The minutes were confirmed on 2 July 2019 without amendment.
Minutes of the Third Meeting of the Culture, Recreational, Community Service and Housing Committee under the Yuen Long District Council in 2019
Date: 7 May 2019 (Tuesday)
Time: 2:30 pm – 7:05 pm
Venue: Conference Room, Yuen Long District Council, 13/F, Yuen Long Government Offices, 2 Kiu Lok Square, Yuen Long
Present Chairman : Mr CHAM Ka-hung, Daniel, BBS, (Beginning of the (End of the MH, JP meeting) meeting) Vice- : Ms WONG Wai-ling (Beginning of the (End of the chairman meeting) meeting) Members : Ms CHAN Mei-lin 2:45 pm (End of the meeting) Mr CHAN Sze-ching (Beginning of the 5:00 pm meeting) Mr CHEUNG Muk-lam (Beginning of the 5:35 pm meeting) Ms CHIU Sau-han, MH (Beginning of the 6:25 pm meeting) Mr CHOW Wing-kan (Beginning of the (End of the meeting) meeting) Mr KWOK Hing-ping (Beginning of the 4:30 pm meeting) Mr KWOK Keung, MH (Beginning of the 6:15 pm meeting) Ms LAU Kwai-yung (Beginning of the 5:30 pm meeting) Mr LEE Yuet-man, MH 3:20 pm 3:25 pm Mr LEUNG Ming-kin (Beginning of the 5:30 pm meeting) Ms MA Shuk-yin (Beginning of the (End of the meeting) meeting) Mr MAK Ip-sing (Beginning of the (End of the meeting) meeting)
1 Mr SHUM Ho-kit (Beginning of the 4:25 pm meeting) Mr SIU Long-ming 2:45 pm (End of the meeting) Mr TANG Cheuk-him 3:20 pm (End of the meeting) Mr TANG Yung-yiu, Ronnie (Beginning of the 5:30 pm meeting) Mr TO Ka-lun 2:45 pm (End of the meeting) Mr WONG Wai-shun, MH (Beginning of the 6:20 pm meeting) Mr WONG Wai-yin, Zachary 2:50 pm (End of the meeting) Mr YIU Kwok-wai (Beginning of the 4:00 pm meeting) Ms YUEN Man-yee (Beginning of the (End of the meeting) meeting) Co-opted Members: Mr CHAU Tsz-ki 3:10 pm 4:15 pm Mr HONG Chin-wah (Beginning of the (End of the meeting) meeting) Mr IP Ka-fai 3:00 pm 6:05 pm Mr LAI Kwok-wing (Beginning of the (End of the meeting) meeting) Ms LAI Yuet-kwan, Fennie (Beginning of the (End of the meeting) meeting) Mr NG Hin-wang (Beginning of the (End of the meeting) meeting) Ms NG Wai-ling (Beginning of the 5:20 pm meeting) Mr SZE TO Chun-hin (Beginning of the (End of the meeting) meeting) Mr TONG Tak-chun (Beginning of the (End of the meeting) meeting) Mr WONG Wai-suen (Beginning of the 4:30 pm meeting) (Beginning of the 5:35 pm
2 meeting)
Secretary : Miss KWAN Ching-yi, Executive Officer (District Council)6, Yuen Long Angela District Office
In attendance Ms OR Lai-kum, Senior Liaison Officer (3), Yuen Long District Office Christina Ms LAI Mo-yi Housing Manager (Yuen Long 6), Housing
Department Mr MAK Chi-kin, Assistant District Social Welfare Officer (Yuen
Michael Long)1, Social Welfare Department Miss YU Siu-lei, Gladys Senoir School Development Officer (Yuen Long)1,
Education Bureau Ms LEE Mei-sheung, Deputy District Leisure Manager (District Support) Dickie Yuen Long, Leisure and Cultural Services Department Mr YEUNG Man-lung Community Liaison Officer (Yuen Long),
Police Community Relations Office Engineer/New Territories West (Distribution 5) Water Mr MAN Sip-hong Supplies Department
Item 3 Mr LAU Yiu-sing Senior Manager (Building Rehabilitation), Urban
Renewal Authority Mr SO Ngai-long Senior Manager (Community Development), Urban
Renewal Authority Mr LAI Chun-fai Senior Engineer/ General Legislation 4, Electrical
and Mechanical Services Department
Item 6 Mr LI Sing-pak, BBS Secretary (Coordinating Committee), 25th Yuen Long
Arts Festival
Item 7 Mr CHENG Shun-yu Assistant Manager, Yuen Long Football Club
3 Item 8 Ms LAM Pik-chu, MH Chairman, Yuen Long District Primary School Heads
Association
Item 9 Ms WONG Ngok Ching, Assistant District Social Welfare Officer (Yuen
Samantha Long)2, Social Welfare Department
Item 11 Mr NG Hong-fai General Assistant Manager (Public Affairs) Link
Asset Management Limited Mr YIU Hong-seng Community Relations Manager Link Asset
Management Limited Ms WONG Wai-fong Community Relations Manager Link Asset
Management Limited Item 12 Mr Eric TSE Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data, Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data
Item 13(1) Mr KAN Ka-man Engineer/New Territories West (Customer Services)
Inspection, Water Supplies Department Mr NG Ki-Yiu Engineer/New Territories West (Headworks 3) Water
Supplies Department Mr LAI Chun-fung Engineer/New Territories West (Distribution 3) Water
Supplies Department
Item 12 Miss TSE Nga-lap, Assistant Secretary for Food and Health (Health)6A
Lilian
Item 12 Dr LOH Lai-ting, Taron Senior Medical and Health Officer (Community
Liaison)1, Department of Health
Absent Mr WONG Cheuk-kin
Mr YU Chung-leung (Absent due to other commitments)
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* * * * * Opening Remarks The Chairman welcomed Members and government departmental representatives to the third meeting of the Culture, Recreational, Social Services and Housing Committee (“CRCS&HC”) in 2019.
2. The Chairman also welcomed Ms OR Lai-kum, Christina, Senior Liaison Officer (3) of the Yuen Long District Office and Mr YEUNG Man-lung, Community Liaison Officer of the Police Community Relations Office in Yuen Long Police District to the meeting for the first time, in place of Miss CHEUNG Lai-wa, Michelle and Mr YU Hong-ning as permanent departmental representatives.
3. The Chairman also welcomed Mr MAK Chi-kin, Michael, Assistant District Social Welfare Officer (Yuen Long)1 of the Social Welfare Department on behalf of Mr LAM Chi-ming, James who was unable to attend the meeting due to other commitments.
4. The Chairman indicated that Mr LAI Chun-fung, Engineer/New Territories West (Distribution 3), who was a permanent representative of the Water Supplies Department was unable to attend the meeting due to other commitments.
5. The Chairman said that he received notices from Mr WONG Wai-yin, Zachary and Ms WONG Wai-ling before the meeting. They hoped to make oral statements in accordance with section 29 of the YLDC’s Standing Orders of District Council Meeting. He proposed that after item 9, Mr WONG Wai-yin, Zachary would make an oral statement first followed by Ms WONG Wai-ling. Each would have two minutes. Item 1: (1) Introduction of the election procedures of the Chairman and Vice- chairman of Committees under the Yuen Long District Council (CRCS&HC Paper No. 29/2019) 6. The Chairman asked the Members to refer to Paper No. 29 for the election procedures of the Chairman and Vice-chairman of Committees under the Yuen Long District Council. The voting arrangement was mainly based on the voting procedures for the election of the Chairman and Vice-chairman in Schedule 5 of the District Councils Ordinance (Cap. 547).
7. Members unanimously adopted the election procedures of the Vice-chairman of the CRCS&HC specified in the above paper.
5 (2) Election of the Vice-chairman of the Culture, Recreational, Community Service and Housing Committee (“CRCS&HC”) 8. The Chairman announced the start of the election of the Vice-chairman of the CRCS&HC.
9. The Secretary reported that up to the deadline of registration, the Secretariat had received one nomination form for the Vice-chairman of the CRCS&HC. The nominee was Ms WONG Wai-ling, the subscriber was Mr LEUNG Ming-kin and the seconder were Mr YIU Kwok-wai and Mr LEE Yuet-man, MH.
10. The Chairman enquired whether the nominated Ms WONG Wai-ling would agree to accept the nomination and agreed to accept the post of Vice-chairman of the CRCS&HC after the election. Ms WONG Wai-ling responded by agreeing.
11. The Chairman announced that since only Ms WONG Wai-ling was nominated for the Vice-chairman of the CRCS&HC, she was automatically elected as the Vice-chairman of the CRCS&HC. Her term of office was linked to the term of this District Council, which was from this day till 31 December 2019.
Item 2: Confirmation of the minutes of the second meeting in 2019 12. The Chairman asked the Secretary to report the amendments proposed by the Housing Department (HD).
13. The Secretary reported that a request was sent by the HD to delete the word “other” in the first section of paragraph 49 of the minutes of the second meeting in 2019.
14. Members unanimously confirmed the above revised minutes of the meeting.
Item 3: Introduction of the “Lift Modernisation Subsidy Scheme” (CRCS&HC Paper No. 30/2019) 15. The Chairman welcomed the following persons to the meeting:
Senior Manager (Building Rehabilitation), Urban Mr LAU Yiu-sing Renewal Authority Senior Manager (Community Development), Mr SO Ngai-long Urban Renewal Authority Senior Engineer/General Legislation 4, Electrical Mr LAI Chun-fai and Mechanical Services Department
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16. Members’ views were summarized as follows:
(1) In view of relevant regulations, the owners are required to carry out regular maintenance and route checks of the aged lifts. Since the cost was expensive, Members generally welcomed the implementation of this “Lift Modernization Subsidy Scheme (LIMSS)”, the simplification of the application process and the setting of a retrospective period.
(2) Members enquired whether there would be a cap if a member of the public applied for the LIMSS and the “CLP Eco Building Fund” at the same time. If so, whether it was capped at $500,000.
(3) Members pointed out that a successful application of the LIMSS would automatically be included in the “RenoSafe Scheme” and supported the relevant measures.
(4) Each lift participating in the LIMSS was subject to a cap of $ 500,000. According to the relevant guidelines, the owners were required to repair the lifts regularly during the application period. After an application met the basic requirements and was initially selected, its qualifications and subsidy were still subject to be reviewed, which deterred owners from applying for the LIMSS. Aged lifts were still in operation and threatened the safety of the public using the relevant lifts. Member proposed that the relevant Department should consider providing subsidy to the owners during the above period to reduce their financial burden and ensure the public could use the relevant lifts safely.
(5) Members enquired about the eligibility criteria. It was pointed out that more than 10,000 aged lifts had been operating in Hong Kong for more than 40 years. Members enquired how many lifts could be covered for the modernization works with the total allocation of $2.5 billion of the LIMSS, assuming that each lift would receive $300,000.
(6) Members opined that the Government seemed to have taken over the responsibilities of the owners in this subsidy scheme. It was necessary to review the relevant practices. It was pointed out that the nature of lift modernization was different from the maintenance of external walls of buildings or fire service systems. The buildings in need of maintenance of
7 external walls or fire service systems were mostly aged tenement house. Owners’ Corporations were not formed for buildings of that category. Many of the private building lifts were managed by the Owners’ Corporations. The owners were responsible for the repair and maintenance.
(7) Members pointed out that the “risk-based” principles gave priority to the owners with poor facilities management and opined that the relevant policy was worth reconsidering. However, Members also agreed that the lifts with higher risk of failures should be subsidized first to ensure the safety of the residents and visitors.
(8) It was proposed that the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) should increase manpower to step up inspections and supervision of the lift contractors to prevent the lifts from falling into disrepair.
(9) It was pointed out that many aged lifts were in need of modernization works or repair, and enquired whether there were enough lift mechanics to cope with the demand within a short period of time.
(10) It was hoped that the relevant Department would confirm whether the subsidy was capped at $480,000 if $20,000 was successfully granted for the consultancy fee.
(11) The scheme allowed eligible elderly owner-occupiers aged 60 or above to receive subsidy of full cost of works and consultancy fee of owner appointed consultant. Each residential unit was capped at $50,000. Members hoped the relevant Department would explain whether the building was subject to a cap of $530,000 if an elderly received a subsidy of $20,000 for the consultancy fee. The Member also enquired whether the lift modernization works would receive an additional subsidy of $30,000 if a number of eligible elderly owner-occupiers in the same building applied for the relevant subsidy at the same time.
(12) Since the above scheme would allocate public funds to subsidize the repair of private buildings, Members proposed to add terms and conditions to prevent abuse of the subsidy. An example term could include an alienation restriction period. If the relevant unit was sold early, part of the subsidy must be refunded.
8 17. Mr LAU Yiu-sing gave a consolidated response as follows:
(1) He pointed out that the owners could participate in the LIMSS and “CLP Eco Building Fund” at the same time, but the relevant works would not receive duplicated subsidy. Each lift was subject to a subsidy of $500,000, and if a lift modernization works received a subsidy of $20,000 from “CLP Eco Building Fund”, the relevant applicant could still receive a subsidy capped at $480,000 from the LIMSS.
(2) Eligible target buildings that received letters from the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) included the lifts had not been equipped with any or all the essential safety devices (which were the double brake system, unintended car movement protection device, ascending car overspeed protection device and updated car door mechanical lock and door safety edge), and also had to meet the average annual rateable value for all residential flats in 2017 to 2018 (the average annual rateable value for buildings in urban areas (including Shatin, Kwai Tsing and Tsuen Wan) should not exceed $162,000, and $124,000 for those in New Territories). The URA would arrange free consultancy services for the relevant modernization works. However, if the applicants chose to appoint consultants on their own, the URA would also subsidize each lift with a cap of $20,000 for the consultancy fee.
(3) He explained that the expenses of consultancy services and modernization works would be shared by the owners. Elderly owner-occupiers aged 60 or above were eligible for an additional subsidy, and the relevant owners were required to submit the application of the additional subsidy on their own. The relevant subsidy covered the cost of works bore by that elderly, and each residential unit was subject to a cap of $50,000.
(4) He pointed out that the allocation of $2.5 billion was aimed to provide subsidies for the modernization works of 5000 lifts.
(5) He pointed out that the subsidy would either cover 60% of the cost of works or capped at $500,000.
(6) The above scheme was based on a risk-based principle, and had taken different factors into consideration, including the number of lacked essential safety devices in the building lift and the age of the building etc., to prioritize the subsidies.
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18. Mr LAI Chun-fai gave a consolidated response as follows:
(1) He pointed out that it was the owners’ primary responsibility to maintain the building, including the building lifts.
(2) Since the EMSD had implemented the LIMSS in 2011, it had introduced improvement measures to enhance the safety level of the aged lifts and proposed to install safety devices to the aged lifts. He pointed out that several subsidy schemes in the past also covered lift modernization, but the owners preferred using the relevant subsidies for repair or improvement works of the other common areas instead of lift modernization, and
(3) The EMSD had already reported to the Legislative Council (Legco) on the short, medium and long-term measures. The EMSD had tightened the maintenance requirements of the aged lifts in the short-term measures to enhance the safety of the aged lifts. The medium-term measures were to provide economic incentives to the owners of the building in need through the LIMSS and encouraged the owners to modernize their aged lifts. $2.5 billion would be used in the next 6 years with an aim to subsidize modernization works for 5000 lifts and the number of modernization works would be increase year by year. In recent years, the lift and escalator industry had also been proactively training new blood for lift repair. Apprenticeship in lift works had increased from dozens of new students each year to about 250 in recent years.
19. The Chairman concluded that the Members supported the above scheme and hoped the Government would step up supervision of the use of public funds while subsidizing the lift modernization of private buildings to avoid abuse.
Item 4: Applications for YLDC funds to implement Community Involvement Projects in 2019-20: (1) New applicant organisations of DC funds (CRCS&HC Paper No. 31/2019) 20. The Secretary reported that two new organisations applied for DC funds in this quarter. The Secretariat conducted a review of all the applications and the full details of the organisations and their funding applications were set out in the annex to Paper No. 31. It was proposed that the Members would endorse the eligibility of the two new organisations applying for DC funds specified in the recommendation paper.
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21. Members unanimously endorsed the eligibility of two new organisations applying for DC funds and recommended them for the FC’s consideration.
(2) Cultural activities to be held from July to September 2019 (Second Quarter) (CRCS&HC Paper No. 32/2019) (3) Recreation and sports activities to be held from July to September 2019 (Second Quarter) (CRCS&HC Paper No. 33/2019) (4) Social service activities to be held from July to September 2019 (Second Quarter) (CRCS&HC Paper No. 34/2019) 22. The Secretary reported that a total of 125 applications for YLDC funds to undertake Community Involvement Programme had been received in the period of July and September 2019. The Secretariat conducted a preliminary review of all the applications and proposed a total provision of $1,824,179. In this fiscal year, there were plans to set aside a budget allocation of $5.5 million for regional organizations to organize activities. The allocated commitment for the second quarter took up 33.17% of the total allocation. The Chairman asked Members to recommend to the FC an allocation of $246,047 for 19 culture activities in the quarter, $742,303 for 62 recreation and sports events in the quarter, and about $835,829 for 44 social service activities in the quarter.
23. Before Members raised questions, the Chairman reminded that the information of the CRCS&HC Members and Co-opt Members who served on various district organizations responsible for organizing culture, recreation and social service activities had already been listed in the paper submitted by the Secretariat at the meeting, and the details could be found in the relevant paper (Members’ interest declaration summary based on the use of DC funds for implementation of activities/programmes). Members did not need to declare their interests again unless the information was incorrect, but they were requested to assess the nature of their job titles so as to make appropriate interest declarations.
24. Members’ views were summarized as follows:
(1) A Member pointed out that the co-organizer would help organize the “Elderly Love Haircut” (老友記愛心剪) (“Social 86), the Member enquired whether the relevant funds would be distributed to the applicant
11 organizer or the co-organizer, and
(2) Members also enquired about the details of the application of “Experience Tour of Organic Farming” (有機耕種體驗遊)(Social 90), whether the DC funds of $6,860 included meal allowance for the elderly and persons with disabilities.
25. The Secretary responded that the co-organizer could not share DC funds received by the organizer. In addition, among DC funds applied by the Un Long Ling Liang Church Limited for the “Experience Tour of Organic Farming” (有機耕種體驗 遊) (Social 90), $4,560 was meal allowance for the elderly and persons with disabilities, totaling for 60 people, and $76 per person. Other expenditure included a cost of $2,000 for coach rental and $300 for insurance.
26. Members unanimously endorsed the recommendation to the FC to allocate approximately $250,000 (246,047) for 19 culture activities this quarter, which have costed around $740,000 (742,303) for 62 recreation and sports activities in the quarter, and about $840,000 (835,829) for 44 Social services activities in the quarter.
27. The Chairman concluded that Members had unanimously endorsed the recommendation specified in paragraph 22 to the FC.
Item 5: “Funding Scheme for Women’s Development” in 2019-20 by the Women’s Commission (CRCS&HC Paper No. 35/2019) 28. The Secretary reported that the Women’s Commission (WoC) continued to implement the “Funding Scheme for Women’s Development” (“Funding Scheme”) in 2019-20 to subsidize district women’s groups and non-governmental organizations to organize women’s activities for district development and to build a harmonious community together. In the year of 2019-20, the Labour and Welfare Bureau (LWB) and WoC allocated a fund of $53,000 to each District Council to organize various activities to help women develop their potentials, enhance their employability and create a favourable environment that facilitated women’s employment, so as to match the themes of the year which were enhancing women’s employability and empowering them to live a splendid life, promoting women’s health and enabling them to live a happy life and empowering women and bringing their strengths into full play.
29. The Secretariat received a funding application of $53,000 submitted by the Hong Kong Ladies Dynamic Association Limited. The Secretariat had conducted a
12 preliminary review of the above project and asked the Members to endorse the funding application of $53,000 by the Hong Kong Ladies Dynamic Association Limited. With the support of this CRCS&HC, the relevant funds would be allocated by the WoC.
30. The Chairman asked the Members to discuss the above funding application and make appropriate interest declarations before making comments. He also pointed out that Ms LAU Kwai-yung was the Chairman of the Hong Kong Ladies Dynamic Association Limited.
31. Members unanimously agreed to endorse the funding application of the Hong Kong Ladies Dynamic Association Limited to organize the above activity specified in paragraph 28. The relevant funds would be allocated by the WoC.
Item 6: Budget for the 25th Yuen Long Arts Festival (CRCS&HC Paper No. 36/2019) 32. The Chairman welcomed Mr LI Sing-pak, BBS, Secretary (Coordinating Committee) of the 25th Yuen Long Arts Festival to the meeting.
33. Mr LI Sing-pak, BBS briefly introduced the above paper.
34. Before Members raised questions, the Chairman indicated that the information and positions of CRCS&HC Members who served on the Coordinating Committee of the 25th Yuen Long Arts Festival had already been listed in the paper submitted by the Secretariat at the meeting. Details could be found in the relevant paper (Members’ interest declaration summary based on the use of DC funds for implementation of activities/programmes). Since YLDC was one of the co-organizers of the 25th Yuen Long Arts Festival, the relevant Members could participate in the work of the Preparatory Committee as representatives of the YLDC. Therefore, all Members could participate in the discussion and voting.
35. Members unanimously agreed to endorse the above paper and recommended the above budget to the FC.
Item 7: Budget for the Yuen Long Football Club (2019-20 football season) (CRCS&HC Paper No. 37/2019) 36. The Chairman welcomed Mr CHENG Yu-shun, Assistant Manager of the Yuen Long Foot Club to the meeting.
13 37. Before Members raised questions, the Chairman reminded that the information and positions of the CRCS&HC Members who served on the Yuen Long Football Club had already been listed in the paper submitted by the Secretariat at the meeting, and the details could be found in the relevant paper (Members’ interest declaration summary based on the use of DC funds for implementation of activities/programmes). Members did not need to declare their interests again unless the information was incorrect, but they were requested to assess the nature of their job titles so as to make appropriate interest declarations.
38. Members unanimously endorsed the above paper and recommended the budget of the Yuen Long Football Club (2019-20 football season) to the FC.
Item 8: Funding application by the Yuen Long District Primary School Heads Association in respect of “Yuen Long • Tin Shui Wai Quality Education Exhibition 2019” (CRCS&HC Paper No. 53/2019) 39. The Chairman welcomed Ms LAM Pik-chu, MH, Chairman of the Yuen Long District Primary School Heads Association to the meeting.
40. Members unanimously endorsed the above paper and recommended the above budget to the FC.
Item 9: Funding applications in respect of projects to be co-organized by YLDC with Yuen Long District Coordinating Committee on Elderly Services - Elderly Joint Function Working Group, Working Group on Yuen Long District Family Life Education Publicity Campaign, Yuen Long District Coordination Committee on Rehabilitation Services - Community Education Working Group and Working Group on Yuen Long District Concern for Adolescent Development of Yuen Long District Welfare Office in 2019-20: (1) “Spreading Love in Yuen Long Neighbourhood – Preservation of Community Heritage” (2) “Urban-Rural Connection • Love in Yuen Long” (3) “Love Languages at Joyful Home” (4) “Teenage Dreams” (CRCS&HC Paper No. 26/2019) 41. The Secretariat received funding applications of $520,000 for the above four activities. The Secretariat conducted reviews on the applications of the four activities and proposed Members would recommend the relevant funding applications to the FC.
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42. Members unanimously endorsed the above paper and recommended the above funding applications to the FC.
Councilors’ oral statement: (i) Mr WONG Wai-yin, Zachary made an oral statement 43. The Chairman invited Mr WONG Wai-yin, Zachary to make an oral statement within two minutes.
44. Mr WONG Wai-yin, Zachary made an oral statement as follows:
“The amendment to Fugitive Offenders Ordinance have already been submitted to the Legco for review. Recently, the Pro-Beijing Camp even try to seize power. I believe that the royalists of the Pro-Beijing Camp in the Legco will receive orders from Beijing and pass it hurriedly.
In the past month or so, Mrs Carrie LAM and Mr John LEE Ka-chiu have been lying day and night, saying the amendment is to plug the loophole. When the public and professional associations raised doubts and concerns, the Government kept saying the court will play a gate-keeping role. As long as one does not violate the relevant law, one should not be afraid of the amendment. However, when the business community expressed concern that they might breach the law inadvertently, the Government immediately revoked nine related offences. On one hand, the Government says it will plug the loophole, but on the other hand, it created nine loopholes. Why does the Government only care about the business community? Why didn’t the Government tell the business community not to be worried because the court will be the gatekeeper?
Secondly, the Government says it will not involve political extradition. However, whenever a party came to power, it did not charge its political enemies or those who did not obey on political grounds, they were all charged with economic crimes such as bribery, tax evasion, accounting fraud, and misappropriation of public funds etc., even if one was a Member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. Everyone knows that this is a political battle.
I do not believe the amendment will only be used against Pro-democracy Camp or Localist Groups. Beijing will not use its cannons to fight flies or
15 mosquitoes, they are used to take on its political enemies or those who are powerful and rich but are not obedient.
The speech of the Chief Executive, the Secretary for Security and even the Beijing spokesperson and the royalists of the Pro-Beijing Camp reminded me of a quote from the former Soviet Nobel Prize winner Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: We know that they are lying, they know that they are lying, they know that we know that they are lying, we know that they know that we know that they are lying, but they are still lying.
(ii) Ms WONG Wai-ling made an oral statement 45. The Chairman invited Ms WONG Wai-ling to make an oral statement within two minutes.
46. Ms WONG Wai-ling made an oral statement as follows:
“Statement in support of the Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation (Amendment) Bill:
The Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation (Amendment) Bill was brought up because of a case of murder involving Hongkongers in Taiwan earlier last year, and to plug a loophole in Hong Kong’s current mechanism in juridical assistance. Since there is no mutual legal assistance in criminal matters and transfer of fugitive offenders arrangement between Hong Kong and Taiwan, it was impossible to send the suspect back to Taiwan for trial. Many citizens in the two places were saddened that injustice could not be undone for the female deceased.
The Bill will break the deadlock regarding the transfer of fugitive offenders, plug the loophole of the system and the court will be the gatekeeper to decide whether to approve the application of transfer. The Amendment will safeguard justice, improve the mechanism in juridical assistance and avoid Hong Kong becoming a haven for the fugitives, which is fully in line with Hong Kong core value of fairness and justice.
Regarding the transfer arrangement, the basic human rights of the suspects are adequately protected which will be checked by the Hong Kong courts. A transfer of fugitive offender must be approved by the court and the suspect can appeal and apply for judicial review. The current extradition bill has also
16 stated clearly that the surrender cannot involve political crimes, political dissent, religious dissent etc.
It is an alarmist talk when the opposition party defames that the future transfer of suspects will violate the basic human rights. And it is an insult to the judicial system and the common law system to say that the court will lose its power as the gatekeeper or lose its judicial independence. Hong Kong followed the common law system, there are numerous litigation cases arising from surrender in Western counties with common law system.
It is an international and inter-regional cooperative obligation of the HKSAR Government to combat serious cross-boundary crimes to safeguard the overall interests and long-term interests of Hong Kong Society. We fully supported the amendment bill proposed by the HKSAR Government and hoped to bring justice to the victim and her family and to safeguard the Hong Kong’s good reputation as a society with rules of law.
Declarants: Ms WONG Wai-ling, Mr LEUNG Che-cheung, SBS, MH, JP, Mr LUI Kin, MH, Mr KWOK Keung, MH, Mr SIU Long-ming, Mr LEE Yuet-man, MH, Ms CHIU Sau-han, MH, Mr CHEUNG Muk-lam and Ms MA Shuk-yin
(Post-meeting notes: The Secretariat received a notice from Ms WONG Wai-ling on 28 June 2019. It was a typo to include Mr LEE Yuet-man in the list of joint declarants of the above oral statement. Therefore, she requested to make an amendment to remove Mr LEE Yuet-man from the above list.)
Item 10: Matter arising: (1) Mr YIU Kwok-wai, Ms LAU Kwai-yung and Mr TANG Cheuk-him requested a discussion on the severe shortage of monthly parking spaces in Tin Fu Court (CRCS&HC Paper No. 26/2019) 47. Members’ views were summarized as follows:
(1) Members reported that there had not been any information of the enquiry to increase monthly parking spaces more than a year ago and hoped the HD would follow up. The Member noted that the Lands Department (LandsD) had not completed the review, and enquired about the reason.
17 (2) Members pointed out that there could be only 10 additional monthly parking spaces but the residents’ demand for parking spaces had been strong. For example, the number of applications for Tin Fu Court had exceeded 800 and the numbers for Tin Shui Wai district had exceeded over 1,000. Therefore, the Member asked whether parking spaces could be increased for Tin Shui Wai North.
(3) Members said that some residents were both owners and vehicle owners, but they were also unable to obtain parking spaces. The Member hoped the HD could adjust the allocation priority of the parking spaces.
48. Ms LAI Mo-yi gave a consolidated response as follows:
(1) She said she understood that the residents had a strong demand for parking spaces, but there was still no news for the increase in parking spaces. The HD would continue to follow up and would reply as soon as possible when there was news.
(2) She indicated that the HD would arrange the balloting priority of the parking spaces for owners and residents in accordance with the current policy.
49. The Chairman concluded and asked the representatives of the HD to report the views of the Members to the Headquarters and urged the Department to study for improvement methods.
(2) Mr YIU Kwok-wai, Ms LAU Kwai-yung, Mr TANG Cheuk-him and the Hon LUK Chung-hung, JP enquired about the waiting status and number of parking spaces in estate car parks in Tin Shui Wai North (CRCS&HC Paper No. 27/2019) 50. Members’ views were summarized as follows:
(1) Members pointed out that the number of people waiting for monthly parking spaces in estate car parks in Tin Shui Wai North was generally over 100. There were also 57 in Tin Yan Estate where there were more elderly residents. It showed that there was a serious shortage of parking spaces. The Member opined that the Government had the responsibility to substantially increase the number of parking spaces within a short period of time and pointed that it was a relatively quick, simple and direct relief measures to
18 select a site in Tin Shui Wai to construct a temporary car park.
(2) Members pointed out that one of the reasons for the shortage of parking spaces in Tin Shui Wai was that the land use of some car parks had been changed due to long-term vacancy. The demand for parking spaces increased after but their land use could not be changed in a short period of time.
(3) Regarding the allocation of parking spaces in Tin Fu Court, a Member opined that the parking spaces should meet the demand of the vehicle owners who were also owners first, the remaining parking spaces could then be used by other households.
(4) Members said that some vehicle owners who earned a living with their vehicles were facing difficulties because they were unable to obtain parking spaces. The Member hoped the HD or the Transport Department (TD) would find ways to resolve this.
(5) Members opined that the Government should conduct a comprehensive review of the planning standards and guidelines for providing parking spaces in order to avoid the problem of tight parking spaces and prevent the public from having to bear high rents.
51. Ms LAI Mo-yi gave a consolidated response as follows:
(1) She indicated that the HD was aware of the shortage of parking spaces and would refer to the “Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines” and the views of the TD.
(2) She said that the Department had tried its best to implement the relief measures in public housing estates which had already been occupied. For example, rental parking spaces and land with changeable use had been converted into monthly parking spaces. The parking spaces for light goods vehicles etc. with low rental rates had also been converted into parking spaces for private vehicles. The Department would continue to study ways to increase parking spaces for the residents.
52. The Chairman concluded and urged the HD to study ways to find parking spaces in the existing housing estates and proposed to plan parking spaces in new
19 housing estates in accordance with the upper limit set out in Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines to increase the supply of parking spaces.
(3) Mr WONG Wai-yin, Zachary, Mr MAK Ip-sing, Mr TO Ka-lun, Mr NG Hin-wang, Mr HONG Chin-wah and Mr LAI Kwok-wing requested a discussion on bogus marriages (CRCS&HC Paper No. 22/2019) 53. Members’ views were summarized as follows:
(1) Members speculated that the actual number of bogus marriages was higher than the data and records provided by the Immigration Department (IMMD) and also indicated that there had been many complains about bogus marriages. Some of the bogus marriage cases even involved persons with mild intellectual disability.
(2) Members pointed out that bogus marriages might involve cross-boundry illegal syndicates. It was possible that lawyers assisted the relevant persons and cross-boundary illegal syndicates to sign and handle the relevant documents.
(3) The relevant syndicates would target the construction workers and induce bogus marriages with money return, and escorted the relevant persons to travel back and forth of Mainland China and Hong Kong to sign the relevant documents.
(4) Members indicated that it was now very convenient for the Mainlanders to come to Hong Kong and was puzzled by the upward trend of bogus marriage cases from 1997 to the present. The Member believed the cause was different from that before 1997. Therefore, the Member hoped to enquire about the reasons for the increasing number of cases from the IMMD and whether any legal professions or companies were involved.
(5) Members pointed out that the IMMD had investigated 1646 suspected cases of bogus marriage between 2016 and 2018. A total of 250 persons were successfully prosecuted and sentenced to 4 to 42 months of prison respectively. Sentenced persons included non-Hong Kong residents. A Member asked if the convicted persons did not have the right of abode, whether their sentence would be regarded as their stay in Hong Kong.
20 (6) Members pointed out that the daily quota of the one-way permit was 150 at present, which made it easy for persons with bogus marriages to apply to come to Hong Kong. This had normalized the problem. Therefore, the Member hoped the IMMD would treat the problem of bogus marriages seriously. The Member also pointed out that many Mainlanders hoped to obtain Hong Kong identity cards through bogus marriages to facilitate their development abroad. It was also pointed out that many elders, persons with intellectual disabilities, low-educated and low-income earners would use bogus marriages to obtain money.
54. The Chairman concluded that the CRCS&HC would write to the IMMD to report the views of the Members.
(Post-meeting notes: The Secretariat had already written to the IMMD to report the views of the Members on 30 May and the IMMD had already responded to the relevant enquiry on 12 June.)
(4) Mr WONG Wai-yin, Zachary, Mr MAK Ip-sing, Ms CHAN Mei-lin, Mr TO Ka-lun, Mr HONG Chin-wah, Mr LAI Kwok-wing and Mr NG Hin-wang requested that the time to move out of public rental housing flats be counted from the completion date of rectification works in the new units (CRCS&HC Paper No. 23/2019) 55. Members’ views were summarized as follows:
(1) Members pointed out that the existing policy required the tenants of the public rental housing or the interim housing to vacate the flats to the Housing Authority (HA) within 60 days from the effective day if the tenants were to purchase other subsidized housing. If there be any delays, an occupation fee equivalent to triple the original rent or license fee plus rates must be paid. The Member pointed out that the tenants did not have enough time to move into the new flats. Regardless whether the rectification works could be completed within seven days or 14 days, it would take up some of the time that was originally used for renovation. In order to avoid paying the triple occupation fee and the installment of the new flats at the same time due to the extended stay, the tenants could only move out within the time frame and decorate the new flats while the rectification works were going on.
21 (2) According to the data of the HD, 99.2% of the rectification works in Ping Yan Court flats could be completed within 14 days. Members enquired whether the data of the HD had been confirmed by the tenants and there was no need for recalculation.
(3) Members pointed out that the members of the public felt unwelcome when they reported to the estate offices, and that they were asked to move out of the units when it was not a suitable time.
(4) Members opined that the HD needed to ensure the quality of the buildings were up to standards to protect the owners’ interests.
(5) Members requested the HD to explain the special circumstances where the tenants could contact the estate office of their housing estates.
56. Ms LAI Mo-yi gave a consolidated response as follows:
(1) Regarding the time frame of moving out of the public housing, the principle of the HD was to hope that the tenants who had already purchased a property or who had been allocated to another unit through the allocation arrangements of the public housing estates would move out as soon as possible so that the units would be available for allocation for those applicants on the waiting list for public rental housing as soon as possible.
(2) She said that the resources of the public rental housing were precious. The delay in surrender of units will hinder the process of turnover. The HD hoped to shorten the time for the former tenants to continue to occupy the public housing units.
57. The Chairman concluded it was reasonable that the time to move out of public rental housing flats be counted from the completion date of rectification works in the new units. This was a territory-wide policy. He hoped the representatives of the HD would report the views of the Members to the Headquarters and to keep abreast of the times to make improvements.
(5) Mr WONG Wai-yin, Zachary, Mr MAK Ip-sing, Ms CHAN Mei-lin, Mr TO Ka-lun, Mr HONG Chin-wah, Mr LAI Kwok-wing and Mr NG Hin-wang requested that the substandard building quality and latest progress of rectification works in Ping Yan Court be followed up
22 (CRCS&HC Paper No. 24/2019) 58. Members’ views were summarized as follows:
(1) Some Members reported that they had been receiving requests for assistance and complaints from the neighbourhood and owners in the past two months. They pointed out that the wash-out pipe on the external wall of Ping Yan Court toilet was leaking, even the main wall was cracked. Problems had been emerging. The residents were worried. Many of them were former public housing tenants who spent their life savings in purchasing a residential unit. Members hoped the HD would sympathize with the grassroots and extend the existing one-year defect liability warranty period (defect liability period).
(2) Members pointed out that the design of the public space was particularly problematic. For example, the entrance of Ping Yan Court facing the bus terminus was flooded easily, the external drain-pipe of Kiu Cheong Road was prone to accumulate sewage, and there was no speed bump or pedestrian crossing facilities on the roads inside the housing estate which the people and the cars had to compete for roads. The Member urged the HD to deal with the relevant problems.
(3) Members enquired about the number of requests the HD had received on the rectification works of Ping Yan Court as of last month, what the main items were and the time needed. If the representatives of the HD could not respond immediately, whether it could send a written reply after the meeting.
(4) Members pointed out that the poor building quality of Ping Yan Court could be related to the HD’s assessment system on supervising the performance of the contractors. A Member proposed to further improve the assessment system.
59. Ms LAI Mo-yi gave a consolidated response as follows:
(1) She indicated that the defect liability period of an estate was set in the contract. The HA’s Committee of the Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) had endorsed that the defect liability period of HOS estates was one year from the date of the execution of assignment of individual units on September 2001. In addition, the sales brochure of the Sale of Home Ownership Scheme Flats 2016 for Ping Yan Court clearly stated that the defect liability
23 period was within one year from the date of completion of the sale and purchase of both parties.
(2) She stated that if there were any defects in the residential properties, fittings, finishes related to the Department within the defect liability period, the HA would rectify. In addition, the terms in the agreement for sale and purchase of Ping Yan Court had specified the maintenance for the abovementioned defects. The HA would not stop the rectification measures beyond the defect liability period and would continue to follow up.
(3) She pointed out that the Department had a comprehensive system to supervise the performance of the contractors. It drew on each experience and gave advices to the contractors regarding the fittings and parts based on the feedbacks of the residents to ensure the buyers’ confidence in the future.
60. The Chairman concluded that the Members had relayed the views of the owners on the poor construction quality and unsatisfactory rectification works of Ping Yan Court. Although the representatives of the HA pointed out the defect liability period should respect the spirit of the contract, the HA could exercise its discretion to extend the defect liability period. He hoped the representatives of the HA would report the views of the Members to the Headquarters.
Item 11: Motion rasied by Members: A motion strongly condemning Link Reit for its outrageous car park rentals rise was raised by Mr SZE TO Chun-hin, and seconded by Ms MA Shuk-yin and Ms WONG Wai-ling (CRCS&HC Paper No. 39/2019) 61. The Chairman welcomed the following persons to the meeting:
General Assistant Manager (Public Mr NG Hong-fai Affairs) Link Asset Management Limited Community Relations Manager Mr YIU Hong-seng Link Asset Management Limited Community Relations Manager Ms WONG Wai-fong Link Asset Management Limited
62. Members’ views were summarized as follows:
24 (1) A number of Members said the relevant increase in rents affected the livelihood of the public. Members indicated that most of the properties of the Link Asset Management Limited (HK) (Link Reit) were located in the public housing estates, where most residents were grassroots, and many residents earned a living with their vehicles. Members said that the residents in Tin Shui Wai had to travel long distances to work and the public transport was not convenient. Residents needed to travel by car. For example, a family in Tin Yiu Estate needed to pay a rent of about $3,400 for the parking space, which was higher than the housing rent of $1,500. Coupled with the installment of the vehicle and the expenses of supporting their children, it was hard to make ends meet.
(2) A number of Members opined that the relevant increase in rent was unreasonable. Members pointed out that the Link Reit had significantly increased the rents of its car parks since 1 April 2019, the increase rate was higher than 16%, and the cumulative increase rate in the past four years had exceeded 40%. The relevant increase rate had increased year by year, from 14% in 2018 to 16% this year. For example, Tin Yiu Estate car park hired two staff members at the minimum wage only. The operating cost had not increased substantially and the wages of the staff of Link Reit had no corresponding increase as well. This increase in rent was higher than that in the private housing estates. Therefore, it was unsatisfactory that the Link Reit neglected its social responsibility in order to explain to the shareholders. It was pointed out since there was a shortage of parking spaces in Tin Shui Wai, the Link Reit had already changed its operating mode from fixed parking spaces to floating parking spaces few years ago, and its profits had also increased. However, it seemed that the Link Reit did not take into account of its increase in revenue when deciding the increase rate. Another Member also pointed out that the community projects led by the Link Reit could not offset the increase in rent.
(3) A number of Members requested the Link Reit to freeze the rent next year and improve the relevant services of the car parks. Some Members even hoped the Link Reit would stop the increase in rent in the next few years. Members pointed out that parking spaces of car parks was in short supply, since there was no loss in the operation of the relevant car parks, they hoped the Link Reit would exercise its discretion when handling the increase in rent. It was also pointed out that the coupons of $2,800
25 which the Link Reit gave to the vehicle owners had no practical benefit to the vehicle owners. Members proposed that the Link Reit would cancel the coupons which were about $100 million in total, and used the relevant amount to reduce the increase in rent. It was proposed that the Link Reit should increase the rent in accordance with the inflation rate and only increase 2 to 3%.
(4) Some Members opined that the Link Reit should reduce the relevant rent to alleviate the pressure of living on the grassroots. Some Members indicated that a reduce in rent was feasible and also pointed out that according to the interim results of the Link Reit, it showed that the relevant revenue of car parks was about $989 millions in the past six months. The monthly revenue of each parking space increased by about 9.9% year to year, the profitable space continued to rise.
(5) Some Members said that the car park rentals of the Link Reit were higher than that in public housing estates of the same district. It was unfair to the public housing tenants who needed to rent the parking spaces of the Link Reit. Taking Tin Yat Estate as an example, the car park rental had increased from $1,730 to about $2,000, which was higher than that in the public housing estates in the same district. As a result, the public housing tenants in Tin Yat Estate had to pay higher rente in the same district.
(6) It was opined that the car park rental increase of the Link Reit had led to differences among vehicle owners. For example, some parking spaces at Tin Wah Estate car park had been converted from floating parking spaces to fixed parking spaces, therefore, the vehicles owners competed to obtain them. The notice was posted at a certain place in the car park to announce the changes. However, it was impossible for all the vehicle owners to be informed of the relevant information at the same time. The vehicle owners who were informed later would not be able to obtain the fixed parking spaces. The relevant practices were not in accordance with the principles of openness and fairness.
(7) Since 2015, list companies such as the Link Reit were required to publish the Environmental, Social and Governance Reporting. A Member asked whether the Link Reit had fulfilled its corporate social responsibility and made practical contributions to the public. It was proposed that the Link
26 Reit should provide resaleable coupons and discounts of hourly car park rentals to public housing tenants. It was indicated that the car park was a facility of the shopping mall. It was proposed that the Link Reit could reduce the increase rate of the car park rentals and increase the advertising revenue after the mall was decorated and the value increased, and used the relevant revenue as a contribution to the households.
(8) Members opined that the decision makers should be the target of this motion, including the Chairman of the board and the shareholders. It was opined that the commercial organisations were of a profit-making nature and should not allow the development of the Link Reit in public housing estates. Members hoped to get the attention of the relevant Government senior personnel to motion and help solve the problem of continuous car park rentals rise under the Link Reit.
63. Mr YIU Hong-seng gave a consolidated response as follows:
(1) He indicated that after the inspection of the car park charges, the monthly rents of goods vehicles and motorcycles were adjusted to an increase of 8%.
(2) The Link Reit cared for the persons with disabilities and offered the relevant parties with a 40% discount on monthly and hourly car park rental. The annual subsidy was about $11.7 million.
(3) He said that in the past few years, they had received requests from District Councilors to give back to the public. Therefore, in the beginning of this year, coupons had been given to the public as contribution. The relevant measures involved about $110 million, and would review the relevant measures from time to time to see if there was room for improvements.
(4) The Link Reit had gradually invested $600 million in parking facilities and services.
(5) He also indicated that he would report the proposals and demands of the Members to the relevant personnel of the Link Reit car parks.
64. Mr NG Hong-fai gave a consolidated response as follows:
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(1) The Link Reit had 5,660 parking spaces in Yuen Long District, which accounted for about 14% of the parking spaces in the area.
(2) The new fee which the Link Reit launched on 1 April was lower than the monthly rental of other parking spaces in Yuen Long. Taking Tin Yiu Estate as an example, the new monthly rent was $2,440, which was $490 cheaper than other parking spaces in the same district.
(3) It was reported that there was not only an imbalance between the supply and demand of parking spaces in Tuen Mun and Yuen Long, the ratio of vehicles to parking spaces between 2007 and 2017 had dropped from 1.62 to 1.2. He hoped the District Councilors would report to the Department to increase the parking spaces in various districts.
(4) He said they had received the views of the District Councilors which hoped the Link Reit would give back to the public last year. Therefore, they had put in resources to launch the coupons. In addition, the Link Reit received and followed up 52 cases concerning the complaints and enquiries of the district management in last fiscal year, and would continue to follow up on the management’s response to the views of the Members.
(5) He indicated that he would report the views of the Members to the relevant department of the Link Reit.
65. Members voted on the above motion by raising their hands and by name. Mr WONG Wai-shun, MH, Ms CHAN Mei-lin, Mr CHEUNG Muk-lam, Ms CHIU Sau-han, MH, Mr CHOW Wing-kan, Mr KWOK Keung, MH, Ms LAU Kwai-yung, Mr LEUNG Ming-kin, Ms MA Shuk-yin, Mr MAK Ip-sing, Mr SIU Long-ming, MH, Mr TANG Cheuk-him, Mr TANG Yung-yiu, Ronnie, Ms WONG Wai-ling, Mr WONG Wai-yin, Zachary, Ms YUEN Man-yee, Ms LAI Yuet-kwan, Fennie, Mr TONG Tak- chun, Mr NG Hin-wang, Mr SZE TO Chun-hin, Mr HONG Chin-wah, Mr LAI Kwok- wing and Mr IP Ka-fai supported the above motion.
66. The Chairman announced that the above motion was approved by an absolute majority, 23 voted in favor, 0 voted against and 0 abstaining vote.
67. The Chairman concluded that the Members opined the increase rate of the
28 car park rentals of the Link Reit was too high. It was proposed to freeze or lower the rent. He hoped the representatives of the Link Reit could report the views of the Members to the management of the Link Reit. Although the imbalance between supply and demand of parking spaces was a social phenomenon, the corporates had social responsibilities and should not take advantage of it to make huge profits.
Item 12: Item referred from the Yuen Long District Council to CRCS&HC: Mr CHAN Sze-ching requested a discussion on the issue of non-government organisations collecting application forms for the Caring and Sharing Scheme (“CSS”) on behalf of the Government (CRCS&HC Paper No. 40/2019) 68. The Chairman welcomed Mr Eric TSE, Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data to the meeting.
69. Members’ views were summarized as follows:
(1) It was not excluded that some people collected personal data of the members of the public which was on the forms in the name of collecting application forms for the Caring and Sharing Scheme. Another Member indicated that many organisations were enthusiastic about submitting the above forms for the public. However, there was sensitive personal data on the forms such as photocopies of ID cards and ATM cards. Therefore, it was a concern that some people might take advantage of it to steal personal data of the public.
(2) Some Members said that they would not collect forms from the public on behalf of the Government in order to educate the public not to disclose their personal data to the third party.
(3) A number of Members proposed that the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data (PCPD) should step up publicity and education, including the publication of declarations. The PCPD should also provide relevant clear guidelines on the collection of personal data to the organisations, political parties, District Councilors and the public, state the relevant information such as the proper ways of storing the forms which contained personal data, the recommended time frame for keeping the personal data of the public and whether the public could be contacted with the relevant information. Another Member proposed that the
29 Government should especially step up educating the elders and students to avoid theft of personal data.
(4) Members proposed to step up the supervision of the ways of personal data collection and its purposes, and to enforce and review the penalties to punish the behaviors of personal data theft.
(5) Members pointed out that privacy protection was important and the scammers only need to use personal data such as names, addresses and phone numbers etc., to borrow as others. It was also pointed out that it was necessary to remind the elders not to disclose personal data to third parties.
(6) Members enquired the PCPD about its comment on the Working Family Allowance Office’s (WFAO) arrangements for the staff to collect the forms at the group offices. The relevant practice encouraged the public to submit forms to the groups which may resulted in personal data leakage. The Member opined that this practice of collection of forms was not perfect and pointed out it could reduce the risk of scammers stealing personal data if there was no need to pay an application fee in the future.
(7) It was pointed out that some members of the public did not know how to fill out the relevant forms and needed assistance, therefore some local groups and District Councilors’ office provide assistance to the concerned parties and agreed to be careful to protect personal data.
(8) It was hoped the Police would pay attention to the ways of personal data collection and the purposes of the groups so that the scammers could not take advantage of it.
70. Mr Eric TSE gave a consolidated response as follows:
(1) He respected that some District Councilors chose not to collect the relevant forms to protect the personal data of the public, but also understood that some members of the public needed assistance in filling out the forms.
(2) The “Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance” (“the Ordinance”) clearly stated that before any group or person collected personal information, it should indicate its purposes to the public. If any group did not obtain the public’s
30 consent in advance but used the personal data of the public for other purposes, the relevant practice violated the principle of data protection of “the Ordinance”.
(3) During the launch of the Caring and Sharing Scheme, many media enquired about the issues of personal privacy protection. The PCPD took the opportunity and publicize through the media. It reminded the members of the public to carefully protect their personal data, pay attention to the credibility of the data collecting groups and indicate to the relevant groups that their personal data could only be used for applying the above scheme.
(4) He pointed out that the PCPD had printed flyers of the Guidance on Election Activities for Candidates, Government Departments, Public Opinion Research Organisations and Members of the Public, and listed the rights and responsibilities of different stakeholders and indicated that the PCPD would step up publicity of privacy protection.
(5) The PCPD participated in the worldwide Data Privacy Week every year and organised activities, including the promotion of personal data protection for the elderly to beware of deception at elderly centres.
(6) The power of the PCPD was conferred by the law and the Legco passed “the Ordinance” in 1995. If any person or group violated the relevant principles of data protection, the PCPD could issue enforcement notices to the concerned party to remedy the contravention. If the concerned person or group still disregarded the dissuasion, the PCPD could request the Police to follow up, investigate and enforce the law.
(7) If a complaint was received, the PCPD would investigate the case. He stressed that if the relevant case involved criminal offences, such as the use of personal data for illegal purposes that caused financial losses to the litigant, fraud etc., the Hong Kong Police Force had the responsibility to investigate.
(8) Due to the recent occurrence of a number of major personal data breaches, the PCPD was now reviewing “the Ordinance” and would make proposals to the Government within a short period of time.
(9) He hoped the District Councilors would assistant in promoting relevant
31 information of personal privacy protection in their respective constituencies.
71. The Chairman concluded that the Members were concerned about personal privacy protection, and hoped the PCPD would step up publicity and education, and review the relevant ordinance to strength protection of the public’s privacy.
Item 13: Questions raised by Members: (1) Mr WONG Wai-shun, MH urged the authorities to follow up on the issue of household odour from the use of marine water for toilet flushing (CRCS&HC Paper No. 41/2019) 72. The Chairman welcomed the following people to the meeting:
Water Supplies Department Engineer/New Mr NG Ki-yiu Territories West Region （Headworks 3） Water Supplies Department Engineer/New Mr KAN Ka-man Territories West Region （ Customer Services）Inspection
73. Members’ views were summarized as follows:
(1) As the reply from the Water Supplies Department (WSD) mentioned that it takes time to implement the improvement proposal (e.g. research reports and laying water mains), Members suggested adjusting the way of handling water quality after the collection of seawater, in order to improve the water quality of flushing water in short term;
(2) Members urged the WSD to improve the way of handling the water quality of seawater for flushing, such as deodorization procedures;
(3) Members enquired about the criteria used by the WSD to set the amount of chlorine gas in flushing water; and
(4) Members enquired about the frequency of the checking and the monitoring of flushing water by the Department and as the water quality of seawater changes with the water flow, Members enquired whether the Department will respond immediately to the changes of water quality for the purpose of monitoring.
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74. Mr NG Ki-yiu gave a consolidated response as follows:
(1) The seawater for flushing in Yuen Long district is supplied by Lok On Pai Salt Water Pumping Station. Large impurities are first removed from seawater through strainers at the intakes, then the seawater will be disinfected with chlorine gas;
(2) The WSD will measure the residual chlorine and pH of seawater in the pumping station in real time to monitor the water quality of the water supply;
(3) The WSD will regularly extract samples of flushing water from Lok On Pai Salt Water Pumping Station and salt water pumping stations in Tin Shui Wai district to ensure the water quality meets the standard. The WSD has added a flushing water sample extraction point in the urban area of Yuen Long for regular laboratory testing; and
(4) The sample of the flushing water extracted in Yuen Long district by the WSD recently met the related water quality standard.
[The meeting was temporarily chaired by the Vice-Chairman]
75. The Vice Chairman concluded by urging the representatives from the Water Supplies Department and Members to follow up on the water quality of seawater in the area together.
(2) Mr SZE TO Chun-hin, Mr KWOK Keung, MH, Mr SIU Long-ming, MH, Ms WONG Wai-ling, Ms MA Shuk-yin, Mr YU Chung-leung and Mr TONG Tak-chun requested a discussion on widening the scope of application of healthcare vouchers (CRCS&HC Paper No. 42/2019) (3) Mr SZE TO Chun-hin, Mr KWOK Keung, MH, Mr SIU Long-ming, MH, Ms WONG Wai-ling, Ms MA Shuk-yin, Mr YU Chung-leung and Mr TONG Tak-chun requested the introduction of healthcare vouchers for children (CRCS&HC Paper No. 43/2019) (4) Ms CHIU Sau-han, MH and Ms LAI Yuet-kwan, Fennie requested
33 the Government to enhance the policy of welfare benefits for the elderly by “allowing married couples to share their healthcare voucher accounts” (CRCS&HC Paper No. 46/2019) 76. The Vice Chairman stated that the above three agenda items are all related to Health Care Vouchers and therefore should be discussed together. The Vice Chairperson welcomed Assistant Secretary for Food & Health（Health）6A Miss TSE Nga-lap, Lilian to the meeting.
[The meeting resumed to be chaired by the Chairman]
77. Members’ views were summarized as follows:
(1) Many Members proposed setting up Health Care Vouchers for children to allow them to seek medical treatments at private hospitals or clinics with reference to the operation mode of the Elderly Health Care Vouchers. This can help alleviate the financial burden of young families and encourage childbearing. Members pointed out that influenza viruses are getting more and more serious, which increase the children’s risks of suffering from influenza. The cost of each consultation for children ranges from $300 to $700, resulting in financial burden for families. Also, drugs from government clinics are deemed to be less effective than those from private clinics, and the waiting time at public hospitals is comparatively longer which in return may worsen the case. Some other Members pointed out that the consultation fees at night at private hospitals and clinics are expensive. Parents may take their children to the Accident and Emergency Department for consultation in order to reduce financial pressure. Besides, some patients may turn from government medical organizations to private hospitals or clinics for consultation according to their conditions and needs. Some Members stated that children’s illness would affect children’s growth and development. Some parents are unwilling to take their children with influenza to the Accident and Emergency Department at public hospitals to wait for consultation, just because they are worried that they will miss the best timing to treat. Members deemed that the establishment of Health Care Vouchers for children could help reduce parents’ concern on taking their children to seek consultation at private hospitals or clinics;
(2) Some Members indicated that if Health Care Vouchers for children are
34 set up, kids aged 3 to 6 should be subsidized to seek medical treatment at private hospitals or clinics while some Members suggested that the vouchers should subsidize children from a few months old to 6 years old or below, and it would be even better to subsidize children from a few months old to 11 years old or below;
(3) A number of Members hoped to expand the applicable scope of the Elderly Health Care Vouchers and consider including daily medical testing supplies and medical consumables in the scope to benefit more elders. Examples are allowing chronic patients to apply Health Care Vouchers to buy medical consumables, such as blood glucose test strips and blood pressure meters. They also suggested that family doctors can perform body check for the elderly to prove that the patient has chronic disease and will need to use such products frequently. Some Members pointed out that elderly chronic patients need regular follow-up, so the Health Care Vouchers are only enough to pay for two to three consultations;
(4) They indicated that from cost and benefit analysis, expending the applicable scope of the Elderly Health Care Vouchers can reduce the burden of government hospitals and ease the traffic of public hospitals and clinics. They pointed out that the consultation fee of general outpatient consultation at government public hospitals is $180 while the government has to subsidize around $1,000 for each patient per consultation. The outpatient consultation fee at the general clinic of the Department of Health is $50 while the government has to subsidize around $500 for each patient;
(5) They proposed to add hearing adds into the applicable scope of the Health Care Vouchers. Some Members mentioned that it is unreasonable that the elderly could use the Health Care Vouchers to buy ordinary glasses or sunglasses while could not use the Vouchers to buy hearing aids. They pointed out the Hong Kong Society of Audiology was accepted by the Department of Health as a professional medical group last year. Related professionals should be able to provide proofs to the elders in need for their purchase of hearing aids. Some other Members suggested that the Health Care Vouchers could be used to subsidize the elderly to purchase hearing aid with better quality. The reason is the cheaper hearing aids have poorer quality which may affect hearing of the
35 elderly;
(6) Some Members held reservation for expanding the applicable scope of the Health Care Vouchers. Their concern was that if the applicable scope is expanded, people with bad intention may mislead the elderly, resulting in the abuse of Health Care Vouchers. Some Members opined that the Scheme should be fully reviewed to improve the current situation of Health Care Vouchers abuse. They pointed out that many elders used the Health Care Vouchers to purchase sunglasses, or even two glasses with the same degree. On the other hand, the proportion of the use of Health Care Vouchers on body check services was rather low. They suggested that part of the Vouchers should be restricted to body check services only with an expiry date in order to encourage the elderly to perform body check. They pointed out that the purpose of the Elderly Health Care Voucher Scheme was to strike a balance on the demand of medical services between public and private sectors. They opined that the Scheme could not serve the mentioned purpose. As the Elderly Health Care Voucher Scheme has launched for 10 years and the prices of medical services have changed, such as the outpatient cost of private clinic has increased from around $100 to $500, Members suggested that a review on the Scheme is needed;
(7) Members mentioned that many elders signed up to express their support in sharing of Health Care Vouchers among couples and urge the government to consider such a proposal. Besides, some Members mentioned that elderly couples are required to fill in application forms together to use their Health Care Vouchers. Therefore, they supported that couples should be allowed to share their Heath Care Vouchers according to their health conditions; and
(8) Members proposed the government to drive family medicine which allows the family doctor to assess the health conditions of all family members, through Health Care Vouchers.
78. Miss TSE Nga-lap, Lilian gave a consolidated response as follows:
(1) The Food and Health Bureau (FHB) launched the Elderly Health Care Voucher Scheme in 2009, aiming to provide financial incentives for elders to choose suitable primary care services in their local communities;
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(2) The FHB expects to enhance the Elderly Health Care Voucher Scheme to allow greater flexibility for the elderly to choose different private primary care services, including preventive care services. As announced in the 2018 and 2019 budget, each eligible elder shall receive an additional voucher amount of $1,000 on a one-off basis. Starting from this year, the accumulation limit of the vouchers will be increased to $8,000;
(3) The FHB is committed to allocate resources on the fostering and promotion of children’s medical services via the Department of Health and the Hospital Authority; and
(4) Will take into consideration the opinions from Members when reviewing further, as well as enhancing the Elderly Health Care Voucher Scheme in future.
79. The Chairman concluded by urging the representative from the FHB to voice out the opinions from the Members to the FHB to enhance the Elderly Health Care Voucher Scheme.
(5) Mr SHUM Ho-kit, JP, Ms YUEN Man-yee and Mr LEUNG Ming- kin requested the Government to strengthen prevention and control measures for measles with a view to containing its spread (CRCS&HC Paper No. 45/2019) (6) Mr MAK Ip-sing, Ms CHAN Mei-lin, Mr WONG Wai-yin, Zachary, Mr TO Ka-lun, Mr HONG Chin-wah, Mr NG Hin-wang and Mr LAI Kwok-wing requested a discussion on enquiries about the outbreak of endemic measles (CRCS&HC Paper No. 46/2019) 80. The Chairman stated that the above two issues were both related to the measles epidemic hence would be discussed together. He also welcomed the attendance of Dr LOH Lai-ting, Taron, Senior Medicine & Health Officer (Community Liaison)1, Department of Health.
81. Members’ views were summarized as follows:
(1) Members indicated that although the situation had been controlled since the outbreak of measles, the government should strengthen risk
37 management on this matter. Due to the short incubation period of measles, it was feared that it might be evolved as an endemic disease;·
(2) It was opined that the preventive measures promoted by the government, such as washing hands and wearing masks, were all simply some stopgap measures. It was hoped that the Department of Health would strengthen the monitoring and preventive measures;
(3) It was stated that the Government had quickly determined the source of the outbreak as the Hong Kong International Airport, but it was not able to carry out a wider vaccination within the airport. As a result, there were airport staff who had to queue up several times in futile; It was believed that there were inadequacies in government’s dealings in this matter, it was hence recommended that the government to focus on comprehensive vaccination at the airport, and to improve on information transparency so that the public could be well-informed about the vaccination arrangements; and
(4) It was hoped that the government would vaccinate employees at ports of entry and exit, including airports constantly, and would charge with discretion in order to prevent problems.
82. Dr LOH Lai-ting, Taron gave a consolidated response as follows:
(1) Measles was a highly contagious disease caused by viruses. It was still an endemic disease in many parts of the world, and with much higher incidence than that of Hong Kong. Measles outbreaks had also occurred in various parts of the world including Europe and the United States in recent months. As of early May, there were 67 cases in Hong Kong, of which 29 involved the Hong Kong International Airport staff;
(2) Hong Kong had a comprehensive measles reporting system. Epidemiological and laboratory monitoring were also effective. Should a case or an outbreak occurred, it could help to respond quickly. The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health would conduct an epidemiological investigation immediately after receiving the report of measles cases, and notify the relevant medical institutions and institutions to conduct follow-up investigations and control measures; and also to track the contact persons associated with the
38 patients, provide them with relevant health advices and medical supervision;
(3) In response to the recent outbreak of measles cases at the Hong Kong International Airport, the CHP had implemented a number of prevention and control measures at the airport, including the establishment of a vaccination station for the purpose of vaccinating measles at the airport and provided vaccinations for the target group of people who were not immune to measles, and provide measles serology testing services to Airport staff who were born in or after 1967 to identify individuals who were in need of measles vaccination;
(4) The Department of Health had been implementing health surveillance measures at various ports, including the airport, harbours and land routes, and was equipped with infrared cameras to monitor the temperature of inbound travelers;
(5) In view of the current tight supply of measles vaccines in the world, priority was given to three groups of people at this stage, including children under the Permanent “Children's Immunization Programme”, airport staff and Hospital Authority medical personnel.
(6) In addition, the Scientific Committee on Vaccine Preventable Diseases under the CHP also reviewed the relevant epidemiological situation, overseas experiences and scientific evidence in response to the World Health Organization reports and recommendations on measles vaccination. It was suggested that the vaccination time for second shot of “MMRV Measles, mumps, rubella and varicella” vaccine to be brought up earlier from the first grade of primary school to 18 months of age to improve the immunity of local children;
(7) Recently, the measles cases in Southeast Asian countries (especially in the Philippines) had risen. In consideration of the fact that many families in Hong Kong employed foreign domestic helpers, the CHP had sent letters to all local employment agencies in Hong Kong to suggest that the foreign domestic helpers who are back from their hometown to be vaccinated prior to their returns. Earlier, the Secretary for Food and Health and the Commissioner for Labour had also made the similar appeals to the Philippine consular and all local employment agencies;
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(8) The Department of Health was committed to enhance the protection of measles in Hong Kong through prevention and control measures, public education as well as the child immunization programmes.
83. The Chairman concluded that the members raised concerns about the measles epidemic, the Government's shortcomings in handling the epidemic and the corresponding recommendations, and wished that the representatives of the Department of Health would report to the Department to strengthen the monitoring and epidemic prevention measures and increase the supply of vaccines.
(7) Mr SZE TO Chun-hin, Ms MA Shuk-yin, Mr KWOK Keung, MH, Mr SIU Long-ming, MH, Ms WONG Wai-ling, Mr YU Chung-leung and Mr TONG Tak-chun requested that community halls be refurbished with equipment upgrades (CRCS&HC Paper No. 47/2019) 84. Members’ views were summarized as follows:
(1) Members reported that the facilities at the Tin Yiu Community Centre, Tin Shui Community Centre and the Long Ping Community Hall were dilapidated. For example, the projector was not equipped with HDMI cable, so it was hoped that the District office would follow up and refurbish the equipment;
(2) Earlier on when the representatives of the Yuen Long District Office (the Home Affairs Department) visited the Tin Yiu Community Centre, it was found that the noise from the centre would cause nuisance. It was hoped that the Home Affairs Department would carry out maintenance works, such as enhancing sound insulation; and
(3) Some members enquired about the guidelines for discussion related to the community halls to be included in the CRCS&HC or the District Facilities Management Committee (DFMC).
85. Ms OR Lai-kum, Christina indicated that she would reflect the opinions of the members to the person in charge of the community hall matters in Home Affairs Office.
40 86. The Chairman responded that many topics could be discussed at the CRCS&HC or DFMC including the cultural and recreational facilities and activities. Whether the issue would be included in the DFMC discussion or not was to be decided on the basis of the issues contents. It was also opined that the issue could be discussed at the CRCS&HC. It was pointed out that the Chairman of the Community Hall and Community Centre Facilities Management Working Group also attended the meeting of the CRCS&HC. The Chairman invited the Home Affairs Department to consider additional resources for the recommendations of the working group's research members.
(Post-meeting remarks: The Home Affairs Department had added the HDMI cable to various community centers /halls in the district since April this year to be loaned by those who utilized the venue. The Home Affairs Department would examine whether it was necessary to replace the existing or add in new equipment based on the actual use of the equipment and the views of the users of the venue. The recommendations would be submitted to the Yuen Long District Community Hall and the Community Centre Facilities Management Working Group for consideration. Should the proposal obtained the support from the working group, the funding application with the DFMC would be arranged according to the requirement. Regarding to the noise problem at the Tin Yiu Community Centre, the Home Affairs Department had immediately instructed the frontline staff to step up their patrols during noisy situation of the organization activities. It had also conducted multiple on-site inspections and discussed feasible improvement measures with the Architectural Services Department and the Housing Department separately.)
(8) Mr WONG Wai-yin, Zachary, Mr MAK Ip-sing, Ms CHAN Mei-lin, Mr TO Ka-lun, Mr HONG Chin-wah, Mr LAI Kwok-wing and Mr NG Hin-wang suggested the Housing Department set rules for how many cleaning workers and security guards should be hired for public housing estates (CRCS&HC Paper No. 48/2019) 87. Members’ views were summarized as follows,
(1) An inquiry was made by Members as investigating the accurate numbers of the ratio of estate residents between cleaners and securities. Members requested the internal guidance of property management company which given by Housing Department, should be revealed to the residents. Therefore, the residents would know the allocation of labour, which they could supervise the workers. No data of the ratio of estate residents between cleaners and securities were provided in all the public estate of
41 Yuen Long and Tin Shui Wai. Members considered that if no related data, they could not supervise the contractor effectively do or do not according the contract to employ workers;
(2) Members pointed out that the cleaners and securities are working in poor conditions, such as long working hours, low pay and vile working environment. Since lack of employees and employees are exhausted, fair and reasonable treatment were advocated by members, such as mealtime with paid;
(3) Members opined that the tendering system of outsource service should be inspected and the scoring criteria should be revealed with specific examples, for example, would the score of technical aspects be added if the contractor provide wage in mealtime;
(4) A formal tender was requested to Housing Department, as reference, which kept in secretariat;
(5) As members expressed that because of no paid mealtime, cleaners are forced to have their meal in the washroom which the situation is not acceptable. Furthermore, since the average age of the cleaners are older than 60, which they have no ability to consult the work treatment with the contractor, therefore, members considered the workers are exploited by the tender system;
(6) Moreover, members concerned about the rights and interests of the labour, the contractor would undertake legal liability if they did not purchase the labour insurance and make MPF contributions for the employees;
(7) Since members expressed that before some of the conditions of the tender system were not yet approved in the Legislative Council, while Tropical Cyclone Warning Signal No.8 or above were issued, some of the employees of public estates which can only gain four more dollars per hour. While the typhoon “Mangkhut” was affecting Hong Kong, some of the securities were on duty from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., which showed their work professional. However, the management companies were refused to pay the extra salary, which the members expected the regulations of extra salary of the working days which issued Tropical
42 Cyclone Warning would be indicated by the Housing Department in the tender; and
(8) Pointed out that the employees would suffer loss because of the “offsetting” arrangement under the MPF Scheme which members recommended that the Government should consider to abolish the offsetting arrangement of tender contract.
88. Ms Lai Mo-yi stated that she will report the considerations of members to the headquarter of Housing Department, so to review and arrange following details
89. The Chairman concluded that the considerations are reasonable which expected the HD representatives would express the opinions to the headquarter, so to enhance the indemnification of low-class employees, their work efficiency and the estates management. Chairman requested the Housing Department representatives to submit a formal tender of clean service to secretariat.
(Post-meeting remarks: The Housing Department submitted a printed document of formal tender of clean service on 30th May, which stored in secretariat as for the members’ reference.)
(9) Ms MA Shuk-yin, Mr SZE TO Chun-hin, Mr KWOK Keung, MH, Mr SIU Long-ming, MH, Ms WONG Wai-ling, Mr YU Chung-leung and Mr TONG Tak-chun requested the Housing Department to conduct periodic inspections of water mains at older public housing estates (CRCS&HC Paper No. 49/2019) (10) Mr TANG Cheuk-him, Mr YIU Kwok-wai and Ms LAU Kwai-yung requested a review of the mechanism for claiming compensation for losses caused by flooding due to water mains burst inside public rental housing flats (CRCS&HC Paper No. 50/2019) 90. The Chairman stated that the topic of the above two issues were similar they were deliberately combined for discussion.
91. Members’ views were summarized as follows:
(1) Reported that previously, salt water mains bursts happened in some flats in Tin Yiu Estate because of delay of repair and maintenance works. It
43 led to flooding of the opposite flats and the lower flats and caused property damage. It was suggested that the Housing Department should conduct regular watermains inspections for the estate frequently; and
(2) Stated that current mechanism for compensation is unjustified. It needs to conduct a comprehensive review. It is indicated that several cases of water mains bursts in Tin Yiu Estate were defined as “accidents” by loss adjuster. It is not the responsibility for the Housing Department. The relevant compensation claims are not success and caused great losses to the residences. State that Housing Department act as the provider of facilities and the majority owner and it is the responsibility for the Housing Department to conduct repair and follow-up work to residences.
92. Ms LAI Mo-yi summarized the response as follows:
(1) Stated that after communicating with the Estate Manager, noted that previously, the incident of salt water mains bursts happened in the beginning of the inspection. The salt water mains bursts happened immediately and relevant personnel have replaced the burst water pipe immediately. If residents had informed Housing Department at the earliest possible time, the accident would have been avoided.
(2) Pointed out that Housing Department would conduct a comprehensive inspection for the housing estates that have been in existence for 10 years. If the residences noticed that there was any problem, they should inform Housing Department immediately. After receiving the notifications from the residents, the staff of the Department will visit the residence and take photos immediately for claiming from insurance companies easily; and
(3) Pointed out that for compensation matters, the Department cannot assess the accident on its own compensation. It is required to hand over the case to insurance company. The insurance company, as a third party, will decide whether the accident was caused by the negligence of the Housing Department and offer reasonable compensation. If the residents have any objection, they can provide evidence to the insurance company and provide assistance to the decision of loss adjuster.
93. The Chairman concluded that it is the responsibility of the Housing Department, the majority owner, for maintaining public pipes. If the bursting of pipes
44 causes losses to the residents, it would be the responsibility of the Housing Department. The Department has to follow the mechanism for compensation and hand over the case to loss adjuster. The loss adjuster may be biased in favour of the insurance company. It was hoped that the Housing Department would guarantee the availability of facilities.
(11) Mr TONG Tak-chun, Mr KWOK Keung, MH, Mr SIU Long-ming, MH, Ms WONG Wai-ling, Mr YU Chung-leung and Mr SZE TO Chun-hin, requested the Housing Department to improve the design of the new laundry racks and allow residents to keep the old laundry racks (CRCS&HC Paper No. 51/2019) 94. Members’ views were summarized as follows:
(1) A Member indicated that the new laundry racks were not practical. For example, the installation height was not sufficient for drying longer clothes. The Member relayed that many residents opined that the new laundry racks were not convenient. Therefore, the Member asked whether the households could retain the original laundry racks if the new laundry racks had not been installed.
(2) A Member reported that the units in trident block 5 of Tin Yiu Estate had removed the three joss sticks laundry pole holders. However, the newly installed laundry racks were too small and unable to dry too much clothes. The Member proposed to improve the relevant design and provide an improvement plan for the housing estates where the new laundry racks had been installed. After which, installation would be carried out for the remaining housing estates.
(3) A Member agreed that the HD should check the laundry racks which the residents wished to retain for safety reasons and proposed to exercise its discretion to retain the existing laundry racks if they met the safety standards.
(4) A Member pointed out that the HD did not notify the households who wished to retain the laundry racks that the Department might remove the existing laundry racks during the safety inspection and asked whether the households could retain the existing laundry racks if the new laundry racks had not been installed.
45 (5) A Member reported that the HD did not consult before the installing laundry racks in TPS estates such as Long Ping Estate etc.
95. Ms LAI Mo-yi gave a consolidated response as follows:
(1) She said that the HD decided to retain the double-pole design during the optimization of laundry racks to provide more spaces for the residents to dry their clothes. The longer clothes could also be dried by the two poles. The HD opined that the thickness of the laundry pole was suitable. If the residents thought it was not strong enough to hold the hangers, they could consider buying fixing clamps. In addition, the laundry racks were installed below to the window to prevent colliding the laundry racks when the residents opened the windows. For safety reasons, the laundry racks could not be more than 420 mm away from the window to prevent the residents from falling from height when hanging clothes. Since the old laundry racks were shorter, the Department decided to change the fixed window into a casement window, so that the length of the laundry racks could extend up to 500 mm outside the window.
(2) She indicated that the Department had introduced and consulted Members of the Estate Management Advisory Committee before installing the laundry racks at each public housing. The relevant Members generally agreed with the optimization scheme.
(3) She indicated that the Department would send staff to explain to the residents the optimization plan of the laundry racks. If the residents hoped to retain the original laundry racks, the relevant laundry racks would not be removed.
The Chairman concluded that the new laundry racks had an overall negative review and urged the representatives of the HD to report the views of the Members to the department responsible for the design and works in Headquarters to optimize its design.
Item 14: Any other business Issues regarding the publication of the District Council emblem (CRCS&HC Paper No. 52/2019) 96. Members unanimously agreed that the YLDC would become the supporting organisation of the Sport for all Day in 2019.
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97. There being no other business, the meeting ended at 7:05pm.
Yuen Long District Council Secretariat June 2019
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