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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 3) at 11am in the Chamber of the Legislative Council Building. During the meeting, Members will debate a motion on improving the living environment in old districts.
The motion, to be moved by Hon Starry Lee, states: "That, old buildings abound in Hong Kong and those of 30 years or above amount to as many as 16,000 and will increase to 26,000 in 10 years' time; many of the old buildings are dilapidated, have poor environment and are not properly managed, giving rise to various building safety and law and order problems; as such, this Council urges the Government to take action regarding the aspects of maintenance of old buildings, building management as well as redevelopment and planning of old districts, etc., so as to improve the existing living environment of residents in old districts, and the proposed measures include:
on building maintenance,
(a) to allocate additional funding to "Operation Building Bright", and co-ordinate the various subsidy and loan schemes to provide one-stop services and perfect the relevant schemes, so as to assist more owners with financial difficulties;
(b) to enhance regulation of renovation works which involve structural alterations;
(c) focusing on water seepage problems of ceilings of old buildings, to review the existing practice of using colour dyes as the main testing tool and improve the relevant follow-up procedures of government departments, so as to enhance processing efficiency;
(d) to expedite the clearance procedures for handling unauthorised building works;
on improving building management,
(e) to actively assist owners of old buildings in organising owners' corporations or hiring management companies, including exploring the engagement of the Hong Kong Housing Society or other non-government organisations to act as agents and let these organisations to take over the management work or hire management companies, so as to assist the residents in resolving management and maintenance problems;
(f) to review the existing Building Management Ordinance, so as to alleviate the problem of inefficiency in building management of "one building with multiple owners' corporations" and "multiple buildings with one owners' corporation";
(g) to set up a "building affairs tribunal" to resolve the existing problems of lengthy building management disputes, expensive legal costs, etc.;
(h) to actively examine the creation of a commissioner for management of old buildings to co-ordinate the existing work of various departments, so as to avoid fragmented administration of such departments;
(i) to implement a licensing scheme for property management companies to improve the quality of such management companies;
on expediting redevelopment of old districts,
(j) when launching urban renewal projects, the Urban Renewal Authority ("URA") should preferably adopt a "bottom-up" approach, and let owners of old buildings take the lead in that they may take the initiative to invite URA to carry out redevelopment after obtaining a certain number of ownership shares;
(k) in order to promote urban renewal, the development mode of renewal should be diversified in that apart from financial compensations, URA may consider other compensation options, including providing flat-for-flat exchange, for owners of old buildings to choose;
on planning of old districts and enhancement of cityscape,
(l) to improve greenery, supporting community facilities and conservation work in old districts and enhance river channels and harbourfront areas, so as to revitalise old districts and improve the quality of life of the residents;
(m) to allocate additional resources to the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department to eradicate environmental hygiene blackspots in old districts; and
(n) to actively explore feasible ways to properly deal with the management problem of private streets, so as to improve the street environment in the places concerned."
Hon James To will move an amendment to Hon Starry Lee's motion.
Members will also debate a motion on actively participating in the by-elections to implement genuine universal suffrage.
The motion, to be moved by Hon Audrey Eu, states: "That this Council appeals to all electors in Hong Kong to actively participate in the forthcoming by-elections in the five geographical constituencies to peacefully quantify public opinion through voting, so as to achieve the social effect of a de facto referendum, and strive for the expeditious implementation of genuine universal suffrage and abolition of functional constituencies."
Meanwhile, the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury will move a resolution under the Inland Revenue Ordinance to seek the Council's approval to the Inland Revenue (Disclosure of Information) Rules, made by the Chief Executive in Council on January 26, 2010.
During the meeting, Members will ask the Government 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 (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 web broadcast system on the Legislative Council homepage.
Ends/Monday, March 1, 2010
Issued at HKT 18:20
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