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The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:
The Legislative Council will hold a meeting this Wednesday (June 2) at 11am in the Chamber of the Legislative Council Building. During the meeting, Members will debate a motion on the 4 June incident.
The motion, to be moved by Hon Albert Ho, states: "That this Council urges that: the 4 June incident be not forgotten and the 1989 pro-democracy movement be vindicated."
Members will debate another motion on increasing the powers and responsibilities of District Councils in district planning. The motion, to be moved by Hon Patrick Lau, says: "That, as the current role of District Councils is mainly advisory in nature, and their substantive powers and responsibilities regarding district planning have yet to be clearly defined, the actual circumstances and wishes of residents of the respective districts cannot be relayed promptly to the Administration in a 'bottom-up' manner during the planning process, and due to the segregation of policy departments and disparity between their priorities, resources cannot be put to the best use, and hence the district planning undertaken by the Government often does not have support from the local community; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to increase the powers and responsibilities of District Councils in district planning, including:
(a) to enhance the participation of District Councils in landscaping, greening and environmental improvement projects and their management, and organize community building forums and open design competitions to forge consensus on district planning;
(b) to divide Hong Kong into several major communities, in respect of which District Councils and the Planning Department should collaborate and co-ordinate with the relevant policy departments to jointly formulate and review regularly 'community-based' district planning programmes and practicable improvement plans, according to the actual needs and wishes of individual districts, as well as for the benefit of the community as a whole;
(c) to allocate more resources for District Councils to engage professionals to conduct various thematic planning studies and urban design in respect of the respective districts, and submit the reports to the Planning Department for consideration; and
(d) to confer powers and responsibilities on District Councils to participate in the planning of the major community works and ancillary facilities required by the respective districts, including public housing, community halls, cultural and recreational facilities, open spaces, refuse recovery yards, incinerators, columbarium niches, etc., so as to develop an integrated and comprehensive community;
thereby combining the strengths of the Government, representative councils and the public to implement district planning and development, and to jointly enhance the living environment of various districts, so as to develop Hong Kong into a quality city."
Hon Frederick Fung, Hon Wong Kwok-hing, Hon Miriam Lau, Hon Ip Kwok-him, Hon Ronny Tong, Hon James To and Hon Paul Tse will move amendments to Hon Patrick Lau's motion respectively.
On bills, the Food Safety Bill will be introduced into the Council for First and Second Readings. Debate on the Bills 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 31, 2010
Issued at HKT 17:35
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