(Translation) Minutes of the Fourth Meeting of the Community Affairs Committee (2020) of the Kwai Tsing District Council Date and Time: 21 October 2020 10:00 a.m. – 1:32 p.m. 23 October 2020 10:00 a.m. – 12:32 p.m. Venue: K&T DO Conference Room Attendee Time of Arrival Time of Departure Mr NG Kim-sing (Chairman) Start of Meeting End of Meeting Miss WONG Pit-man (Vice-chairman) 21 October 2020 End of Meeting 10:06 a.m. Mr CHEUNG Kwan-kiu, Steve Start of Meeting End of Meeting Mr CHOW Wai-hung, Rayman 23 October 2020 End of Meeting 10:00 a.m. Mr HON Chun-yin 21 October 2020 End of Meeting 10:17 a.m. Mr HUI Kei-cheung 21 October 2020 21 October 2020 10:04 a.m. 1:32 p.m. Miss KWOK Fu-yung 21 October 2020 21 October 2020 10:06 a.m. 1:03 p.m. Mr KWOK Tsz-kin 21 October 2020 21 October 2020 10:52 a.m. 12:42 p.m. Mr LAM Siu-fai Start of Meeting 21 October 2020 12:33 p.m. Mr LAU Chi-kit Start of Meeting End of Meeting Ms LAU Kwai-mui Start of Meeting 21 October 2020 12:33 p.m. Mr LEUNG Chi-shing 23 October 2020 23 October 2020 10:15 a.m. 11:39 a.m. Miss LEUNG Ching-shan Start of Meeting 23 October 2020 10:40 a.m. Ms LEUNG Kar-ming Start of Meeting 21 October 2020 1:03 p.m. Mr LEUNG Kam-wai Start of Meeting End of Meeting Mr LEUNG Kwok-wah Start of Meeting 23 October 2020 11:11 a.m. Mr LEUNG Wing-kuen 21 October 2020 End of Meeting 10:06 a.m. The Hon. LEUNG Yiu-chung 21 October 2020 21 October 2020 10:06 a.m. 10:48 a.m. Miss LO Yuen-ting Start of Meeting 21 October 2020 1:00 p.m. Mr SIN Ho-fai Start of Meeting End of Meeting Mr TAM Ka-chun, Warren Start of Meeting End of Meeting Mr TONG Ho-man 21 October 2020 End of Meeting 10:04 a.m. Mr TSUI Hiu-kit Start of Meeting 23 October 2020 10:37 a.m. Mr WONG Bing-kuen 21 October 2020 21 October 2020 10:19 a.m. 12:31 p.m. Mr WONG Chun-tat 21 October 2020 End of Meeting 10:11 a.m. Mr WONG Yun-tat, Ivan 21 October 2020 End of Meeting 10:07 a.m. In Attendance Ms CHAN Sheung-man Centre Manager, Parent-Child Association of Education Needs Limited Mr CHEN Wai-kuen Administrative Assistant/Lands (District Lands Office, Tsuen Wan and Kwai Tsing), Lands Department Mr CHAN Kin-kau Manager (Acting), Squatter Control/Kowloon, Tsuen Wan & Kwai Tsing Office, Lands Department Mr LAU Siu-wa Assistant Manager, Squatter Control 1/Kowloon, Tsuen Wan & Kwai Tsing Office, Lands Department Ms CHENG Yin-yin, Emily Senior Environmental Protection Officer (Regional West) 4, Environmental Protection Department Mr LIU Hon-wah, Andy Chief Executive Officer(Planning)1, Social Welfare Department Ms LAI Wai-man, Irene Senior Executive Officer(Planning)Management, Social Welfare Department Ms LUI Ka-wing Assistant District Social Welfare Officer (Tsuen Wan/ Kwai Tsing District) 3, Social Welfare Department Mr YAU Sing-yin Chief Health Inspector(Kwai Tsing)1, Food and Environmental Hygiene Department Mr LO Chi-bun Chief Health Inspector(Kwai Tsing)2, Food and Environmental Hygiene Department Ms CHAN Suk-fun Health Inspector(Quality Assurance)2, Food and Environmental Hygiene Department Mrs KWOK WONG Mun-yi Senor School Development Officer (Kwai Chung and Tsing Yi) 3, Education Bureau Ms WONG Ka-him Senior Treasury Accountant/Customer Accounts (Acting), Water Supplies Department Ms TSE Yuk-lin Treasury Accountant/Customer Accounts, Water Supplies Department Ms KWOK Kwai-chun Senior Accounting Officer/Customer Accounts 1 (Acting), Water Supplies Department Dr LUK Wan Chief of Service of Department of Family Medicine and Primary Health Care, Kowloon West Cluster, Hospital Authority Ms WONG Hau-yi, Yvonne Senior Property Service Manager/Kwai Chung (Acting), Housing Department Mr WONG Ka-ho Assistant Station Commander, New Territories Regional Office, Fire Services Department Mr TSANG Kin-hang, Gary Labour Officer (Workplace Consultation Promotion), Labour Department Ms LEE Oi-wan, Wandy Deputy District Leisure Manager (District Support) Kwai Tsing, Leisure and Cultural Services Department Miss YIM Yik-huen, Bonnie Assistant District Officer (Kwai Tsing), Kwai Tsing District Office Miss HO Yin-king, Susanne Senior Liaison Officer (1), Kwai Tsing District Office Mr CHAU Ka-nin, Eric Senior Liaison Officer (3), Kwai Tsing District Office Mr CHOW Kai Sing, Liaison Officer I Kwai Chung (Central & South), Kwai Thomas Tsing District Office Miss TSE Lai-yan, Winnie Executive Officer (District Council) 3, Kwai Tsing District (Secretary) Office Opening Remarks The Chairman welcomed Members and representatives of government departments to the fourth meeting of the Community Affairs Committee (the Committee) (2020) of the Kwai Tsing District Council (K&T DC). Confirmation of Minutes of the Third Meeting (2020) held on 9 June 2020 2. Mr HUI Kei-cheung moved a motion to confirm the minutes. The motion was seconded by Mr LEUNG Kwok-wah. The Committee endorsed the said minutes unanimously. Confirmation of Minutes of the Special Meeting (Resumption of the Third Meeting) (2020) held on 30 June 2020 3. Mr HUI Kei-cheung moved a motion to confirm the minutes. The motion was seconded by Mr CHEUNG Kwan-kiu, Steve. The Committee endorsed the said minutes unanimously. Confirmation of Minutes of the Special Meeting (2020) held on 3 August 2020 4. Mr HUI Kei-cheung moved a motion to confirm the minutes. The motion was seconded by Mr LEUNG Wing-kuen. The Committee endorsed the said minutes unanimously. Introduction Paper Purchase of Premises for the Provision of Welfare Facilities (Submitted by the Social Welfare Department) (CAC Paper No. 59/I/2020) (Revision) 5. Mr LIU Hon-wah, Andy, Chief Executive Officer (Planning) 1, Social Welfare Department (SWD), introduced the paper. 6. Mr WONG Yun-tat, Ivan put forth opinions and enquiries as follows: (i) As people in need were required to wait for residential services for a long time, he reluctantly accepted the decision of SWD to purchase private properties as welfare services facilities. (ii) Purchasing private properties would very possibly make others suspect that the Government and the owners were involved in transfer of benefits, and doubt whether the purchasing price was raised. (iii) Regarding the longer waiting time for residential care homes for the elderly and the disabled, long-term planning was necessary for SWD to solve the demand for welfare services. 7. Mr LEUNG Kam-wai put forth opinions and enquiries as follows: (iv) Whether the current plan involved the acquisition of properties in public housing estates since the shops in their shopping malls had continuously been let as residential care homes. (i) Whether SWD had capped the purchase price of the respective premises. (ii) SWD had no plan of acquiring properties in the Kwai Tsing District to run the district support centres and day care centres for persons with disabilities, yet the waiting time for these services were relatively longer, with insufficient support provided. He hoped that SWD could add more of the mentioned facilities to support the families of persons with disabilities. 8. Mr SIN Ho-fai put forth opinions and enquiries as follows: (i) The ownership of private properties in Tsing Yi District was mainly owned by LINK Asset Management Limited (Link) and GAW Capital Partners. The Government currently also leased properties from Link to provide welfare services, such as the maternal and child health centre in Cheung Hong Estate. Since the vacancy rate of properties of Link was relatively low, he was worried that the acquisition of properties might not address the service need if SWD acquired the properties that were distant and being inaccessible to the public. (ii) As some of the properties were relatively old, SWD should consider whether they needed to bear the renovation cost after the acquisition. (iii) As the support provided to persons with disabilities in Tsing Yi District was inadequate, he hoped that SWD could enhance the above services. 9. Mr TAM Ka-chun, Warren put forth opinions and enquiries as follows: (i) Whether SWD had identified and made offers to suitable premises in Kwai Tsing District, and would materialise the purchase. (ii) Whether SWD had capped the purchase price of the respective premises. If they did, whether the price was sufficient to acquire the premises. (iii) There were insufficient childcare services in Hong Kong. He hoped that SWD could enhance the aforementioned services for the convenience of working parents. (iv) The exact timeline of the acquisition plan and the time when social welfare organisations could use the 158 premises set out in the plan. 10. Mr CHEUNG Kwan-kiu, Steve stated that the demand for childcare centre services in different districts varied. There were less school children in Kwai Tsing District now which leads to the excess of supply of relevant facilities. Meanwhile, kindergartens were facing difficulties in operation under the epidemic. Therefore, while adding more childcare service, SWD should consider the impacts of decisions exerted on kindergartens and how they could offer more support. 11. The Hon. LEUNG Yiu-chung put forth opinions and enquiries as follows: (i) The Government did not reserve premises for welfare facilities when they implemented new town planning projects. Therefore, acquiring premises to meet the need for welfare services was unavoidable. (ii) The criteria for acquiring premises. In identifying potential premises, whether SWD would assess the accessibilities of those premises to service users and their families.