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The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:
The Legislative Council will hold a meeting this Wednesday (May 5) at 11am in the Chamber of the Legislative Council Building. During the meeting, Members will debate a motion on improving air quality.
The motion, to be moved by Hon Kam Nai-wai, states: "That air quality in Hong Kong is deteriorating by the day, posing a serious threat to public health, and during the onslaught of 'sandstorm' earlier, many districts recorded an Air Pollution Index ('API') reading at the 'severe' level of 500; the 'sandstorm' has not only exposed the 'belated awareness' of the Administration, but also highlighted the shortcomings in its early warning mechanism; quite a number of local and overseas studies have pointed out the close relationship between the severity of air pollution and the mortality rate; in this connection, this Council requests the Administration to make protection of public health its primary policy objective in tackling the problem of air pollution, and urges it to:
(a) immediately conduct a review on its sluggish response in this 'sandstorm' incident, and improve the early warning mechanism and warning signals, so as to enable members of the public to be aware of the warning messages about air quality as early as possible;
(b) in respect of the situations where API reaches 'extremely severe' and 'severe' levels, formulate specific guidelines, including implementation of measures to suspend schools and arrange for workers who need to work outdoors for long hours to suspend work, etc. so as to protect the health of school children and the underprivileged, such as people with chronic illness, the elderly and workers working outdoors, in situations where the pollution is serious;
(c) designate 'low emission zones' in areas with serious air pollution and restrict the entry of heavy diesel vehicles with high emissions into such zones, so as to improve air quality at the street level;
(d) provide funding support for the franchised bus companies to scrap and replace earlier their franchised buses with high emissions, such as buses which are Euro II or below, so as to improve roadside air quality;
(e) adopt the most stringent standards of the World Health Organization's air quality guidelines as Hong Kong's air quality objectives, and undertake to conduct regular review of the objectives in the future;
(f) improve the 'To Replace Pre-Euro and Euro I Diesel Commercial Vehicles by New Commercial Vehicles - Incentive Scheme' and the scheme for the replacement of Euro II diesel commercial vehicles mentioned in the Budget of this year, including allowing those vehicle owners who just write off their vehicles to receive subsidies under the schemes; and
(g) strengthen the co-operation and co-ordination with Guangdong Province on the improvement of air quality, including improving mutual notification and early warning mechanisms."
Hon Audrey Eu, Hon Cyd Ho and Hon Chan Hak-kan will move separate amendments to Hon Kam Nai-wai's motion.
Members will debate another motion on medical check-ups for professional drivers. The motion, to be moved by Hon Andrew Cheng, says: "That quite a number of incidents of drivers feeling unwell and becoming unconscious while driving occurred in recent years, with some even resulting in traffic accidents and causing death and injury to drivers, passengers and passers-by, and this causes public concern and worry about the health conditions of professional drivers; as the health problems of professional drivers have direct impact on passenger safety, this Council urges the Government to expeditiously allocate additional resources, and study and formulate policies to motivate professional drivers to undergo regular medical check-ups to safeguard their health as well as the safety of road users, including:
(a) to study the provision of medical check-up services for professional drivers by public medical institutions, including the Department of Health, the Hospital Authority, etc., and the workers' health centre of the Labour Department;
(b) to consider requiring professional drivers to submit medical reports to prove that they are physically fit to drive when applying for or renewing driving licences;
(c) to study the introduction of legislation to require all professional drivers to undergo regular medical check-ups, so as to safeguard road safety and the health of drivers;
(d) to request the Transport Department to allocate more resources to the relevant activities, including the 'Safe Driving and Health Campaign', 'Health Check Days', etc., so that such activities can cover more professional drivers and the health checks can be conducted in a more comprehensive and thorough manner; and
(e) to step up the relevant publicity and public education so that more professional drivers will care and know more about their own health conditions."
Hon Li Fung-ying will move an amendment to Hon Andrew Cheng's motion.
Meanwhile, Hon Chan Kin-por will move a resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance to extend the period for amending the Dutiable Commodities (Exempted Quantities) (Amendment) Notice 2010, laid on the table of the Legislative Council on April 14, 2010, to the meeting of June 2, 2010.
On bill, the Stamp Duty (Amendment) Bill 2010 will be introduced into the Council for First and Second Readings; debate on the Bill will be adjourned.
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 (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, May 3, 2010
Issued at HKT 17:51
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