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Following is the speech by Secretary for Housing, Mr Dominic Wong, in the motion debate on setting up of a Select Committee on public housing building problems in the Legislative Council today (February 7):
Madam President,
The massive public housing programme in Hong Kong has substantially improved the living condition of many people. The incidents relating to housing quality in the past two years have also caused great disappointment. The Government fully understands the feelings of Members, but still feels that it is not necessary to establish the proposed Select Committee, especially with a broad scope which can illicit other issues of principle, and so should be handled carefully.
The Government considers that the proposed establishment of a Select Committee by the Legislative Council is not necessary. Three independent and thorough investigations have already been conducted; criminal and civil proceedings and disciplinary inquiries have commenced in these cases; the Housing Authority is now implementing a 50 point reform package to improve the quality of public housing; the Construction Industry Review Committee has proposed 109 measures to improve the construction industry, and the Chief Secretary for Administration's review committee on institutional framework for public housing is actively carrying out its task with a view to completing it in three months' time. It is time therefore for all of us - the Housing Authority, the construction industry, the Government and Members of this Council - to look ahead and to work together quickly to restore public confidence in our public housing programme.
Secondly, the Government believes that the proposed Select Committee will, in its operation, face many restrictions and will touch on other serious issues of principle, and so should be handled very carefully. The Government does not see how a LegCo Select Committee can start work in relation to the four cases either at open meetings or in camera, if it is to be scrupulously fair and just to all implicated parties, and can avoid prejudicing legal and disciplinary proceedings now in progress or pending. Our legal adviser has already conveyed our views to Members. We are particularly concerned whether the inquiry of the Select Committee will affect witnesses in giving evidence, whether the evidence to be given will be abused and whether the chance of the Housing Authority winning the legal proceedings will be adversely affected. I do not intend to repeat in detail the legal arguments which are equally applicable to the conduct of disciplinary proceedings. Members may or may not agree with these arguments. But, Madam President, it is our duty to make Members fully aware of the likely consequences.
Thirdly, the Government has reservations on the scope of the inquiry as it is so broad that it is tantamount to a full-fledged review of all public housing policies and the entire organisational framework for public housing provision. This is basically the task of the Government. As Members know, the convention has always been for the Government to propose major policy or organisational changes after consultation with concerned parties and, if necessary, to submit proposals to the Executive Council or the Legislative Council for discussion and endorsement. A quasi-judicial Select Committee of this Council shooting questions at selected witnesses is simply not the right forum to consider either the broad range of housing policies or to devise the organisational framework for delivering such policies. Housing is everyone's concern. We need to strike the right balance between the interests of various sections of the community. The facts to be revealed in the inquiry relating to only four housing sites out of a total of 106 construction sites of the Housing Authority can hardly provide sufficient information for drawing correct conclusions on overall housing policies and the appropriate institutional framework for housing provision. Moreover, flat construction is only one of the many facets of work of the Housing Authority.
If Members should decide to establish a Select Committee, the Government very much hopes that the scope of the inquiry, as some Members expressed today, can be limited and clearly delineated so as to be practicable and achievable within a reasonable period of time. In fact, the proposed remit of the Select Committee will overlap partly with that of the review of the institutional framework for public housing led by the Chief Secretary for Administration. We hope that the Select Committee will focus on construction problems, including tender procedures, procurement arrangements, project management, site supervision, assessment of contractor performance and recommendations to improve building quality; and will ensure that the legal and disciplinary proceedings now taking place will not be prejudiced.
Madam President, I must reiterate that the Government remains of the view that it is not really necessary for this Council to set up a Select Committee to conduct another inquiry. If Members still so decide, the Government will give it due co-operation.
Thank you, Madam President.
End/Wednesday, February 7, 2001
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