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The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:
The Legislative Council will hold a meeting this Wednesday (March 5) at 11 am in the Chamber of the Legislative Council Building. During the meeting, Members will debate a motion on promoting the introduction of monthly ticket and student fare concessions to all MTR lines.
The motion, to be proposed by Hon Lau Kong-wah, says: "That, in view of the fact that after the rail merger, the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL) has not introduced the monthly ticket concessions offered by the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation and the student fare concessions offered by the former MTR Corporation to all its rail lines, thus creating unfair situations, this Council urges the Government to discuss with MTRCL to promote the introduction of the above two types of fare concessions to all MTR lines, so as to eliminate the present unfair situations and benefit all passengers."
Dr Hon Fernando Cheung and Hon Andrew Cheng will move separate amendments to Hon Lau Kong-wah's motion.
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Members will also debate a motion on rebuilding the local agriculture and fisheries industries. The motion, to be moved by Hon Wong Yung-kan, states: "That, as the HKSAR Government does not render support to the development of the local agriculture and fisheries industries and even continues to reduce their room for survival, causing Hong Kong to depend almost totally on the Mainland and other areas for its food supply; with the increased spending power of people on the Mainland, coupled with the tight supply of food due to various factors affecting food production, directly resulting in the decrease in the quantity of food supplied to Hong Kong, and as the role of local agricultural and fishery products as a supplementary source of food supply in the past has significantly diminished, people in Hong Kong are suffering severely from the recent substantial increase in food prices; as such, this Council urges the Government to seriously study the strategy on food supply to Hong Kong, redefine the appropriate role of the local agriculture and fisheries industries and put forward relevant measures, so as to ensure a stable supply of quality and safe food for the community; the relevant measures should include:
(a) studying the zoning of designated areas for exclusive use by the agriculture and fisheries industries, once again enabling the agriculture and fisheries industries meeting hygiene and environmental requirements to develop in a sustainable manner, and further developing organic farming in Hong Kong;
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(b) formulating policies on the sustainable development of the agriculture and fisheries industries, assisting the local capture fishery to develop in the off-shore direction, developing the local quality aquaculture industry, and studying the development of Hong Kong into a distribution centre for aquatic products, so as to tie in with the development of the aquaculture industry;
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(c) keeping in tune with the major development trend of the international agriculture and fisheries industries, striving to improve the ecological environment in Hong Kong, and stepping up efforts to promote the development of the integration of agriculture and fisheries industries with leisure activities;
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(d) strengthening the quality management, integrated scientific research and development and professional training in the local agriculture and fisheries industries, so as to make available sufficient professionals for the industries and ensure that local agricultural and fishery products are of high quality and safe; and
(e) establishing a fast-track vetting mechanism for providing emergency relief to operators in the industries affected by natural disasters, and taking into account the scale of operation and business-related price indexes in relaxing the restriction on the provision of relief to the industries and assisting those affected to resume operation, as well as setting the interest of various loans related to the agriculture and fisheries industries at a standardised low rate, so as to support the development of the industries."
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Hon Fred Li will move an amendment to Hon Wong Yung-kan's motion.
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On Government motion, the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury will move a resolution under the Public Finance Ordinance to give the Authority a sum not exceeding $90,989,010,000 to be charged on the general revenue for expenditure on the services of the Government in respect of the financial year commencing on April 1, 2008.
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Meanwhile, the Secretary for Transport and Housing will move a resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance to amend the Road Traffic (Driving Licences)(Amendment) Regulation 2008, laid on the table of the Legislative Council on January 16, 2008.
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During the meeting, Members will ask the Government 20 questions on various policy areas, six of which require oral replies.
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The agenda of the above meeting can be obtained via the Legislative Council InfoFax Service (Tel: 2869 9568) or the Legislative Council website (www.legco.gov.hk).
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Members of the public are welcome to observe the proceedings of the meeting from the public galleries of the Legislative Council Chamber. They may reserve seats by calling 2869 9399 during office hours. Seats will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis. Members of the public can also listen to the meeting via the audio webcast system on the Legislative Council homepage.
Ends/Monday, March 3, 2008
Issued at HKT 16:49
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