The minutes were confirmed on 30 October 2018 without amendment.

Minutes of the Fourth Meeting of District Council in 2018

Date : 4 September 2018 (Tuesday)

Time : 9:30 a.m. – 2:25 p.m.

Venue : Conference Room, Council, 13/F., Yuen Long Government Offices, 2 Kiu Lok Square, Yuen Long

Present Time of Arrival Time of Withdrawal Chairman: Mr SHUM Ho-kit, JP (Beginning of the meeting) (End of the meeting) Vice-chairman: Mr WONG Wai-shun, MH (Beginning of the meeting) (End of the meeting) Members: Mr CHAM Ka-hung, Daniel, (Beginning of the meeting) (End of the meeting) BBS, MH, JP Ms CHAN Mei-lin (Beginning of the meeting) (End of the meeting) Mr CHAN Sze-ching (Beginning of the meeting) (End of the meeting) Mr CHING Chan-ming (Beginning of the meeting) (End of the meeting) Ms CHIU Sau-han, MH (Beginning of the meeting) (End of the meeting) Mr CHOW Wing-kan (Beginning of the meeting) (1:30 p.m.) Mr KWOK Hing-ping (Beginning of the meeting) (End of the meeting) Mr KWOK Keung, MH (Beginning of the meeting) (End of the meeting) The Hon KWONG Chun-yu (9:35 a.m.) (10:30 a.m.) Ms LAU Kwai-yung (Beginning of the meeting) (End of the meeting) Mr LEE Yuet-man, MH (Beginning of the meeting) (End of the meeting) Mr LEUNG Fuk-yuen (Beginning of the meeting) (End of the meeting) Mr LEUNG Ming-kin (Beginning of the meeting) (End of the meeting) The Hon LUK Chung-hung, JP (Beginning of the meeting) (12:30 p.m.) Ms MA Shuk-yin (Beginning of the meeting) (End of the meeting) Mr MAK Ip-sing (Beginning of the meeting) (1:55 p.m.) Mr MAN Kwong-ming (Beginning of the meeting) (1:10 p.m.) Mr MAN Ping-nam, MH (Beginning of the meeting) (1:10 p.m.) Mr SIU Long-ming, MH (Beginning of the meeting) (End of the meeting) Mr TANG Cheuk-him (Beginning of the meeting) (11:50 a.m.) Mr TANG Cheuk-yin (Beginning of the meeting) (End of the meeting) Mr TANG Hing-ip, BBS (Beginning of the meeting) (1:55 p.m.) Mr TANG Ho-nin (Beginning of the meeting) (1:40 p.m.) Mr TANG Ka-leung (Beginning of the meeting) (End of the meeting) Mr TANG Lai-tung (Beginning of the meeting) (1:00 p.m.) Mr TANG Sui-man (Beginning of the meeting) (End of the meeting) Mr TANG Yung-yiu, Ronnie (Beginning of the meeting) (1:25 p.m.) Mr TO Ka-lun (Beginning of the meeting) (End of the meeting) Mr WONG Cheuk-kin (Beginning of the meeting) (12:30 p.m.) Ms WONG Wai-ling (9:40 a.m.) (1:10 p.m.) Mr WONG Wai-yin, Zachary (9:45 a.m.) (End of the meeting) Mr YIU Kwok-wai (Beginning of the meeting) (End of the meeting) Mr YOUNG Ka-on (Beginning of the meeting) (End of the meeting)

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Ms YUEN Man-yee (Beginning of the meeting) (End of the meeting)

Secretary: Mr KONG Kwok-piu, Bill Senior Executive Officer (District Council), Yuen Long District Office Assistant Ms WONG Man-ting, Executive Officer I (District Council), Secretary: Mandy Yuen Long District Office

In Attendance Mr YUEN Ka-lok, Enoch, JP District Officer (Yuen Long) Mr NG Lak-sun, Nixon Assistant District Officer (Yuen Long) 1 Ms POON Wai-yi, Joanna Assistant District Officer (Yuen Long) 2 Ms CHEUNG Lai-wa, Senior Liaison Officer (Town), Yuen Long Michelle District Office Mr LAM Chi-keung, Desmond Chief Engineer/West 1, Civil Engineering and Development Department Ms KEE Wing-yin, Fionn Chief School Development Officer (Yuen Long), Education Bureau Mr CHEUNG Pui-chung District Environmental Hygiene Superintendent (Yuen Long), Food and Environmental Hygiene Department Mr LEE Wai-man District Commander (Yuen Long), Police Force Ms YIP Yan-cheung Police Community Relations Officer (Yuen Long District) (Atg.), Hong Kong Police Force Mr WONG Wing-hung, Chief Manager/Management (Tuen Mun and Stephen Yuen Long), Housing Department Ms CHAN Ching-han, Pearl District Lands Officer/Yuen Long (District Lands Office, Yuen Long) (Atg.), Lands Department Mr NG Ping-tong, Gordon Administrative Assistant/Lands (District Lands Office, Yuen Long), Lands Department Mr WONG Shu-yan, Francis Chief Leisure Manager (New Territories North), Leisure and Cultural Services Department Mr NG Yuk-man, David District Planning Officer (Tuen Mun and Yuen Long West), Planning Department Ms CHU Wing-yin, Diana District Social Welfare Officer (Yuen Long), Social Welfare Department Mr HUE Ka-yiu, Daniel Chief Transport Officer/New Territories North West, Transport Department

Item II Dr CHEUNG Tin-cheung, JP Director of Buildings, Buildings Department Mr PUN Chi-cheung Chief Structural Engineer/C, Buildings Department Ms WONG Fung-sang, Mandy Administrative Assistant/Director of Buildings, Buildings Department

Item V Mr LI Wai-tong Liaison Officer i/c (Town 2), Yuen Long District Office

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Mr CHUNG Kam-chung, Ken Liaison Officer (Town 2)1, Yuen Long District Office

Absence Mr CHEUNG Muk-lam Absent with apologies Mr LAI Wai-hung Absent with apologies The Hon LEUNG Che-cheung, Absent with apologies SBS, MH, JP Mr LUI Kin, MH Absent with apologies Mr TSANG Shu-wo Absent with apologies

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Opening Remarks

The Chairman welcomed Members and departmental representatives to the fourth meeting of the Yuen Long District Council (“YLDC”) in 2018.

2. The Chairman, on behalf of the YLDC, congratulated the Hon LUK Chung-hung for being appointed as Justice of the Peace (“JP”), Mr SIU Long-ming for being awarded the Medal of Honour (“MH”) and Mr LEUNG Ming-kin for being awarded the Chief Executive’s Commendation for Community Service. The Chairman, who was appointed as JP, thanked Members and departmental representatives for their support and assistance throughout the years.

3. The Chairman extended a particular welcome to Director of Buildings Dr CHEUNG Tin-cheung, JP to the meeting.

4. The Chairman also extended a particular welcome to the newly appointed Assistant District Officer (Yuen Long)2 Ms POON Wai-yi, Joanna, who succeeded Ms MAK Ka-ying, Carren, to the meeting. On behalf of the YLDC, he thanked Ms MAK for her past assistance to the district council. The Chairman also welcomed the newly appointed Chief School Development Officer (Yuen Long), Education Bureau (“EDB”) Ms KEE Wing-yin, Fionn, who succeeded Mr KWONG Ying-wai, to the meeting. On behalf of the YLDC, he thanked Mr KWONG for his past assistance to the district council.

5. The Chairman welcomed the following departmental representative to the meeting:

Lands Department District Lands Officer/Yuen Long (Atg.) Ms CHAN Ching-han, Pearl (District Lands Office, Yuen Long) (Stood in for Ms CHAN Suet-ching, Angela, District Lands Officer/Yuen Long (District Lands Office, Yuen Long)

6. As for the agenda, the Chairman recommended dealing with Item III, “conducting a study on building new government offices in Yuen Long as soon as possible” and Item IV, “putting in place the government multi-purpose facilities, buildings and offices in ” together as

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both were about the proposed construction of government buildings and community facilities in the district.

7. The Chairman suggested that the following issues proposed for discussion by Mr MAK Ip-sing, Ms CHAN Mei-lin, Mr WONG Wai-yin, Zachary, the Hon KWONG Chun-yu and Mr TO Ka-lun be referred to the Environmental Improvement Committee (“EIC”), namely, requests for “(1) enhancing the promotional efforts of district-based education on environmental protection (waste separation and recovery); (2) providing support for voluntary environmental protection groups in the district; (3) setting up green recycling centres in the district” and “setting up a botanic education zone in ”. Also, the Chairman suggested that “concerns about law and order in Yuen Long and a request for stepping up patrol to prevent crime” proposed for discussion by five Members be referred to the Culture, Recreation, Community Service and Housing Committee (“CRCS&HC”).

8. The Chairman also suggested that the issue proposed for discussion by Mr WONG Wai-shun, MH and Mr WONG Cheuk-kin, namely “a request for an account of the design and the planning of the passage through and the elevator next to YOHO Town” be referred to the Traffic and Transport Committee (“T&TC”).

9. Members raised no objection to the agenda.

Item I: Confirmation of the minutes of the third YLDC Meeting in 2018 10. The minutes of the third meeting of the YLDC in 2018 were confirmed

Item II: Meeting with Director of Buildings 11. The Chairman again welcomed Director of Buildings (“D of B”) Dr. CHEUNG Tin-cheung, JP in meeting with Members, as well as the following representatives of the Buildings Department (“BD”) to the meeting:

Chief Structural Engineer Mr. PUN Chi-cheung

Administrative Assistant/Director of Ms. WONG Fung-sang, Mandy Buildings

12. Dr. CHEUNG Tin-cheung, JP briefed Members on the work of his department, including monitoring the construction of private buildings and related aspects of building works, improving the quality of the built environment, and promoting building safety as set out in the Annex.

13. The Vice-chairman said foundation works at private development projects near West Rail had caused cracks in surrounding housing estates and village houses, but the developer denied this and said the cause was natural settlement. He said, while displaying photos, that there had been more than 100 cracks on the external walls and podiums of surrounding housing estates, such as . Some boundary walls had subsided by more than one inch. He said the BD had the responsibility to urge the developer to compensate, scrutinise piling plans more closely in the future, and consider suspension of piling works that had imposed

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serious impacts on the surrounding area. Over the longer term, the BD should consider setting up a compensation fund and other mechanisms to help small property owners seek compensation from conglomerates and developers, and to conduct arbitration. He also hoped the BD would also follow up on the limited operating hours of an elevator at YOHO Mall which catered for persons with disabilities.

14. Mr Daniel CHAM, BBS, MH, JP said the subsidence problem at rail stations had affected the public’s confidence in the BD. Light Rail Tin Wing Stop had subsided by more than 80 mm, four times the settlement limit of 20 mm. The public felt the settlement limit had been adjusted to yield to the MTR Corporation Ltd (“MTRCL”) and the developer. In fact, the BD should have asked the developer to suspend works and make amendments when settlement reached 20 mm. The public hoped the works would be put on hold continuously until the subsidence problem was resolved. He also requested installation of more settlement monitoring checkpoints at nearby buildings, while calling on the BD to monitor the contractors and authorised persons (“APs”) in charge of the construction site with stringent measures, and to have them provide remedies, in order to ensure foundation works would no longer affect the structural safety of adjacent buildings. He also complained that the Joint office (“JO”) of the BD and the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (“FEHD”) had taken a long time to investigate, but frequently failed to identify the sources of water seepage in buildings. He suggested the JO should use infrared and microwave detection methods to identify seepage sources more effectively. Some members of the public had successfully obtained compensation through civil litigation from property owners causing water seepage, based on the test results of these methods used by surveyors they hired as evidence. Lastly, he expressed concern that the Appeal Tribunal, Buildings Ordinance (Cap. 123) had taken a long time to handle cases, and called for simplification of the relevant procedures.

15. Mr CHAN Sze-ching said housing estates in his constituency had been plagued by water seepage problems, but the JO had never dealt with any such cases successfully. Recently, he had handled four or five water seepage cases, where he helped the residents to hire surveyors. The surveyors used infrared and microwave detection methods to identify seepage sources, allowing the residents obtain compensation through civil litigation. While the BD was still studying the possibility of using the more advanced methods to detect seepage sources, the courts started accepting the results of infrared detection methods seven or eight years ago. He enquired about the number of cases which the JO had handled successfully, saying the residents had accused it of closing cases to avoid trouble after failing to identify seepage sources. He also complained the JO had spent a long time to handle one case, saying it would only send its staff to conduct an on-site colour paper test a few months after receipt of a resident’s complaint, but the residents still had to hire a surveyor themselves to claim compensation through civil litigation. The BD should review the JO’s performance.

16. Mr CHOW Wing-kan said the BD and the Fire Services Department (“FSD”) had requested owners of old buildings in Yuen Long in recent years to carry out fire safety improvement works, such as installing rooftop water tanks and proving the fire-rated doors in their buildings had complied with fire resistance specifications and the height of stairs connected to the ground floor had met the standards. However, this had caused nuisances to the owners of old buildings with no owners’ committees, as they had difficulties coordinating with other owners to collect funds for undertaking the works. The legal person could not bear legal responsibility, either. Technically, old building roofs were not strong enough to support a water tank, and it would be difficult to install

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one at privately owned rooftops. Moreover, it could be costly to re-test the safety of fire-rated doors which had been used for decades with their relevant safety certificates lost. The height of stairs should be able to meet safety standards if the building was not converted before. He hoped the authorities would rationalise the measures in light of the actual situation of such buildings. On the other hand, subdivided units in factory blocks and Chinese tenement buildings could cause nuisances to their residents and could affect the structural safety of such buildings. This was because no anti-seepage works had been done there before, while departmental staff had difficulty conducting door-to-door checks. The fact that many tenants of subdivided units cooked with LPG posed another danger. He hoped the BD would tackle the issue.

17. The Hon KWONG Chun-yu said the Government had kept YLDC Members in the dark about the subsidence problem of West Rail Yuen Long Station for many years. Members could only learn about the incident through the media. Worse, the subsidence problem of Light Rail Tin Wing Stop was only brought to light when the Secretary for Transport and Housing was queried about the issue in a Legislative Council meeting, thus undermining the Government’s governance integrity. The BD should have voluntarily updated the YLDC on the situation to regain public confidence, and strictly observe the Buildings Ordinance in respect of the notification mechanism. There had been frequent construction scandals, such as those involving the Shatin-Central Link project and Hung Hom Station. For example, the subsidence problem of viaduct piers at Yuen Long Station which served 410 000 riders daily and Tin Wing Stop had aroused widespread concern about railway safety. Unfortunately, the subsidence of Tin Wing Stop had deteriorated and reached 90 mm, even though the construction works nearby had been put on hold. The BD was duty-bound to take measures to ensure the safety of rail passengers. It should act as a goalkeeper by rejecting the relevant developer’s applications to adjust settlement limits which could lead to works suspension.

18. Mr Ronnie TANG enquired whether the height for solar panels residents applied to install above the rooftops of their houses could be raised to between 2.5 and 3 m so that there would be sufficient means of escape in case of fire.

19. Mr LEE Yuet-man, MH said he appreciated the D of B’s courage in attending the YLDC meeting although the BD had achieved little, equipped with a professional workforce of 1 900. As regards the subsidence problem of Tin Wing Stop, the department had allowed the settlement limit to be raised to 80 mm from 20 mm as specified in the Practice Notes. He said the BD would find it difficult to explain to the public why the limit had been raised by four times, although the delineation of constituency areas allowed a deviation of 30% between the minimum and maximum levels. This would cause people to suspect whether the BD had “moved the goal post” for the MTRCL. He asked the D of B to respond, while inviting him to visit Tin Wing Stop and explain the situation to the residents. He also echoed other Members’ view that the JO had been underperforming, saying that BD staff might have tried to shift its responsibility onto their FEHD counterparts. He said the BD was “bullying the weak and fearing the strong” while carrying out the duty of dismantling unauthorised building works (“UWBs”). She said the BD had deliberately torn down two canopies at Kenswood Court of , which were designed for the elderly, while turning a blind eye to UBWs in buildings in the New Territories. He said the D of B should review the work performance of the BD.

20. Mr LEUNG Fuk-yuen said there would be no UBW problems in Hong Kong if the

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housing problem was resolved. The D of B should prioritise UBWs for removal, citing the delay of enforcement action against UBWs in village houses that did not pose an immediate safety hazard. He also said the D of B should consider lifting the height limit of 1.5 m for rooftop solar panels to facilitate the development of renewable energy. He also hoped the new government offices would be built at the most convenient location of Yuen Long, a district with a population of more than one million in the future, to meet the increasing demand for public services.

21. Ms WONG Wai-ling said the BD had issued “QP Cards” to qualified window inspectors for easier identification by residents after some of them had been deceived by people claiming to be qualified window inspectors. The card could safeguard the residents’ interests, and ensure the inspection would meet safety standards. She also asked how the BD would select buildings for issue of statutory notices to their owners under the Mandatory Window Inspection Scheme (“MWIS”), given a large number of housing estates and buildings aged above 10 or 20 years in Yuen Long District. She also agreed with other Members on the unsatisfactory performance of the JO. She said its staff’s failure to trace the source of water seepage even after the on-site coloured water tests, prompting the residents to hire consultants themselves at high costs and to claim compensation through civil litigation. She hoped the D of B would look at the issue.

22. Mr MAK Ip-sing said the owner of a private land plot located between the two blocks in Residence 88, a private residential project at Fung Ki Road, managed to increase the site area by 25% and the plot ratio to 3.5 after a strip of government land was incorporated into the site boundary through application to the Lands Department (“LandsD”) for a land exchange with the Government. The developer planned to build residential units on the site, but this would affect air ventilation between Residence 88 and another housing estate Grand Del Sol. He asked the BD whether there were any regulations in respect of building separation or any principle for preventing buildings under construction from affecting the ventilation of nearby buildings. He also asked why the land owner had been able to include government land for private residential development through a land exchange, instead of a land auction. On the other hand, he said the BD issued inspection notifications to owners of private buildings aged above 30 years through the Mandatory Building Inspection Scheme (“MBIS”), but that could end up each owner paying at least $100,000 for building repair and maintenance. He hoped the BD could provide financial assistance for them.

23. Mr MAN Kwong-ming said village house owners had become very worried after the BD had hired survey consultants to inspect villages and served notices on them. Separately, he hoped the D of B could simplify the application process for old village house redevelopment with reference to the Minor Works Control System, so that owners did not need to wait three to five years for BD approval. He also hoped the BD would raise the height limit for rooftop solar panel installations to 2.5 m to push for environmentally friendly electricity generation. Separately, he said the Government should provide financial assistance through the Operation Building Bright (“OBB”) scheme for owners of buildings aged over 30 years in the rural area to carry out repair and maintenance works, as the scheme currently covered only major buildings aged above 30 years in urban areas.

24. Mr MAN Ping-nam, MH said the SAR Government seemed to overlook villagers in rural clan communities as there had been no increase in land supply for them to build small houses in more than 40 years. The Government had not consulted the Heung Yee Kuk and proceeded to

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unify the height limits for village houses in accordance with the Buildings Ordinance (Application to the New Territories) Ordinance (Cap. 121) in 1963. Earlier on, the then Secretary for Development said the Government would reserve 900 hectares of land for construction of small houses, but nothing had happened later. UBWs in the New Territories were a problem cared by the former British-Hong Kong Government. If the Government only sought to resolve it through legal channels today, this would be tantamount to depriving local residents of their survival space and their right to have offspring. He said the Government should employ administrative means to address UBW problems in villages in the New Territories held under Block Crown Leases.

25. Mr YIU Kwok-wai said he had earlier asked the JO to follow up on a case of water seepage in a building, but it got him nowhere and the problem persisted. Finally he had to seek assistance from the management office of the building. He hoped the D of B would overhaul the under-performing JO, and promptly upgrade the methods for identifying water seepage sources, including new technologies, in order to increase efficiency and get the problem solved. On the other hand, the MWIS should be improved as news reports said some windows fell off after inspection and some people were held responsible. People paid for the scheme to ensure their home safety, but still could not avoid bad consequences. He hoped the D of B could look at the issue.

26. The Hon LUK Chung-hung, JP enquired whether the seepage investigators were civil servants or employees of outside companies, saying outsourced service could be less effective. Secondly, many residents had said to him that the owner of the property, the source of water seepage, could be reluctant to get the seepage problem fixed if the penalty for them turned out to be smaller than the repairing cost. He also enquired about prosecution figures, and called for a review of the relevant laws and penalties. On the subsidence problem of buildings and railway facilities caused by a nearby private development project, he did not think the developer concerned would address the problem quickly. He also expected the flats there to fetch higher prices some years later. When there were complaints from small property owners, the developer would at most hire a notarial office to deal with them. But its standing might not be neutral. He suggested the Government form neutral mechanisms to carry out arbitration and investigation, with a view to tackling the subsidence problem.

27. Mr TANG Cheuk-yin said many villagers returning from abroad during the 1980s and 1990s would build four- or five-storey small houses in rural areas. The Government did not stop them and instead imposed the rates on the houses, misleading them into believing that building the houses was legal. There were still a large number of such old houses in some parts of the New Territories today. Many elderly residents of such houses felt worried as they had received BD’s removal notices. The Government should straighten out the problem through methods such as legalising old houses built in certain years.

28. Mr TANG Hing-ip, BBS said the District Lands Office of Yuen Long had not replied to him although he had enquired about issues related to old house redevelopment as early as the 1980s. Since enforcement action against terrace houses had been suspended, the Government should also consider doing the same for all four- and five-storey village houses, as long as engineering consultants hired by the owners proved they were structurally safe. Legalising certain types of village houses would also be a long-term solution. He hoped the D of B would consider easing the financial burden on terrace house owners by allowing them to engage technically competent

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persons of Grade T2, instead of engineering consultants, to check their houses and prove their structural safety.

29. Mr WONG Cheuk-kin enquired whether the BD would lay down rigid rules in the wake to the subsiding platform of Light Rail Tin Wing Stop. He also asked whether the pre-set limits could be raised at will when an AP was available to sign the certificate, and under what circumstances the BD would consider having the developer stop the works. He believed that the excessive impact forces generated during piling works was the main cause of the subsidence, on top of inadequate preventive measures. He hoped the BD would include terms in contracts it would sign with developers in the future before approving foundation works, such as banning percussion-type piling and strengthening site hoardings in order to minimise impact on nearby buildings and facilities. He also invited the D of B to visit Tin Wing Stop and inspect the cracks caused by the subsidence.

30. Mr Zachary WONG quoted the D of B as saying that the BD had inspected more than 100 of 660-odd villages in the New Territories since 2012, in order to address the problem of UBWs in small houses. He asked the BD whether inspections of all New Territories village houses would only be completed in 20 to 30 years’ time, given the current speed. He also quoted the D of B as saying the BD had 18 buildings in Yuen Long District repaired for their owners after the issue of repair orders, while repair works at other 97 buildings in the district had been launched by their owners on a voluntary basis. He said he expected far fewer building owners to carry out repair works voluntarily in the future after they found they would have to hire lawyers themselves to sue the APs or contractors in case of problems found with the repair works, but the BD would do this for the owners of the buildings which it had repaired for them. He wondered why this was happening, and said the policy would by no means encourage building owners to carry out repair works on their own. Secondly, the BD should provide assistance for the owners of “three nil” buildings, as many of them could not co-ordinate fire-safety improvement works or regular inspections of fixed electrical installations, which could jeopardise the safety of such buildings. For instance, the BD could arrange the repair works and inspections on behalf of building owners with the expenses shared among themselves. Separately, he asked the BD whether it would remove unauthorised signboards spontaneously, without the help of the YLDC. He said the MWIS had given rise to many problems, and called on the Ombudsman to investigate and put forward improvement measures. He also complained about the lousy performance of the JO, which he said the Ombudsman had criticised over the past years, and hoped the D of B could do something about it. He criticised the JO for advising building owners to hire professionals themselves to address the water seepage problem after failing to identify the source of the problem itself. Besides, he hoped the BD would follow up on the cases of cracks and subsidence detected at many village houses in Yau Tam Mei Tsuen during the Express Rail Link construction. Last but not least, he urged the BD to seriously take the problem of subdivided units in run-down buildings as they could reduce the load-bearing capacity of the buildings and caused structural hazards.

31. Ms YUEN Man-yee said that building owners eligible to apply for a subsidy through the OBB 2.0 scheme needed to appoint an AP through the Smart Tender Building Rehabilitation Facilitating Services Scheme (“Smart Tender”), according to Urban Renewal Authority (“URA”) documents, even if they had hired one previously for their building maintenance works. The problem was that building owners would have to hire an AP again if their applications were rejected. Therefore, she hoped the authorities would consider increasing the funding for the scheme so all applications would be accepted. Separately, Members were greatly dissatisfied with the JO’s work

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performance after its frequent failures to resolve a water seepage problem several months or even half a year after receiving the complaint, prompting the owners to hire professionals themselves to deal with the problem. On the other hand, she requested the BD to step up monitoring contractors and make them compensate for the damage caused by their foundation works, such as the subsidence of some nearby village houses in Shap and cracks on village houses there.

32. Mr LEUNG Ming-kin said the two rounds of OBB 2.0 had cost $6.5 billion, exclusive of repairing works for small houses. He hoped the BD would provide financial assistance for small house owners because the former Secretary for Home Affairs said villagers could apply for funds through the Community Care Fund to repair and maintain their small houses. Moreover, villagers were worried about being rendered homeless as the outsourcing company hired by the BD had put up enforcement notices in rural villages demanding removal of newly erected building works within 48 hours. As 18 034 of the 40 456 small houses in Hong Kong had been declared as of 2016 under the Reporting Scheme for Unauthorised Building Works in New Territories Exempted Houses, he asked whether the BD would make the remaining 22 422 small houses the First Round Targets of its enforcement actions. He said it would be unfair to villagers if this happened. He also enquired about how the BD and LandsD would co-ordinate with CLP in launching the Feed-in Tariff (FiT) Scheme on 1 October, and whether the priority demolition order under section 24B of the Buildings Ordinance would only be enforced after approval by the District Courts.

33. Mr KWOK Hing-ping said it was downright unacceptable that the BD had failed to notify the YLDC, the District Officer, the Assistant District Officer and the Senior Liaison Officer, of the subsidence problem at Yuen Long Station. He also asked whether the BD had ever been empowered by the Chief Executive or under the law to raise the settlement limit from 20 mm to 80 mm.

34. Ms CHIU Sau-han, MH said the subsidence of Tin Wing Stop proved inadequate in works supervision by the BD. Many residents passing the Light Rail stop every day queried why the problem remained unsolved after the suspension of nearby construction works. She hoped the D of B would pay a visit and brief Members and residents on the cause of the problem and whether any remedial measures had been put in place. She said the subsidence problem at Tin Wing Stop must be resolved as soon as possible as the housing construction could not be delayed given the acute shortage of housing.

35. The Chairman said he found villagers would encounter difficulties in complying with orders for removing UBWs in village houses, after his inspection of Nam Pin Wai at the beginning of this year with Heung Yee Kuk’s Chairman and the Permanent Secretary for Development. He was aware that the authorities were studying the possibility of adjusting enforcement priorities for village houses, on condition that they were terrace houses, the residents had redevelopment plan, and they were structurally safe. However, residents would need to hire an AP to check the houses to prove no immediate threat. The villagers who he and other Members concerned had consulted on the matter welcomed the new idea, but worried about the high cost of engaging an AP. They hoped they would be permitted to hire technically competent persons of Grade T2 instead, whom they considered were competent to handle demolition works because of their experience in village house construction. The authorities were considering the feasibility of adjusting enforcement priorities for terrace houses only, but the problem was that the majority of village houses in many different villages were not of the type. Therefore, it was possible that many villagers would be

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rendered homeless if their homes were torn down. He said the authorities should also consider delaying enforcement priorities for other types of village houses that posed no immediate danger, or dealing with UBW problems at a later time until housing supply became sufficient, given the existing shortage of land and housing in Hong Kong. Meanwhile, Members were greatly dissatisfied that the authorities had failed to inform the YLDC of the subsidence problem when the public cared about it, especially the subsidence of Yuen Long Station, which they used every day. Consequences could be unthinkable if the subsidence of the station platform and viaduct piers jeopardised the structural safety of the station and led to accidents. He also asked how the BD would ease the worries of the residents as the subsidence at Tin Wing Stop had been in excess of BD’s pre-set limit by four times. Works must be stopped if the problems with railway facilities exceeded the standards set by the BD, and should not be allowed to resume after submission of a report by the AP. Otherwise, it would be difficult to set the residents’ mind at ease.

36. Dr. CHEUNG Tin-cheung, JP gave a consolidated reply as follows:

(1) He thanked Members for their comments. The BD welcomed Members’ views on the matter and remained open-minded about their suggestions. The BD had been addressing the problem of UBWs in the New Territories houses, as raised by the Chairman, in accordance with the Buildings Ordinance and the Buildings Ordinance (Application to the New Territories) Ordinance (Cap.121), and would take enforcement actions when the alteration and addition works of village houses had gone beyond what was permissible within the scope of exemptions permitted by law and were regarded as UBWs. The BD’s enforcement policy was founded on four principles i.e. safeguarding building and public safety, acting in accordance with the law, categorisation for control and management, and prioritisation for progressive enforcement. Therefore, the BD introduced the Reporting Scheme for UBWs in New Territories village houses for the owners of village houses with UBWs constituting a less serious contravention of the law and imposing lower potential risks to make declarations. The village house owner would then receive no removal order and would not be required to remove the UBWs immediately. However, the BD would take actions against UBWs which constituted a serious contravention of the law and posed higher potential risks to building safety (i.e. First Round Targets). BD staff would inspect each and every village to identify First Round Targets, in the hope that their persistent enforcement actions would prompt individual property owners to voluntarily remove UBWs. This was how UBWs in the category First Round Targets would be handled;

(2) The BD would consider approving the application for delaying compliance with a BD order if village house owners could provide sufficient grounds, such as the difficulties they said they would face in clearing UBWs from terrace house-styled village house clusters, and the plan of the owners of village house clusters to redevelop the houses and dismantle the UBWs simultaneously. The BD required the owner concerned to appoint an AP to inspect the structure of the village house concerned, and to analyse impact the entire course of clearance would have on the building, as well as the constraints encountered. The technicians of Grade T2 did not possess the relevant professional knowledge. On the issue of handling the problem of UBWs in village houses, the BD would maintain communication with the relevant property owners, the Heung Yee Kuk and Members;

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(3) The OBB 2.0 scheme did not apply to village houses, which were not included in the Mandatory Building Inspection Scheme (“MBIS”), although it was designed to assist building owners in carrying out inspection and repair works as prescribed under the MBIS. Due to risks considerations, the scheme applied to private residential or composite buildings aged 50 or above for the time being, but the limit for the age of building might be lowered in a review of the scheme scheduled for 2020. At the same time, building owners applying to the scheme must procure a registered inspector through the Smart Tender scheme of the URA. By requiring the tenders for the project performed through an uninterrupted e-tendering platform, the authorities allowed building owners to engage registered contractors and to arrange for independent professionals to handle the bid-opening process, thus preventing bid-rigging and price-jacking practices. Meanwhile, the BD would convey Members’ views to the URA that some building owners complained about being asked to cancel their original consultancy contracts for their works projects before they were allowed to apply to OBB 2.0;

(4) Regarding Members’ enquiries about whether there were any requirements for the distance between buildings when the BD was approving a plan for proposed buildings, the department would consider a number of factors, such as whether all the units in the buildings would be naturally lit and well ventilated, whether visibility would be blocked by buildings nearby, and whether the proposed buildings would affect the natural lighting and air ventilation of neighbouring buildings. A building plan failing to meet the requirements would be rejected in accordance with the Buildings Ordinance. The BD had not only set out guidelines on sustainable building designs in respect of the distance between buildings, the distance between buildings and roads and the green coverage of the buildings, but also provided measures to drive the creation of environmentally friendly and sustainable buildings;

(5) The BD had always attached importance to the problems arising from the MWIS, and would address them positively and urgently. Property owners and occupiers could verify the identity of a Qualified Person (“QP”) by checking details on his QP Card issued by the BD. The BD had detected some individual cases where QPs signed a work completion certificate after asking non-qualified persons to carry out on-site inspections of windows for them. The BD would prosecute the relevant parties if sufficient evidence was collected through investigations. The BD would also investigate cases of suspected irregularities, and would instigate prosecution, take disciplinary action or issue written warnings, according to the gravity of the breach. To understand the actual operations of the scheme, the BD would also gather views from building owners and occupants about the service quality of QPs and their service charges through methods, such as questionnaire surveys. As Members said they had learned of cases where window panes fell off after inspection, there were many causes for this to happen. For example, the window inspected had been used improperly, or it had been used for hanging heavy objects, such as clothes for drying. The BD would investigate such cases, and conduct random checks on cases where completion of window inspections or repairs had been declared, and would take follow-up and enforcement actions on cases of irregularities or inconsistencies detected;

(6) For the removal of unauthorised signboards, the BD would give priority to the enforcement against large signboards constituting blatant contravention of the law,

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while at the same time conducting large-scale operations to deal with unauthorised signboards in certain districts or road sections. The BD would identify unauthorised and abandoned signboards in selected target streets, and then require the relevant business operators to clear them. The BD would strengthen actions against unauthorised/dangerous/abandoned signboards to ameliorate the problem and safeguard public safety;

(7) Building owners could seek BD’s advice about any difficulties they had in carrying out the works as specified in the Fire Safety Directions, although the department was not empowered to conduct the specified works for them under the Fire Safety (Buildings) Ordinance and the relevant regulations. The BD was aware of the constraints for upgrading fire safety installations in old buildings, such as insufficient space for additional equipment, or inadequate load-bearing capacities for a large-sized water tank. Therefore, the BD had been maintaining close communication with the FSD while exercising flexibility in handling individual cases and considering compromise solutions. For instance, the fire hydrant/hose reel system in buildings of three stories or less could be connected to government water pipelines, while the majority of four- to six-storey buildings in the district could be equipped with a fire service water tank with a capacity of 500 litres, instead of standard 2 000 litres, in order to reduce the load and space occupation of the building. The BD would consider assisting the relevant building owners in a flexible and pragmatic manner in order to improve the fire safety standard in buildings;

(8) The BD maintained close dialogue with the LandsD and relevant policy bureaus about small house owners’ strong wish to install solar panels and other environmental protection facilities on their rooftops. Some flexible solutions to the issue would be made public in a few months. On the other hand, the BD would convey the view of some Members to the Development Bureau (“DEVB”) that the Appeal Tribunal formed under the Buildings Ordinance took a long time to handle appeal cases. The BD, however, would never get involved in the relevant adjudication work as the tribunal per se was an independent body;

(9) Building additional partition walls inside subdivided units would overload the floor slab, thus affecting the building structure, while retrofitting washrooms in such units with no waterproofing facilities would cause water seepage problems. In response to the violations, the BD had launched a large-scale operation to search for subdivided units in target buildings and to take action against UBWs there. If BD staff failed to enter the premises for inspection or to take enforcement actions because of the tenants’ non-cooperation, they would apply for a search order from the court in accordance with the Buildings Ordinance;

(10) Regarding the water seepage problem, the BD expected the JO formed jointly with the FEHD to provide one-stop services. The BD also hoped to share the work with the FEHD through the JO, which was composed of 224 front-line staff from FEHD and 64 professional and technical investigators from the BD. At the same time, the FEHD, the BD, the Food and Health Bureau and the DEVB had set up a taskforce to review the JO’s operations, keep themselves abreast of its manpower establishment, and strive for more resources as necessary to improve its work efficiency. The JO was a law enforcement agency tasked with serving nuisance notices on building owners and tenants for causing water seepage

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disturbances, in accordance with the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance. The JO could also institute criminal proceedings against building owners and tenants who had failed to deal with the problem in compliance with the notice. However, the evidential threshold for the JO to institute criminal prosecution in this regard was relatively high, thus limiting the types of test methods available to the JO. The courts accepted the results of colour water tests and water storage tests as evidence for instituting criminal prosecution. To conduct the tests, however, JO staff had to enter the units suspected of causing water seepage and poured colour water into washroom and kitchen drains, while soaking bathroom floor with colour water for two or three hours, in order to see if the water would seep down to the lower floor. The JO would continue to follow up on cases where no tests had been conducted because of individual building owners/tenants’ non-cooperation, although it might take a longer time, especially when JO staff needed to file for a court warrant to enter the flat to conduct the tests. As the BD expected the use of infrared and microwave detection methods to speed up the process, it allowed JO staff to use them during their recent investigations in pilot areas, in the hope that the courts would accept the relevant test results generated with the aid of the new methods. Last year, the JO received more than 36 000 reports, handled 30 600 cases and issued more than 5 000 Nuisance Notices, which led to 114 prosecutions. The JO would never give up in case of resistance, with a view to abating public nuisances caused by water seepage;

(11) As regards the subsidence problem, which was of many Members’ concern, the BD placed great emphasis on the safety of buildings and construction works. It would conduct a detailed review of the plans for any piling or excavation works while putting in place a three-stage mechanism to determine the settlement limits through monitoring checkpoints and what measures would be taken accordingly. For instance, when the settlement was in the first stage, measurements would be conducted more frequently to monitor the situation. When the settlement was in the second stage, the piling methods would be reviewed with a proposal drawn up for mitigating the settlement and improving construction works. When the settlement was in the third stage, piling works would be suspended for identifying the causes of the settlement. The BD would not allow resumption of the works unless it was satisfied that the mitigation measures proposed were sufficient and the plans for improving construction works were feasible. As regards Members’ enquiries about why settlement limits varied in different settlement cases, the relevant registered structural engineers would calculate and determine the maximum acceptable levels of settlement for the works according to the BD’s Practice Notes, after employing detailed engineering analyses and studying the data, such as the water level and soil condition of the site. Alternatively, standard settlement limits, such as 20 mm and 25 mm, could be set according to different settlement limits listed in the Practice Notes. The second method required no analyses or calculations. The first method was supported with hard data as reliable settlement limits could be determined through accurate analyses conducted with actual soil data obtained when piling works were carried out. The BD would accept applicable settlement readings compiled based on actual engineering analysis data, rather than on non-professional data or factors. Besides, the Government issued a press release on 6 August to expound on the relevant monitoring and notification mechanisms as well as specific measures taken in response to the widespread concern among Members and the public about

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the settlement incident. In the future, the BD would simultaneously notify the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (“EMSD”) and the MTRCL while giving consent to commence construction works for private development projects located within the railway protection area, so that they would jointly monitor the readings of settlement monitoring checkpoints and ensure the relevant structural engineers had taken appropriate measures and submitted accurate data in accordance with the guidelines and readings. The works must be suspended immediately when the settlement reached the third stage of the readings. At this stage, the BD would examine the structural safety of affected railway facilities, while the EMSD would review rail monitoring data to ensure the safe operation of the railway. This was followed by the issue of a joint press release. After the suspension of works, the BD would work closely with the MTRCL to oversee the remedial measures carried out by the relevant registered structural engineers, while closely scrutinising the application for resumption of construction works, and would announce the decision together with the EMSD, when application was accepted. While it was not uncommon that construction works would cause settlement in nearby structures, the BD hoped to minimise the possibility of this happening under the existing monitoring mechanism, in order to ensure the structural safety of buildings and the safe operation of the railway; and

(12) The BD would convey Members’ demands and suggestions to the relevant departments, including the land supply for construction of small houses and the construction of new government offices in Yuen Long, because such items did not fall within the purview of the BD.

37. Mr LEUNG Ming-kin said there were nine villages next to West Rail Yuen Long Station but there were only two of them where monitoring checkpoints had been installed. The BD should set up monitoring checkpoints at nearby villages and the Rural Committee, saying that foundation works had greater impact on Nam Pin Wai, an old village where houses were prone to cracks or collapse.

38. Mr TO Ka-lun said the public was greatly concerned how the Government had handled the readings that reflected the subsidence problem of railway facilities. He believed the works of the developer and the MTRCL had affected the structural safety of adjacent village houses. He felt disappointed that the BD had yet to formally follow up on the issue, although the works had caused damage to quite a few village houses in Yau Tam Mei Tsuen. He hoped the D of B could visit the YLDC more frequently to discuss and handle the issue in a rational, fair and impartial manner.

39. Mr YIU Kwok-wai enquired about how the public could ensure a freshly inspected window would not fall off, and about how to avoid legal liability for a fallen window. He said the BD should plug the loopholes in the MWIS, while enquiring about the feasibility of setting a warranty period after the inspection conducted by registered inspectors, so as to protect the resident and the building owner from legal liability in case the window fell off during the period. He urged the BD to follow up on the issue as both residents and building owners had paid for the inspection.

40. Mr MAN Kwong-ming hoped the D of B would follow up on the indiscriminate issue of warning letters to building owners by the survey consultants the BD hired for village inspections.

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He also suggested village residents be permitted to apply to have their old houses in rural areas rebuilt legally and easily through the Minor Works Control System.

41. Mr MAN Ping-nam, MH hoped the BD would ask the MTRCL to follow up on cases where the blasting works undertaken for the Express Rail Link project had caused drying up of water wells in Yau Tam Mei Tsuen and cracks on village houses in Wai Chai Tsuen.

42. Mr MAK Ip-sing said the BD did not appear to have set any standards for the distance, lighting and ventilation between buildings, citing a developer had managed to lift the plot ratio for its Fung Ki Road project by 30% through a land exchange, for which it applied to the government by reason of insufficient private land. However, the land exchange was seemed to be conducted in the form of a single tender. He opposed the development of screen-like residential blocks, while saying the Government seemed to have condoned the emergence of infill-style, single-block residential buildings.

43. Mr LEUNG Fuk-yuen thanked the D of B for listening carefully and responding positively to Members’ views. He said the problem of UBWs in village houses could only be sorted out by simplifying procedures and expediting approvals. He hoped the BD could resolve the housing problem according to public views.

44. Mr LEE Yuet-man, MH said he could not accept the BD’s explanation that the tolerable ceiling for the settlement of Tin Wing Stop had been raised from 20 mm to 80 mm according to standards recommended by professionals. He did not think the residents would accept it. The engineer or Assistant Director handling the settlement should be suspended from work to saving face for the government, as the settlement of railway facilities had caused great concern in the community.

45. Mr KWOK Hing-ping said the BD did not have a right attitude towards listening to public opinions, as reflected by its failure to inform the YLDC or the District Officer of the subsidence incident, although a notification mechanism was in place for disseminating information to the media.

46. Mr CHOW Wing-kan expressed Members’ concern that unauthorised shop extensions by business operators had caused obstruction. The LandsD would take enforcement actions against shops occupying public passages under the verandahs of buildings while using back alleys as warehouses, although the rights to use the places belonged to the Government. He said the BD should follow up on the unauthorised extensions as it could judge expeditiously whether there were any UBWs in a shop, but the LandsD had to take time to check land leases.

47. Mr Daniel CHAM, BBS, MH, JP enquired about the feasibility of changing the frequency of inspecting residential windows under the MWIS to once every 10 years, compared to the current practice that only random checks would be conducted every 10 years after the mandatory inspection. Regarding the regulation of minor works, the BD should change the rules which he considered a nuisance to the residents. This was because the residents were required to apply again after

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dismantling their existing works, but they mostly applied to do the same thing to obtain BD approval. As regards the unauthorised extension of shops under the verandahs of buildings, he said some business operators had breached land lease conditions, by using the area beyond that set out by the LandsD. He also said the BD should take enforcement actions against non-compliances with approved building plans by building additional structures.

48. The Vice-chairman expressed disappointment at the D of B’s replies, saying he had never talked about giving assistance to residents in seeking compensation for the damage incurred by the subsidence problem, nor about what they could do to improve the structural safety of their buildings. He had learnt the developer had applied to resume piling works for the third phase of the Grand Yoho development, which had caused the subsidence of West Rail Yuen Long Station. He said the BD should be held solely responsible if the rail station and/or nearby housing estates subsided again.

49. Mr CHING Chan-ming said it was good news for residents that the BD had postponed enforcement actions against terrace houses, given that UBWs were everywhere in Hong Kong, not only in rural areas but in other parts of the city. He considered it to be unfair to technically competent persons of grade T2 as only registered structural engineers were permitted to inspect building structure. He suggested the BD allow building owners to engage the latter to do the job and recognise their building inspections and structural safety verifications.

50. Mr KWOK Keung, MH welcomed the BD’s plans to detect water seepage with a variety of advanced methods, such as infrared detection. He hoped the BD would continue to study the Ordinance for new ways to help the public solve the problem. He suggested the BD should engage a notary professional to identify water seepage sources using sophisticated methods, after its failure to find the water seepage source prior to the Ordinance amendment. He said the Government had not taken the UBW problem seriously in the past, and that suggested the BD allow property owners to engage registered structural engineers recognised by the Government to issue a structural safety certificate to the relevant occupiers, so that the works would not be dismantled after a premium payment.

51. The Chairman said he and Members were both disappointed that the D of B had not allowed property owners to hire technically competent persons of grade T2 instead of APs to carry out UBW inspections. As UBW problems in different villages had presented a broadly similar picture, he asked whether villagers could jointly appoint an AP to inspect the entire village or terrace houses on a cost-sharing basis. The Chairman also asked whether the notification mechanism would update YLDC Members on the subsidence incident, which they could only learn about through the media. He requested the notification mechanism to disseminate information to the YLDC and the media simultaneously.

52. Dr. CHEUNG Tin-cheung, JP gave a consolidated reply as follows:

(1) The BD would send letters to villagers under two circumstances regarding the handling of UBWs in village houses. One was notifying them that consultants would be appointed to inspect their villages; the other was requiring the building owner to stop retrofitting UBWs after they were found to do so, which would be

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followed by the issue of a removal order;

(2) In considering an application for delaying compliance with its order, the BD would need to obtain a professional judgment and analyses provided by the AP of the limitations arising during the demolition works for the relevant UBWs, so as to prove they would not pose an immediate hazard. The technically competent persons of grade T2 were neither APs nor registered structural engineers, however. As for the Chairman’s suggestion of the villagers engaging an AP to inspect their village, the BD would not require villagers to hire an AP individually, but accept a report compiled by an AP for a group of terrace houses because terrace houses had probably been jointly built or re-built by villagers;

(3) Regarding the unauthorised extension of shops under the verandahs of buildings or at rear lanes, the LandsD would take enforcement actions against UBWs on Government land according to the respective terms of reference as stipulated by the BD and LandsD. For UBWs on private land, the BD would handle them pursuant to its enforcement policy and the Buildings Ordinance, in the hope of resolving the problem with the LandsD;

(4) As regards Members’ suggestion that the JO should resort to more advanced methods for identifying water seepage sources, the BD had, in fact, been doing this in pilot districts, while reviewing the testing process so that the court would accept evidence submitted;

(5) The Buildings (Planning) Regulations (Cap. 123F) under the Buildings Ordinance set out the requirements for building separation, natural lighting and ventilation. The Sustainable Building Design Guidelines in the Practice Notes also included the requirements in respect of building separation, building set back and the site coverage of greenery of buildings;

(6) Since the law did not allow subsequent approval by the BD of a structure after its completion, the BD would regard a structure as UBWs, which were not granted a prior approval and consent of the BD in accordance with the Buildings Ordinance during its construction;

(7) The BD required QPs to conduct on-site window inspections and regular random checks amid Members’ concern that windows would still loosen and fall off even after inspection. With the great importance the BD had attached to the quality of services provided by QPs, the BD had handled a total of 63 suspected breaches, 10 of which were related to their absence during window inspections, two involved the impersonation of QPs, and 51 about the substandard services and skills of QPs conducting the inspections. Under the MWIS, windows in buildings aged more than 10 years should be inspected every five years to avoid causing safety hazards after long-term natural wear and tear.

(8) In light of Members’ views about insufficient settlement monitoring checkpoints, the BD would ask contractors about the feasibility of setting up checkpoints at the locations where they suggested. In response to the Vice-chairman’s enquiry about whether the BD would assist residents in handling compensation issues, he said the department was an enforcement unit which was not empowered by the Buildings Ordinance to arbitrate compensation. The BD would vet applications

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for construction works and deal with problems arising from the related works, while truthfully notifying the settlement situation and related matters through the established mechanism;

(9) The “Ground-borne Vibrations and Ground Settlements Arising from Pile Driving and Similar Operations” in the “Practice Notes” prescribed the recommended limits of settlement of adjacent structures which could arise from construction works. Registered structural engineers would normally accept the readings generated by a three-stage monitoring mechanism recommended by the BD. However, as factors, such as the geology of the construction site, groundwater, piling arrangements and construction technical standards, would all affect the level of settlement arising from the works, the registered structural engineer in charge of the relevant development project could study and prescribe tolerable ceilings of settlement within relevant and appropriate levels for BD’s approval where necessary. Therefore, in dealing with the settlement of railway facilities, the BD had never “moved the goal post” for MTRCL and the developer, nor allow piling works to resume before it was ascertained whether piling works would not affect the safety of buildings and railway facilities. For example, piling works near West Rail Yuen Long Station had not been greenlighted to resume since its suspension in 2013; and

(10) The BD would make sure whether the HAD and YLDC should be notified through the notification mechanism prior to the release of a press release.

53. The Chairman thanked the D of B for attending the meeting and providing a detailed response. He believed the BD would be pleased to continue to listen to Members’ views in the future.

Item III: Question from DC Members: Mr SHUM Ho-kit, JP, Mr WONG Wai-shun, MH, Mr CHAM Ka-hung, Daniel, BBS, MH, JP, Mr CHAN Sze-ching, Mr CHEUNG Muk-lam, Mr CHING Chan-ming, Mr CHOW Wing-kan, Mr LAI Wai-hung, Ms LAU Kwai-yung, Mr LEUNG Fuk-yuen, Mr LEUNG Ming-kin, Mr LUK Chung-hung, JP, Mr MAN Kwong-ming, Mr MAN Ping-nam, MH, Mr TANG Cheuk-him, Mr TANG Cheuk-yin, Mr TANG Hing-ip, BBS, Mr TANG Ho-nin, Mr TANG Ka-leung, Mr TANG Lai-tung, Mr TANG Sui-man, Mr TANG Yung-yiu, Ronnie, Mr TSANG Shu-wo, Mr WONG Cheuk-kin, Mr YIU Kwok-wai and Ms YUEN Man-yee proposed to discuss “conducting a study on building new government offices as soon as possible” (YLDC Paper No. 57/2018)

Item IV: Question from DC Members: Mr LEE Yuet-man, MH, Ms CHIU Sau-han, MH, Mr CHAM Ka-hung, Daniel, BBS, MH, JP, Mr WONG Cheuk-kin, Ms MA Shuk-yin and Ms WONG Wai-ling proposed to discuss “putting in place the government multi-purpose facilities, buildings and offices in Tin Shui Wai” (YLDC Paper No. 58/2018) 54. The Chairman asked Members to take note of Paper Nos. 57 and 58, which were about proposals on constructing a new Government office complex and community facilities put forward by a number of Members. Members were also invited to refer to the reply by the Government

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Property Agency (“GPA”), Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (“FEHD”), Leisure and Cultural Services Department (“LCSD”) and Planning Department (“PlanD”). The GPA and LCSD would not be represented as the former had given a written reply and the latter indicated that it would not attend the meeting because of other commitments. The following regular representatives would respond to Members’ enquiries and help to refer any matter to the departments concerned:

EDB Chief School Development Officer (Yuen Long) Ms KEE Wing-yin, Fionn

FEHD District Environmental Hygiene Superintendent Mr CHEUNG Pui-chung (Yuen Long)

LCSD Chief Leisure Manager (New Territories North) Mr WONG Shu-yan, Francis

PlanD District Planning Officer, Tuen Mun & Yuen Long West Mr NG Yuk-man, David

55. Mr YIU Kwok-wai said a number of Members shared the view that new government offices should be built in the district to accommodate users of different departments. There was an imminent need to construct the new government offices because there would be four additional councillors in the next term DC, the meetings of which at present were held in a very crowded conference room. No matter the new office building was erected in , Tin Shui Wai or New Development Area (“HSKNDA”), the public would benefit from it. He hoped the departments concerned would reflect Members’ aspirations and take positive action.

56. Mr TANG Cheuk-yin maintained that facilities in Yuen Long were lagging behind other districts, the DC conference room being one of the examples. On Members’ proposal of developing government offices in conjunction with a public market in Tin Shui Wai, he would support the construction of a new government building at any location in Yuen Long. As the proposal had been discussed over the years, relevant departments should start to consider the planning and location of the offices.

57. Mr SIU Long-ming, MH agreed that it was necessary to explore and plan the construction of new government offices in the district, but the existing Yuen Long Government Offices comprising various facilities such as a market should be retained as local people would find it inconvenient if they were relocated.

58. Ms MA Shuk-yin shared the view about developing new government offices in Yuen Long Town, but there should also be a government office complex in Tin Shui Wai. While the Government had planned to construct a public market in Tin Shui Wai, she suggested incorporating the government offices in the project to provide people with diversified facilities such as library, market, etc. Public demand for government facilities would surge in the district where population in Tin Shui Wai was over 300 000 and when the HSKNDA development was completed in the near future. The new government offices in Tsin Shui Wai would not only bring convenience to local residents and cater for growing demand from the rising population, but also alleviate the crowdedness

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in the existing Yuen Long Government Offices.

59. Mr LEUNG Fuk-yuen said there was an imminent need for developing new government offices in Yuen Long, taking into account an estimated increase in population by more than 400 000 in future. In the past, relocating offices of government departments from Yuen Long to other districts made it inconvenient to the local public. He opined that there were numerous sites in the district which could be identified for development, such as the six Heungs and the existing temporary fish market site. The new government offices would be conducive to the development of the New Territories and enhance communication between the Government and Yuen Long residents.

60. Mr LEE Yuet-man, MH wanted to put across his dissatisfaction with the BD representative. At previous meetings, the Assistant Director of Buildings would leave through the rear exit immediately after discussion of the agenda item had finished. At this meeting, the D of B did so without being interviewed by the media, which was unacceptable. He hoped the government department representatives would come face to face with the public. With a population of more than 300 000, Tin Shui Wai was not provided with a government office complex, making it inconvenient to people who had to take the transport to Yuen Long to complete the formalities. A DC working group had studied moving the three government towers from Wan Chai to Yuen Long, but the plan had never been realised. He looked to the DC to press ahead the development of government offices in Tin Shui Wai for the local residents.

61. Mr CHOW Wing-kan said accommodating different government offices in Yuen Long in one building would enhance administrative efficiency and create synergy effect when departments worked together to handle district affairs. He supported providing a theatre inside the government offices, and proposed a theatre with a studio theatre and more rehearsal rooms be set up in HSKNDA. He also favoured a branch building of the government offices in Tin Shui Wai, but raised concern that putting up two government office complexes in the district would lead to “dual cores” and other problems.

62. Ms CHIU Sau-han, MH hoped that the location of the Tin Shui Wai public market pledged by the Government would be finalised as soon as possible to cater for population growth in the district. Considering that Government service users of Tin Shui Wai had to travel to Yuen Long Town or other districts, she enquired whether constructing the government offices above the public market in Tin Shui Wai in one go was feasible. She also supported the construction of the new government offices in Yuen Long Town, suggesting that offices of different departments be set up in Yuen Long and Tin Shui Wai. She pointed out that Light Rail trains were very crowded in the morning, which indicated the district had fallen short of ancillary transport facilities. To accommodate different department offices in two buildings would help allay local traffic congestion and inconvenience to the public.

63. Mr Daniel CHAM, BBS, MH, JP said he was the Chairman of the Working Group on Striving for the Relocation of Government Office Buildings to Yuen Long (“the Working Group”) established in 2008. In the same year, the then Financial Secretary announced in the Budget Speech that the three government office buildings in Wan Chai would be relocated to Tsueng Kwan O and Kai Tak. At that time, the DC considered the proposal of developing government buildings in the Northwest New Territories in line with the position of Hong Kong 2030 Planning Vision and Strategy,

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and passed the motion of forming a working group to seek relocating one of the government buildings to Yuen Long. In 2009, the DC delivered their aspiration to the then Secretary for Development Mrs Carrie LAM, who agreed to relay that their views to the Administration and GPA. In 2010, the Working Group reflected the views of DC to the then Financial Secretary Mr John TSANG and Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Professor K C CHAN. At the meetings between YLDC Members and LegCo Members from 2008 to 2010, the former gained support for the proposal from the latter, who considered Yuen Long a strategic location suitable for building government towers. At the meeting with YLDC Members in 2010, GPA representatives outlined factors affecting the location of the government complex, stating that Yuen Long fulfilled all requirements. When studying the locations in 2010, PlanD pointed out that there were six sites in Yuen Long that had met the requirements in terms of the size and accessibility. These included the site reserved for sports centre at Castle Peak Road Yuen Long Section near the Fresh Fish Wholesale Market, the government site for housing development at Tung Tau Industrial Estate near the nullah, a site for HOS development near West Rail , Yuen Long District Office Building and health centre, the vacant site near West Rail and a site near West Rail station reserved for HSKNDA. While three of the sites had been developed, the remaining three were not under any development programme. He proposed the new government offices be constructed on these three sites.

64. Regarding the proposal of constructing the new government offices on a government land at the temporary fish market, the Vice-chairman said the site zoned “Open Space” (“OS”) in the outline zoning plan was close to residential buildings and residents should be consulted if there was any plan to construct high-rise buildings. He backed the Government for the planning of Area 12 with the temporary fish market site to produce synergy effect. He hoped the Government would identify a suitable site and conduct adequate local consultation before the proposal of building the new Yuen Long Government Offices went ahead.

65. Mr TANG Hing-yip, BBS said he suggested building the government offices at the Yuen Long Estate site in 2008 when the DC had a discussion on the land use of the site. Considering its size and ancillary transport facilities, the site was suitable for the proposed development but it was a pity that the Government had not drawn up any plan so far. The DC would be facing the problem of an over-capacity conference room with an increased number of seats. Although the government land where the temporary fish market was located was not the best site, it was the only one suitable for the new government offices. He hoped the Government would give a clear explanation on the construction proposal. Otherwise, when the population outgrew the local government services available, it would be difficult to identify a suitable location for the new building.

66. Mr Zachary WONG said the DC had discussed the Government’s proposed construction of the government offices next to the temporary fish market site when the plan was put forward in 2003. Because of economic recession after SARS, the Government shelved all large-scale work projects, including the government offices next to the temporary fish market. The Working Group had sought to relocate one of the three government towers in Wan Chai to Yuen Long but was in vain. As discussion on the matter had been ongoing for more than a decade, it was necessary to form a working group to examine the construction proposal again. He said because of an increase in population in Yuen Long to 1.2 million in the next 10 to 15 years, new government offices were required in both Yuen Long and Tin Shui Wai. He supported promptly building new government offices in Yuen Long Town where the need was more pressing.

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67. Ms CHAN Mei-lin said the population growth had not been met with increased government services. Previously, parents in Tin Shui Wai intending to enrol their children in schools would only need to fax the application forms to the EDB office, but now they were required to submit applications with their children in person to the office in Tsuen Wan, which caused the public and government departments trouble. Therefore, she held that government offices should be set up in Yuen Long or Tin Shui Wai. In view of the population surge arising from a number of housing development projects in Yuen Long, the government departments should embark on planning their offices in Yuen Long Town and Tin Shui Wai. She proposed that the Tin Shui Wai public market plus the government offices should be built at the KMB depot in Tin Shui Wai. It would not only enhance services of government departments but also save people’s time on travelling to the urban area for the formalities and in turn relieve the burden on traffic. She hoped that the departments concerned would expedite the study on the construction plan to keep abreast of the latest development.

68. The Vice-chairman said DFMC Members agreed on zoning a government site at the temporary fish market on Yuen Ching Road as “OS” which was on the LCSD’s list of priority public works projects. He did not want to see the “OS” zoning of the temporary fish market site be withdrawn because there was no plan to construct the new government offices. He pointed out that the Working Group on Relocation of Fish Market had discussed the land use of the site and he hoped Members could examine the plan of setting up government offices in the district after consolidating different views.

69. Mr LEE Yuet-man, MH said in 2015, he initiated to discuss the request to the Government to resume the KMB bus depot site at Tin Pak Road for constructing a public market. He considered the Tin Shui Wai public market project a very good opportunity to provide a theatre and government offices at the site. He opined that the departments should speedily implement the development of Tin Shui Wai public market at Tin Pak Road along with government offices and other facilities.

70. Mr David NG gave a consolidated reply as follows:

(1) He thanked Members for their opinions. On Members’ views on the insufficient space in Yuen Long Government Offices and its failure to keep pace with the times to cater for the needs of the public, relevant departments would examine ways to overcome the problem. He believed that GPA had noted Members’ request since construction of new government offices was part of its work, and PlanD would work in collaboration with GPA; and

(2) As stated in last year’s Policy Address, the Administration would pursue the “single site, multiple use” model in multi-storey developments on GIC sites. Reprovisioning or consolidation of GIC facilities would be considered so that land would be released to achieve optimal use. The Administration remained open to the location of the government offices

71. Mr Francis WONG said the LCSD acknowledged Members’ views on the land use of the sites at Area 12 and temporary fish market. He would refer Member’s views on the new

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government offices to his colleagues in charge of planning. The LCSD would discuss with other relevant departments about Members’ suggestions.

72. Mr CHEUNG Pui-chung said the FEHD stayed open-minded about the views on the Tin Shui Wai public market. Reference would be made to Tai Po Municipal Services Complex housing the Tai Po Hui Market and Cooked Food Centre so as to identify a site that would meet the community’s needs.

73. To sum up, the Chairman quoted Members’ views that the existing provision of Yuen Long Government Offices could not cater for the future development needs of Yuen Long. Therefore, they agreed it was necessary to build new government offices in the district. He kept an open mind to Members’ development options, which included constructing the new offices in Yuen Long Town and integrating the new office tower with the Tin Shui Wai public market project. Members also mentioned that relocating the present Yuen Long Government Offices would present residents some difficulty. As one of the Members raising the matter, he highly supported the construction of new government offices in the district to serve local residents. As what Members had said, some departments did not set up a sub-office in the district. It was inconvenient to legal assistance seekers who were required to visit the offices in Mongkok or Admiralty and professional drivers who had to renew their driving licences in other districts. As the new government offices would serve residents in the district and the New Territories West and considering its importance, the Chairman proposed that a “Working Group on Studying the Construction of New Government Offices in Yuen Long District” be formed with him as the chairperson to take forward the initiative in the district.

74. Members raised no opposition. Ms YUEN Man-yee supported the Chairman to be the working group chairperson.

75. Mr Zachary WONG agreed to the Chairman’s proposal and enquired whether Yuen Long District Officer would be invited to be the regular departmental representative in the working group.

76. Mr Enoch YUEN, JP said construction of the new government offices was under the purview of GPA and the Secretariat would reflect Members’ views to the department concerned.

77. Mr LEUNG Fuk-yuen favoured the formation of a working group and believed under the leadership of the Chairman, the study with departmental representatives would achieve greater results.

78. The Chairman said nine standing working groups had been set up under the YLDC. Members were asked to give consent to suspend Order 40(1) of the YLDC Standing Orders to appoint the working group.

79. Members had no objection and unanimously agreed to suspend Order 40(1) of the YLDC Standing Orders to appoint the working group.

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80. The Chairman announced that the “Working Group on Studying New Yuen Long Government Offices” chaired by him was set up. The YLDC Secretariat would invite Members to join the Working Group in writing in due course.

(Post-meeting note: On 5 September 2018, the YLDC Secretariat wrote to invite Members to join the “Working Group on Studying New Yuen Long Government Offices”.)

Item V: “Yuen Long District Spring Reception 2019” co-organised by YLDC and Yuen Long District Office (YLDC Paper No. 59/2018) 81. The Chairman invited Members to refer to Paper No. 59, which was about the invitation extended to the YLDC by YLDO to co-organise the “Yuen Long District Spring Reception 2019” to be held on the afternoon of 13 February 2019 (Wednesday) (i.e. the ninth day of the Lunar New Year) at the Foyer of . The total estimated expenditure was $70,000. It was proposed that $35,000 of the expenditure would be sponsored by the YLDC funds and $30,000 would be covered by YLDO. In addition, the YLDC was invited to nominate one or two Members to give advice on the preparatory work on behalf of YLDC.

82. Mr LI Wai-tong, Liaison Officer-in-charge (Town 2) and Mr CHUNG Kam-chung, Liaison Officer (Town 2)1 were invited to introduce the paper.

83. Members endorsed the proposals in paragraphs 3 and 4 of the Paper and Mr CHOW Wing-kan and Mr LEUNG Ming-kin would advise on the preparatory work of the activity on behalf of YLDC.

Item VI: Report on work progress of District-led Actions Scheme 84. The Chairman invited Mr Enoch YUEN, JP, District Officer (Yuen Long) and Mr Nixon NG, Assistant District Officer (Yuen Long) 1 to report on the latest progress of the District-led Actions Scheme (“DAS”).

85. Mr Enoch YUEN, JP said the progress of DAS was remarkable. YLDO invited Members to report mosquito breeding black spots in writing last week. YLDO would continue to cooperate with FEHD in the anti-mosquito drive.

86. Mr Nixon NG briefed Members on the work progress of DAS.

87. Regarding the invocation of Lands (Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance (Cap. 28) to clear illegally parked bicycles in the district, the Chairman enquired when addressing such problem by invoking the Summary Offences Ordinance (Cap. 228) could be introduced in Yuen Long, given that the North District had done so for a period of time.

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88. Mr Daniel HUE said the Transport Department (“TD”) would review the effectiveness of invoking the Summary Offences Ordinance (Cap. 228) to tackle illegally parked bicycles in the North District. In July this year, the TD devised the Code of Practice for Automated Dockless Bicycle Rental Services (“the CoP”) and launched a highly effective pilot scheme in Tai Po. The TD would brief Members on the CoP and the experience of addressing illegal bicycle parking by invoking the Summary Offences Ordinance (Cap. 28) in other districts at the next T&TC meeting.

89. Mr KWOK Keung, MH said the joint departmental operation to clear illegally parked bicycles in Tin Yan Estate on 23 August was found effective. Taking into account the extensive area in Yuen Long and the wide coverage of DAS, he voiced concern that insufficient manpower might hamper the progress of DAS. As such, he enquired whether YLDO would hire additional full-time contract staff to assist in the work.

90. Mr KWOK Hing-ping suggested that the YLDO incorporate the tackling of clothes-drying in public areas under the DAS and arrange for on-site inspections with other departments concerned in Tin Shui Wai. It was found that public accesses covered with laundry had marred the local environment in Tin Shui Wai. He suggested that YLDO should not return the confiscated clothes to the owners, otherwise the operation would end up ineffective.

91. Mr LEUNG Fuk-yuen said the DAS could improve the environment of Yuen Long, a district of vast expanses. The anti-mosquito efforts and publicity to prevent the spread of dengue fever by YLDO and FEHD were well received by the community experiencing the serious mosquito infestation recently. After the department had taken action against illegally parked bicycles and unauthorised extension of business by shops, the local environment had become more in order. He hoped the efforts of YLDO would sustain.

92. Ms LAU Kwai-yung expressed her appreciation to YLDO for its efficiency in removing illegally parked bicycles speedily. She enquired whether Yuen Long could follow the example of the North District to expeditiously deal with illegally parked bicycles by invoking the Summary Offences Ordinance (Cap. 228). She commended the departments for their anti-mosquito efforts and thanked all frontline staff for their work.

93. Mr TANG Hing-yip, BBS said the local environment had greatly improved as street cleansing and illegal bicycle parking had been dealt with under the DAS. In the past, Members had often raised their concern over insufficient bicycle parking spaces. After the long-abandoned bicycles were cleared, substantial bicycle parking spaces were now available. He also praised YLDO staff for their efficiency in addressing illegal bicycle parking. On the shutting down of a shared bicycle operator in Hong Kong, he said illegal parking of these bicycles had been a nuisance to the district. He hoped that the TD would formulate a code of practice for shared bicycle rental service. Despite the success of the pilot scheme to implement the CoP in Tai Po, such initiative in Yuen Long would not be equally effective because of the large number of bicycles placed in the district by the operators.

94. Mr TO Ka-lun enquired whether the department would recover the charge of removing the bicycles from operators that had closed down. He said the Government should not deal with the

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problem left behind by operators with public money.

95. Mr Zachary WONG said anti-mosquito campaigns had been carried out for years. A few years ago, he reflected to YLDO that the mosquito repellent lotion and patches distributed were not effective and enquired whether the products would be tested before distribution. Media testings over the last few days showed that mosquito repellent patches did not work well. The Government should ensure the quality of anti-mosquito products purchased with public money to avoid a waste of resources. When dealing with unauthorised business extension by shops, the Yuen Long District Lands Office (“DLO/YL”) had mentioned that enforcement action would be taken against unauthorised structures only when they were included in the action list under the DAS. He enquired whether the DLO/YL maintained this practice. Besides, he hoped the FEHD would follow up on the rampant rodent problem in the district, in particular rear lanes and refuse collection points. Finally, he asked about the definition of dockless self-service bicycles.

96. Ms YUEN Man-yee commended the YLDO for its effectiveness in combatting mosquitoes, grass cutting and addressing illegally parked bicycles. The large number of illegally parked bicycles along the roads would cause injuries to the pedestrians, especially the elderly and children. The inter-departmental operations coordinated by YLDO helped improve the pavements, which had become more spacious and cleaner. She also appreciated YLDO’s measures in fighting against dengue fever. Two health talks were held so that residents could gain a better understanding of the disease.

97. Mr LEUNG Ming-kin said he was very supportive of the DAS and recognised the anti-mosquito work of YLDO in rural areas amid the raging dengue fever. He reflected that the frequency of grass cutting service by the Drainage Services Department (“DSD”) in rural areas could not catch up with the speed of grass growth. He enquired whether YLDO would widen the coverage of DAS so as to work hand in hand with DSD in the grass cutting efforts. On ceasing the business by a shared bicycle service provider in Hong Kong, he said a company had been granted the Court’s authorisation to acquire the bicycles of the operator. These bicycles would be sold to the public after they were labelled with numbers. Any person taking the bicycles without permission would be liable to criminal offence.

98. Mr LEE Yuet-man, MH remarked that local residents spoke highly of the effectiveness of YLDO in clearing illegally parked bicycles in collaboration with other departments. Regarding TD’s approach in coping with dockless self-service bicycles, he said he was disappointed with the CoP, and suggested that the department could refer to the practices in China and Singapore. In Singapore, under the Government’s regulatory mechanism of shared bicycles operators, oBike had to bear the follow-up responsibility after closure of business. He praised the anti-mosquito work of FEHD and hoped that DSD, HyD and DLO/YL would cooperate with FEHD in mosquito control.

99. Mr Daniel CHAM, BBS, MH, JP recognised the achievements of the DAS in different aspects. YLDO and FEHD could take corresponding actions in response to the residents’ request of combatting mosquitoes. Referring to the additional parking spaces after installing double-deck bicycle racks off MTR Sheung Shui Station, he proposed that the TD provide such facility to increase parking spaces in the district. While the pilot scheme to clear illegally parked bicycles once found by invoking the Summary Offences Ordinance (Cap. 228) in the North district was a success, he

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enquired about the feasibility of introducing the scheme in Yuen Long this year, and proposed that bicycle owners attempting to collect the bicycles had to pay a fine.

100. Mr Enoch YUEN, JP gave a consolidated response as follows:

(1) He thanked Members for their support for the DAS, their suggestions and recognition of the work of YLDO. On Members’ enquiry of staff arrangement, manpower was to be increased so as to enhance efficiency to solve district problems expeditiously;

(2) YLDO would reflect Members’ views on the purchase of mosquito repellent products to HAD;

(3) Although anti-rodent work was not covered by DAS, YLDO had all along been communicating with the FEHD on addressing the problem. YLDO would refer rodent infestation black spots reported by Members to FEHD for follow-up so as to maintain the hygiene of the local environment;

(4) The department concerned took action against illegally parked bicycles two days after a notice was posted under the Land (Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance (Cap. 28). Both shared bicycles and conventional bicycles were handled in the same way; and

(5) TD representative was asked to respond to the bicycles left over after the closure of shared bicycle business by operators and introduction of the Summary Offences Ordinance (Cap. 228) to handle illegal bicycle parking.

101. Mr Nixon NG said despite that clothes-drying in public areas was out of coverage by the DAS, the YLDO would conduct at least six clearance operations in collaboration with relevant departments.

102. Mr Enoch YUEN, JP supplemented as follows:

(1) The Works Section of YLDO would assist in solving problems of drainage blockage in the district. Blocked drainages not overseen by YLDO would be referred to other departments concerned; and

(2) Having received a large number of drainage blockage cases in Pat Heung which was flooded during the heavy rain last week, YLDO, together with DSD and HyD, immediately convened an inter-departmental meeting to discuss actions to be taken. Departmental representatives also took part in on-site inspections to solve blockage problem together.

103. Mr David HUE gave a consolidated response as follows:

(1) The LandsD was very concerned about illegal bicycle parking. With the assistance of YLDO, the LandsD would remove illegally parked bicycles by invoking the

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Lands (Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance (Cap. 28), no matter they were private or shared ones;

(2) Regarding Members’ enquiry on the timetable of introducing the Summary Offences Ordinance (Cap. 228), theTD planned to introduce the Ordinance in Tuen Mun and Yuen Long to curb illegally parked bicycles in 2019. The Summary Offences Ordinance (Cap. 228) prohibited people from leaving any article that might obstruct, inconvenience or endanger any person or vehicle. The TD would seek advice from Members on illegal bicycle parking black spots and action locations of invoking the Summary Offences Ordinance (Cap. 228) through YLDO; and

(3) Docked self-service bicycles referred to those parked at docking areas at designated locations, while dockless self-service bicycles were those without any stations. Users could rent or return the bicycles by smart phone self-service applications. In view of the necessity of regulating illegal parking of bicycles, the TD introduced the CoP and Members would be briefed on the CoP devised for automated dockless bicycle rental service providers at next week’s T&TC meeting.

104. Mr CHEUNG Pui-chung gave a consolidated response as follows:

(1) Anti-mosquito and rodent efforts would not be relaxed. In view of the outbreak of dengue fever, the FEHD had increased manpower in anti-mosquito work recently. Apart from removing mosquito breeding sources, the FEHD would focus on eliminating adult mosquitoes to prevent the spread of disease;

(2) According to records of the three survey areas in Yuen Long, the Area Ovitrap Indices (“AOI”) in August were lower than those in July. The AOI in Yuen Kong decreased from 24% to 10%, dropped from 10.9% to 4.4% in Yuen Long Town Centre, and reduced from 12.7% to 3.2% in Tin Shui Wai, which showed that anti-mosquito measures had been effective. He thanked Members for their suggestions and leading frontline staff in the battle against mosquitoes so that the achievements could be doubled. He welcomed Members to continue to offer mosquito breeding black spots to FEHD; and

(3) Regarding rodent infestation, the FEHD would allocate its staff to carry out inter-departmental operations at priority locations where rodent infestation was more rampant. The work would start from the Mau Tan Street section at Tung Yick Market and the vicinity of Tai Kiu Market, followed by Tin Shui Wai. The FEHD would maintain communication with Members on environmental hygiene in the district.

105. Mr Nixon NG said the YLDO had reported illegal bicycle parking black spots to TD for their consideration in the action locations to invoke the Summary Offences Ordinance (Cap. 228). He also called on Members to suggest black spots which would be referred to TD by YLDO.

106. Mr TANG Cheuk-yin hoped that FEHD would enhance anti-rodent work in .

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107. Mr SIU Long-ming, MH said the public complimented the DAS. After the launch of DAS, unauthorised extension of business by shops had alleviated. He received many complaints from owners’ corporations of buildings near Tai Kiu Market and Tung Yick Market where rodent infestation was more serious because of high patron flow and large amount of goods. He assumed that the use of new rodenticide had helped eased the problem. He hoped FEHD would continue its rodent control efforts.

108. The Chairman suggested rodent infestation be discussed by EIC as it was not covered under DAS.

109. Ms LAU Kwai-yung suggested YLDO incorporating actions against clothes-drying in public areas in DAS. The work would be ineffective should clothes confiscated were returned to the public without a fine. She suggested that the department refer to the practice of DLO/YL in imposing a fine on persons hanging banners illegally.

110. Mr LEE Yuet-man, MH said he strived to include anti-rodent work in DAS and hoped that FEHD would step up its efforts in rodent control in Tin Shui Wai, especially at Tin Wah Road and Tin Tsz Road. He suggested an inter-departmental anti-rodent operation at these locations which were under the purview of not only FEHD but also LCSD, LandsD and HyD. Besides, he reflected that rodenticide was ineffective in reducing rodents.

111. Mr KWOK Keung, MH highly admired the efforts of District Environmental Hygiene Superintendent (Yuen Long) (“DEHS(YL)”) of FEHD. Whenever Members’ suggestions were received, FEHD would swiftly deploy manpower to conduct anti-mosquito work on site. He took the opportunity to thank Superintendent CHEUNG for his contribution to Yuen Long.

112. Ms CHIU Sau-han, MH expressed gratitude to the Superintendent and staff of FEHD for their quick response to handle the problem upon receipt of Members’ views.

113. In response to Members’ enquiry on whether anti-rodent actions would be included in DAS, Mr Enoch YUEN, JP said YLDO had paid heed to environmental hygiene in the district and maintained communication with FEHD on rodent control. YLDO remained open to the proposal on increasing resources for anti-rodent work or referring rodent infestation black spots to FEHD for follow-up.

114. Mr Nixon NG said the department would coordinate work of different departments to deal with clothes-drying in public areas through administrative measures. While enforcement actions were taken against illegal structures by invoking the Lands (Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance (Cap. 28) by LandsD, whether clothes hung in public areas were treated as illegal structures would be determined by the law enforcement agency. That said, YLDO would continue to closely monitor the issue.

115. Mr LEUNG Fuk-yuen said as the EIC Chairman, he had maintained close ties with the

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DEHS(YL) of FEHD and YLDO to improve environment of the district. Under the leadership of Yuen Long District Officer, the local environment was enhanced. He thanked the efforts of departmental representatives.

116. The Chairman concluded that under the leadership of Yuen Long District Officer, the department had stepped up anti-mosquito and publicity work to curb the spread of dengue fever. He also mentioned the work of DEHS(YL) of FEHD and his staff, who could swiftly take follow up action and strengthen anti-mosquito work. The effectiveness of the DAS was clearly shown in the improved environment in the district. While TD had planned to introduce the Summary Offences Ordinance (Cap. 228) to address illegally parked bicycles, he understood there were constraints in the Ordinance. He suggested that the department refer to the North District by invoking the Ordinance in four of the West Rail stations in the district. At the same time, he hoped relevant departments would consider Members’ views on imposing penalties on shared bicycle operators. By doing so, operators would be driven to revise their bicycle management approach so that street obstruction could be avoided.

Item VII: Progress reports of Committees (i) Yuen Long District Management Committee (YLDC Paper No. 60/2018) (ii) District Facilities Management Committee (YLDC Paper No. 61/2018) (iii) Culture, Recreation, Community Service and Housing Committee (YLDC Paper No. 62/2018) (iv) Environmental Improvement Committee (YLDC Paper No. 63/2018) (v) Finance Committee (YLDC Paper No. 64/2018) (vi) Town Planning and Development Committee (YLDC Paper No. 65/2018) (vii) Traffic and Transport Committee (YLDC Paper No. 66/2018) 117. The Chairman asked Members to take note of Paper Nos. 60-66 for the progress reports of Committees.

118. Members noted the progress reports of the Yuen Long District Management Committee and the YLDC Committees.

Item VIII: Any other business

(i) Invitation to YLDC to appoint representatives to join the Advisory Committee on the Management of Tin Sau Bazaar (YLDC Paper No. 67/2018) 119. The Chairman asked Members to refer to Paper No. 67 which was the invitation from Tung Wah Group of Hospitals to YLDC to appoint representatives to join the third Advisory Committee on the Management of Tin Sau Bazaar (“Advisory Committee”), with the term of office ending on 1 February 2020. The present YLDC representatives were Mr CHOW Wing-kan, Mr KWOK Hing-ping and Mr YIU Kwok-wai. The Chairman asked Members to make nominations to

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the Advisory Committee and added that the present YLDC representatives could continue to serve on it.

120. Mr YIU Kwok-wai said he would like to continue to serve on the Advisory Committee.

121. Ms CHAN Mei-lin said Mr CHOW Wing-kan asked her to inform the Chairman that he would like to continue to serve on the Advisory Committee.

122. Mr Zachary WONG enquired on the attendance rate of these three representatives at the last-term Advisory Committee meetings for reference.

123. The Chairman asked the Secretariat to provide Members with the attendance rate of the representatives at the last-term Advisory Committee meetings for reference.

124. Mr TO Ka-lun said it would be difficult to determine whether the three Members were suitable candidates to represent YLDC in the Advisory Committee without their attendance rate at the last-term Advisory Committee meetings.

125. The Chairman said the term of office of the last Advisory Committee ended on 1 February. He was concerned that its operation would be impeded if no Members were appointed.

126. Mr CHING Chan-ming said he would support reappointing the three Members unless they indicated that they would not continue to serve on the Advisory Committee.

127. Mr Zachary WONG said before nominating representatives to the first-term Advisory Committee, he asked whether Tin Sau Bazaar tenants were suitable for joining it. He remembered that Mr KWOK Hing-ping might be a tenant and, if so, YLDC might need to appoint another Member.

128. Ms CHAN Mei-lin said a Member who was a tenant was not suitable for serving on the Committee and should avoid arousing suspicion. She added that the YLDC should appoint another Member if that was the case.

129. Mr LEE Yuet-man, MH suggested that Mr KWOK Hing-ping be allowed to clarify before discussion. Otherwise, it was unfair to him. He opined that the TWGH, instead of the Advisory Committee, was the decision-making body. Considering that Members had raised questions on this matter and Tin Sau Bazaar would not cease operation even if YLDC could not appoint representatives to the Advisory Committee, he suggested postponing the discussion until the next meeting, or referred the matter to CRCS&HC for discussion.

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130. Mr Zachary WONG said when candidates were nominated to the Advisory Committee of the last two terms, he made the enquiry but Mr KWOK Hing-ping did not deny he was a tenant.

131. Ms MA Shuk-yin said Mr KWOK Hing-ping sought her assistance in asking Mr Zachary WONG to provide evidence of his being a Tin Sau Bazaar tenant and said he would return to the Conference Room to clarify as soon as possible.

132. Mr LEUNG Fuk-yun conveyed Mr CHOW Wing-kan’s message that his attendance rate at the last-term Advisory Committee meetings was 100%.

133. The Chairman said he decided to discuss this item at the next meeting as Mr KWOK Hing-ping was not present now to clarify, and he had not indicated whether he was willing to continue to serve.

134. Mr KWOK Hing-ping asked Mr Zachary WONG to explain why he was alleged to be a Tin Sau Bazaar tenant. He held that what Mr WONG said should be factually correct as he was a veteran district councillor.

135. Mr Zachary WONG said when nominating representatives to the Advisory Committee of the last two terms, he asked similar questions. As Mr KWOK Hing-ping did not deny at that time, he was regarded as a tenant. Therefore, he hoped Mr KWOK would clarify whether he or his immediate family members were bazaar tenants.

136. Mr KWOK Hing-ping said he and his immediate family members were not bazaar tenants.

137. Mr Zachary WONG said Mr KWOK Hing-ping should clarify when Members were nominated to serve on the last-term Advisory Committee two years ago.

138. The Chairman said he had decided to postpone the discussion of the item to the next meeting. He also asked the Secretariat to seek information from Members on their attendance rate of last-term Advisory Committee.

139. Mr LEE Yuet-man, MH asked whether Members who did not respond immediately or scorned to respond to Members’ allegations would be regarded as tacitly admitting such allegations.

140. The Chairman said declaration of interests was Members’ personal choice. Members who did not declare their interests but were later found to have conflict of interests would be liable to any consequences.

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(ii) “Neighbourhood First” Year-end Reunion Lunch in 18 Districts in 2019 (YLDC Paper No. 68/2018) 141. Members were asked to refer to Paper No. 68 which was about the invitation from Hong Kong Youth Association to YLDC to be the supporting organisation of the Year-end Reunion Lunch to be held on 26 January 2019 (Saturday). The YLDC had been the supporting organisation over the past years but had not provided subsidy because of constraints of use in YLDC funds.

142. The Chairman suggested that YLDC continue to be the supporting organisation.

143. Members raised no objection and endorsed the above arrangement.

144. Mr Zachary WONG said the above event had been held for nine years. Since healthy diet was advocated, he enquired whether Poon Choi was to be served in the feast and suggested other kinds of feast gatherings be considered apart from Poon Choi. While the paper mentioned there would be 200 tables in the main venue and 50 tables in other areas, 110 tables were estimated to be set up in Yuen Long District. He asked about the actual number of tables in the Poon Choi Feast in Yuen Long District.

145. The Chairman enquired with Mr Zachary WONG on whether he opposed YLDC as the supporting organisation of the event.

146. Mr Zachary WONG said he did not object to YLDC for being the supporting organisation of the activity.

147. The Chairman said as YLDC did not sponsor the event, they could not impose any restriction on the details of the activity. He suggested that Members reflect their views to the organisation in writing and believed it would be pleased to listen to Members’ views.

(iii) Invitation to Support the “Hong Kong Cancer Day 2018” (YLDC Paper No. 69/2018) 148. The Chairman asked Members to refer to Paper No. 69, which was the Hong Kong Cancer Society’s invitation to YLDC to be the co-organiser or supporting organisation of the Hong Kong Cancer Day 2018 on 9 December 2018 (Sunday). In the past, YLDC was the supporting organisation of the event to disseminate information on the activity to Members.

149. The Chairman suggested that YLDC continue to be the supporting organisation of the activity and disseminate relevant information to Members.

150. Mr LEE Yuet-man, MH said he was in favour of YLDC being the supporting organisation of the activity. Considering that the title was inappropriate, he suggested that the title be revised to “Hong Kong Cancer Prevention Day 2018”.

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151. The Chairman suggested that Members reflect their views on the activity title to the organisation in writing.

152. The Chairman announced that the YLDC would continue to be the supporting organisation of the activity.

153. The Chairman declared the meeting adjourned and thanked departmental representatives and Members for attending.

Yuen Long District Council October 2018

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