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The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:
The Legislative Council will hold a meeting on Wednesday (January 7) at 11am in the Chamber of the Legislative Council Building. During the meeting, Members will debate a motion on public consultation on 2012 constitutional development.
The motion, to be proposed by Dr Hon Margaret Ng, says: "That, this Council demands that when the Chief Executive draws up proposals for reform of the method of election of the Chief Executive and election of the Legislative Council for public consultation early this year as he has pledged in his Policy Address, the Chief Executive will make clear that functional constituencies are to be abolished and he will ensure that such proposals lead:
(a) for the method of election of the Chief Executive, to a nomination process which is open and in accordance with Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ("ICCPR"); and
(b) for election of the Legislative Council, to the abolition of functional constituencies and to election by universal and equal suffrage and in accordance with Article 25 of ICCPR."
Hon Abraham Shek and Hon Cheung Kwok-che will move separate amendments to Dr Hon Margaret Ng's motion.
Members will debate another motion on air pollution and public health. The motion, to be moved by Hon Kam Nai-wai, says: "That air pollution in Hong Kong has been worsening in recent years, posing an increasing threat to people's health, but the Government still uses the first stage objectives of the World Health Organization ("WHO") as the goals of the reform in its recent review of Air Quality Objectives, this Council expresses disappointment at this; quite a number of overseas studies nowadays have proved that serious air pollution will increase death rates as well as direct and indirect medical costs, and result in a loss in productivity, in this connection, this Council urges the Government to:
(a) establish a "smog alarm system" and formulate guidelines and corresponding measures for the alarm system, so as to enable the public to know more about the impact of air pollution on health;
(b) adopt the latest objectives of WHO as the benchmark for formulating measures to improve air pollution, evaluate the effectiveness of each of these measures in improving public health, and set improving public health as the primary policy objective in addressing the problem of air pollution;
(c) conduct a long-term tracking study to accurately calculate the loss of life expectancy in the territory resulting from air pollution, as well as the impact of air pollution on the health of people of different ages (including the elderly and children) and on those suffering from various forms of respiratory illnesses and cardiovascular diseases in the territory, so as to provide reference data for formulating long-term policies; and provide financial support to those academic institutions and non-profit-making bodies which are interested in conducting the above study;
(d) in conducting the review of Air Quality Objectives, entrust the Food and Health Bureau with the responsibility of assessing whether the intended benefits to public health as a result of the implementation of new Air Quality Objectives have been achieved and, based on the assessment results, formulate the guiding framework, timetable and corresponding air quality improvement measures for implementing the new Air Quality Objectives;
(e) continue to implement measures to regulate the emission standards of vehicles in areas with busy traffic, develop footbridge networks and encourage the public to use mass transit systems;
(f) improve the subsidy scheme for owners of commercial diesel vehicles to replace such vehicles with new ones and attract more owners to participate in the scheme, as well as expand the subsidy scheme to cover franchised buses; and
(g) gradually implement the mandatory Building Energy Codes and mandatory energy efficiency labelling for electrical appliances, and expeditiously set the caps on the emissions of air pollutants from power companies for the next stage, so as to reduce pollution caused by generation of electricity."
Hon Chan Hak-kan, Hon Audrey Eu and Hon Lee Wing-tat will move separate amendments to Hon Kam Nai-wai's motion.
On Government motion, the Chief Secretary for Administration will move a resolution under the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China and the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal Ordinance to endorse the appointment of Mr Murray Gleeson; the Right Honourable The Lord Walker of Gestingthorpe; and the Right Honourable The Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury as judges of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal from other common law jurisdictions pursuant to section 9 of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal Ordinance (Cap. 484).
During the meeting, Members will also ask the Administration 20 questions on various policy areas, six of which require oral replies.
The agenda of the above meeting can be obtained via the Legislative Council InfoFax Service (Tel: 2869 9568) or the Legislative Council web site (http://www.legco.gov.hk).
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, January 5, 2009
Issued at HKT 17:46
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