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Following is a question by the Hon Ambrose Cheung and a reply by the Secretary for Constitutional Affairs, Mr Michael Suen, in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):

Question

The Government introduced the Provision of Municipal Services (Reorganization) Bill into this Council on April 28 this year, and intends to dissolve the Provisional Municipal Councils on December 31 this year if the Council passes the Bill. The Bill has aroused widespread concern and controversy among the public, particularly over whether it is in contravention of the Basic Law. Article 39 of the Basic Law stipulates that the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as applied to Hong Kong shall remain in force, and Article 25(a) of the Covenant provides that every citizen shall have the right to take part in the conduct of public affairs directly or through freely chosen representatives. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) whether it has assessed if the Bill contravenes Article 39 of the Basic Law, given that, within the existing three tiers of representative government, the Provisional Municipal Councils are the only statutory bodies with financial autonomy and authority to formulate policies on municipal services and monitor their implementation, and embody the public's right to participate in the conduct of public affairs; and

(b) of the methods that it plans to use, after the dissolution of the elected municipal councils which have financial autonomy, to retain the public's rights to take part in the formulation of municipal service policies and to monitor the municipal services?

Reply

Madam President,

We have noted that during the consultation process of the review of district organizations, the public have expressed views on the related issues, but it appears that the question of whether the Basic Law has been contravened was not a particular concern to them. Regarding the questions raised by the Hon Ambrose Cheung, our replies are as follows:

(a) We have assessed the relationship between the Provision of Municipal Services (Reorganization) Bill and Article 39 of the Basic Law.

(b) Although the Bill changes the structure and the monitoring mechanism for the provision of municipal services, the public will still be able to participate in these matters through various bodies and channels, such as:

(1) we proposed the new Environment and Food Bureau, Department of Food and Environmental Hygiene, and Leisure and Cultural Services Department to be accountable to the Legislative Council. The Legislative Council can monitor the provision of various municipal services through examining the budgets, capital works projects and requests for the creation of additional civil service posts of these bureau/departments, and by setting up relevant Legislative Council Panel to deal with the related issues;

(2) the advisory and supervisory roles of District Councils in relation to municipal services will be strengthened at the district level;

(3) we proposed a Liquor Licensing Board and a Licensing Appeals Committee with non-official members to be set up to replace the Liquor Licensing Boards and Review Committees of the Provisional Municipal Councils in issuing liquor licences and handling appeals concerning various types of licences under the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Cap. 132) respectively; and

(4) we proposed a number of new bodies (such as the Advisory Council on Food and Environmental Hygiene and the Culture and Heritage Commission) to be set up with membership comprising professionals from relevant fields and representatives of the public and communities to advise on and monitor various municipal services.

END/Wednesday, June 9, 1999

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