LegCo to debate motion on implementing the Toll Adjustment Proposal
*******************************************************************
The Legislative Council (LegCo) will hold a meeting on Wednesday (January 23) at 11am in the Chamber of the LegCo Complex. During the meeting, Members will debate a motion on implementing the Toll Adjustment Proposal.
The motion, moved by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, states: "Regarding the Government's proposal to adjust the tolls of private cars, taxis and motorcycles for using the three road harbour crossings with effect from January 1, 2020 (Toll Adjustment Proposal) with a view to rationalising cross-harbour traffic which will bring about benefits to society as a whole, with expected benefits including alleviating cross-harbour traffic congestion, reducing the obstruction of non-cross-harbour traffic by cross-harbour traffic queues, saving the commuting time for citizens using public transport and reducing emission from vehicles, etc., this Council supports the Government to introduce into this Council legislative amendments relating to the Cross-Harbour Tunnel and Eastern Harbour Crossing for the implementation of the Toll Adjustment Proposal, and to seek funding approval from the Finance Committee for the Western Harbour Crossing Toll Compensation Scheme."
Mr Luk Chung-hung, Mr Jeremy Tam, Mr Gary Fan, Mr Chan Han-pan, Mr Au Nok-hin and Mr Ma Fung-kwok will move separate amendments to the Secretary for Transport and Housing's motion.
On Members' motions, Mr Dennis Kwok will move a motion under Article 73(5) and (10) of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. The motion states: "That, pursuant to Article 73(5) and (10) of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, this Council summons the Secretary for Justice, Ms Teresa Cheng, SC, to attend before the Council at its earliest meeting after the passage of this motion to produce all relevant papers, books, records or documents and to testify or give evidence on her handling of the case of alleged corruption and/or alleged misconduct in public office of former Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Mr Leung Chun-ying, her failure to comply with the Department of Justice's briefing out policy to seek legal advice from Queen's Counsel and/or Senior Counsel on the case, and her decision of not prosecuting Mr Leung Chun-ying, and relevant matters."
Dr Fernando Cheung will move a motion on enacting legislation to protect the rights and interests of rare disease patients. The motion states: "That quite a number of countries have laid down definitions, enacted legislation and formulated evidence-based and regularized long-term policies on rare diseases as early as the 1980s, making it more convenient for rare disease patients to apply for approval of drugs, subsidy, and so on, and enabling them to receive more efficient and more proper treatment and care; and the United States, member states of the European Union and the neighbouring countries and regions of Hong Kong, such as Singapore, Japan, Australia, Taiwan and Korea have long laid down definitions of rare diseases, formulated support policies, established a database of rare disease cases, etc.; however, the Hong Kong Government has yet to lay down any definition and formulate any concrete policy on rare diseases to provide support for rare disease patients; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to enact legislation on rare diseases, in order to protect and promote the rights of rare disease patients and enable them to receive proper diagnosis, treatment and care, thereby fulfilling the requirements of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; the relevant contents include:
(1) establishing a policy committee on rare diseases to advise on a strategic development direction for a policy on rare diseases, monitor the implementation of the policy on rare diseases by government departments and statutory bodies, report on the implementation of the policy on rare diseases, etc.;
(2) establishing an evaluative committee on rare diseases to evaluate whether a disease meets the definition of rare diseases;
(3) defining a disease which affects no more than 1 in 10 000 individuals in Hong Kong and is clinically definable as a rare disease;
(4) introducing a registration system for rare disease drugs whereby rare disease patients, medical practitioners and pharmaceutical companies can apply for the inclusion of new drugs in the list of drugs for rare diseases;
(5) introducing a subsidy system to ensure that rare disease patients will receive safe, quality, effective and affordable drugs and treatment, instead of laying emphasis only on cost-effectiveness; and
(6) introducing a rare disease information system which contains a list of rare diseases and their prevalence rates, the demographic information of patients and usage statistics of rare disease drugs."
Professor Joseph Lee and Dr Elizabeth Quat will move separate amendments to Dr Fernando Cheung's motion.
Mr Tony Tse will move a motion on creating opportunities to assist small and medium enterprises and promoting upward mobility of young people. The motion states: "That this Council urges the Government to create opportunities to assist small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and promote upward mobility of young people; specific measures are as follows:
(1) reforming the procurement and tendering systems of the Government and public organisations, including attaching more importance to creative designs and innovative technology in evaluation, rather than only putting emphasis on the 'lowest bid wins' principle and imposing unnecessary requirements on the experience, qualifications and capital of tenderers; and splitting projects and service contracts as appropriate to avoid unnecessary bundled tender of multiple contracts, thereby reducing the monopoly by large enterprises and multinational groups, increasing local SMEs', start-up enterprises' and young professionals' chances of tendering and success in bidding;
(2) actively assisting local SMEs and young people to develop markets and seize the opportunities presented by the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (the Greater Bay Area), including setting up more offices in the Greater Bay Area to facilitate the provision of more support to SMEs and young people who wish to seek development on the Mainland, and at the same time striving with the Mainland for more tax concessions and facilitating measures;
(3) holding architectural design competitions for suitable small and medium public works projects and allowing winners to participate in the projects, and providing unsuccessful entrants whose works have reached a certain standard with reasonable design fees as encouragement;
(4) raising the subsidy ceiling for the Continuing Education Fund and expanding the funding scope, and providing SMEs with staff training allowance to promote concurrent improvement of enterprises and staff;
(5) providing young people with aspirations for starting their own business with free or low-rent shared offices on a time limited basis, and offering one-stop start-up support services; and
(6) building a home ownership ladder with clearly defined levels to assist young families and young professionals with repayment ability yet unable to afford the high rate of down payment in acquiring their first property, thereby helping them to move upward."
Mr Wu Chi-wai, Dr Lo Wai-kwok, Mr Charles Mok, Dr Kwok Ka-ki, Mr Luk Chung-hung, Mr Paul Tse and Dr Chiang Lai-wan will move separate amendments to Mr Tony Tse's motion.
Meanwhile, Ms Starry Lee will move a motion under Rule 49E(2) of the Rules of Procedure. The motion states: "That this Council takes note of Report No. 9/18-19 of the House Committee laid on the Table of the Council on January 23, 2019 in relation to the Fugitive Offenders (France) Order."
On government bills, the National Anthem Bill will be introduced into the Council for the First Reading and the Second Reading. The Second Reading debate on the Bill will be adjourned.
The Second Reading debate on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources Bill will resume. If the Bill is supported by Members and receives its Second Reading, it will stand committed to the committee of the whole Council. After the committee of the whole Council has completed consideration of the Bill and its report is adopted by the Council, the Bill will be set down for the Third Reading.
During the meeting, Members will also ask the Government 22 questions on various policy areas, six of which require oral replies.
The agenda of the above meeting can be obtained via the LegCo Website (www.legco.gov.hk). Please note that the agenda is subject to change, and the latest information about the agenda could be found on the LegCo Website.
Members of the public are welcome to observe the proceedings of the meeting from the public galleries of the Chamber of the LegCo Complex. They may reserve seats by calling 3919 3399 during office hours. Members of the public can also watch or listen to the meeting via the "Webcast" system on the LegCo Website.
Ends/Monday, January 21, 2019
Issued at HKT 19:33
Issued at HKT 19:33
NNNN