory Window Inspection Scheme, the Department had already considered the fact that building owners would require support from a large number of professionals, consultants and contractors.
(ii) The housing in Hong Kong evolved from single-block Chinese tenement buildings in the sixties to multi-storey buildings in the eighties. However, the general public still had insufficient awareness about building maintenance. Only when the Department launched the Mandatory Building Inspection Scheme and the Mandatory Window Inspection Scheme did building maintenance start to be a concern of the public.
(iii) She agreed that the bid-rigging problem stemmed from poor flow of information. There were sufficient consultant companies and contractors in the market to provide services to building owners. The Inspectors’ Register of BD included architects, surveyors and engineers. The Department also kept the Register of General Building Contractors and the Register of Minor Works Contractors. However, building owners did not know about such information.
(iv) Many owners did not get involved in the matters concerning the repair of their buildings proactively, especially those in “three-nil buildings”. The Department agreed that publicity and education efforts needed to be stepped up.
(v) When a contractor made an application to the Department for licence renewal, the Department would consider whether the contractor had a bad record and conduct an interview according to the situation. If the contractor could not pass the assessment, its licence might be suspended.
219. Mr Peter DY gave a consolidated response as follows: - 59 - Action by (i) Building rehabilitation was a part of URA’s business. The Authority, through the subsidy schemes it launched, provided the owners joining the schemes with support and relevant information, including deploying case officers to explain to the owners the repair procedures, measures to prevent bid-rigging, etc.
(ii) OBB was introduced by the Government in 2009 and implemented by HKHS and URA jointly. It provided building owners with subsidies on repair works with a view to solving the problem of building dilapidation. In view of the Government’s concern about misconduct such as overcharging by contractors, as the OBB’s implementing organisation that was responsible for managing the funds for provision of subsidies, the Authority had implemented different enhancement measures, including covering the names of consultant companies on tenders, providing “hour-work table” to help owners analyse whether the fees charged by contractors were reasonable, etc., so that the owners could choose a suitable company.
(iii) The Authority’s independent consultants would provide professional advice to owners in need of help, including helping the owners analyse whether the technical documents provided by consultant companies were complete, whether the prices quoted by contractors were reasonable, etc. In addition, the Authority had set up a website named Building Rehab Info Net in which many building repair cases were available. The cases served as great reference materials as they allowed the public to understand how the Authority had provided assistance to building owners and helped them save money on repair works in the past.
(iv) Bid-rigging involved criminal activities related to building repair. The Authority would encourage all building owners joining its subsidy schemes to join the RenoSafe Scheme as well as other subsidy schemes.
(v) The Smart Tender Scheme was a pilot scheme implemented on a trial basis and it included many new measures and elements, such as employing a technology company to set up an electronic tender invitation platform, etc. The Authority charged a fee only to recover the cost of the scheme and it provided other free schemes at the same time to support building owners, such as the Integrated Building Maintenance Assistance Scheme and the Mandatory Building Inspection Subsidy Scheme.
220. Mr Alfred LAU gave a consolidated response as follows: - 60 - Action by (i) The Police was concerned about the bid-rigging problem and would continue to conduct publicity campaigns as well as provide assistance to OCs of buildings.
(ii) If building owners suspected that the persons concerned had committed an offence, for example, such persons were involved in blackmail and intimidation, they should call the Police for assistance and let the Police follow up on it.
221. Ms NG Yuet-lan raised the following views: (i) she complemented URA on its provision of professional advice to the people joining building rehabilitation schemes; (ii) the buildings in Hong Kong were ageing day by day and the number of buildings that required rehabilitation would drastically increase in the future. Some consultant companies submitted tenders separately but they were in fact the same company. She urged the Government to set up a regulatory committee dedicated to handling the problem and draw up a list of consultant companies approved by the Government.
222. Mr LEUNG Yau-fong raised the following views: (i) he hoped that the parties concerned could put their heads together and consider setting up a statutory department to follow up on the problem; (ii) it went against the principle that free flow of information should be maintained if BD did not make public the information about non-compliant contractors. He suggested that the Department refer to the practice adopted by the Consumer Council and make public the information about non-compliant contractors through amending the laws concerned in order to produce greater deterrent effect; (iii) there were only a few contractors that provided building repair services to the buildings in SSP District. He opined that only by setting up a credible department for doing the monitoring work would wrongdoers be restrained and the bid-rigging problem be combatted.
223. Ms Zoé CHOW hoped that the Government would set up a regulatory department dedicated to following up on the bid-rigging problem, and enquired why the Government had yet to set up such a department after all these years.
224. Ms WONG Wai-man responded that the prosecution actions taken by the Department against non-compliant contractors and consultant companies had been given extensive media coverage. To comply with the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance, the Department could not make public the details about the internal disciplinary actions taken against non-compliant contractors and consultant companies.
225. The District Officer gave a consolidated response as follows: - 61 - Action by (i) Government departments would take enforcement actions against bid-rigging concerning buildings. URA, BD, CC, etc. would continue their publicity and education campaigns.
(ii) SSPDO would deploy building management teams formed by Liaison Officers to attend OCs’ meetings of the buildings in the district and offer advice. Regarding publicity and education efforts, SSPDO would strengthen the support to the “three-nil buildings” project through DAS and organise certificate courses and tea receptions, to which relevant departments would be invited to send staff, with a view to increasing the participants’ knowledge about building management and bid-rigging.
226. The Vice-chairman concluded that as urban areas were ageing and the demand for repair services from owners of private buildings was increasing, DC and the public were concerned about the bid-rigging problem. He requested government departments to listen to Members’ views, strengthen regulation, increase information transparency, step up publicity and education campaigns and increase the support to building owners.
227. Mr LEUNG Yau-fong said that the frontline staff of SSPDO and Members worked together in the district on a long-term basis and he hoped that the Office could increase the support to the frontline staff so that they could refer the cases that were found to have problems to relevant departments as soon as possible. He also hoped that the departments concerned could provide support.
228. Mr TAM Kwok-kiu said that according to PlanD’s report, there were about 1 100 private buildings aged 70 years in Hong Kong and the number would rise 300-fold 30 years later. Many of these buildings were in multiple ownership. Therefore, he agreed that there was a pressing need to set up an independent department dedicated to following up on issues including ageing and rehabilitation of buildings and hoped that the District Officer would covey such view to relevant bureaux.
229. The Vice-chairman said that there was a motion in Paper 7/17 (Motion 1) and noted that the motion was proposed by Ms NG Yuet-lan and seconded by Mr WAI Woon-nam and it read: “This Council urges the Government to combat bid-rigging in major repair works of private buildings and provide proper protection to the legitimate rights of small owners.”
230. Ms LAU Pui-yuk proposed an amended motion (Motion 2) which was seconded by Mr Dennis WONG and it read: “This Council urges the Government to combat bid-rigging in major repair works of private buildings and provide proper - 62 - Action by protection to the legitimate rights of small owners. At the same time, the Government needs to provide more resources and platforms as well as step up education and publicity campaigns to increase building owners’ knowledge and awareness about prevention of bid-rigging.”
231. The Vice-chairman said that he received from Mr Ambrose CHEUNG, the Chairman a written authorisation in which he appointed Mr Aaron LAM to act as his proxy to vote. Members were requested to note this.
232. Mr YUEN Hoi-man enquired why the Member amended Motion 1.
233. Ms LAU Pui-yuk said that the Government should adopt a two-pronged approach. Apart from combating bid-rigging, it should also provide more platforms as well as step up publicity and education campaigns to increase building owners’ knowledge about prevention of bid-rigging. Motion 2 was therefore more comprehensive.
234. Mr TAM Kwok-kiu proposed another amended motion (Motion 3) which was seconded by Ms Zoé CHOW and it read: “This Council urges the Government to combat bid-rigging in major repair works of private buildings and provide proper protection to the legitimate rights of small owners. At the same time, the Government needs to provide more resources and platforms as well as step up education and publicity campaigns to increase building owners’ knowledge and awareness about prevention of bid-rigging. The Government also needs to conduct studies as soon as possible on the establishment of a dedicated bureau for repair management.”
235. Ms LAU Pui-yuk proposed an adjournment of the meeting.
236. The Vice-chairman announced that the meeting would be adjourned for three minutes.
(The meeting was adjourned for three minutes.)
237. The Vice-chairman announced that the meeting was resumed and asked Members to vote on Motion 3 after Mr TAM Kwok-kiu had introduced Motion 3.
238. The meeting voted on Motion 3 by open ballot.
239. The voting result was as follows:
For: Mr CHAN Kwok-wai, Mr CHAN Wai-ming, Ms Joephy CHAN, - 63 - Action by Mr Vincent CHENG, Mr Ambrose CHEUNG (voted by Mr Aaron LAM as a proxy), Ms Zoé CHOW, Mr Kalvin HO, Mr Aaron LAM, Ms LAU Pui-yuk, Mr Dominic LEE, Mr LEE Wing -man, Mr LEUNG Man-kwong, Mr LEUNG Yau-fong, Ms NG Yuet-lan, Mr TAM Kwok-kiu, Mr WAI Woon-nam, Mr Dennis WONG, Mr YEUNG Yuk and Mr YUEN Hoi-man (19)
Against: (0)
Abstain: (0)
240. The Secretary announced the voting result: 19 Members voted for the motion, 0 Members voted against it and 0 Members abstained. The Vice-chairman announced that Motion 3 was carried and hoped that relevant departments would follow up on the views put forward in Motion 3 by the Member.
(h) Request to improve the information accessibility of District Council (SSPDC Paper 8/17)
241. Mr YEUNG Yuk introduced Paper 8/17.
242. The Secretary responded as follows:
(i) The Secretariat agreed with the direction set out in the paper and had done all it could to enhance transparency.
(ii) Enquiries were made to the Computer Section before the meeting. It was noted that if text-based documents were used when producing pdf files, people with visual impairment could read them by using Braille devices. Given that the papers were submitted by different departments, Members and organisations, the Secretariat would ask the relevant parties to submit pdf files produced from text-based documents as far as possible so that the Secretariat could upload them to DC website for reading of people with visual impairment.
(iii) At present, both the agendas of full council meetings and committee meetings had English version. The Secretariat would also provide the English version of the agendas of working group meetings. Regarding the minutes of meetings, the Secretariat was now following HAD’s policy by providing English translation for the minutes of full council meetings and committee meetings with existing resources and would upload them to DC website upon completion. As far as other discussion papers were concerned, if the submitting parties submitted the Chinese and English - 64 - Action by versions at the same time, the Secretariat would upload both of them to DC website. In the future the Secretariat would ask government departments to provide English version at the same time as far as possible for information of the public.
(iv) Regarding the papers of the current-term DC, the Secretariat would provide pdf files produced from text-based documents as far as possible. It would also provide English version for agendas of all the meetings as well as English version for the minutes of full council meetings and committee meetings.
(v) The provision of recorded broadcast and live broadcast functions involved technical and resource problems. Currently, members of the public could observe the open meetings of DC. The Secretariat would also upload the audio recordings of full council meetings and committee meetings to DC website after the meeting. DC might consider whether recorded broadcast and live broadcast were necessary.
243. Mr YEUNG Yuk raised the following enquiries and views: (i) the Secretariat said that it would provide English version and require the relevant parties to provide text-based documents. He asked whether such practice was the policy direction pursued by all 18 DCs in Hong Kong; (ii) there were differences between recorded broadcast and live broadcast. With the technology nowadays, it would not be difficult to make live broadcast. The problem was whether the Government was willing to do so.
244. Mr YUEN Hoi-man raised the following enquiries and views: (i) he thanked the Secretariat’s effort in achieving information accessibility as far as possible; (ii) he hoped that Members would start from themselves and submit doc files and provide English version if necessary; (iii) whether consideration would be given to make recorded broadcast and live broadcast by stages. For example, to set aside some places for reporters or members of the public to make live broadcast; (iv) whether the Sham Shun Po District Council Standing Orders (“Standing Orders”) had rules to restrict the use of communication or photographic equipment.
245. Mr TAM Kwok-kiu raised the following views: (i) he praised the Secretariat for providing DC papers in the format which could facilitate reading by people with visual impairment. The arrangement was positive; (ii) he pointed out that live broadcast and audio broadcast were different in nature. Live broadcast would allow the public to have a better understanding of the discussion content of DC meetings and keep abreast with the work of the Council. There was no need for organisations to relay the issues; all members of the public could participate directly. He hoped that - 65 - Action by SSPDO could bring about the live broadcast arrangement.
246. Ms NG Yuet-lan raised the following views: (i) she thanked the Secretariat for addressing the relevant demands; (ii) live broadcast was very meaningful for it could allow the public the opportunity to watch directly Members expressing public opinions during the meetings, which could enhance their participation and pursue the idea of promoting community participation.
247. Mr LEUNG Man-kwong raised the following enquiries: (i) whether more financial resources could be sought for the implementation of recorded broadcast and live broadcast; (ii) whether audio live broadcast could be implemented right now.
248. Mr Dennis WONG raised the following enquiries and views: (i) he supported the direction set out in the paper; (ii) there were many South Asians and new arrivals in Sham Shui Po. The former ones spoke different languages while the latter ones might not be able to read traditional Chinese characters. He asked whether the Council would give overall consideration to that.
249. The District Officer responded that: (i) he fully supported enhancing the transparency of the Council; (ii) consideration had to be given to which platform should be used for live broadcast. Since HAD was responsible for managing the DC website, its policy support was necessary if DC website was to be used as a platform for live broadcast. Moreover, consideration should also be given to whether all 18 districts should implement the arrangement in unison; (iii) if the Council could reach a consensus, he would relay Members’ demands for making live broadcast to HAD after the meeting.
250. The Secretary responded that at present the Secretariats of 18 DCs would provide English version for the minutes of full council meetings. As far as the format of DC papers uploaded to the website was concerned, the Secretariat would meet Members’ requirements as far as possible.
251. The Vice-chairman added that in accordance with Order 15(3) of the Standing Orders, all persons attending or observing DC meetings should switch off devices which might emit sound and should not use any telecommunication devices for conversation inside the meeting venues during the meeting. Hence video and audio recording did not contravene the relevant order.
252. Mr TAM Kwok-kiu suggested that audio live broadcast should be considered first so that the public could learn about the progress of the meetings. He reckoned that this arrangement could facilitate the smooth operation of the Council. - 66 - Action by 253. The Vice-chairman concluded that SSPDO and the Secretariat should note the needs of various groups and their demands for information accessibility. They should take into account Members’ views and gradually improve the information accessibility of DC if situation allowed with a view to achieving barrier free communication as far as possible. He asked the Secretariat to report the latest progress to the Council in a timely manner.
(i) Community Participating Round Table Meeting (SSPDC Paper 9/17)
254. Ms NG Yuet-lan introduced Paper 9/17 and added the following remarks: (i) as per the requests of the Vice-chairman, Mr Vincent CHENG and Ms LAU Pui-yuk, their names were to be removed from the list of submitters of the motion paper; (ii) the Round Table Meeting had been discussed for a year but it was still not implemented. She hoped that the process could be sped up.
255. Ms LAU Pui-yuk raised the following views: (i) she and the other two Members had joined the meeting of the coordinating group concerned. She herself also agreed that the views of different people could be heard through the Round Table Meeting. However, she had reservations about the details of the proposal. Therefore, she expressed dissatisfaction and regret that she was included as one of the submitters of the paper without her consent; (ii) it had been decided that “the elderly” and “inclusion” would be the themes of the Round Table Meeting. However, the expenses stated in the proposal, such as travelling expense, organisation expense and food expense, were very high. She did not agree with the amounts of the expenses and opined that resources should be used mainly on the Round Table Meeting on the two themes above.
256. Ms NG Yuet-lan raised the following views: (i) the three Members had joined the first meeting of the coordinating group and the related papers had been sent to them for comment. As these three Members had participated, she included their names in the motion paper as a sign of respect. She did not expect that the Members would make different interpretations and felt sorry about this; (ii) she had always hoped that the three Members could join the meetings of the coordinating group. It was a pity that they could not do so due to other commitments; (iii) the proposal was drafted by Sham Shui Po Citizens (“SSPC”) and vetted by the Secretariat. She welcomed any amendments and suggestions proposed by Members; (iv) the whole Round Table Meeting would last for over a year. A few dozens of hearings would be held and there would be hundreds of participants. The allocated fund of $220,000 would be mainly used on the numerous non-profit-making organisations that were participating and the amount really could not be regarded as large.
257. Mr TAM Kwok-kiu raised the following views: (i) the Round Table Meeting - 67 - Action by was a new mode of operation. It aimed to make good use of resources to implement social participation schemes, and required the parties involved to adapt to each other and be understanding; (ii) the Round Table Meeting was initiated by the Chairman and the Vice-chairman of DC. If Members had different opinions or doubts about the content and details of the proposal, they could put forward specific views. Members could then discuss whether amendments needed to be made, and proceed to make decisions about the fund allocation as soon as possible; (iii) it was DC who suggested in the beginning of this financial year that an amount of $220,000 be allocated for implementation of social participation schemes.
258. Mr YUEN Hoi-man raised the following views: (i) he recognised the efforts of SSPC, the Vice-chairman of DC, etc. to implement the Community Participating Round Table Meeting; (ii) if Members have queries about the items and amounts in the budget concerned, they could raise them up for discussion but he hoped that Members would use the same standard when considering the application concerned. He hoped that Members could support the direction of the activity. After all, the use of the resources involved was already regulated and monitored by relevant criteria.
259. Mr Dominic LEE raised the following views and enquiries: (i) he did not oppose using the Round Table Meeting as the platform to listen to the voices of local organisations but he was not without reservations about the plan because there were conflicts between the civil manifesto of SSPC and his election manifesto. Also, he opined that DC itself already had the mandate from the public. Therefore, he adopted a wait-and-see attitude towards the Round Table Meeting; (ii) the last-term DC had held consultations regarding the use of the allocated fund of $100 million. The amount of money required back then had been about $10,000. He opined that consideration could be given to using such amount as a reference indicator of the amount of money required for collecting the public’s views; (iii) Hong Kong Citizens Limited was appointed to organise the activity without voting. He opined that consideration could be given as to whether other methods such as tendering should be adopted in order to give other organisations a chance to apply for organising the activity; (iv) the Round Table Meeting aimed to solicit the public’s views extensively. Considering the hearings of the Legislative Council were led by the Council and relevant government departments, he opined that it might be more appropriate to let SSPDO do the job of collecting the public’s views using its own resources.
260. Mr Aaron LAM raised the following views: (i) he supported soliciting the public’s views extensively; (ii) the means of tendering had been used by DC before to choose an organisation (such as a university) for collecting the public’s views. Given the allocated fund of $220,000 was not a small amount, he suggested considering adoption of this means in order to avoid criticism. - 68 - Action by 261. Mr CHAN Kwok-wai raised the following views: (i) DC organised the Round Table Meeting for the first time, intending to hear more views from the organisations in the district; (ii) the proposal included numerous fees to organisations for travelling, refreshments, etc., the amounts of which were not small. He opined that resources should be devoted to the Round Table Meeting itself; (ii) as the amount of fund allocated to the activity was relatively large, he agreed that reference should be made to the means used to handle the allocated fund of $100 million in the past.
262. Mr Vincent CHENG raised the following views: (i) he believed that Members in general supported the direction of the Round Table Meeting which was to listen to the voice of the community. He had participated in the meetings concerned and recognised the efforts of the organisations involved; (ii) the allocated fund came from public money so it must be used appropriately. The Government and groups had organised exchange sessions before and the fees incurred were not high. On the contrary, this plan would use $220,000 to organise a few public consultations and fees for many small items were included. He was afraid that it would be difficult to give the public an explanation about this. Therefore, at this stage, he had reservations about the whole allocation plan.
263. Mr LEE Wing-man raised the following views: (i) his understanding was that DC had agreed that two sessions of the Community Participating Round Table Meeting would be held first and then review would be conducted. However, the plan currently proposed involved many extension items (such as training); (ii) generally speaking, when considering funding applications, working groups would take into account the backgrounds of the applying organisations and require them to explain how the funds would be used. As there were different organisations in the coordinating group, he opined that a selection mechanism might need to be established when organising the Round Table Meeting. Also, the fund allocation concerned must be made in compliance with relevant fund allocation guidelines and there should not be any breaches. Therefore, he opined that there was room for discussion regarding the content of the plan.
264. Ms Zoé CHOW raised the following views: (i) she appreciated the efforts SSPC put into the proposal. DC had discussed for almost a year before a convenor was elected. Now that the proposal was drafted, however, Members had a lot of views. She considered this as a step backward; (ii) in the current plan, the fund was mainly used to employ staff, carry out publicity campaigns in the district, organise hearings in the community, etc. She opined that the plan was practical and feasible and implemented the idea of “from the bottom up”, Members should support it; (iii) the proposal had detailed content and set out items clearly. She strongly supported it and hoped that DC would speak for the public but not obstruct suggestions from the public. - 69 - Action by 265. Mr YEUNG Yuk raised the following views: (i) he opined that what DC organised was not necessarily activities like carnivals and communal meals. In fact, some members of the public also opined that such activities did not help the society advance; (ii) the fund allocation guidelines did not require that activities allocated with funds reaching a certain amount must be put out to tender. Many activities approved by other working groups were not put out to tender; (iii) this plan involved a lot of preparation work, many sessions of activities and numerous participants. He opined that the amount of funding it applied for was reasonable and hoped that when Members were considering this application, they would use the criteria same as the one adopted in considering funding applications from other groups.
266. Mr WAI Woon-nam said that the whole plan would last for a year and the fund of $220,000 it applied for was not much. He deemed this funding application compliant with the fund allocation guidelines. If Members had queries about the fund allocation, they could raise them up. He would be pleased to answer them.
267. Mr Dennis WONG raised the following views: (i) he supported soliciting the public’s views extensively through the Round Table Meeting; (ii) the consultation sessions were for exchanging views. He did not understand why a fund of $220,000 had to be reserved for these sessions and opined that even though DC had reserved such amount, it did not mean that the fund had to be exhausted; (iii) he enquired whether the current proposal was consistent with the original plan (e.g. in terms of the number of consultation sessions). He understood that the organisation concerned had put in a great deal of effort to prepare the proposal but it was still necessary to further discuss the details so a proper account could be given to residents.
268. Mr TAM Kwok-kiu raised the following views: (i) he had suggested before setting up a working group for implementing the Round Table Meeting but the DC had decided then that the work concerned would be carried out by the coordinating group and reserved a fund of $220,000 for this; (ii) the fund would be allocated on an accountable basis and all expenses were justifiable; (iii) if the means of tendering was used, he enquired which party should be responsible for doing it. In fact, the means of tendering was not necessarily used in the activities approved by working groups in the past to choose the organisers; (iv) Members could put forward their views about the proposal but they should also respect the proposal submitted by the coordinating group; (v) the Round Table Meeting was an activity for everyone to participate and it should not be implemented using the traditional mode.
269. Ms NG Yuet-lan said that the Round Table Meeting was different from general consultation sessions. It was necessary to train some staff to interact with members of the public (especially those from the disadvantaged groups) as well as listen to and record their requests. She hoped that Members could gain an understanding of the - 70 - Action by idea behind the Round Table Meeting seriously.
270. Mr Dennis WONG said that the Round Table Meeting was a platform to sum up the views of different stakeholders but not a training project. He opined that if training was needed, it should be done through other suitable platforms.
271. Mr YUEN Hoi-man raised the following views and enquiries: (i) the organisation concerned submitted the proposal to DC because it wanted the funding application to be approved by Members in the meeting after discussion but not by circulation. Given different views were put forward by Members, he hoped that the organisation would be given an opportunity to express its views; (ii) there were occasions in the past in which a working group chairman approved a funding application regarding an activity co-organised by the chairman’s party member. He hoped that Members would use the same standard when considering this funding application; (ii) he enquired whether there were any entries related to tendering in the fund allocation guidelines.
272. Mr CHAN Kwok-wai said that DC had agreed to organise two sessions of the Round Table Meeting that were on the themes of “the elderly” and “inclusion” respectively. He understood that the organisation concerned might need to first select the representatives that could participate in the activity but opined that DC resources should not be used to organise any meetings other than the two sessions.
273. The Vice-chairman raised the following views: (i) he understood the importance of listening. DC set up the coordinating group to initiate the two sessions of the Round Table Meeting on the themes of “the elderly” and “inclusion” in the form a project. This allowed different stakeholders in the district to exchange views with government officials and then monitor the follow-up work of the Government, thereby increasing the degree of the public’s participation; (ii) the Round Table Meeting was a new suggestion and he understood that all parties needed to adapt to each other; (iii) he opined that DC should examine the use of resources concerned and fulfil its role as a watchdog.
274. Mr YEUNG Yuk said that this plan was different from general consultation sessions. In order to ensure that the Round Table Meeting would proceed smoothly, it was necessary to provide training beforehand, collect opinions, etc. The organisation concerned had put in a great deal of time and effort to prepare the proposal, he hoped Members would understand.
275. Mr LEUNG Man-kwong said that he agreed with the direction of the Round Table Meeting. If Members had any views about the proposal, he suggested forwarding such views to the coordinating group for discussion. - 71 - Action by 276. Ms Joephy CHAN raised the following views and enquiries: (i) she recognised the efforts of SSPC and also agreed that DC of the new term should solicit the public’s views extensively and collect the views of different stakeholders more frequently for the Government to consider; (ii) according to her understanding, apart from allocating funds to collection of opinions, DC would also want to allocate funds to academic studies with a view to formulating improvement measures. Therefore, she had reservations about the funding application concerned; (iii) she did not know the organisation that submitted the funding application. To ensure public money was used effectively and increase transparency, she wanted to know if any declarations of interest were made in the application.
277. Mr TAM Kwok-kiu raised the following views: (i) he opined that DC had already approved holding the Round Table Meeting and the coordinating group responsible for doing the preparation work had already been set up. There were no requirements stipulating that the work involved must be put out to tender. Even if the means of tendering was used, one must also consider whether it was feasible and who should do it; (ii) as for the matter of organising hearings in the community, he opined that if Members had doubts about the plan, they should elaborate on the doubts to facilitate discussion so that the plan could be implemented.
278. Mr LEE Wing-man opined that DC should evaluate the proposal in accordance with the fund allocation guidelines. In addition, he had also declared interests in the past in accordance with the mechanism.
279. Mr CHAN Kwok-wai said that Members had the responsibility to consider the public interest and make good use of public money. He did not oppose the concept of the proposal nor did he deny its effectiveness, however, he opined that resources should be used mainly to hold the two sessions of the Round Table Meeting but not to do the advance work or provide training.
280. Ms NG Yuet-lan suggested passing the proposal to the coordinating group for further discussion and hoped that Members and even the District Officer would actively participate and formulate a proposal in this regard together.
281. Ms LAU Pui-yuk said that DC did not disagree with the direction of holding the Round Table Meeting. However, she opined that public money should be spent well (e.g. consider whether there were any other ways to employ the staff concerned) and it was not necessary to exhaust the reserved fund of $220,000. She suggested that reference could be made to similar projects in the past when planning for the use of resources regarding the two sessions of the Round Table Meeting.
282. Mr Dennis WONG raised the following views: (i) he suggested that DC should - 72 - Action by continue to use its regular mode of operation when handling this plan. If it was not necessary to choose the organiser through tendering, then there was no need to do so; (ii) he hoped to clarify that this plan was for holding the Round Table Meeting but not for providing training courses; (iii) he stressed that although the proposal was submitted by the organisation concerned, it did not mean that such organisation must be the organiser. He proposed a provisional motion which was seconded by Mr Aaron LAM and it read as follows: “This Council supports diversified participation from the community which allows different stakeholders to express their views as well as the conduct of community consultations in the form of the Round Table Meeting, the views collected from which will be consolidated and conveyed to the Government. At the same time, this Council has a difference of opinion over the form of meeting and the budget proposed by the coordinating group of the Round Table Meeting and therefore cannot accept the proposal concerned and requested that the proposal be re-formulated and then submitted to the next meeting for discussion.”
283. Mr WAI Woon-nam said that he regretted very much that DC disapproved the funding application of the organisation through a provisional motion. He hoped that the Members who objected to the funding application would elaborate clearly on their doubts about the proposal.
284. Mr YUEN Hoi-man raised the following enquiries and views: (i) he enquired if SSPC could express its views before the voting took place; (ii) as the Round Table Meeting had been discussed for a long time, he suggested that Members could consider approving part of the plan first or withdrawing the proposal. If the former was chosen, Members could approve the holding of the Round Table Meeting on the theme of “the elderly” first; if the latter was chosen, Members could communicate and discuss in detail in the meetings of the coordinating group after the proposal was withdrawn. He did not want the trust and relationships among Members to be destroyed because of the provisional motion above.
285. The Vice-chairman said that DC had introduced the content of the proposal through Ms NG Yuet-lan, the convenor of the coordinating group and provided clarifications in response to Members’ questions, and therefore he did not intend to allow other people to express their views. He would now let DC decide whether to approve the funding application or not. If it was not approved, Members could then put forward their views for the coordinating group to amend the proposal.
286. Mr Kalvin HO enquired whether the provisional motion amended the original motion.
287. The Vice-chairman said that as the two motions took different directions, the provisional motion was not an amended motion. - 73 - Action by 288. Mr TAM Kwok-kiu said that he hoped that the Member who proposed the provisional motion would explain the problems about the funding application specifically and stressed that this plan was a new mode of operation, and therefore it was not necessary to continue to use the old method to handle it.
289. Ms NG Yuet-lan said that her motion was seconded by Mr LEUNG Yau-fong and it read: “Move for approval for this proposal of making an allocation of $220,000”. She added that any amendments by Members on the proposal were welcome.
290. The Vice-chairman said that Mr Ambrose CHEUNG, the Chairman had appointed Mr Aaron LAM to act as his proxy to vote. In addition, he was also notified that Mr YAN Kai-wing had appointed Mr CHAN Kwok-wai to act as his proxy to vote.
291. The meeting voted on the motion proposed by Ms NG Yuet-lan by open ballot.
292. The voting result was as follows:
For: Ms Zoé CHOW, Mr Kalvin HO, Mr LEUNG Yau-fong, Ms NG Yuet-lan, Mr TAM Kwok-kiu, Mr WAI Woon-nam, Mr YEUNG Yuk and Mr YUEN Hoi-man (8)
Against: Mr CHAN Kwok-wai, Mr CHAN Wai-ming, Ms Joephy CHAN, Mr Vincent CHENG, Mr Ambrose CHEUNG (voted by Mr Aaron LAM as a proxy), Mr Aaron LAM, Ms LAU Pui-yuk, Mr Dominic LEE, Mr LEE Wing-man, Mr LEUNG Man-kwong, Mr Dennis WONG and Mr YAN Kai-wing (voted by Mr CHAN Kwok-wai as a proxy) (12)
Abstain: (0)
293. The Secretary announced the voting result: 8 Members voted for the motion, 12 Members voted against it and 0 Members abstained. The Vice-chairman announced that the motion proposed by Ms NG Yuet-lan was not carried.
294. The meeting voted on the provisional motion proposed by Mr Dennis WONG by open ballot.
295. The voting result was as follows:
For: Mr CHAN Kwok-wai, Mr CHAN Wai-ming, Ms Joephy CHAN, Mr Vincent CHENG, Mr Ambrose CHEUNG (voted by Mr Aaron LAM as a proxy), Mr Aaron LAM, Ms LAU Pui-yuk, - 74 - Action by Mr Dominic LEE, Mr LEE Wing-man, Mr LEUNG Man-kwong, Mr Dennis WONG and Mr YAN Kai-wing (voted by Mr CHAN Kwok-wai as a proxy) (12)
Against: Ms Zoé CHOW, Mr Kalvin HO, Mr LEUNG Yau-fong, Ms NG Yuet-lan, Mr TAM Kwok-kiu, Mr WAI Woon-nam, Mr YEUNG Yuk and Mr YUEN Hoi-man (8)
Abstain: (0)
296. The Secretary announced the voting result: 12 Members voted for the motion, 8 Members voted against it and 0 Members abstained. The Vice-chairman announced that the provisional motion proposed by Mr Dennis WONG was carried.
297. Ms NG Yuet-lan said that she would resign from the post of the convenor of the coordinating group but would continue to participate.
298. The Vice-chairman said that Ms NG Yuet-lan’s resignation was noted.
299. Mr Dennis WONG added that he hoped that after discussion, a new proposal would be available for submission in the next meeting.
300. The Vice-chairman concluded that the Council would follow up on the work of the coordinating group after the meeting
Item 3: Reports from Committees and Working Groups under the District Council
(a) Reports from Committees
(i) Report from the District Facilities Committee (SSPDC Paper 10/17)
(ii) Report from the Community Affairs Committee (SSPDC Paper 11/17)
(iii) Report from the Environment and Hygiene Committee (SSPDC Paper 12/17)
(iv) Report from the Transport Affairs Committee (SSPDC Paper 13/17)
(v) Report from the Housing Affairs Committee (SSPDC Paper 14/17)
301. The meeting noted and endorsed the content of the aforesaid reports.
302. The Vice-chairman said that as far as the redevelopment of Tai Hang Sai Estate mentioned in the report from the Housing Affairs Committee (“HAC”) was - 75 - Action by concerned, since the Metro Planning Committee (“MPC”) under the Town Planning Board (“TPB”) would consider a planning application for amending the plan on 13 January this year, HAC asked PlanD to send staff to attend today’s DC meeting to report on the latest development of the above planning application. He welcomed the representatives of PlanD to the meeting of today.
303. Mr TAM Kwok-kiu said that since MPC originally planned to consider the relevant application on 13 January this year, HAC agreed that the aforesaid issue be followed up at today’s meeting. However, as the latest information indicated that MPC would defer the consideration of the relevant application, he suggested that this issue be followed up by the next HAC meeting.
304. The Vice-chairman asked the representative of PlanD to report on the latest development of the redevelopment of Tai Hang Sai Estate.
305. Mr NG Mun-sing reported as follows:
(i) PlanD had reported to HAC that TPB received a planning application no. Y/K4/1 submitted in accordance with Section 12A of the Town Planning Ordinance on 31 October 2016 to amend the approved Shek Kip Mei Outline Zoning Plan (“OZP”). It proposed to amend the planning intention and the remarks set out in the Notes of the OZP for the “Comprehensive Development Area” (“CDA”) Zone where Tai Hang Sai Estate located as follows:
- To amend the planning intention of the CDA Zone as subsidised residential use. As far as the proportion of subsidised housing was concerned, no less than 85% of the domestic gross floor area (“GFA”) were for rental housing while the remainder should be for subsidised sale flats;
- To amend the limit of the total plot ratio set out in the remarks for the CDA Zone from 5.5 to 6.6; and
- To add a new remark for the CDA Zone, stipulating that no less than 1 300 square metres of non-domestic GFA should be provided in the new CDA Zone for setting up shop units which were no more than 18.58 square metres in size, and were restricted for individual shops which were not operated as chain stores. Moreover, among the non-domestic GFA of the CDA, there should be a residential care home for the elderly, a clinic and an indoor swimming pool. - 76 - Action by (ii) Originally, MPC was scheduled to consider the relevant application on 13 January this year. However, since the applicant said that it needed time to respond to the views of the government departments concerned, it made a request on 3 January asking TPB to defer the consideration for two months.
(iii) MPC would consider the applicant’s application for deferment on 13 January. If the application was to be approved, the applicant had to submit further information to TPB within two months. TPB would consider the relevant application within three months after receiving the relevant information.
306. Mr TAM Kwok-kiu raised the following views: (i) TPB had considered a planning application from the Hong Kong Settlers Housing Corporation Limited (“HKSH”) in June 2016. During the meeting, some members of TPB had raised concerns about whether the residents affected wanted the estate to provide rental flats after redevelopment. At that time more than 90% people were against the application of HKSH. Yet since those people did not provide proof of their residential addresses, the parties concerned failed to confirm whether the affected residents demanded that rental flats be provided; (ii) the amendment for the planning application was submitted by a resident of Tai Hang Sai Estate. According to the result of an opinion survey, the applicant proposed that no less than 85% of the domestic GFA should be rental housing while the remainder should be subsidised sale flats; (iii) he asked TPB to ensure that the development or redevelopment project of Tai Hang Sai Estate must obtain the consent of local residents and he reckoned that TPB should accept residents opinions on providing rental flats; (iv) HKSH’s planning application aimed to “sell the flats only, not to lease them”. Although the company had promised to discuss the relevant arrangement with the affected residents, it had yet to arrange for a meeting; (v) he hoped that PlanD would relay the relevant views to TPB and follow up on the issue.
307. Mr NG Mun-sing responded that the Department would relay the views of the applicant and Members to TPB.
308. The Vice-chairman asked the Secretariat to provide draft minutes of meeting for the above discussion to PlanD after the meeting and ask the Department to relay Members’ views to TPB as well as reporting the latest progress to the Council in a timely manner.
(b) Reports from Working Groups directly under the District Council
(i) Report from the Working Group on Festive Celebration and Publicity (SSPDC Papers 15/17 & 16/17) - 77 - Action by (ii) Report from the Working Group on Poverty Problems and Ethnic Minorities (SSPDC Paper 17/17)
(iii) Report from the Working Group on Healthy and Safe Community (SSPDC Paper 18/17)
309. The meeting noted and endorsed the aforesaid reports.
Item 4: Report on District Management Committee Meeting (SSPDC Paper 19/17)
310. Assistant District Officer 2 introduced Paper 197/16 as follows:
(i) Regarding the cleansing of “three-nil” buildings under DAS, after seeking nominations from Members, SSPDO had increased the number of target buildings under the Scheme from 100 to 104 and the target locations from 49 to 57. As for the progress, cleansing services had been provided at 60 target buildings and all of the 57 target locations, with 38 tonnes and 44 tonnes of refuse cleared respectively. Through cleansing buildings, the Scheme hoped to use environmental hygiene as the starting point to encourage residents to participate in the management work of their buildings.
(ii) SSPDO had visited 60 buildings, including 58 “three-nil” buildings and two buildings with “inactive” OCs. Regarding the “three-nil” buildings, SSPDO had successfully carried out household visits with 171 owners, 47 of them had registered as Resident Liaison Ambassadors. With the support of the Scheme, three “three-nil” buildings had set up their OCs. Regarding the buildings with “inactive” OCs, SSPDO had contacted all 43 OC members and two of them had agreed to be liaison ambassadors, it had also helped two “inactive” OCs re-convene residents’ meetings resume the management work of their buildings.
(iii) Regarding publicity and education, SSPDO had organised nine evening tea receptions cum theme-based seminars and more than 550 people had attended in total. The second round of certificate courses was now in progress and 30 people had enrolled in total. SSPDO would launch a series of publicity and education campaigns, including holding a carnival at the Cheung Sha Wan Playground, publishing comic books, making short videos and holding a bus parade, in order to promote the importance of building management and appeal to residents to pay attention to environmental hygiene. - 78 - Action by (iv) Regarding the strengthening of support to street sleepers, SoCO had been commissioned to provide the “counselling and support services through social workers” and its social worker team (as at 31 December 2016) had visited 1 280 street sleepers in the 25 outreach visits made and successfully helped 13 street sleepers to be housed. It had also organised three group activities to increase street sleepers’ motives in life and a total of 85 people had attended.
(v) Regarding the “support service on physical and psychological health”, the Salvation Army had been commissioned to provide this service and its medical outreach team (as at 31 December 2016) had visited 276 street sleepers in the 17 outreach visits made, with 107 body check-ups and 28 wound care and basic treatments provided.
(vi) SSPDO had designated the area underneath the Tung Chau Street Flyover and the subways at Pei Ho Street and Kweilin Street as the priority locations for action under DAS, and requested two social worker teams to visit the street sleepers at these locations at least once a week, hoping to strengthen the support to them. With the cooperation of various departments and the social worker teams, the attempt to help street sleepers leave the subway at Kweilin Street succeeded in October 2016. No street sleepers gathered inside the subway now. As for the subway at Pei Ho Street, the medical outreach team of the Salvation Army had successfully arranged for one sick street sleeper to be admitted to a care home for the elderly and cleared the possessions he left in the subway after obtaining his consent. The situation of the street sleepers in the district would continue to be monitored and followed up under DAS.
311. The meeting noted and endorsed the aforesaid report.
Item 5: Any other business
(a) SSPDC Spring Reception 2017
312. The Vice-chairman said that in order to celebrate the Lunar New Year and share the joyful atmosphere with residents, the Working Group on Festive Celebration and Publicity under SSPDC would host the Spring Reception at 3 p.m. on 10 February 2017 (Friday) in Fulum Palace (Mei Foo). The ceremony would start at 3:30 p.m. Members and representatives of government departments were welcome to join.
(b) New Posting of District Social Welfare Officer (Sham Shui Po) of SWD - 79 - Action by 313. The Vice-chairman said that Mrs Helen KWOK, District Social Welfare Officer (Sham Shui Po) of SWD, would soon be promoted and this Council took this chance to extend gratitude to her, thanking her for the contribution she made to DC during her term.
314. Mrs Helen KWOK thanked DC for its support to the work of SWD and said that the Department would continue to work together with DC to follow up on various livelihood and welfare issues in the district.
(c) New Posting of Assistant District Officer (Sham Shui Po) 1
315. The Vice-chairman said that Miss Kiki CHAN, Assistant District Officer (Sham Shui Po) 1, would soon be transferred to another posting and this Council took this chance to extend gratitude to her, thanking her for the contribution she made to DC during her term.
316. Miss Kiki CHAN thanked her colleagues in SSPDO and also thanked various government departments and Members for giving her opportunities to learn.
Item 6: Date of next meeting
317. The next meeting would be held at 9:30 a.m. on 7 March 2017.
318. There being no other business, the meeting ended at 10:33 p.m.
District Council Secretariat Sham Shui Po District Office February 2017