Minutes of the 2nd Meeting of the 5th Term Kowloon City District Council Date: 17 March 2016 (Thursday) Time: 2:30 p.m. Venue: Conference Room, Kowloon City District Office Present: Chairman: Mr PUN Kwok-wah Vice-chairman: Mr CHO Wui-hung Members: Dr KWONG Po-yin Miss LEUNG Yuen-ting Dr the Hon LEUNG Mei-fun, Priscilla, SBS, JP (Left at 5:00 p.m.) Ir Dr CHENG Lee-ming Mr NG Fan-kam, Tony Mr LO Chiu-kit (Left at 5:00 p.m.) Mr TING Kin-wa Mr LAM Tak-shing Mr LAM Pok, Jimmy Mr YUE Chee-wing, Admond Mr YEUNG Chun-yu, Ronald Mr HE Huahan Mr YANG Wing-kit Mr KWAN Ho-yeung, Roger Ir CHEUNG Yan-hong, MH Mr LAI Kwong-wai The Hon LEE Wai-king, Starry, JP Mr SIU Leong-sing Mr LUK King-kwong Mr SIU Tin-hung, Terence Mr NG Po-keung Secretary: Miss LAM Yuk-ying, Alletta Senior Executive Officer (District Council), Kowloon City District Office Absent: Mr HO Hin-ming, MH In Attendance: Mr TSUI Yiu-leung, William, JP District Officer (Kowloon City) Miss CHONG Tan-na, Tanna Assistant District Officer (Kowloon City) Ms CHIU Kam-chun, Jamie Senior Liaison Officer (Special Duties & Ho Man Tin), Kowloon City District Office Ms IP Yuk-mei, Eunice Senior Liaison Officer (District Liaison), Kowloon City District Office Mr WONG Kam-keung, Eric Senior Liaison Officer (Building Management), Kowloon City District Office Ms KWOK Lai-kuen, Eva Senior Executive Officer (District Management), Kowloon City District Office - 2 - Ms CHEUNG Ching, Jocelyn District Commander (Kowloon City), Hong Kong Police Force Mr Paul David EDMISTON Divisional Commander (Ngau Tau Kok), Hong Kong Police Force Miss TANG Man-wah, Sylvia Chief Leisure Manager (Kowloon), Leisure and Cultural Services Department Mr CHENG Wing-fai, Ronny District Environmental Hygiene Superintendent (Kowloon City), Food and Environmental Hygiene Department Mr SZETO Chi-wah, Deacons Senior Transport Officer/Kowloon City, Transport Department Mr YIM Ka-ho Senior Property Service Manager/Kowloon West and Hong Kong, Housing Department Mr MA Hon-ngai, Harry Chief Engineer/Kowloon 3 (Kowloon), Civil Engineering and Development Department Attendance by Invitation: Items 2-3: Mr TO Shui-chi Chief School Development Officer (Kowloon City), Education Bureau Items 6-7: Ms CHEUNG Ching, Jocelyn District Commander (Kowloon City), Hong Kong Police Force Mr IP Siu-keung, Bryan Assistant Principal Immigration Officer (Removal Assessment and Litigation), Immigration Department Mr LEUNG Chiu-pun Chief Immigration Officer (Removal Assessment), Immigration Department Item 8: Mr YIM Ka-ho Senior Property Service Manager/Kowloon West and Hong Kong, Housing Department ＊ ＊ ＊ The Chairman welcomed Members, representatives of government departments and observers to the meeting of the Kowloon City District Council (KCDC). As regards the standing departmental representatives, Mr SZETO Chi-wah, Deacons, Senior Transport Officer/Kowloon City of the Transport Department (TD) was attending the meeting on behalf of Mr LEE Man-ho, Chief Transport Officer/Housing Project of the TD on an interim basis; and Mr Paul David EDMISTON had replaced Ms IP Ka-yee as Divisional Commander (Ngau Tau Kok) of the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF). In addition, Miss CHONG Tan-na, Tanna had taken over the post of Assistant District Officer (Kowloon City) from Mr YIM Kwan-lok, Henry, who had been posted out. 2. Before going into the agenda items, the Chairman reminded Members to declare interests in accordance with the KCDC Standing Orders. He also said that when the number of Members present at the meeting was less than 12, he would adjourn the meeting according to Order 12(1) of the Standing Orders. Lastly, he reminded attendees to turn off the ringers on their mobile phones or to switch them to vibration mode, and to remain silent during the - 3 - meeting to avoid causing disturbances to the meeting. Confirmation of Minutes of the 1st Meeting of the KCDC 3. The Chairman declared that the minutes of the first meeting was confirmed without amendment. Strong Call for Addressing the Inadequacy of School Places in Kai Tak Development Area (KCDC Paper No. 10/16) 4. The Chairman welcomed Mr TO Shui-chi, Chief School Development Officer (Kowloon City) of the Education Bureau (EDB) to the meeting to discuss the issue. The Secretariat had sent the relevant written response, namely Tabled Paper No. 1, to Members for perusal before the meeting. He enquired of the representative of the Members submitting the paper if he had anything to add. 5. Mr HE Huahan was deeply disappointed by the EDB as it failed in its written response to address the enquiries raised in the paper. He said that relevant enquiries had already been made during the meeting with the Secretary for Education earlier. He pointed out that as a number of property developments in the Kai Tak Development Area were going to be completed and ready for moving in successively, the population in the area would reach 150 000. However, the EDB had yet to determine the sponsoring bodies of the remaining two primary schools and one secondary school in the Kai Tak Development Area. He was thus worried that the inadequacy of primary and secondary school places in the area would further worsen by then. In view of this, he requested the EDB to disclose when the sponsoring bodies of the two primary schools and one secondary school could be announced, and the construction schedule of the school premises concerned. 6. Mr TO Shui-chi, Chief School Development Officer (Kowloon City) of the EDB responded that the EDB had in its written response given a brief account of the construction progress of the school premises and the reprovisioning arrangements regarding the two primary schools and one secondary school in Kai Ching Estate and Tak Long Estate. He said that he did not have the information on the planning and works progress of other school sites in the Kai Tak Development Area for the time being, he would report on the situation at the next meeting. Nevertheless, he explained that in general, the EDB would only conduct school allocation exercises and invite sponsoring bodies to submit applications after school sites were confirmed. Therefore, the EDB would not have the information of the sponsoring bodies of school premises until the advanced planning stage. 7. After consulting Members, the Chairman decided that the item be further discussed at the next meeting, and he hoped that the EDB would provide a more detailed response then. Strong Call for Increasing the Number of Whole-day Kindergarten School Places (KCDC Paper No. 11/16) 8. The Chairman said that the Secretariat had sent the written response from the EDB, namely Tabled Paper No. 2, to Members for perusal before the meeting. He enquired of the representative of the Members submitting the paper if she had anything to add. - 4 - 9. Miss LEUNG Yuen-ting said that currently, the population in the Kai Tak Development Area was approaching 30 000. Apart from the lack of whole-day kindergarten places, there was also a severe shortage of after-school care and home-based carer services in the area. Many parents therefore had to give up working. She suggested that the two kindergartens in the area consider converting some of their school places to whole-day ones, and that non-governmental organisations be encouraged to provide more after-school care services so that the potential of women workforce could be unleashed. 10. Mr TO of the EDB indicated that kindergartens in Hong Kong were currently operated on an independent and private basis. They could take into account the actual situation of the area and decide whether to offer whole-day, half-day or long whole-day school places flexibly. Nevertheless, the EDB had examined with one of the kindergartens in the area the feasibility of offering whole-day classes, and found that issues like manpower and lunch arrangements had to be resolved first. In response to the Chairman’s enquiry about whether measures would be implemented to encourage and assist private kindergartens to enhance early childhood education services, Mr TO said that the Government had been attaching great importance to kindergarten education, and that the Chief Executive (CE) had emphasised in the Policy Address that free quality kindergarten education would be provided from the 2017/18 school year with a view to raising the quality of education. Request for Regulating Unscrupulous Sales Methods of Shops in Hung Hom District (KCDC Paper No. 12/16) 11. The Chairman said that the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau (CEDB) and the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong (TIC) were unable to send representatives to attend the meeting. The Secretariat had consolidated the written responses from the CEDB and the TIC into Tabled Paper No. 3 which had been sent to Members for perusal before the meeting. He enquired of the Member submitting the paper if he had anything to add. 12. Ir CHEUNG Yan-hong said that the Hung Hom Area Committee had discussed an incident happened four months ago, in which a tourist died after being attacked in a shopping dispute in a jewellery shop in Man Lok Street. The Hung Hom Area Committee had resolved that the issue be taken to the KCDC for discussion. However, owing to the fact that the number of tour groups had dropped drastically recently, the proposal of curbing “zero fee” tour at source was no longer an issue of concern. The TIC said that it had been distributing leaflets and posting posters at shopping spots for tour groups to educate tourists that shopping was not compulsory. The TIC had also reminded the Customs and Excise Department and the Police to take stringent enforcement actions against unlawful acts such as the use of unscrupulous sales methods.