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Minutes of the First Meeting of

Yuen Long District Council in 2018

Date : 13 February 2018 (Tuesday)

Time : 9:30 a.m. – 2:35 p.m.

Venue : Conference Room, Yuen Long District Council,

13/F, Yuen Long Government Offices, 2 Kiu Lok Square, Yuen Long

Present Time of Arrival Time of Withdrawal

Chairman: Mr SHUM Ho-kit (Beginning of the meeting) (End of the meeting)

Vice-chairman: Mr WONG Wai-shun, MH (Beginning of the meeting) (End of the meeting)

Members: Mr CHAM Ka-hung, Daniel,

BBS, MH, JP

(Beginning of the meeting) (1:30 p.m.)

Ms CHAN Mei-lin (Beginning of the meeting) (End of the meeting)

Mr CHAN Sze-ching (10:50 a.m.) (End of the meeting)

Mr CHEUNG Muk-lam (Beginning of the meeting) (End of the meeting)

Mr CHING Chan-ming (Beginning of the meeting) (End of the meeting)

Ms CHIU Sau-han, MH (9:50 a.m.) (2:05 p.m.)

Mr CHOW Wing-kan (Beginning of the meeting) (End of the meeting)

Mr KWOK Hing-ping (10:05 a.m.) (11:15 a.m.)

Mr KWOK Keung, MH (Beginning of the meeting) (12:15 p.m.)

The Hon KWONG Chun-yu (Beginning of the meeting) (1:10 p.m.)

Mr LAI Wai-hung (Beginning of the meeting) (End of the meeting)

Ms LAU Kwai-yung (9:50 a.m.) (End of the meeting)

Mr LEE Yuet-man, MH (9:50 a.m.) (End of the meeting)

The Hon LEUNG Che-cheung,

SBS, MH, JP

(9:55 a.m.) (10:15 a.m.)

Mr LEUNG Fuk-yuen (Beginning of the meeting) (2:25 p.m.)

Mr LEUNG Ming-kin (Beginning of the meeting) (End of the meeting)

Mr LUI Kin, MH (Beginning of the meeting) (End of the meeting)

The Hon LUK Chung-hung (9:50 a.m.) (11:40 a.m.)

Ms MA Shuk-yin (9:50 a.m.) (End of the meeting)

Mr MAK Ip-sing (Beginning of the meeting) (End of the meeting)

Mr MAN Kwong-ming (Beginning of the meeting) (End of the meeting)

Mr MAN Ping-nam, MH (Beginning of the meeting) (End of the meeting)

Mr SIU Long-ming (Beginning of the meeting) (2:20 p.m.)

Mr TANG Cheuk-him (9:45 a.m.) (2:15 p.m.)

Mr TANG Cheuk-yin (Beginning of the meeting) (End of the meeting)

Mr TANG Hing-ip, BBS (Beginning of the meeting) (End of the meeting)

Mr TANG Ho-nin (Beginning of the meeting) (2:15 p.m.)

Mr TANG Ka-leung (Beginning of the meeting) (12:00 noon)

Mr TANG Lai-tung (9:45 a.m.) (12:45 p.m.)

Mr TANG Sui-man (Beginning of the meeting) (End of the meeting)

Mr TANG Yung-yiu, Ronnie (Beginning of the meeting) (1:15 p.m.)

Mr TO Ka-lun (Beginning of the meeting) (End of the meeting)

Mr TSANG Shu-wo (Beginning of the meeting) (12:55 p.m.)

Mr WONG Cheuk-kin (Beginning of the meeting) (1:15 p.m.)

Ms WONG Wai-ling (Beginning of the meeting) (1:35 p.m.)

Mr WONG Wai-yin, Zachary (Beginning of the meeting) (End of the meeting)

Mr YIU Kwok-wai (9:50 a.m.) (12:15 p.m.)

The minutes were confirmed on 24 April 2018 without amendment.

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Mr YOUNG Ka-on (Beginning of the meeting) (End of the meeting)

Ms YUEN Man-yee (Beginning of the meeting) (End of the meeting)

Secretary: Mr KONG Kwok-piu, Bill Senior Executive Officer (District Council),

Yuen Long District Office

Assistant Secretary: Ms WONG Man-ting, Mandy Executive Officer I (District Council),

Yuen Long District Office

In Attendance

Mr YUEN Ka-lok, Enoch, JP

Mr NG Lak-sun, Nixon

Miss MAK Ka-ying, Carren

Mr CHAN Hon-kwan, Harris

Ms FANG Lan, Evelyn

Mr CHUI Wai-lok

Mr KWONG Ying-wai

Mr CHEUNG Pui-chung

Mr LEE Wai-man

Mr LEE Pak-ho, Beco

Mr WONG Wing-hung, Stephen

Ms CHAN Suet-ching, Angela

Mr NG Ping-tong, Gordon

Mr WONG Shu-yan, Francis

Mr LAM Chi-man, David

Ms CHU Wing-yin, Diana

Mr HUE Ka-yiu, Daniel

Item IV

Mr MAK Weng-yip,

Alexander

District Officer (Yuen Long)

Assistant District Officer (Yuen Long) 1

Assistant District Officer (Yuen Long) 2

Senior Liaison Officer (Rural), Yuen Long District

Office

Liaison Officer i/c (Town 4), Yuen Long District

Office

Senior Engineer/District Monitoring Group on

Housing Sites/West (W), Civil Engineering and

Development Department

Chief School Development Officer(Yuen Long),

Education Bureau

District Environmental Hygiene Superintendent

(Yuen Long), Food and Environmental Hygiene

Department

District Commander (Yuen Long), Hong Kong

Police Force

Police Community Relations Officer (Yuen Long

District), Hong Kong Police Force

Chief Manager/Management (Tuen Mun and Yuen

Long), Housing Department

District Lands Officer/Yuen Long (District Lands

Office, Yuen Long), Lands Department

Administrative Assistant/Lands (District Lands

Office, Yuen Long), Lands Department

Chief Leisure Manager (New Territories North),

Leisure and Cultural Services Department

District Planning Officer (Tuen Mun and Yuen

Long West), Planning Department

District Social Welfare Officer (Yuen Long),

Social Welfare Department

Chief Transport Officer/New Territories North West,

Transport Department

Town Planner/Cross-boundary Infrastructure and

Development 1

* * * * *

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Opening Remarks

The Chairman welcomed Members and departmental representatives to the first meeting of

the Yuen Long District Council (“YLDC”) in 2018. He congratulated the Hon LEUNG Che-cheung,

SBS, MH, JP for being appointed as a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's

Political Consultative Conference.

2. The Chairman also welcomed the following departmental representatives to the meeting:

Senior Engineer/District Monitoring Group on

Housing Sites/West (W), Civil Engineering and

Development Department (“CEDD”)

Mr CHUI Wai-lok

(Stood in for Mr LAU Wing-kam, Chief Engineer/West 1)

Liaison Officer i/c (Town 4), Yuen Long District

Office

Ms FANG Lan, Evelyn

(Stood in for Miss CHEUNG Lai-wa, Michelle, Senior Liaison Officer (Town))

3. As for the agenda, the Chairman suggested dealing with the following two items together:

(i) Item III: “Suggesting that the Government should promptly conduct investigations for Kung Um

Shan Tunnel associated with the feasibility study on Route 11” and (ii) Item IV: “Requesting the

expeditious launch of land resumption scheme for constructing a new road (connecting Tai Tong

Road with Yuen Long Highway (Tong Yan San Tsuen Interchange))” as both were related to road

infrastructure.

4. Moreover, the Chairman suggested referring the issue, namely “Mr LEUNG Fuk-yuen, Mr

CHING Chan-ming, Mr LEUNG Ming-kin and Ms YUEN Man-yee requested that Tai Tong Road

be widened expeditiously to cope with the saturated traffic” to the Traffic and Transport Committee

(“T&TC”).

5. Lastly, the Chairman suggested referring the issue, namely “Mr WONG Wai-yin, Zachary,

Mr MAK Ip-sing, Ms CHAN Mei-lin, Mr TO Ka-lun, and the Hon KWONG Chun-yu expressed

concern on influenza vaccination rate among students” to the Culture, Recreation, Community

Service and Housing Committee (“CRCS&HC”).

6. Members agreed to the agenda arrangement.

7. All Members and departmental representatives stood up for one minute to commemorate

the deceased in the traffic accident in Tai Po.

Item 1: Confirmation of the Minutes of the Sixth Meeting of YLDC in 2017

8. The minutes of the sixth meeting of YLDC in 2017 were confirmed.

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Item 2: The Hon LEUNG Che-cheung, SBS, MH, JP, Mr LUI Kin, MH, Mr KWOK Keung,

MH, Mr SIU Long-ming, Ms WONG Wai-ling and Ms MA Shuk-yin proposed to

discuss “making good use of the reserves to improve people’s livelihood”

(YLDC Paper No. 1/2018) 9. The Chairman asked Members to take note of Paper No. 1/2018, in which the Hon

LEUNG Che-cheung, SBS, MH, JP, Mr LUI Kin, MH, Mr KWOK Keung, MH, Mr SIU

Long-ming, Ms WONG Wai-ling and Ms MA Shuk-yin proposed to discuss “making good use of

the reserves to improve people’s livelihood”. He also asked Members to take note of the replies

from the Financial Secretary’s Office (“FS’s Office”), the Education Bureau (“EDB”), the Labour

and Welfare Bureau (“LWB”) and the Food and Health Bureau (“FHB”). The Chairman said

representatives of the FS’s Office, the LWB and the FHB had not attended the meeting because of

official commitments. Members could supplement their views to them after the meeting. For

comments on education policy, the departmental representative, Mr KWONG Ying-wai, Chief

School Development Officer (Yuen Long) of the Education Bureau (“EDB”) would respond.

10. Mr LUI Kin, MH said the Government was about to announce the Budget for the coming

year. In 2017, the Government estimated that there would be a fiscal surplus of $16 billion in

2017-18. As at the third quarter of 2017-18, the fiscal surplus reached $120 billion. It was

believed that at the end of 2017-18, there would be a surplus of over $150 billion. Given the

Treasury was flooded, the Government should invest more in livelihood and economic development.

The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (“DAB”) had presented a

proposal to the FS, so an agenda was put forward at this meeting for discussion. The theme of the

proposal was “Investing in the Future and Share the Fruits of Development”, which focused on

economic development, including more investment in the infrastructure in Hong Kong,

cross-regional collaboration and making corresponding arrangements to tie in with infrastructure

projects abroad. Meanwhile, the Government should inject more resources into social facilities

and services, especially in medical care, housing, welfare, community facilities and environmental

hygiene, assisting the public in solving any real difficulties. He hoped that the Government would

make full use of the surplus. With regard to the specific proposals in the issue, he hoped that the

Government would alleviate the burden of housing and home acquisition on the public, refunding

Government rents and waiving the rates for self-occupied properties of retired elderly.

11. Mr Daniel CHAM, BBS, MH, JP said the Government’s fiscal surplus in 2017-18 might

exceed $150 billion, which was 10 times more than the Government’s original estimate. As the

economy was faring well and a very substantial surplus was accumulated, the Government should

introduce some relief measures. He hoped that the Government would widen tax bands, raise

allowances and reduce rates and Government rents. At the same time, he also hoped that

electricity tariff allowances would be provided to benefit more people. Besides, the Government

should increase healthcare expenditure. Currently, the Government’s healthcare expenditure

accounted for about 2.8% of the Gross Domestic Product (“GDP”), lower than the percentage of

5-6% in other advanced countries and regions, reflecting that there was room for an increase in

healthcare expenditure. Regarding specific measures, some drugs, such as specialist drugs for

treatment of cancer, were excluded from the Drug Formulary. People prescribed with such drugs

could not receive subsidies from the Government. It would indeed constitute a heavy financial

burden on many patients with cancer and their families as the treatment of cancer might cost

hundreds of thousand dollars. Therefore, he hoped that the Government would increase the variety

of drugs listed in the Drug Formulary. In addition, he suggested that the Government expedite the

implementation of various infrastructure projects, such as Route 11 and new railway networks, e.g.

the Northern Link. Given that one-third of the population in Hong Kong would be over 65 years

old in 2030, there should not be any further delay in strengthening the policy on care for the elderly

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and increasing related facilities. The Government should also increase the expenditure on

education. Finally, the Government should stay alert to the challenges ahead. Although the

economy was currently faring well, there had been fluctuations in the stock market in the past few

weeks and an interest rate up-cycle was beginning. When the economy turned bad, Hong Kong as

an externally-oriented economy would be affected, not to mention people’s livelihood. Therefore,

he hoped that the Government would formulate some measures that could stabilise fiscal and

monetary policies so as to reduce the impact on the public and society during economic downturn in

Hong Kong.

12. Mr CHOW Wing-kan said the total estimated public expenditure for 2016-17 was $525.4

billion, while in the past 15 years, an average of 5% of the approved provision was unused every

year. Deducing from 2017’s figure, it was estimated that about $20 billion had not been fully

utilised. In terms of reserves, as at the end of 2017, the Government’s placements by fiscal

reserves were about $1.026 trillion, which was sufficient to meet 24 months of public expenditure.

This showed that government departments or other public organisations could actually make better

use of their resources. In addition, the fiscal reserves accounted for about a quarter of the total

assets of the Exchange Fund (“EF”). If a portion of the overall investment return of the EF, after

netting of the rise in inflation, was allocated to recurrent expenditure, it was believed that about $20

billion could be spent on livelihood initiatives. Besides, the total assets in relation to placements

by Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (“HKSAR”) government funds and statutory bodies

were about $290 billion, with $20 billion injected into the Community Care Fund (“CCF”). While

the actual commitment was only some $8 billion and the actual expenditure some $4 billion, over

$10 billion in the CCF had still not been allocated and could be used to cover more beneficiaries.

As at the end of 2017, Hong Kong had more than $4 trillion foreign exchange reserves, where 44%

of the assets, i.e. $1.735 trillion, were invested in short-term United States government bonds for

maintaining exchange rate stability. As the investment return was very low (only 0.5% to 2.5%),

around 5% of the assets were required for investing in the Long-Term Growth Portfolio (“LTGP”),

the average return of which had reached 13.5% since 2009. He considered the authorities’

financial management and investment strategies very conservative. If they could attempt to

increase the exposure to the LTGP, it might make up for the low investment returns from short-term

United States government bonds to stabilise the exchange rate and lower the investment risk. The

remaining 50% of the assets of the EF were invested in the equity and foreign exchange investment

portfolio, the average return of which was about 3% from 2000 to 2015. He considered the public

finance in Hong Kong healthy and some public expenditure should be supported by investment

returns.

13. Mr KWOK Keung, MH said in terms of enhancing elderly welfare and care services, the

paper proposed adjusting the asset limits for a single person for Old Age Living Allowance

(“OALA”) and Higher Old Age Living Allowance (“Higher OALA”) upwards to $800,000 and

$300,000 respectively, including OALA under the Guangdong Scheme, and launching annuity

plans and expanding the investment quota as soon as possible. It was also proposed that the

eligible age for elderly healthcare vouchers be relaxed to 60 or above and the amount be increased

to $3,000. Furthermore, the number of places for day-time elderly respite care services and day

care services was proposed to be increased to strengthen occasional care services. He hoped that

the Government would lower the eligible age for Old Age Allowance (“OAA”) (or the “fruit grant”)

to 65 to pay tribute to the elderly for their contribution to society. Currently, the monthly amounts

of OALA of more than $2,000 and more than $3,000 were derived from the asset ceilings. The

Government should provide across the board the monthly amount of more than $1,000 to elderly

whose assets exceeded the prescribed level to express encouragement and respect for the elderly.

Even if there would be more than 2 million elderly people aged 65 or above in Hong Kong 40 years

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later as estimated by the LWB, if the Government was to provide each elderly person with an

allowance of $1,000 per month, the expenditure would only be $2 billion, which would not be a

heavy financial burden for the Government. Besides, not all the elderly would collect the

allowance and the number of elderly people might not be as high as estimated. He hoped that the

Government would consider the above proposals and listen to the views of the public.

14. Mr LEE Yuet-man, MH said several Members put forward suggestions that were in line

with the views of local residents when the Government was about to announce the Budget. He

opined that the Government should explore how to solve the financial difficulties of the middle

class. For example, rates and Government rents were outdated taxes, which the Government

should abolish when financially sound. In addition, he proposed to abolish the asset and income

ceilings for Higher OALA and merge it with the OAA. Each elderly could receive more than

$3,000 each month so as to solve their livelihood problems as a gesture of respect. Besides, the

Government should increase the facilities for the elderly in the district while financially strong.

District Minor Works (“DMWs”) funding for Yuen Long District was particularly insufficient. He

hoped that the Government would allocate more resources to DMWs. As regards renewal of

buildings, raising tax allowances and widening tax bands, these were measures that the Government

should take to alleviate the difficulties encountered by the middle class given that the Government

had a surplus of $100 billion.

15. Mr LEUNG Fuk-yuen said a few years earlier, there were social division and youth

problems in Hong Kong. Therefore, he hoped that the Government would listen to the voices of

the grassroots to return wealth to the people while the Treasury was flooded. The Government had

to invest for the future and make good use of public money for additional infrastructure projects

such as housing as an initiative to boost employment. Meanwhile, the development gap between

towns and villages had to be narrowed. This would be the key of returning wealth to the people.

Besides, the public at large did not support the development in the New Territories by the

Government, which was attributable to its failure in formulating proper rehousing and

compensation arrangements. The public would inevitably think that the Government would only

aim at widening the tax net without proper allocation of resources for taking forward public policies

to return wealth to the people. He held that the Government should seriously consider the views of

the grassroots.

16. Ms MA Shuk-yin said the DAB’s proposal today was that the Government should make

good use of resources, including the establishment of the DC-led “Funds for Improving

Community’s Environmental Hygiene” to improve the community environment, enhance refuse

collection facilities and step up cleansing of refuse collection points, as well as improve community

facilities, such as community centres, leisure parks, fitness equipment and barrier-free access

facilities. Besides, the Funds could also subsidise the installation of closed circuit television

(“CCTV”) and security systems in village-style houses and estates and provide them with technical

support. Meanwhile, the Urban Renewal Authority (“URA”) should set up “Building Maintenance

Support Committees” to provide support for large-scale maintenance works to owners’ corporations.

It could also explore financing or other options for the redevelopment of buildings which was

otherwise not cost-effective in old districts.

17. Ms WONG Wai-ling said many people were aware that the public healthcare system was

under great pressure. For instance, the bed occupancy rates often exceeded 110%, wards were

overcrowded, and healthcare manpower fell short. Therefore, she hoped that the Government

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would increase healthcare expenditure to cope with the increasing demand when there was a higher

surplus. Meanwhile, upon the commissioning of Tin Shui Wai Hospital (“TSWH”), only an

eight-hour accident and emergency (“A&E”) service was provided. The authorities had

undertaken to progressively extend the A&E service to 12 hours by the end of 2017 but it was not

yet realised. Therefore, she hoped that: (i) the Government would allocate more resources so that

TSWH would provide a 24-hour A&E service; (ii) the Government and the Hospital Authority

(“HA”) would upgrade medical facilities, and increase healthcare manpower and the number of

beds; and (iii) the Government would consider building a public Chinese medicine hospital in the

densely populated Yuen Long District. Besides, she proposed to lower the threshold of the means

test for patients applying for the Samaritan Fund and the CCF, lowering the recipients’ maximum

contribution ratio on drug expenses to 10% so as to reduce the financial and mental impact on

patients and their families. She also proposed that the Government provide women with free

cervical smear screening test on a regular basis and vaccination for cervical cancer. In conclusion,

she hoped that the Government would actively consider increasing medical expenditure to promote

the health of the general public in Hong Kong.

18. Mr MAK Ip-sing said although the FS’s Office had responded in writing that it had met

with different political parties, the DC played an important role at district level and so the FS’s

Office should assign a representative to attend DC meetings to consult Members on the Budget.

He hoped that the Chairman would write to the FS’s Office to reflect the views. He held that the

tax concessions introduced by the Government could not benefit people from all walks of life. For

instance, public rental housing (“PRH”) tenants and those who rented their homes could not benefit

from the rates relief directly. Therefore, he suggested the Government hand out $10,000 to each

member of the public to benefit all people. In a certain year, the Government handed out $6,000

to the public, who welcomed it very much. Besides, the Government was having a huge surplus

and had an annual interest of about $80 billion from foreign exchange reserves. Even if $10,000

was handed out to each member of the public, the expenditure involved would be only $70 billion,

which was indeed affordable. He considered handing out money to the public by the Government

the most straightforward way to return wealth to the people, which could also help the public

withstand the shocks brought about by economic downturn.

19. Mr SIU Long-ming said the Government should step up the investment in education when

a huge surplus was anticipated. In addition to relaxing the application threshold of the grant of the

Tertiary Student Finance Scheme – Publicly-funded Programmes and increasing the subsidy under

the Continuing Education Fund, the pay difference between graduate teachers in primary and

secondary schools needed to be narrowed progressively. Previously, primary schools were

bi-sessional. Now they were basically whole-day just like secondary schools, where the workload

of teachers in primary and secondary schools was equally heavy. Therefore, both should receive

equal pay for equal work to enhance the sense of belonging. Besides, he suggested that 15-year

free education be fully implemented expeditiously to provide more places of whole-day and long

whole-day kindergartens to benefit more students and parents.

20. Ms CHAN Mei-lin said the Government should stand shoulder to shoulder with the public

when there was a surplus. Everything was expensive. Life at the lower social strata and even the

middle class was very difficult. Therefore, she supported giving cash handouts to everyone to

benefit all people, including the grassroots living in rented sub-divided units and bedspaces.

Besides, she hoped that the Government would resume electricity tariff subsidy and provide more

medical resources for recruiting additional medical staff and subsidising more drugs. In terms of

education, she hoped that the Government would provide more resources for recruiting additional

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staff as teachers currently were required to undertake administrative duties as well. The workload

was extremely heavy. With the additional staff, teachers could focus on teaching students, taking

full care of students’ physical and mental development. Besides, some kindergartens still charged

tuition fees. Therefore, she hoped that the Government would subsidise more kindergartens, fully

implementing free kindergarten education progressively. She said the current abnormal escalation

of property prices had brought increases in rates and Government rents, increasing the living

expenses of owner-occupiers. Therefore, she proposed to abolish rates and Government rents. In

addition, the population was aging seriously. Many elderly singletons and families of elderly

doubletons were not cared for. Therefore, she hoped that the Government would increase the

number of home care service teams and the service quotas so that more elderly people could receive

proper care. The prosperity of Hong Kong hinged on the hard work of our senior citizens over the

past few decades. The Government should care for and pay tribute to the elderly when there was a

surplus and should not deprive them of the eligibility for OALA because of their meagre savings.

Therefore, she proposed to abolish the asset ceiling for OALA and provide a certain amount of

allowance to each of the elderly. The eligible age for elderly healthcare vouchers should also be

relaxed to 60 or above. Finally, she proposed to reduce salaries tax, widen tax bands and increase

the tax allowance for dependent parents to alleviate the financial burden of the public, in particular

middle-class families.

21. Ms CHIU Sau-han, MH agreed to the proposals in relation to the issue and said the

Government’s proposal of waiving rentals for PRH flats over the past years was well-received by

PRH tenants. Despite the small amount, the Government could convey the message of loving and

caring for the grassroots. She was aware that some members of the public did not agree to such

measures, considering living in PRH flats already a subsidy for the grassroots. She did not share

the views because the living standards of PRH tenants were very low. “Well-off” tenants would

not be eligible for PRH flats and would be required to surrender their tenancy. It was

inappropriate for the Government not to care of PRH tenants when the Treasury was flooded. In

addition, the Government should provide more resources for kindergarten education to upgrade the

quality of kindergarten teachers and fully implement free kindergarten education, including

pre-nursery classes. She shared the views of Members that the elderly had worked hard all their

lives and might have meagre savings in their old age, only hoping to spend their twilight years

happily. The Government should abolish the asset limit and assessment for OALA and provide

allowance to all the elderly so that the elderly would not have to worry about their livelihoods.

22. Mr TO Ka-lun said the Government had been excessively relying on property development

including land sales and relevant proceeds to support the economy, which was not desirable. In

case of global economic downturn, the economic foundation would be shaken. The Government

should remain vigilant and achieve balanced economic development. He did not encourage the

Government to adopt policies that would facilitate private development projects. Therefore, when

there was an abundant surplus, it was necessary to expedite the construction of different types of

rental housing to balance the supply between private housing and public housing. He remarked

that education and healthcare had become commercialised, not focusing on the interests of people.

Even post-secondary education only aimed at training a group of professionals and so university

education turned out to be vocational courses. Besides, the Government should heavily subsidise

the medical care for the elderly, the vulnerable and the disabled and provide more community

health centres in districts to improve the medical services in various districts. Finally, he proposed

to abolish provisional tax.

23. Mr Zachary WONG supported most of the proposals in relation to the issue but did not

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agree to subsidise the installation of CCTV and security systems in village-style houses and estates.

He considered village-style houses and estates to be detached housing estates, such as Palm Springs

and Fairview Park. Owners of these estates were financially qualified to install the CCTV and

security systems on their own without subsidy from the Government. Besides, as the Chairman of

the Working Group on Traffic and Pedestrian Congestion in Yuen Long, he considered the traffic

congestion problem in Yuen Long District very serious, which was mainly because quite a lot of

infrastructural resources had been earmarked for several major projects launched by the

Government, such as the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (“HZMB”), the West Kowloon

Cultural District and the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link. Hence, there had

been very few major road improvement projects in Hong Kong in the past few years. He hoped

that the Government would strike a balance when carrying out cross-boundary infrastructure

projects and should not ignore the problem of inadequate roads in Hong Kong. Specifically, the

several major planned developments in Yuen Long District would not gain public support should

there be a lack of new road networks. Therefore, he hoped that the Government would carry out

more road improvement works in Yuen Long District when adequate resources were available.

24. Ms YUEN Man-yee strongly supported the proposals in the paper. She said the Social

Welfare Department (“SWD”) had increased the amount of OALA from $2,565 to $2,600 per

month since 1 February 2018. The increase of $35 was too low. Besides, the SWD would

implement the Higher OALA in June 2018, setting the asset ceiling for single elderly at $146,000

and married elderly couples at $221,000, whereas the eligible elderly would receive an allowance of

only $3,485 per month. She opined that many elderly couples were retired, maintaining their daily

expenses with a little savings of $100,000 to $200,000. The asset ceiling was capped at too low a

level. She hoped that the SWD could adjust it upwards. Finally, she suggested the Government

relax the eligible age for elderly healthcare vouchers to 60 or above and extend the scope of the

subsidy for dental services for the elderly to those aged 65 or above.

25. The Vice-chairman said the Government announced earlier that the amount of OAA would

increase from $1,325 to $1,345 on 1 February 2018. The elderly who received the allowance were

very disappointed at the increase of only $20. He hoped that the Government would adjust the

amount upwards before announcing the Budget. In the face of an ageing population, the

Government should properly take care of the life after retirement of the elderly who did not meet

the asset ceiling requirement. The current OAA was insufficient to help the elderly solve their

livelihood problems. He hoped that the Government would pay more attention to this.

26. The Hon KWONG Chun-yu said information of the Census and Statistics Department

showed that more than 1.3 million people in Hong Kong were living in poverty and according to

Professor WONG Yu-cheung of the Department of Social Work of The Chinese University of Hong

Kong, the current poverty rate among the elderly was 31.6%. Even though there were adjustments

in OALA and OAA, the poverty rate among the elderly only dropped slightly to 29.6%, involving

about 12 000 elderly people. The situation was very bad. He held that the Government should

explore the implementation of universal retirement protection, be they rich or poor, when there was

a surplus, paying tribute to all the elderly for their contribution to Hong Kong. Besides, without

extensive consultation, the Government tightened the age requirement for applications for

Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (“CSSA”) from the elderly, raising the age from 60 to

65. He did not consider that the Government was helping the poor with the surplus. Besides, the

dental services for the elderly were lacking in substance. The elderly often needed to wait for as

long as one year before they could receive tooth extraction treatment. Even if they used elderly

healthcare vouchers at private clinics for dental treatment, only simple treatment like tooth

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extraction could be provided. Any political parties would hope that the FS would allocate more

resources to improve people’s livelihood, especially for the elderly.

27. Mr KWONG Ying-wai gave a consolidated response as follows:

(1) He thanked Members for putting forward comments on the future of education in

Hong Kong. He would reflect them to the Bureau. Regarding the current heavy

workload of teachers, Members hoped that the Government would provide more

resources for recruiting additional staff. In fact, the Government had strengthened

manpower resources in primary and secondary schools in recent years. Starting

from the 2017/18 school year, the teacher-to-class ratio of public sector schools had

improved. Many schools had allowed contract teachers to fill the additional

permanent teaching posts. The authorities would also consider providing additional

resources for enhancing the quality of education having regard to resources and the

actual circumstances;

(2) Regarding Members’ comments on kindergarten education, starting from the

2017/18 school year, the authorities had commenced the Free Quality Kindergarten

Education Scheme. At present, the kindergarten sector was diversified, flexible and

vibrant. Therefore, the kindergarten subsidy from the Government was a

challenging issue. In view of different situations, individual kindergartens might

also charge a small amount of tuition fees. The authorities would continue to

review the situation and enhance the scheme;

(3) In addition, a lot of voices in society expressed that the Government should enhance

the subsidy for whole-day and long whole-day kindergartens. From the perspective

of education, evidence from the current study was insufficient to prove that young

children would benefit more from whole-day classes than half-day classes.

However, from the perspective of releasing the potential source of local labour, the

Government would provide whole-day and long whole-day kindergartens with

additional subsidy, in the hope to assist parents in going out to work when they did

not need to take care of their children during the day; and

(4) With regard to the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines (“HKPSG”), there

should be 730 half-day and 250 full-day places for every 1 000 children in the age

group of 3 to under 6. As a long-term goal, the authorities hoped to revise the

numbers phase by phase so that half-day and full-day places would be equal and

would continue to examine the needs of the community.

28. The Chairman said issues in relation to the Budget were very broad and covered various

aspects. In order to put the time for discussion under control, Members could supplement

comments on education.

29. Ms CHAN Mei-lin said she knew some friends who were teachers and who reflected that

their working hours were very long. They had to return to school by 7 am every day and work

until 5 or 6 pm. Sometimes, there were meetings until after 7 pm. After work, they had to mark

homework assignments of students, making them mentally and physically exhausted. She hoped

that the EDB would seriously explore how to assist teachers in alleviating their workload.

- 11 -

30. Mr TO Ka-lun said the Government should tighten the Home Starter Loan Scheme,

including setting ceilings for the subsidy and the restriction that only low-priced flats could be

purchased, to prevent abuse of the scheme. In addition, he opposed installing CCTV and security

systems in housing estates with public money, which would turn Hong Kong into a police city.

31. Mr LUI Kin, MH said Members were simply over-worried in disagreeing to the installation

of CCTV and security systems in village-style houses and estates with the Government’s subsidy.

The proposed subsidy would be subject to a ceiling of the rateable values of the properties.

32. The Chairman reminded that Members should supplement the education issue.

33. Mr LUI Kin, MH said it would be unfair to Members if the Chairman restricted the

contents of their speeches. Some Members had queries on the proposed installation of CCTV and

security systems in village-style houses and estates with the Government’s subsidy. He had the

responsibility to provide explanations.

34. The Chairman said restricting the contents of speeches was to control the time for

discussion. He hoped Members would understand.

35. Mr LUI Kin, MH supplemented that CCTV and security systems in village-style houses

and estates were crucial for protecting the safety of residents in rural areas. In 2017, 162 burglary

cases and 865 miscellaneous thefts were recorded in Yuen Long District. Protecting the safety of

residents required their immediate attention, which was particularly important when police strength

was inadequate in villages.

36. Mr CHOW Wing-kan said currently, 18% of the assets of the EF were accumulated surplus,

amounting to about $700 billion. If no investment was made, the annual loss due to inflation,

calculated at 3%, would be more than $20 billion. If investment was made in projects with an

average return of 4%, there would be an annual income of about $30 billion. Injecting the

investment income into improving education would greatly enhance Hong Kong’s competitiveness.

37. In his concluding remarks, the Chairman highlighted YLDC Members’ hope for the

Government to provide more resources for improving people’s livelihood when there was a huge

surplus. They hoped the Government would offer tax concessions, in particular reducing rates and

Government rents, as well as subsidies on electricity tariffs and PRH rentals. They also hoped that

the Government would increase public expenditure on healthcare, elderly care and education to

strengthen the provision of these public services. Besides, whether territory-wide infrastructure or

district-based facilities, Members hoped that the Government would substantially increase the

relevant expenditure. It was even suggested the Government give cash handouts to all members of

the public. In conclusion, the DC’s aspiration in general was that the Government should make

good use of the surplus to solve the livelihood problem in the long run.

- 12 -

Item 3: Question from DC Members: Mr LEUNG Fuk-yuen, Mr CHING Chan-ming, Mr

LEUNG Ming-kin and Ms YUEN Man-yee proposed to discuss “suggesting that the

Government should promptly conduct investigations for Kung Um Shan Tunnel

associated with the feasibility study on Route 11”

(YLDC Paper No. 13/2018)

Item 4: Question from DC Members: Mr LEUNG Fuk-yuen, Mr CHING Chan-ming, Mr

LEUNG Ming-kin and Ms YUEN Man-yee proposed to discuss “requesting the

expeditious launch of land resumption scheme for constructing a new road

(connecting Tai Tong Road with Yuen Long Highway (Tong Yan San Tsuen

Interchange))”

(YLDC Paper No. 14/2018)

38. The Chairman asked Members to take note of Paper No. 13/2018, in which Mr LEUNG

Fuk-yuen, Mr CHING Chan-ming, Mr LEUNG Ming-kin and Ms YUEN Man-yee proposed to

discuss “suggesting that the Government should promptly conduct investigations for Kung Um

Shan Tunnel associated with the feasibility study on Route 11”. Meanwhile, he asked Members to

take note of Paper No. 14/2018, in which these four Members proposed to discuss “requesting the

expeditious launch of land resumption scheme for constructing a new road (connecting Tai Tong

Road with Yuen Long Highway (Tong Yan San Tsuen Interchange))”. He also asked Members to

take note of the replies from the Transport and Housing Bureau (“THB”), the Planning Department

(“PlanD”) and the Civil Engineering and Development Department (“CEDD”).

39. The Chairman welcomed the following departmental representatives to the meeting

regarding the Yuen Long South development:

Planning Department

Town Planner/Cross-boundary Infrastructure Mr Alexander MAK

and Development 1

Civil Engineering and Development Department

Senior Engineer/District Monitoring Group on Mr CHUI Wai-lok

Housing Sites/West (W)

40. Mr LEUNG Fuk-yuen said with the rapid growth in Yuen Long District and the

developments in Yuen Long South, Hung Shui Kiu, Wang Chau, Kam Tin South and Pat Heung,

the population in Yuen Long District would increase to over 1 million in the next ten years.

Coupled with the commissioning of the HZMB in 2018, the traffic congestion problem in Yuen

Long District would become even more serious. About ten years ago, the YLDC had a discussion

on Route 10, the predecessor of Route 11. However, as Route 3 had not reached its full capacity

yet at that time, the project for Route 10 could not be implemented. According to the draft

alignment plan of Route 11, the route would pass through Kung Um Shan to connect North Lantau

with the starting points of its two ends linking the HZMB with the Shenzhen Western Corridor.

There would be a slip road at its middle section connecting So Kwun Wat heading to the Gold

Coast. During his visit to Guizhou in 2017, he found various places were connected by tunnels

and highways. As the alignment of Route 11 was close to Yuen Long South, the authorities

should, by way of the feasibility study, consider building Kung Um Shan Tunnel to connect Yuen

Long South with Route 11 to address the overall traffic problem in Yuen Long District and to

dovetail with the development in Yuen Long District.

- 13 -

41. Mr CHING Chan-ming said Route 11 had been discussed for a very long time at the

YLDC. The question was when it would be implemented. He hoped that the Government would

promptly study the alignment of Route 11, giving particular consideration to the construction of

Kung Um Shan Tunnel for connecting Yuen Long South with Route 11 to cater for the development

in Yuen Long South and Hung Shui Kiu. Kung Um Shan Tunnel would help alleviate the overall

traffic in Yuen Long District, in particular when the authorities did not have any effective solutions

for the traffic congestion problem in Yuen Long District. He hoped that the authorities would

actively consider the proposal as there was a plan to construct Route 11. Besides, given that the

Treasury was flooded, the Government should consider expediting the improvement of the road

networks in Yuen Long District to cater for future development and population growth. In

addition, he, together with Members who raised the question, proposed that the Government should

commence the land resumption programme in Yuen Long South as soon as possible to facilitate the

advance works for improving road networks, diverting the traffic primarily relying on Kung Um

Road at present to the new route and network. Otherwise, the traffic congestion on Kung Um

Road would worsen when the authorities proceeded with the development in Yuen Long South and

all the vehicular flow would be trapped on that road.

42. Ms YUEN Man-yee supported the proposals of the two Members. Currently, traffic

congestion frequently arose in the vicinity of Kung Um Road. A few days earlier, a container

truck that stopped in the middle of the road due to mechanical failure caused obstruction to vehicles

entering Kung Um Road from Park Signature for a few hours, which affected residents travelling to

and from Yuen Long Town. Yuen Long Town served as the transportation hub of the entire

district. The authorities should focus on addressing the traffic congestion problem in Yuen Long

Town, including roads and major trunk roads that would effectively connect Yuen Long Town and

link up road networks so as to cater for the Yuen Long South development.

43. Mr LEUNG Ming-kin said in order to provide housing, the Government carried out

development in Yuen Long District, including Yuen Long South, where traffic congestion was very

serious currently. The development would further increase the population in that area by more

than 80 000 and the vehicular flow would increase significantly. The authorities should start to

address the traffic problems in Yuen Long South, including connecting Yuen Long South to Route

11. Otherwise, it would aggravate the traffic congestion problem in the entire Yuen Long District.

Besides, the Tai Lam Tunnel had been in use for more than ten years and almost reached its full

capacity. It was necessary to build Route 11 to divert the traffic heading for North Lantau or

pressure would be exerted on the traffic in Yuen Long District. In addition, he suggested the

Government start land resumption for the construction of roads to connect Tong Yan San Tsuen

Interchange from the south of Kung Um Road and at the same time improve the Interchange

comprehensively to allow an overall improvement in the roads in the area. Finally, he hoped that

relevant bureaux and departments would strengthen communication to expedite the implementation

of the construction of roads linking Lam Hi Road and Shap Pat Heung Road and the decking of

nullahs to increase the road surface area of Kung Um Road and Kiu Hing Road so that the traffic in

Yuen Long South could be improved effectively.

44. Mr Daniel CHAM, BBS, MH, JP said there were no planned projects for new development

areas in Yuen Long South, Kam Tin South and Hung Shui Kiu when the Government consulted the

YLDC on Route 10 years ago. The aim of the proposed new route was to solve the traffic

problems in Yuen Long in the long run. However, it was too late for the Government to start

planning for Route 11 when launching the planned developments in Hung Shui Kiu, Kam Tin South

and Yuen Long South. Moreover, the construction schedule for Route 11 might not tie in with

- 14 -

other development projects. Therefore, he hoped that the Government would expeditiously

implement the plan for building Route 11 and even other large-scale transport infrastructure

projects such as the Tuen Mun-Chek Lap Kok Link under huge surplus. In addition, according to

the preliminary alignment options of Route 11, its southbound exit would connect the North Lantau

Highway via Tsing Lung Tau. All Tsing Yi and Kowloon bound traffic would then use the Tsing

Ma Bridge, which was the only vehicular bridge to connect Lantau. The full-scale development of

Tung Chung, coupled with the development in Yam O and Siu Ho Wan, would increase the traffic

volume on the North Lantau Highway substantially. By that time, vehicles to and from Lantau

Island and those plying between Northwest New Territories and the urban areas would have to cross

the Tsing Ma Bridge, causing a bottleneck. Therefore, he proposed to extend Route 11 to the

south of Lantau by building a new bridge or road link linking Tsing Yi and Hong Kong Island to

divert the traffic of Northwest New Territories and North Lantau. Meanwhile, in addition to

planning Route 11 as the main trunk for traffic plying between Northwest New Territories and the

urban areas, the Government should make proper planning to connect the route to the spur lines and

road networks in Yuen Long District, and widen Yuen Long Highway. Only by connecting the

different locations in Yuen Long District and the roads in future development areas in Yuen Long

South, Kam Tin South, Pat Heung and Hung Shui Kiu to Route 3 and Route 11 could congestion in

Yuen Long be addressed. Therefore, apart from examining the southerly and northerly main

alignment in the feasibility study on Route 11, the authorities should explore in depth the

connection of the local roads with the route so as to solve the local road network problem in Yuen

Long District thoroughly.

45. Mr CHEUNG Muk-lam said transport planning had been discussed for a very long time at

the YLDC but it seemed that the departments could not solve the traffic problem in the long run

from a macro perspective. Even though Route 11 had been in the formative stage for years, the

authorities’ practice of discussion without decision and decision without action was not conducive

to meeting the development needs. Given a considerable number of future developments in Yuen

Long District, the population might exceed 1 million in ten years and easing traffic was essential.

At the same time, the commissioning of HZMB and the development in the Guangdong-Hong

Kong-Macao Bay Area (“the Bay Area”) would increase the traffic volume in Northwest New

Territories. As there was an imminent need for macro transport planning and construction of a

new route, the Government should not respond reactively. He suggested expediting the study on

building Kung Um Shan Tunnel to connect Yuen Long South and Hung Shui Kiu with Route 11 to

tie in with the development in Northwest New Territories, in particular Yuen Long District.

Besides, it had been stressed that the Government should properly solve the transport infrastructure

problem before proceeding with the development in Yuen Long District. Otherwise, the

completion of new housing estates would lead to traffic chaos. Residents of some housing estates

such as Park Signature, The Woodside and Uptown found it inconvenient as the supporting road

facilities were inadequate. He hoped that before proceeding with the development in Yuen Long

South and other areas, the departments would fully cooperate in considering land resumption for

improvement of local roads such as Long Hon Road and Kung Um Road so as to solve traffic

problems.

46. Mr CHOW Wing-kan said the alignment of Route 11 proposed by Members representing

Shap Pat Heung was to move the original exit north. It would not only cater for the development

in Yuen Long South and the Tong Yan San Tsuen area more effectively but also avoid bringing

additional burden to the traffic in Tuen Mun Town Centre and Route 3 in future. Besides, he

proposed to build Ting Kau Second Bridge connecting the southbound exit of the route to channel

urban bound traffic to the Stonecutters Bridge to effectively ease the traffic flow.

- 15 -

47. Mr LAI Wai-hung said Mr Daniel CHAM’s analysis enabled him to better understand the

traffic pattern of the entire Yuen Long District and he believed that relevant departments would also

agree. In spite of the current traffic gridlock in Yuen Long District and key development projects

in Yuen Long South, Kam Tin South, Pat Heung and Hung Shui Kiu, no traffic infrastructure

projects were implemented. Even though the works for Route 11 were pending, the authorities

should expeditiously improve the road networks in Yuen Long District, such as constructing new

roads to connect Pat Heung South with Tai Lam Tunnel, to fully accommodate residents’ needs.

48. Mr MAN Kwong-ming said the construction of new roads could cater for the population

growth in Yuen Long District and ease the traffic in Yuen Long Town and Route 3. The

feasibility study on Route 11 was indeed crucial. Traffic was congested not only on Kung Um

Road but the entire Yuen Long Town, causing inconvenience to residents whose suffering was

indescribable. The future developments in Yuen Long South, Hung Shui Kiu, Kam Tin South and

Pat Heung would increase the population. Inadequate traffic and road planning would aggravate

the traffic problems in Yuen Long District. Therefore, he hoped that the study on Route 11 could

give impetus to the Government to carry out comprehensive transport planning, which would be the

best solution to traffic problems.

49. Mr Zachary WONG noted that the Route 11 project was under the purview of THB as

stated in its written reply. However, without any representative at the meeting to listen to

Members’ ideas and justifications on the alignment of the route, the THB created an impression that

work was done behind closed doors. Mr LEUNG Fuk-yuen and Members who raised the question

proposed that the Government should build Kung Um Shan Tunnel to connect Yuen Long South

with Route 11. It was believed that the cost of this option was lower than that of constructing a

new road link. He was concerned that the consultant firm was engaged to study individual

projects without any coordination with one another. The proposed Kung Um Shan Tunnel would

be located within the Hung Shui Kiu (“HSK”) New Development Area (“NDA”) and the Yuen

Long South development area. If the consultants engaged in the HSK NDA and the development

in Yuen Long South did not coordinate with each other, the tunnel could hardly be built.

Therefore, relevant bureaux (such as the THB) should grasp full information on and examine

transport planning and coordinate the work to prevent incompatibility in the work of different

consultants engaged, which might result in failure to solve the traffic problems in Yuen Long

District. He felt very regrettable that the THB was not represented at the meeting.

50. Mr TO Ka-lun thanked Mr LEUNG Fuk-yuen and some other Members for their proposal

to build Kung Um Shan Tunnel. The proposal was completely feasible, met the needs of residents

and compatible with the development direction of Yuen Long South and even the entire Yuen Long

District. Besides, he regretted that the THB had not appointed a representative to the meeting to

heed the DC’s comments and hoped that the authorities would assess and respond to Members’

proposal.

51. Regarding the overall development of Yuen Long District, Mr TANG Ho-nin said despite

Members’ request for according priority to improving transport facilities in the entire district, the

Government had no implementation plan. There were no government department representatives

at DC or its committee meetings when sensitive issues were put on the agenda. As Members

expressed their views unilaterally, it made no sense in discussing these issues in meetings. He

hoped that the Chairman would reflect to the authorities that the role of the DC should be respected

and Members’ comments should be valued.

- 16 -

52. Mr KWOK Keung, MH said as local Members were familiar with district affairs and

insightful, government departments should listen more to their opinions. The road infrastructure

in Tuen Mun District was better than that in Yuen Long District. Even though there were three

Legislative Council (“LegCo”) Members at the YLDC, which frequently reflected the traffic

problems to the Government, it seemed their views were not addressed. He hoped that the

Chairman, together with the YLDC Members who had concurrent membership in the LegCo, would

invite the Secretary for Transport and Housing (“STH”) to discuss the future strategy of transport

development in Yuen Long District.

53. The Chairman thanked Mr KWOK Keung for his views. He added that he had invited the

STH on an occasion to schedule for a meeting with YLDC Members to heed their views.

54. Mr MAK Ip-sing strongly supported the proposals put forward by several Members. As

Route 11 would basically serve as the crucial transportation hub and gateway for Hong Kong in the

future, it would be a pity if the opportunity was not taken to improve the traffic in Yuen Long on a

macro scale when building the new route. By constructing Kung Um Shan Tunnel, Route 11

could be fully utilised to ease the traffic and cater for the future population growth in Yuen Long

District. However, there was no concrete response from the Government regarding Members’

proposals. Construction of slip roads along Route 11 was technically feasible. For example,

making reference to its preliminary alignment options, the authorities planned to build a slip road

connecting to Tuen Mun Road via So Kwun Wat. By the same token, it would also be feasible to

construct Kung Um Shan Tunnel to connect roads in Yuen Long South with Route 11. Therefore,

relevant departments should fully consider the views of the DC and the local community. If the

department had no authority to decide whether to accept Members’ proposals, they should be

considered by the bureau. He hoped that the Chairman would reflect to the THB. Solving the

traffic problems in Yuen Long District was very important. The authorities would have to

expeditiously conduct the feasibility study on Route 11, including the construction of Kung Um

Shan Tunnel.

55. Regarding the planning of Yuen Long South, Mr CHUI Wai-lok said Members proposed to

resume land for according construction priority to the road link connecting Kung Um Road and

Yuen Long Highway, including Tong Yan San Tsuen Interchange. Currently, a majority of land in

Yuen Long South was private land. To address land issues, the authorities would resume land

when implementing the development in Yuen Long South. Having received Members’ comments,

the authorities would consider the feasibility of giving construction priority to the road later at the

detailed design stage. Besides, the above road would connect Tong Yan San Tsuen Interchange,

but the improvement works for the interchange were technically more complicated and required

detailed consideration on the technical issues. Nonetheless, the department had noted Members’

views on establishing construction priority of the road.

56. Mr Zachary WONG stated that the proposed Kung Um Shan Tunnel might be located

within the area of HSK NDA and Yuen Long South development and that the two consultants

engaged in the two projects would plan the roads separately. In this case, he enquired whether the

Government could require holistic coordination between the two consultants to make proper

planning of the roads plying between the two development projects, such as the proposed Kung Um

Shan Tunnel. Even for roads not lying within the area of the two development projects, the

- 17 -

Government could also arrange for proper planning of the roads by the two consultants.

57. Mr LEUNG Fuk-yuen said after detailed discussion by the YLDC on Route 10 some ten

years ago, the route was not constructed mainly because Route 3 had not reached its full capacity.

At that time, there were no specific plans for the HSK NDA and the Yuen Long South development.

The launch of development plans in Yuen Long South, Hung Shui Kiu and Wang Chau, coupled

with the commissioning of the HZMB and the development in the Bay Area, would increase the

population in Yuen Long District to over 1 million and the traffic volume in Yuen Long District

would definitely increase substantially, causing even more serious traffic congestion. Therefore,

the Government should take the opportunity of the development in Yuen Long South and the

construction of Route 11 to build Kung Um Shan Tunnel linking up Yuen Long Town and North

Lantau to relieve overall traffic.

58. The Hon KWONG Chun-yu noted in the paper that the funding application for the

feasibility study on Route 11 had been supported by the LegCo’s Public Works Subcommittee. It

was being submitted to the Finance Committee (“FC”) for consideration following the procedures.

At the FC meeting to consider the application, he would enquire the bureau about not appointing

representative to attend the YLDC meeting.

59. Mr CHING Chan-ming considered the concept of building Kung Um Shan Tunnel feasible.

According to the construction plan of Route 11 and development in Yuen Long South, the tunnel

would link the road networks in Yuen Long District with Route 11 as an overall solution to the

traffic problems. He hoped that relevant departments would take the initiative to examine and put

forward implementation options. Besides, he supported Members’ proposal of urging the

Government to regard road improvement as a priority by resuming land in Yuen Long South to link

up the road networks in the district. Otherwise, it would be difficult for the Government to obtain

support from the local community for the development.

60. Mr CHEUNG Muk-lam remarked that without local road improvement and construction

before carrying out infrastructure works in the Yuen Long South development, the population

increase upon completion of the development would leave the traffic problems unsolved.

Continuous development without macro planning for ancillary transport facilities would not gain

public support. Besides, he did not share the views of the departmental representative about the

technical difficulties of the improvement works for Tong Yan San Tsuen Interchange and held that

technical problems should not be ignored but resolved.

61. The Vice-chairman said it was obvious that the external traffic problems in Yuen Long

District were worsening. The authorities should conduct further studies on road improvement

compatible with the large-scale developments in the district. As one of the considerations,

Members’ proposal was to plan transport facilities from a macro perspective, and to build a new

road network to link some local roads with Yuen Long District and the urban areas effectively.

Piecemeal implementation of road improvement works without coordination and collaboration

would not address the traffic issue in Yuen Long District. In response to the strong demands of

Members and residents, government departments should comprehensively review the traffic in

Yuen Long District and examine ways to enhance road connection through existing roads and the

planned Route 11 to ease the external traffic in Yuen Long District.

- 18 -

62. The Hon LUK Chung-hung opined that transport planning should be forward-looking and

the Government should not be unprepared. Otherwise, traffic problems like those in New

Territories West currently would arise. He hoped that the authorities would face up to and listen to

the views of Members. The several YLDC Members who had concurrent membership in LegCo,

including him, would invite the STH to meet with YLDC Members to learn about the traffic

problems in Yuen Long District, including Tin Shui Wai. At the same time, he would give full

support to funding application to be discussed in LegCo. Besides, Route 11 and the proposed

Kung Um Shan Tunnel would facilitate local development and people’s livelihood. These projects

should not be politicised. He hoped that those who objected to all the Government’s constructions

would understand the actual situation and needs of Yuen Long residents so that the projects could

be widely supported at both district and LegCo levels and taken forward as soon as possible.

63. Mr LEUNG Ming-kin said Route 11 could divert the traffic in Yuen Long Town and

enable vehicles to ply between Yuen Long District and the urban areas via Route 3 or 11.

Moreover, an upsurge of population to nearly 1 million arising from the developments in Yuen

Long District would result in insufficient road facilities. Therefore, construction of roads

connecting the urban area was necessary to avoid traffic gridlock. He hoped that the Government

would construct roads before development as supporting facilities.

64. Mr LUI Kin, MH said in their consultation with the YLDC on the outline development

plans for Yuen Long District in the past few years, government departments indicated that

development needs could be met with minor improvements on existing roads, such as widening

interchanges and providing more road access points. However, he believed it was not the case.

Departmental representatives attending the meeting this morning witnessed the traffic congestion

from Tin Shui Wai to Yuen Long Town. Building a new route was imminent. He agreed to the

proposed extension of the coverage of Route 11. Currently, according to the preliminary

alignment option of Route 11, there would be a slip road connecting Tuen Mun Road. In 2017,

when the Working Group on HUNG SHUI KIU New Development Area (“WGHSKNDA”)

discussed the planning for the NDAs, Members also sought to build a road linking Ha Tsuen with

Route 11. Route 11 would be in no way conducive to solving the traffic problems in Yuen Long

District if it did not connect Yuen Long District, especially development areas in Hung Shui Kiu,

Yuen Long South and Wang Chau. Residents in the area would then continue to suffer the

torment of congestion. The Government should open its mind and took the opportunity to connect

the development areas in Yuen Long with other areas by way of constructing road infrastructure to

solve traffic problems.

65. The Chairman said he had received a motion moved at the meeting by Mr LEUNG

Fuk-yuen, and seconded by Mr CHING Chan-ming, Mr LEUNG Ming-kin and Ms YUEN Man-yee.

The motion was read as follows:

“This Council proposes that the Government develop Yuen Long South and expedite the

construction of Route 11 to link Kung Um Road with Route 11 so as to ease the traffic

congestion at Tai Lam Tunnel and Yuen Long Town, and connect Yuen Long South and

Hung Shui Kiu to North Lantau.”

66. The Chairman said as the motion was related to the issue thoroughly discussed by

Members, they would proceed to vote on the motion unless there were other comments.

- 19 -

67. Members did not raise any objection.

68. An open ballot on the motion was conducted by a show of hands. Ms CHAN Mei-lin, Mr

CHAN Sze-ching, Mr CHEUNG Muk-lam, Mr CHING Chan-ming, Ms CHIU Sau-han, MH, Mr

CHOW Wing-kan, Mr KWOK Keung, MH, the Hon KWONG Chun-yu, Mr LAI Wai-hung, Ms

LAU Kwai-yung, Mr LEUNG Fuk-yuen, Mr LEUNG Ming-kin, Mr LUI Kin, MH, the Hon LUK

Chung-hung, Ms MA Shuk-yin, Mr MAK Ip-sing, Mr TANG Cheuk-yin, Mr TANG Hing-ip, BBS,

Mr TANG Ho-nin, Mr TANG Ka-leung, Mr TANG Lai-tung, Mr Ronnie TANG, Mr TO Ka-lun,

Mr TSANG Shu-wo, Ms WONG Wai-ling, Mr Zachary WONG, Mr YOUNG Ka-on and Ms

YUEN Man-yee were in favour of the motion.

69. The Chairman announced that there were 28 votes in favour of the motion, 0 vote against it

and 0 abstention, passing the motion by an absolute majority.

70. In conclusion, the Chairman said that there would be a number of large-scale developments

in Yuen Long District in the future. Among them, the HSK NDA and the Yuen Long South

development would be of the largest scale. Currently, Route 3, the external major trunk road for

Yuen Long District, was reaching its full capacity. A new route was expected to solve traffic

problems arising from the completion of these developments. After the Government had proposed

to examine the construction of Route 11, Members made some recommendations to optimise the

alignment, including the construction of Kung Um Shan Tunnel to connect the development area in

Yuen Long South with Route 11 as proposed by several Shap Pat Heung DC Members. Besides,

some Members were worried that if Route 11 was connected to the North Lantau Highway, traffic

to and from the vicinity of Tsing Yi and Kwai Chung would mainly use the Tsing Ma Bridge which

might be operating at its full capacity. Therefore, Members hoped that the authorities would

consider building new roads there to prevent a bottleneck at Tsing Ma Bridge. In addition, the

development in Yuen Long District should be supported by new roads. Members expressed their

wish for a new road connecting Tong Yan San Tsuen Interchange for the Yuen Long South

development to be constructed before the completion of the entire development project. He hoped

that the Government would expeditiously examine the various transport planning options proposed

by Members to lay a good foundation for the development in Yuen Long District.

Item 5: Mr WONG Cheuk-kin, Mr WONG Wai-shun, MH, Mr CHAM Ka-hung, Daniel,

BBS, MH, JP, Mr CHAN Sze-ching, Mr CHEUNG Muk-lam, Mr CHING Chan-ming,

Ms CHIU Sau-han, MH, Mr CHOW Wing-kan, Mr KWOK Hing-ping, Mr KWOK

Keung, MH, Mr LAI Wai-hung, Ms LAU Kwai-yung, Mr LEE Yuet-man, MH, Mr

LEUNG Fuk-yuen, Mr LEUNG Ming-kin, Mr LUI Kin, MH, The Hon LUK

Chung-hung, Ms MA Shuk-yin, Mr MAN Kwong-ming, Mr MAN Ping-nam, MH, Mr

SIU Long-ming, Mr TANG Cheuk-him, Mr TANG Cheuk-yin, Mr TANG Hing-ip,

BBS, Mr TANG Ho-nin, Mr TANG Ka-leung, Mr TANG Lai-tung, Mr TANG

Sui-man, Mr TANG Yung-yiu, Ronnie, Mr TSANG Shu-wo, Ms WONG Wai-ling, Mr

YIU Kwok-wai, Mr YOUNG Ka-on and Ms YUEN Man-yee proposed to discuss

“requesting a wider coverage of the Vaccination Subsidy Scheme and arranging for

group vaccinations at schools by healthcare professionals”

(YLDC Paper No. 15/2018)

71. The Chairman asked Members to take note of Paper No. 15 which was about the

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discussion of “requesting a wider coverage of the Vaccination Subsidy Scheme and arranging for

group vaccinations at schools by healthcare professionals” suggested by many Members. The

Chairman also asked Members to take note of the joint reply of the Food and Health Bureau

(“FHB”) and Department of Health (“DH”).

72. Mr WONG Cheuk-kin said that he was a prosthetists and orthotists with years of

experience of managing private medical groups. He had worked in public hospitals as well as

private clinics in Hong Kong and Northern Europe. He was also a committee member of Health

Care and Promotion Fund Committee under the FHB. He hoped to comment on aspects of

immunisation and treatment with his medical knowledge and experience. For immunisation, there

had been doubts from the public about the effectiveness of influenza vaccination. According to

the statistics provided by the Government, in the past five years, there were 123 fatal cases of

serious medical complications relating to childhood influenza, in which 12% of students had

received the vaccination. In other words, even if students had received the vaccination, there

could be chances of death due to incidence. However, without vaccination, the death rate would

be even higher. According to the statistics of World Health Organization (“WHO”), the protection

rate of vaccination was as high as 70% to 95% for healthy individuals under the age of 65. With

reference to herd immunity theories and information provided by The Hong Kong Medical

Association, at least thirty percent of the population needed to be covered by vaccination to

effectively enhance the immunity of the community. Yet in Hong Kong, only around 10% of

citizens had received the vaccine and it was 3.5 times lower than that of Taiwan with a population

of 23 million. In accordance with the figures of Taiwan, as of 27 January 2018, 30 cases of flu

death were reported while the death toll of Hong Kong as of 29 January had reached 85, which was

three times of that in Taiwan. In the case of Macau, people under the age of 18 and above the age

of 50 could get vaccinated for free. Medical professionals would provide group vaccination

services to primary and secondary students and teaching staff at schools. Free vaccines were also

provided for those who worked in casinos and Macau citizens who had frequent contacts with the

public at work. In comparison, Hong Kong’s scope of influenza immunisation programme was

still lagging behind other regions as reflected by the fact that free vaccination was only provided to

students under the age of 12, the elderly above the age of 65 and certain high-risk individuals. He

emphasised that the success rate of arranging for vaccinations to students at schools by healthcare

professionals was almost 70% higher than that of voluntary vaccination; that was just the case

where the Government coordinating manpower to give Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccines to

primary students at schools. He quoted the estimation made by Dr HO Pak-leung, the President of

Carol Yu Centre for Infection of the University of Hong Kong that it only took 300 million dollars

to provide in-school universal vaccination to students of all 1 500 kindergartens and primary

schools in Hong Kong in about two months and that 300 million dollars only accounted for 0.5% of

the total health expenditure in 2017. He believed that group vaccination could help alleviate

situations of over-crowded A&Es and reduce the expense of Hospital Authority (“HA”) on treating

influenza; the work was an investment with potential returns and should not be seen as an expense

of government departments. In respect of immunisation, influenza was more invasive with a

higher speed of transmission than ordinary viruses causing common cold. Since children and the

elderly had lower immunity, they would be affected more seriously with a higher incidence rate.

For healthy individuals, influenza would be self-limiting with recovery in one month without drugs

or medical consultation. Still, parents did not want to put their children at risk. He said that a

doctor had reflected that there was no rapid influenza test which showed results within only 10

minutes in public hospitals so the detailed result could only be released until the next day when the

testing had been done. Moreover, polyclinics and private clinics under the DH did not have

enough Tamiflu, the specific drug for influenza so citizens could only get help from the A&Es,

leading to an over-crowded situation. Pharmaceutical firms reflected the reason for the shortage of

Tamiflu was that they had to reserve enough drug stocks as priority supply for public hospitals.

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Facing the predicament, he suggested the FHB formulating effective co-ordination proposals for a

comprehensive assessment on the demand for drugs of all public and private sectors in Hong Kong.

Drugs should also be ordered at pharmaceutical firms in advance instead of allowing the industry to

compete for supply under the free market and affecting citizens like now. He also suggested using

the drug stocks of the public sector by selling to private practitioners some drugs with sufficient

stocks or which were expiring soon. It would ease over-crowdedness in A&Es and reduce drug

waste. Being densely populated and located within the subtropics, Hong Kong had a higher speed

of infectious disease transmission inevitably. However, there had been medical talents all along in

Hong Kong, such as Dr Margaret CHAN FUNG Fu-chun, the previous Director-General of WHO.

He believed that the Hong Kong Government could lead the city out of the difficult situation and

survive the pandemic disease together.

73. The Chairman said that the speech of Mr WONG Cheuk-kin was detailed and it took a

considerable amount of time. He also thanked the Vice-chairman for suggesting to speak in brief

to make up for the time they lost.

74. The Vice-chairman said the written reply of the DH stated that for universal vaccination,

the expense and manpower should be considered and expressed that current medical professionals

under School Immunisation Teams were too few to complete all immunisation work. Just as what

Mr WONG Cheuk-kin had said, it only cost 150 healthcare professionals and two months to achieve

universal vaccination. He enquired with the DH of whether it would not follow the issue up only

because of the shortage of manpower and whether it had other resolutions. In the long run, the

healthcare system of Hong Kong would be desperate for medical professionals and the DH should

investigate long-term solutions to manpower shortage. Since the DH did not send any

representatives to attend the meeting or follow up on Members’ views, he hoped the Chairman

could reflect the views to relevant departments.

75. Mr Zachary WONG said that the Chairman just noted the Vice-chairman’s speaking time

would be shortened to compensate the time consumed by Mr WONG Cheuk-kin and he hoped this

practice would not become a precedent. He held that the Chairman should exercise discretion to

grant Members extra time for their speeches.

76. The Chairman agreed with the view of Mr Zachary WONG.

77. Mr CHOW Wing-kan said that apart from low vaccination coverage, the abuse of

Vaccination Subsidy Scheme had become a more serious problem. As remarked in his media

critique last December, he suggested that the Government should contract out the immunisation

work to private clinics so that they could comprehensively perform vaccination in maternal and

child health centres, nurseries, kindergartens, primary schools, elderly centres, community centres

and PHAB centres. He pointed out that vaccination services provided by some “community

immunisation companies” (hereinafter referred as “immunisation companies”) might pose risks.

In respect of temperature management, immunisation companies casually put the vaccines in ice

packs instead of storing them in designated vaccine carriers and did not transport them with a

dedicated vehicle. Not being stored between 2 to 8 degrees Celsius, vaccines would become

ineffective and thus resulting in wastage. Next, nurses did not follow the “3 Checks and 5 Rights”

procedures, particularly not checking with vaccination recipients whether they were allergic to egg

white or patients with Guillain Barre Syndrome (“GBS”). In situations where only doctors had the

- 22 -

right to prescribe medicine, it would be very dangerous if nurses gave influenza vaccines to patients

with GBS without injecting “life-saving” allergy shots in time. Meanwhile, he noticed that

“immunisation companies” did not take with them enough ambulance supplies such as

Bag-Valve-Mask resuscitator, putting individuals unsuitable for receiving the vaccination at high

risk. Apart from that, some nurses did not follow the steps of “Hand hygiene 5 moments”. They

overly relied on alcohol hand rubs and gloves and this would result in double infection. If HA and

the DH did not have enough manpower, he suggested the Government directly hiring doctors and

nurses for giving vaccines to citizens at the abovementioned premises in order to utilise the

resources and achieve disease prevention effectively. This could also prevent “immunisation

companies” from wasting resources.

78. Mr Zachary WONG said that in medical perspective, vaccines should be effective in

preventing infectious diseases. As regards some parents’ concern over the effects of vaccines, it

was possible that they did not receive sufficient information and could not understand the technical

information provided by doctors. He considered that the parents should decide whether their

children needed vaccination. He suggested widening the scope of the “Vaccination Subsidy

Scheme” to cover primary six students. He also held that parents were overly dependent on the

Government at present. As an example, it was severely cold earlier and parents did not know if

they should let their children go to the kindergarten so they urged the Government to announce

suspension of classes. This phenomenon was strange because suspending classes for a few days

would not cause great impacts on the study of kindergarten students. He held that the Government

should not provide too much guidance for parents but let them determine by their common sense.

Hence, he suggested the Government providing more education to parents so that they would not

overly rely on the Government for decisions and guidance.

79. Mr CHAM Ka-hung, Daniel, BBS, MH, JP said that winter and summer surges of

influenza spanned nine months out of a year so rampant outbreaks of seasonal influenza could be

reduced if the Government arranged vaccination programme for influenza prevention at schools.

Since the vaccination coverage among students was relatively low at the moment, the Government

should refer to the cow pox and BCG vaccination programme by the former Medical and Health

Department in the past and requested schools to arrange for students to receive the influenza

vaccine. As cross-infection might take place among students, giving vaccines to all students could

reduce influenza outbreaks and hence the occupancy rate of medical wards in hospitals. The cost

of providing vaccines was lower than that of treating in-patients during the surge of influenza but

only the chronically ill and elderly aged over 65 could receive the vaccine for free at the moment.

In light of this, he suggested lowering the age threshold to 50 to increase the vaccination coverage.

Regarding the publicly concerned effectiveness of vaccination lately, the medical professionals

needed to explain the effects of vaccines to the public. Furthermore, he understood that the

vaccination coverage of hospital staff and healthcare professionals with high risk of influenza

infection was less than 30%, which was relatively low. In each meeting of the New Territories

Regional Advisory Committee under HA, he suggested reinforcing the request to healthcare

personnel on receiving influenza vaccines to reduce the possibility of infection at work.

Therefore, he supported the widening of the scope of subsidy, in particular students and high-risk

individuals who were susceptible to infection.

80. With reference to a media report, Mr CHAN Sze-ching said that studies showed a

significant reduction in infection in children after vaccination. WHO pointed out that giving

appropriate vaccines to children every year could increase the protective effects to 90%. In

comparison with adjacent regions like Macau, where there was compulsory vaccination for students

- 23 -

every year with only one reported fatal case in 2018, Hong Kong had already accumulated 114 fatal

cases, which reflected that the notable effect of vaccination in combating the spread of influenza.

In terms of cost efficiency, the cost of providing annual vaccination for all students was only around

300 million dollars, which was much lower than the current daily extra expenditure of over a

hundred million dollars due to the outbreak of influenza. Not only did giving vaccines to citizens

reduce unnecessary health expenditure, it also reduced the citizens’ admission rates and alleviated

medical expenses. He suggested the Government launching an “opt-out vaccination” programme

in which recognised medical professionals would give vaccines to all kindergarten and primary

school students in Hong Kong for free. Parents who wanted their children to be exempted might

make applications. He held that the “opt-out” vaccination programme could balance parents’ wills

and enhance the vaccination coverage of students at the same time. In the long run, the

programme would be more widely adopted progressively and the risk of influenza outbreaks would

be reduced. He urged the Government to expedite discussion on the programme with relevant

departments and get students prepared for combating the next outbreak of influenza.

81. Ms CHAN Mei-lin said that the current influenza epidemic led to the waiting time at

public hospitals. Many parents worried about cross-infection at schools and complications such as

encephalitis that might cause deaths. She said that it was difficult for parents to decide whether to

let their children go to school as there were no guidelines for schools from the Education Bureau

while the Government could only make decisions based on professional advice and scientific data.

However, she held that there was an imminent need for the Government to announce the suspension

of classes in kindergartens and primary schools when there was an outbreak of influenza in the

community. She also reflected parents’ questions about the vaccination, for instance, they were

not sure which vaccines their children should receive or whether vaccination was needed every

year. With more resources as compared with the past when healthcare personnel were assigned to

give cholera vaccines at schools, the Government could allocate additional manpower to give

vaccines to all students. She hoped the Chairman would invite DH representatives to explain the

situation to Members and provide more information for parents so that they could decide whether

their children should get vaccinated.

82. Mr YIU Kwok-wai said that he had got less cold or influenza after receiving vaccines in

2016. In arranging immunisation events for residents in 2018, he caught a cold and could not

receive the vaccine; later on, he was infected with flu so he reckoned that vaccination was effective

to a certain extent. He understood that the cost and efficiency of universal vaccination at schools

should be taken into account. However, that the Government agreed that vaccination was effective

to a certain extent, why would it not take the initiative and follow up Members’ suggestion of

giving vaccines to students at schools in a semi-compulsory way and allow students or parents to

choose if they would get vaccinated. He had seen “immunisation companies” providing vaccines

in the community for a few times and considered that kind of vaccination relatively safe. He

believed that the problem of raging influenza would be solved if the Government took the initiative

and provided vaccination for citizens or made it semi-compulsory. He reflected the current

shortage of influenza vaccines as he was told by the clinic that there was no stock of influenza

vaccines when he sought medical consultation. Therefore, he suggested the Government should

ensure there was sufficient stock of influenza vaccines for citizens in need even it would not launch

a compulsory immunisation programme. He also pointed out that the Government had reserved

“Tamiflu” in earlier years so as to prevent drugs from running out of stock when the influenza was

raging. At the moment, citizens hoped to take measures to prevent influenza but they did not

know how to do so. As such, he suggested the Government consider the launch of vaccination

programme at schools.

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83. Mr TO Ka-lun said regarding the views of Ms CHAN Mei-lin, if people wanted to be

physically protected continuously, they needed to receive influenza vaccines every year or they

would have a lower immunity. He suggested solving the problem of over-crowded wards in public

hospitals by strengthening healthcare networks in the community as well as enhancing education.

He held that getting vaccinated would bring protection or risks so it was the Government’s

responsibility for promoting education among citizens and let them decide whether to get

vaccinated on their own. As for Members’ suggestion that the Government give compulsory

vaccines to students at schools, he held that it would be feasible as a short-term measure but the

Government should provide channels for parents to decide whether to accept the arrangement. He

also held that healthcare practitioners possessed professional knowledge to decide whether to get

vaccinated while citizens had the responsibility to decide whether to get vaccinated for their

families and personal health as well.

84. The Chairman concluded that the vaccination coverage of Hong Kong was relatively low

and there was no compulsory vaccination at school. Members had just given examples of regions

where outbreak of influenza was less serious because the vaccination coverage was higher.

Regarding public doubt about the effects of vaccination, it was due to their uncertainty over the

effects or their worry over the side effects. To sum up, most Members were inclined to support

allocating more resources for student immunisation. However, Hong Kong was a free society. If

the Government would like to implement some compulsory measures, it had to be prudent in

considering public acceptability. Therefore, some Members proposed implementing incentive

measures so that more students could receive the vaccination while parents could still make their

own decisions. He hoped the Government would formulate better policies on influenza prevention

after listening to Members’ views.

85. Mr LUI Kin, MH said that the Chairman seemed to allow Members to speak on borrowed

time just then. He enquired whether certain arrangements would sustain in the future. He hoped

the Chairman would provide clear information on it.

86. The Chairman said that Mr Zachary WONG had raised the subject opinion. Since Mr

WONG Cheuk-kin took some time to share his experience of working in the medical field, he was

granted extra time to speak as an exercise of discretion. He thanked Mr LUI Kin, MH for letting

him clarify the matter.

87. Mr LUI Kin, MH held that it was reasonable for Mr WONG Cheuk-kin to have a longer

time to speak. He appreciated the Chairman’s tolerance. He hoped the Chairman would clarify

the relevant regulations of the YLDC Standing Orders (“Standing Orders”) and wished the

Chairman would withdraw his previous remark.

88. The Chairman said he had already responded that the subject approach was not a usual

practice. He believed Members understood it as well.

Item 6: Report on work progress of District-led Actions Scheme

89. The Chairman invited Mr Enoch YUEN, JP, District Officer (Yuen Long) and Mr Nixon

NG, Assistant District Officer (Yuen Long) 1 to report on the latest progress of the District-led

Actions Scheme (“DAS”).

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90. Mr Enoch YUEN, JP thanked the Chairman and Members for their support in the

implementation of the DAS. His reporting this time covered the work progress until February and

the work results compared to last year. On behalf of the Yuen Long District Office (“YLDO”), he

thanked Members for their views about the locations of the operation and for their support for his

work. He also thanked relevant departments, including the Hong Kong Police Force (“HKPF”),

the Lands Department (“LandsD”), the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (“FEHD”),

and other government departments, for their cooperation in the work.

91. Mr Nixon NG briefed Members on the latest progress of the DAS and the work plans for

2018/19.

92. Mr LEUNG Fuk-yuen agreed the DAS launched by the YLDO had achieved a lot for Yuen

Long District. He hoped curbing shop front extensions would become a regular practice in the

future, and it could be carried out in collaboration with the FEHD. As the Chairman of the EIC, he

thanked the YLDO, relevant departments and Members for their joint efforts in improving the

environment in the district through weeding activities in the rural area, district minor works, and

actions to clear illegally parked “shared bicycles.” At the same time, it was very important to

manage “shared bicycles” because the areas surrounding Yuen Long Town were villages and large

housing estates, where public transport services had not yet been fully developed and local residents

often used bicycle as a means of transport. Therefore, he hoped relevant departments would work

closely to help local cyclists and build more cycling tracks in the district.

93. Mr LUI Kin, MH commended the effective coordination efforts of YLDO on the DAS, and

hoped that, under the scheme, additional resources could be allocated and more inspections could be

carried out to improve the environmental hygienic conditions and public order in the community.

Regarding the problem of illegal shop extensions in public places, only a few locations had been

identified for action so far, with no periodic inspections carried out at shops in other locations.

Thanks to the upswing in the retail market in Yuen Long Town, local shop premises changed hands

frequently. When new shop operators found the goods of other shops placed on the pavements,

they would follow suit. If regular inspections had been carried out with notices issued to new shop

operators urging them not to do so, they might not have done any unlawful acts even when their

premises were under refurbishment. He thanked the District Lands Office, Yuen Long

(“DLO/YL”) for promptly following up on several similar cases in the district. He also praised the

DLO/YL for its high efficiency. After receiving a complaint in the morning, it would deploy staff

for follow-up on the spot in the afternoon. The practice offered a good reference to YLDO. On

top of regular street inspections, area liaison officers should include this item as part of their duties

although a complaint-lodging mechanism was already in place. Moreover, the problem of illegal

parking of bicycles in the vicinity of Kau Yuk Road had worsened in the past six months.

Bicycles locked to railings posed a safety concern to residents. He called for greater effort to

remove bicycles illegally parked on thoroughfares in Yuen Long Town, including Yuen Long Main

Road (Castle Peak Road - Yuen Long), Kau Yuk Road and On Ning Road.

94. Ms LAU Kwai-yung agreed the work carried out under the DAS had been effective, and

hoped it could go on. She pointed out the problem of illegal parking of bicycles had become

prevalent since last year. In particular, the problem of illegally parked “shared bicycles” had been

worsening in the north of Tin Shui Wai for some time. Some residents, especially students and

- 26 -

commuters, rode “shared bicycles” as a means of transport, but some of them had parked the

bicycles indiscriminately on roadside and near cycling tracks, making the area chaotic and

dangerous to both cyclists and drivers. Furthermore, some youths broke the law by damaging

bicycles or unlocking them without permission. Police of the district also said the problem had

become more serious. Therefore, she hoped more inspections and education activities could be

carried out. She also suggested setting up an information platform to help tackle the problem.

95. Mr TANG Cheuk-yin said the DAS had achieved considerable results in different aspects.

However, the problem of illegal parking of “shared bicycles” was more serious. The rural area

looked like a bicycle warehouse, where such bicycles were everywhere. Villagers found the scene

unbearable. The bicycle-sharing service was not suitable to Hong Kong, given the conditions of

land and roads. He cited an elderly person had earlier tripped over a “shared bicycle” and suffered

facial injuries. If the problem was not taken seriously, similar accidents would happen in the future.

He enquired with the police about the number of accidents incurred by "shared bicycles" and the

details. Besides, many young cyclists were prone to accidents because of their limited cycling

experience, which was another serious problem. Therefore, he said bicycle-sharing operators should

introduce no more of such bicycles, and that relevant departments should impose some controls on

them. He hoped the District Officer (Yuen Long) would reflect his views to the TD.

96. Ms CHAN Mei-lin said she and other Members had submitted the agenda on “shared

bicycles” to the committee in July 2017. When a bicycle rental company indicated its plans to

introduce 10 000 bicycles in Yuen Long District, she said that would have a bad impact on both

Hong Kong and the Yuen Long community. The problem of illegal parking of bicycles had been

more serious in recent months. It could be said that “black spots” of illegally parked bicycles were

everywhere in the district. Large numbers of bicycles were seen lying around the pavement. She

considered the scene unbearable, saying bicycle rental companies only cared about their business

interests and failed to manage the bicycles properly. Instead, they passed the buck to Members

and government departments. She asked why bicycle rental companies were doing nothing except

making money, leaving Members and government departments to clear up the mess. Hong Kong

was a small territory with a large population, and there was a shortage of walking area. “Shared

bicycle” services introduced by bicycle rental companies had already disrupted social order.

Streets that used to look shipshape had become chaotic. Some people had even tripped over

bicycles. She pointed out there had been signs at many places saying illegally parked bicycles

would be confiscated, but many bicycles were still parked there. She asked why illegally parked

bicycles could not be removed immediately, but until 48 hours after the notice was put up. That

was why the problem could not be fully resolved. The problem would worsen if the government

was still not determined enough to tackle the problem. She demanded a ban on “shared bicycles”.

97. As for the problem of illegal shop extensions, Mr TO Ka-lun said 222 and 258 relevant

cases had been dealt with in 2016 and 2017 respectively. He enquired whether the numbers were

the total in Yuen Long District, and whether they included cases of repeated offences. He also

asked whether relevant departments had worked out any plans to prevent the recurrence of the

problem. Besides, he and several other Members were the first to put forward the problem of

“shared bicycles” to the DC meeting for discussion. They also demanded departments tackle the

problem in accordance with existing laws. However, since the existing laws failed to deal with the

situation effectively, he suggested the authorities consider tackling the problem through legislation.

He also asked the Police whether it was illegal to use without payment an unlocked “shared bicycle”

being parked on the street. If doing this constituted an offence and the authorities handled it in

accordance with existing laws, she enquired whether this cause the Government to spend a large

- 27 -

amount of public money to deal with the operational issues of such bicycle rental companies.

98. Mr Zachary Wong hoped the YLDO could pass on presentation materials to Members for a

preview every time before the work progress of the DAS was reported, so as to facilitate their

discussion. Regarding the problem of eradicating illegal shopfront platforms, he stressed actions

taken should have a deterrent effect. He said only 70 percent of the shops had eradicated their

illegal structures voluntarily at the beginning because many of them held a wait-and-see attitude

towards the government's law enforcement operations. When some shop operators had noticed the

government was eradicating the unauthorised structures of other shops, they would clear theirs

spontaneously. In the latest operation, it was found that illegal platforms at nearly all the shops

had been eradicated. Since the operation had shown some deterrent effects, there was no need to

launch it in every street. Instead, a letter of notification should be sent to all shops with illegally

constructed platforms in Yuen Long District, asking them to eradicate them. Under the current

approach, some shop operators believed they could get away with it or they could use the illegal

structures for several years before the actions reached them. He hoped the District Officer (Yuen

Long) could study his views and resolve the problem in the district as early as possible. As for Mr

LUI Kin, MH’s views about LD’s efficiency in dealing with rule-breaking shops, he said the

DLO/YL had remarked in 2017 that any complaint received would be referred to the DAS for

follow-up actions. If the complaint was not under the purview of the scheme, the DLO/YL would

not deal with it. He hoped the DLO/YL would explain whether the practice had been changed. It

was indeed a commendable policy, if the DLO/YL, as Members said, could deploy its staff to

follow up on a complaint on the same day of receiving it so that it did not require action by the

YLDO under the DAS.

99. Ms YUEN Man-yee showed her appreciation for the work of the YLDO, and agreed with

some Members on their views regarding the problem of “shared bicycles”. She said “shared

bicycles” had caused a nuisance to the community. There had been more bicycle rental companies

in Yuen Long District. Residents could easily trip over such bicycles parked everywhere

indiscriminately, and the safety of pedestrians and drivers were compromised. Furthermore, as the

weeding work was carried out in the district only once a year, weeds could grow rapidly. This

could create an ideal breeding condition for mosquitoes during the rainy season. She hoped the

YLDO could increase the number of weeding to twice a year to prevent the breeding of mosquitoes.

100. Mr LEUNG Ming-kin said the DAS proved a great success in Yuen Long District. He

praised the high efficiency of the YLDO and the DLO/YL. He pointed out that under the DAS,

the YLDO would distribute larvicidal oil to the rural committees (“RCs”) and the government

would carry out anti-mosquito work and weeding activities at 30 locations. He suggested the

government should do this in more locations in the six villages of the district. He said the YLDO

had sometimes distributed larvicidal oil to RCs, but it was difficult to spray larvicidal oil in every of

the six villages. He also commended the DLO/YL on its work. As it was difficult to distinguish

between government land and private land in some areas outside housing estates near the urban

areas, the DLO/YL had separated most of the areas for developers and management companies to

clear illegally parked bicycles. Apart from the DAS, a government hotline 1823 also proved very

effective. With the two methods in place, the problem of illegal parking of bicycles was expected

to be resolved sooner. He added the insurance policy bought for “shared bicycles” failed to cover

all circumstances. He queried whether a bicycle rental company would be held liable if a child got

injured or killed riding a “shared bicycle” of the company. Moreover, the user of a “shared

bicycle” might have a serious accident incurred by a malfunction in the brake system as such

bicycles were not fully repaired or maintained in many cases. He hoped the Government could

- 28 -

tackle the problem through different approaches.

101. As for the actions to clear illegally parked bicycles, the Vice-chairman said he hoped the

Summary Offences Ordinance (Cap. 228) would also be invoked to clear illegally parked bicycles

that caused road obstruction or danger, in addition to the Land (Miscellaneous Provisions)

Regulations (Cap. 28). He pointed out the relevant regulations had already been used in the North

District for some time to combat the problem of illegal parking of bicycles. He also enquired

about the effectiveness of the practice in the North District, and when it would be introduced in

Yuen Long District. He hoped it could be put into practice as soon as possible.

102. Mr CHOW Wing-kan was of the view that the actions to curb illegally parked bicycles had

lost its deterrent effect on some government-administered land. To the user of a “shared bicycle”,

he would lose nothing if the bicycle was confiscated. Relatively, the management company of a

private place had the right to stop a cyclist from entering the place and quickly remove an illegally

parked bicycle. He said a rumour had been circulating in the community that “shared bicycles”

came with only a few sets of passwords, and some people managed to unlock the bicycles using the

passwords and used the bicycles without permission. He also pointed out some LCSD venues,

such as Tin Sau Road Park, were black-spots of illegally parked bicycles. He noted in particular

that there were hooligans cycling at high speed at night and security guards did not dare to ask them

to go. Besides, many “shared bicycles” were parked indiscriminately within public housing

estates, wasting Housing Department’s earlier efforts to clear illegally parked bicycles. He

suggested bicycle rental companies strengthen security by increasing password digits, in order to

lower the chance of the passwords being cracked and to prevent the unauthorised use of “shared

bicycles”.

103. Mr MAN Kwong-ming referred to a number of news reports these days about some

“shared bicycles” being dumped into rivers in places such as Kam Tin River, Shing Mun River and

Nam Sang Wai. He opined the bicycle-sharing service had been a catastrophe for Hong Kong,

especially the New Territories, and likened the situation to the legalisation of unlicensed hawking.

He said the situation was like all the 18 DCs and government departments were guiding how

bicycle rental companies should be doing their business. It seemed very unreasonable. He

approved of Ms CHAN Mei-lin and Mr TANG Cheuk-yin’s views that the bicycle-sharing service

was not a good idea for Hong Kong. He suggested bicycle-sharing operators should not be

allowed to provide the service before the Government enacted legislation and set rules to limit the

number of bicycles that could be launched in the community and placed on roadside.

104. Mr LEE Yuet-man, MH said the DAS was a long-term project and all community sectors

had no doubts about its success. He said the situation in the district had greatly improved, but the

DAS might have run into a bottleneck. He expected the newly appointed District Officer (Yuen

Long) to face many challenges, because the remaining projects would be more difficult to handle

while the easier ones that had to be dealt with had been implemented. As Members had mostly

talked about “shared bicycles” at the meeting, he asked whether the District Officer (Yuen Long)

would consider including “shared bicycles” in the DAS as a high priority task to deal with. If it

worked well, other DCs would follow suit. He said the YLDO was capable of addressing the

problem of illegal parking of bicycles, as its success had been widely recognised in both media and

a few other districts. As Members pointed out, rather many residents unlocked “shared bicycles”

and used them without permission, and the Government found it difficult to combat the illegal

parking of bicycles as some people had removed law-enforcement notices put up by the

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Government. If “shared bicycles” were included in the DAS with measures mapped out to tackle

the problem, it would be a highlight of the work for Yuen Long District.

105. The Chairman wanted to discuss the procedure for handling the agenda with Members

before government departments were invited to respond. In Any Other Business, Mr LEE

Yuet-man enquired about the follow-up actions relating to the “shared bicycles” problem.

According to the Standing Orders, Members should not propose a topic for discussion in six months

again after the DC had made a decision on the topic. He quoted the YLDO as saying at a previous

DC meeting that the DAS targeted both regular bicycles and “shared bicycles”. The topic would

not be discussed again because Members had deliberated it not only at a previous meeting but also

at this meeting. He would give Members an opportunity to discuss the problems related to “shared

bicycles” again if they wanted to, after departments gave responses.

106. Mr Enoch YUEN, JP gave a consolidated response as follows:

(1) He thanked Members for their views again. On the whole, Members all agreed the

DAS had worked pretty well. They hoped the scheme could be further improved in

the coming year, and had given different views about it;

(2) Mr LEE Yuet-man, MH was of the opinion that the DAS had run into a bottleneck

and might face even more challenges in the future. The YLDO had been working

closely with relevant departments to handle local issues using different approaches;

(3) Regarding the problem of street obstruction by shops, Members hoped actions would

be launched at locations on top of the specified action locations, and throughout the

district. They also wanted to help new shops resolve problems and update them on

relevant legal requirements. The YLDO had introduced some improvement

measures and increased the number of consultation with Members to twice on the

action locations, with a view to reducing the predictability of the actions. Moreover,

inspections would be carried out when necessary at places where actions had been

taken. He would discuss with relevant departments to decide new action locations;

(4) Regarding the problems associated with bicycles, it was noted that Members wanted

more actions taken to clear illegally parked bicycles in the district. They also

enquired about how the Government would tackle the problem of illegal parking of

“shared bicycles”. Under the DAS, the YLDO had to work with relevant

departments to address the problem in accordance with the Land (Miscellaneous

Provisions) Ordinance (Cap. 28). Regarding the Vice-chairman’s enquiry about

whether the Summary Offences Ordinance (Cap. 228) could be invoked to tackle the

problem in Yuen Long District, Mr Yuen said the North District had already invoked

the relevant Ordinance in the implementation of a pilot scheme. The YLDO had

also liaised with relevant departments on this, and would report to Members about

the progress in due course after a review in the North District;

(5) Regarding Mr LEE Yuet-man, MH’s suggestion of whether the same could be done

for “shared bicycles”, Mr Yuen said he would try to meet the needs of Members.

As the scheme was carried out based on Members’ views, he would solicit their

views, such as the locations where more such bicycles were illegally parked, and

how the problem could be resolved, before the views were forwarded to relevant

departments such as the TD for follow-up actions. As Mr Nixon NG said, the

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YLDO would issue a questionnaire later on to consult Members on issues such as

whether there was a need to focus on tackling problems associated with “shared

bicycles” in certain areas. Relevant information about the black spots of illegally

parked bicycles would be forwarded to the TD for follow-up actions; and

(6) For publicity and public education, the difference between “shared bicycles” and

regular bicycles was that the former was not privately owned and the use of it was

not illegal in the first place. The point was whether the user could properly park it

after use. He said he would actively discuss the issue with Members, and would

include “shared bicycles” in the publicity activities for relevant projects, such as

appealing to “shared bicycle” users to park the bicycles properly and at an

appropriate place, although they did not own them. When it came to the handling of

illegally parked bicycles, both “shared bicycles” and private bicycles would be dealt

with in the same manner.

107. Mr HUI Ka-yiu thanked Members for their views, and said there had been different opinions

about “shared bicycles” in Yuen Long District and other districts in the past six months. During the

period, the TD had met with bicycle rental companies several times to relay Members’ views on the

operations and management of the companies and the problem of illegal parking of bicycles. The

companies had also been updated on the existing laws governing the illegal parking of bicycles. As

the District Officer (Yuen Long) said, he would send the TD information about the black spots of

illegally parked bicycles and locations of concern which he had received from Members. The TD

would contact relevant bicycle rental companies to find out solutions to the problem after having

received the information. He believed the District Officer (Yuen Long) would continue to

co-ordinate the efforts of other departments in clearing illegally parked bicycles in the district,

regardless of private bicycles and “shared bicycles”, and the TD would extend their collaboration.

108. Mr LEE Wai-man, Chief Superintendent of Police thanked Members for their enquiries,

and said 334 accidents involving bicycles had been reported in 2016 in Yuen Long District, and

there were 343 in 2017, a slight increase of nine cases. The Commissioner of Police continued to

regard “road safety” as one of top items in this year’s Operational Priorities, with emphasis on the

safety of pedestrians and drivers. The Police of Yuen Long District had continued to list

enhancing the safety of pedestrians and drivers as one of their priority actions. As far as bicycle

theft was concerned, there were 184 relevant reports in 2016 and the cases decreased to 145 in 2017.

Bicycle theft was not the only crime on a downward trend. Except for a few crime types, most of

other crime types in Yuen Long District declined noticeably in 2017. In response to the problem

that some “shared bicycles” had been damaged or stolen, he said the Police had received reports

relating to both “shared bicycles” and private bicycles and arrests were made successfully. He

said the majority of local residents were law-abiding and they would not break the law by

conveniently stealing “shared bicycles” which they found had been unlocked or damaged. If a

patrolling police officer saw someone trying to tamper with or steal a bicycle or break a bicycle

lock, investigations would be launched and arrests would be made if sufficient evidence was present,

no matter the bicycle involved was a “shared” or private one.

109. Ms Angela CHAN thanked Members for their valuable opinions, and thanked in particular

a few Members for their recognition and encouragement over the work by the DLO/YL. As

always, the DLO/YL would continue to fully support the District Officer (Yuen Long) in his work

relating to the DAS. Regarding Mr Zachary WONG’s enquiries about the methods used to curb

illegal shopfront platforms, she said the DLO/YL would deploy staff to carry out inspections upon

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receiving a complaint about street obstructions or illegal shopfront platforms. On arrival at the

scene, DLO/YL staff would first advise shop operators to deal with the problem. If illegal

occupation of government land was found, the DLO/YL would record and handle the case pursuant

to departmental guidelines and in order of priority. Immediate action would be taken against cases

where passage obstruction was very serious or which posed hazards. At the same time, the

DLO/YL would also notify the YLDO of the complaint’s details with a view to improving

inter-departmental communication.

110. Mr Zachary WONG said Ms CHAN had given a very careful reply, saying the DLO/YL

would only take immediate action when the case it had received was particularly serious, or would

first notify the YLDO. However, it was the DLO/YL which determined whether the case was

particularly serious. He believed the DLO/YL would not handle a case when it had been classified

as non-serious and referred to the YLDO. He did not think a case should be handled this way.

Besides, he hoped the YLDO would answer two questions he had raised: whether the presentation

materials could be provided to Members prior to the meeting and (ii) now that all shop operators

were already eradicating their illegal shopfront platforms, whether the YLDO would take one step

forward by urging shops with illegal structures in writing to remove them on their own as soon as

possible.

111. Mr LEE Yuet-man, MH said he had just been informed that the Chairman had made some

special arrangements for the agenda. He suggested the Secretariat inform him earlier in the future

of any change in the agenda as he had rushed back from the scene of the traffic accident in Tai Po

because of this agenda. He hoped every department, especially the TD, was seriously taking the

problem of illegal parking of “shared bicycles”. However, he felt unfair for Yuen Long residents,

saying the TD would act promptly on any illegally parked bicycles found on Hong Kong Island,

while it had not yet actively addressed the problem in the New Territories where the situation

remained chaotic. He also enquired whether the TD had written to bicycle rental companies about

the illegal parking of “shared bicycles” in Yuen Long District or whether it had sorted out with

them solutions to the problem. He also pointed out that although the relevant companies offered

telephone enquiry hotlines, he could never get through. He said “shared bicycles” had caused

rather many problems, and most of them remained unresolved in the New Territories and Yuen

Long District. He, therefore, raised the topic for discussion again, in order to reflect the situation

to the departments. He hoped the TD would help Yuen Long District resolve the problem as soon

as possible after having regard to the situation on Hong Kong Island.

112. Mr MAK Ip-sing said the YLDO had contributed a lot in the district and the DAS had been

highly successful. Meanwhile, weeding work, the clearance of illegally parked bicycles and the

removal of illegal shopfront platforms were all ongoing. He said “shared bicycles” had not been

locked and parked everywhere, thus causing a serious nuisance to the district. If some people

intentionally damaged bicycles, the police would make arrests, as if the police had been helping

bicycle rental companies look after “shared bicycles”. By contrast, the public felt it was unfair

that government departments had removed private bicycles locked to railings. He suggested the

relevant departments should seriously study how to deal with the situation. The TD responded in

writing that the Summary Offences Ordinance (Cap. 228) prohibits people from leaving any article

that may obstruct, inconvenience or endanger any person or vehicle. However, he said he still did

not know which department was responsible for enforcing the aforesaid ordinance. He hoped that

under the leadership of the District Officer (Yuen Long), the District Management Committee

(“DMC”) could focus on addressing the problem.

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113. Regarding the problem of illegal parking of “shared bicycles”, Ms LAU Kwai-yung said there

had been many black spots of illegally parked bicycles in Hong Kong, and Yuen Long District was no

exception. The problem was serious in the rural area, Tin Shui Wai and Yuen Long Town. She

asked whether the YLDO would take actions on all black spots on the list if she submitted one. She

revealed there had been more than 100 bicycles illegally parked in the open space near Wetland Park

Road outside Grandeur Terrace. In the vicinity of the Tin Heng LRT station near Grandeur Terrace,

Tin Sau Road Park and the Tin Fu LRT station, there had also been illegally parked bicycles for a long

time, blocking the entrances and exits of the LRT stations and cycling tracks. However, she said

bicycle rental companies provided no hotlines for the public to complain about the situation. She,

therefore, took the opportunity to submit the list of the black spots to the TD for follow-up actions.

114. Mr LEUNG Fuk-yuen praised government departments, especially the YLDO, for their

efforts in addressing local issues. He said that the situation in Yuen Long District was somewhat

different from that of Hong Kong Island. As public transport was inconvenient in Yuen Long rural

areas, local residents used bicycles as a means of transport. However, as “shared bicycles” were not

their assets, they would not be affected even if the bicycles were removed. Therefore, they parked

the bicycles indiscriminately. He suggested discussions be held between the DC working group and

government departments or between government departments and relevant companies to explore

ways to manage the provision of bicycle rental service. He said “shared bicycles” service was not

only available in Hong Kong, but also in many other parts of the world, including mainland China.

In Shenzhen, for example, “shared bicycles” were orderly parked on the streets. Therefore, the point

was how to properly manage “shared bicycles” to make them a good means of transport.

115. Regarding Members’ suggestion that they should be provided presentation information in

the run-up to the DC meeting, Mr Enoch YUEN, JP said that YLDO colleagues wanted to provide

the latest information during the meeting, but they could still consider providing the information

prior to the next meeting at Members’ request.

116. Mr WONG Wai-yin asked again whether the YLDO would issue a letter of notification to

all shops with illegal shopfront platforms.

117. Mr Enoch YUEN, JP replied he would discuss the suggestion with relevant departments.

118. In conclusion, the Chairman said the DAS had been a great success and Members were

very supportive of it. Under the leadership of the District Officer (Yuen Long), the YLDO had

continued to enhance the scheme and learned from the experience in the past few years. Members

had put forward many opinions, and expressed their concern about the illegal parking of “shared

bicycles”. He believed the District Officer (Yuen Long) and other government departments had

listened to their views. He hoped the District Officer (Yuen Long) would continue to co-ordinate

the efforts of all departments in improving the DAS in order to resolve problems in the district.

Item 7: Progress reports of Committees

i) Yuen Long District Management Committee (YLDC Paper No. 2/2018)

ii) District Facilities Management Committee (YLDC Paper No. 3/2018)

iii) Culture, Recreation, Community Service and Housing Committee

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(YLDC Paper No. 4/2018)

iv) Environmental Improvement Committee (YLDC Paper No. 5/2018)

v) Finance Committee (YLDC Paper No. 6/2018)

vi) Town Planning and Development Committee (YLDC Paper No. 7/2018)

vii) Traffic and Transport Committee (YLDC Paper No. 8/2018) 119. The Chairman asked Members to take note of Paper Nos. 2 to 8/2018 for the progress

reports of the committees.

120. Mr Zachary WONG said committee members had discussed at the T&TC the land use of

the football pitch at Yau Shin Street and opposed letting the site as a fee-paying public carpark by

tender. During the construction of Long Shin Estate, the football pitch was granted the purpose of

a temporary works site. As Long Shin Estate had been completed, the land should be reverted to

its original use.

121. Mr CHING Chan-ming said as opposed to what Mr WONG had mentioned, the issue was

discussed in the District Facilities Management Committee (“DFMC”) instead of the T&TC.

122. Mr Zachary WONG said Members hoped to reinstate the site for recreational facilities.

The DLO representative had also responded at the meeting that Members’ views would be reflected

to the department. However, DFMC members opposed the temporary land use of the site as a

fee-paying public carpark. He was also dissatisfied that the DLO had not heeded the views of

members. In addition, DC Members, except those of the local constituency, were not aware of the

land use of the site. He suggested that relevant departments should conduct extensive consultation

and heed the DC’s views before making decisions in future.

123. The Vice-chairman said he proposed to discuss the issue at the DFMC. He learned that

the first tender exercise of the DLO closed on 29 December 2017. From a legal point of view, if

there was a successful tenderer, the tender results could not be overturned. However, as far as he

knew, there was no successful tenderer and the DLO conducted the re-tendering process after the

DFMC meeting. If the DLO attached importance to the DC’s views, it should suspend putting

the site up for tender as a fee-paying public carpark after heeding the views of DFMC members.

124. Mr TO Ka-lun said committee members fully reflected their views on reserving the site for

recreational purposes and building recreational facilities for residents use at the DFMC meeting on

that day. However, as it had been granted as a fee-paying public carpark, he hoped that relevant

departments could re-examine the land use. If there was a shortage of parking spaces in the area,

he suggested that the departments could explore the feasibility of shared use of the site as a football

pitch and a carpark at different timeslots. For instance, it could be used as a football pitch in the

morning and as a carpark in the evening.

125. Mr LEE Yuet-man, MH said the issue was related to land use and the provision of

recreational facilities and so it was discussed at the DFMC. The land was originally the football

pitch of government quarters. It was managed by the DLO after the decommissioning of the

quarters. From the DLO’s point of view, the site was vacant government land, not a football pitch

under the LCSD. It would be more appropriate to discuss the land use at other committees. At

that time, the Vice-chairman proposed to resume the site for the construction of recreational

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facilities. Therefore, discussion at the DFMC was accepted. If Members proposed to use the site

for recreational purposes, they could make an application in accordance with the procedures for

DMW projects. Where support from most DFMC members was obtained, the DFMC would

include the works item under application as a works project. If Members were concerned about

the use of the site for construction of recreational facilities, they were welcomed to raise such issue

to the DFMC for discussion. In addition, he hoped that the LCSD could expeditiously submit

information on the latest proposed facilities for the redevelopment of Yuen Long Stadium to the

DFMC. As many members of the public were looking forward to launching the redevelopment of

Yuen Long Stadium, he hoped that the LCSD could submit a new proposal at the next meeting.

He supported the expeditious launch of the Yuen Long Stadium redevelopment.

126. Ms Angela CHAN thanked Mr LEE Yuet-man for explaining the background of the vacant

government land at Yau Shin Street. The functions of the DLO were to make good use of

government land, putting sites without any long-term development programme to short-term uses.

In response to the DLO’s consultation on the proposed short-term uses, the TD replied that there

were needs for parking spaces in the area. The DLO also noted the views of local residents and

Members who were in favour of building recreational facilities on the site. In this connection, the

DLO had consulted the LCSD and the YLDO. Both replied that there was no plan to provide

recreational facilities on the site. On the premise of “optimal utilisation of land resources”, the

DLO put the site up for tender as a temporary fee-paying public carpark in accordance with

established procedures. Regarding the re-tendering, she said after the first tender exercise, a

number of tenders were received. As technical amendments on the documents were required to

meet the purposes approved by the Yuen Long District Lands Conference, a second tender exercise

was necessary. The DLO representative already explained the entire tendering process and ways

of handling it at the DFMC meeting on 5 January 2018. The site had been granted as a fee-paying

public carpark under the tenancy of a fixed one-year term to be renewed on a quarterly basis

thereafter. After the fixed term, the tenancy could be terminated by giving not less than three

months’ notice. If construction of recreational facilities would be taken forward and funding was

reserved, the DLO would make corresponding arrangements by virtue of the lease term.

127. Mr Zachary WONG said land identification had been the Government’s ongoing initiative

but departmental view was that the long-term use of the site was subject to confirmation. Before

the construction of Long Shin Estate, it was indicated that the site would be restored to the football

pitch upon completion of Long Shin Estate. Members would support using the site for public

housing development if there was no long-term use. Unfortunately, the site had become vacant.

Long Shin Estate was a planned estate, meaning that parking needs in the area were thoroughly

examined to provide sufficient parking spaces to residents. On completion of Long Shin Estate,

the TD insisted there were needs for parking spaces in the area, suggesting TD’s improper planning.

Schools and residents in the area requested reinstatement of the site to a football pitch but the DLO

claimed that the site was not for recreational facilities. He regarded it as inexplicable.

128. The Vice-chairman was dissatisfied that the views of the local community had not been

taken by the DLO. At the previous DFMC meeting, members opposed granting the site as a

fee-paying public carpark. Residents in the area also jointly signed an opposition. There was

general opposition at the district level upon consultation. However, having noted Members’ views,

the DLO did not put tendering on hold, reflecting that the DLO did not listen to the views of

stakeholders like Members, local residents and schools.

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129. Mr TO Ka-lun was indignant about this. Among the valuable land resources in Yuen

Long District, there was a piece of vacant land. He held that the DLO should not ignore the DC’s

views.

130. Members noted the progress reports of the Yuen Long District Management Committee

and the other six committees under the YLDC.

Item 8: Suggestion for appointment to the Regional Advisory Committee of the Hospital

Authority

(YLDC Paper No. 9/2018)

131. The Chairman asked Members to take note of Paper No. 9 in which the Hospital Authority

(“HA”) invited the YLDC recommend a suitable candidate to for HA’s consideration on appointing

him/her as the community member of New Territories. The term of appointment would normally

be two years and Mr Daniel CHAM, BBS, MH, JP was currently taking the position. Mr CHAM

said that he had been serving the committee for 23 years and would like other Members to have

access to the post. Mr CHAM nominated Mr MAN Kwong-ming as the committee member.

132. The Chairman asked Members if they would make other nominations.

133. Mr Zachary WONG suggested setting up an upper limit for the term of appointment of the

YLDC representative with reference to the practice of other government committees which the term

of appointment would normally be six years. He hoped that other Members would be given an

opportunity to attempt the post after a Member had served the post for a certain period.

134. The Chairman replied that the current-term District Council would be valid until

31 December 2019 but the term of the post would last until 2020; therefore, the decision for the

next-term District Council could not be made at the moment.

135. Mr Zachary WONG said that he did not mean to request a mandatory rule but to build a

consensus among Members, for instance, making reference to the government’s six-year limit of

appointment. If the Member would like to continue to serve the post with support from a majority

of Members after six years, he or she could still continue to serve on the committee. He

understood that the decision for the next term of District Council could not be made at the moment.

He only hoped to seek consensus.

136. The Vice-chairman said that Mr CHAM could serve on the committee because other

Members recognised his work performance in the committee, especially his regular report on his

work to Members in writing. He considered setting up an upper limit for the term of appointment

not flexible enough and there was no upper limit set for the term of appointment before. Hence,

such arrangement would not be fair to the next serving member in the committee. He did not

agree with setting an upper limit for the term of office but dealing with the matter in a flexible way.

137. Mr CHING Chan-ming said that as the current-term District Council would serve two

more years, Members could not decide the matters for the next term. Mr Zachary WONG’s

- 36 -

suggestion could be left for discussion in the next-term District Council. He agreed and nominated

Mr MAN Kwong-ming as the committee member.

138. The Chairman said that the term of appointment of government committees would

normally be six years but he understood that this regulation was not universally applicable. He

found the situation of the Regional Advisory Committees of Hospital Authority different from

government committees as the representative of the latter was appointed by the Government while

one of the committee members of the Regional Advisory Committees could be selected by the DC.

In respect of the latter, despite who to serve as the committee member or his or her performance, it

had to be re-selected by the DC after two years. If the subject representative was no longer

suitable for serving the position, there would be a replacement mechanism. Taking Members’

views, he held that it was not a suitable time to set up any limit for the term of appointment.

139. The Chairman enquired again whether other Members would make nominations other than

Mr MAN Kwong-ming. The Chairman then asked about Mr MAN Kwong-ming’s will.

140. Mr MAN Kwong-ming thanked Mr CHAM for the nomination and his 23-year

incumbency as the subject committee member on behalf of the DC. He was glad to accept the

nomination and grateful for the support of other Members. He added that there was an upper limit

for the term of appointment of Members as stated in HA’s paper; as what the Chairman had said, a

DC Member would be selected by the DC to serve on the committee every two years and it could be

the limit set for the member’s term of appointment.

141. The Chairman announced that the DC would recommend Mr MAN Kwong-ming serving

as the representative of the Regional Advisory Committee to the HA.

Item 9: Suggestion for reappointment to the Tin Shui Wai Hospital Governing Committee

(YLDC Paper No. 10/2018)

142. The Chairman asked Members to take note of Paper No. 10 which was about the

notification of Hospital Authority to YLDC of their initiative of recommending reappointment of

Mr CHOW Wing-kan as the member of Tin Shui Wai Hospital Governing Committee. The term

of appointment would normally be two years and would take effect from 1 April 2018. The

Chairman asked Members to take into consideration the suggestion made by HA.

143. Mr TANG Cheuk-him said that Members once suggested himself and Mr CHOW

Wing-kan take turns to serve on the committee for two years when selecting a representative for

YLDC last time.

144. Mr CHING Chan-ming said that voting had been adopted to select the representative for

the DC and upon discussion, Members agreed that Mr CHOW Wing-kan would take up the position

for two years and another Member could succeed him two years later. He held that for this

selection, Members should seek Mr CHOW Wing-kan’s views before appointing Mr TANG

Cheuk-him as the successor as verbally agreed previously.

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145. Mr CHOW Wing-kan said that he had no views about the previous agreement. When he

was elected to take up the subject post first, some Members had said that there was no binding

effect for verbal agreement. However, according to the “gentlemen’s agreement”, if Mr TANG

Cheuk-him won the election at that time, the post should be filled by another Member after two

years. He hoped that the issue could be dealt with in a fair manner.

146. The Chairman asked Members if they would make other nominations.

147. Mr Zachary WONG recalled the competition at the last selection but since harmony had

been valued in the DC, Members suggested both candidates serve the post by turn-taking and the

first candidate was selected by voting. Mr CHOW Wing-kan won the election then. He felt

strange that the suggestion of replacement was mentioned again.

148. The Chairman responded that in respect of deciding the candidate, it took the DC some

time for discussion and resolution. The suggestion raised at that time was a “gentlemen’s

agreement”. Although there was no binding effect, he still hoped Members follow the agreement.

At that time, a vote was cast to decide which of the two Members would take up the position first.

Therefore, the Member who won would fill the post first and would be succeeded by another

Member when the term of office expired. According to his understanding to the agreement as well

as Mr CHOW Wing-kan’s intention expressed, Mr CHOW Wing-kan would not continue to serve

the post and Mr TANG Cheuk-him would become his successor.

149. Mr CHOW Wing-kan opined that as the construction of Tin Shui Wai Hospital was not yet

completed when the nomination was made, he had taken the post for slightly more than one year

only. Furthermore, before voting at that time, some Members considered the agreement not

binding. Upon discussion with Mr TANG Cheuk-him, they would follow the agreement if both of

them gave consent. Therefore, he would now follow what was agreed and hoped Mr TANG

Cheuk-him would do so. He believed that the HA recommended reappointing him because he was

more familiar with the operational expenses.

150. The Chairman said that the discussion would go on without end and he hoped Members

express their intentions clearly.

151. Mr Zachary WONG enquired if he could be selected for filling the post two years later as

he had been suggesting all Members being given an opportunity to be the DC representative by

taking turns. He looked forward to reaching a consensus with Members regarding the suggestion

in the meeting.

152. Mr TO Ka-lun enquired if it was possible to make nominations or the candidate to fill the

post had been finalised.

153. The Chairman replied that HA did not know how the DC representative was selected and

that was why they recommended reappointing Mr CHOW Wing-kan. He held that according to

the DC practice, Members would discuss whether to follow the previous agreement on appointing

- 38 -

Mr TANG Cheuk-him to take up the position. Since Mr CHOW Wing-kan had indicated that he

would not continue to serve on the committee, another member should fill the post. He hoped

members consider whether Mr TANG Cheuk-him should be appointed to serve on the committee

under the agreement; still, it was subject to Members’ views.

154. Ms LAU Kwai-yung nominated Mr TANG Cheuk-him as the representative.

155. Mr CHING Chan-ming said that since Mr CHOW Wing-kan was willing to follow the

“gentlemen’s agreement”, he would also nominate Mr TANG Cheuk-him to the committee.

156. In response to Mr Zachary WONG’s proposal, the Chairman said that the current-term

District Council would last until 31 December 2019 and he could not make any decisions for issues

out of the current term. Hence, they should focus on the candidate issue first.

157. Mr TO Ka-lun nominated Mr Zachary WONG as the representative of the next-term

YLDC.

158. The Chairman reiterated that procedurally, the DC could only discuss the candidate

arrangement for the current term.

159. The Chairman asked Mr TANG Cheuk-him about his will.

160. Mr TANG Cheuk-him said that he was willing to assume the post as DC representative.

161. The Chairman announced that YLDC agreed to recommend Mr TANG Cheuk-him as a

representative of YLDC in the Tin Shui Wai Hospital Governing Committee.

Item 10: Invitation for YLDC Members to Serve as Members of the Coordinating Committee

under Yuen Long District Social Welfare Office

(YLDC Paper No. 11/2018)

162. The Chairman asked Members to take note of Paper No. 11, in which the Social Welfare

Department (“SWD”) invited YLDC to appoint the Chairman and one or two members of the

CRCS&HC to the Welfare Services Planning & Coordinating Committee (“WSPCC”) and other

five coordinating committees of the new term respectively.

163. The Chairman asked Members to endorse the reappointment of Mr Daniel CHAM, BBS,

MH, JP, the Chairman of the CRCS&HC as the representative of WSPCC, and the appointment of

other members of the CRCS&HC to the five coordinating committees would be referred to the

CRCS&HC for discussion.

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164. Mr Zachary WONG mentioned his enquiry with SWD on whether the Chairman and

Vice-chairman of the CRCS&HC would serve as the representative of WSPCC by taking turns and

asked if the Department had considered the suggestion.

165. Ms Diana CHU said that she was not aware of Mr WONG’s suggestion but it had been the

CRCS&HC Chairman who joined the committee and she hoped to maintain the practice.

166. The Chairman announced that Mr Daniel CHAM, BBS, MH, JP, the Chairman of the

CRCS&HC continued to serve on the WSPCC and the appointment of other members to the five

coordinating committees would be referred to CRCS&HS for discussion.

Item 11: Any Other Business

(i) “Order to recall surplus shared bicycles” raised by Mr LEE Yuet-man, MH

(YLDC Paper No. 12/2018)

167. The Chairman asked Members to take note of Paper No. 12 which was about “order to

recall surplus shared bicycles” raised by Mr LEE Yuet-man, MH, as well as the consolidated reply

from Transport and Housing Bureau (“THB”) and Transport Department (“TD”).

168. The Chairman said that the situation of illegal parking of bicycles including “shared

bicycles” had been discussed under the item concerning “District-led Actions Scheme”, so

discussion would not be repeated here. Members could follow up with TD if they had other

opinions.

169. Members noted the follow up enquiries and consolidated reply from THB and TD.

(ii) Matters relating to Members joining/withdrawing from the Committees under YLDC

170. Members endorsed Mr TANG Yung-yiu, Ronnie and Mr TSANG Shu-wo for joining the

TP&DC.

(iii) “Yuen Long Barrier-Free Facilities Survey Report”

171. The Chairman asked Members to take note of the circulation paper on “Yuen Long

Barrier-Free Facilities Survey” by Hong Kong Federation of Handicapped Youth. As

commissioned by the YLDC, Working Group on Building a Safe Community in Yuen Long

(“WGBSC”) discussed the survey at the meetings on 14 December 2017 and 7 February 2018 when

the Federation briefed WGBSC members and answered their enquiries. The Chairman invited Ms

YUEN Man-yee, the WBGSC Chairman to give a presentation.

172. Ms YUEN Man-yee said that at the WGBSC meetings on 14 December 2017 and 7

February 2018, members unanimously supported the “Yuen Long Barrier-Free Facilities Survey”

co-conducted with Hong Kong Federation of Handicapped Youth (“HKFHY”). Members held

that the survey could facilitate the development of barrier-free facilities in the District and enhance

the understanding of Yuen Long residents, government departments and organisations towards the

importance of barrier-free facilities. According to the Federation’s partnership programme,

subject to DC’s agreement, press conferences on “Yuen Long Barrier-Free Facilities Survey” would

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take place in June 2018 and February 2019 to release the survey results to the public. For the

survey, after inspecting around 100 to 120 locations, a report will be compiled in printed version.

The funding for the whole partnership programme was estimated at around $120,000. If the DC

supported the programme in principle, the WGBSC would seek funding approval at the CRC&HC

and FC meetings in March. She invited Members to take note of the paper and support the

programme.

173. The Vice-chairman enquired what criteria would be adopted to determine the locations for

inspections and whether he could invite the Federation for inspection in an area where he found

some barrier-free facilities not in service.

174. Mr MAK Ip-sing said that he supported the programme. He also pointed out that there

were no ramps installed on roads in Yuen Long, making it inconvenient for disabled people. He

considered the budget reasonable and worth their support. He proposed continuing the discussion

at the WGBSC.

175. Ms YUEN Man-yee added that the inspection sites would be provided for Members’

reference later and those would mainly be public facilities such as Yuen Long Main Road, Light

Rail stations, West Rail stations, Chinese restaurants, markets, libraries and so on. She said that

the report would be submitted for Members’ reference shortly.

176. Mr Zachary WONG said that Members were welcomed to suggest inspection sites to the

WGBSC, which would refer the proposed locations to the survey team under the programme to

decide whether they were suitable for inspections. The survey team would also invite local DC

Member for a joint inspection. The survey team would inspect around 100 to 120 locations with

several inspection items for each location so the total items could reach 1 600 to 1 800. The

survey team would also inspect rural areas so local DC Members were welcomed to suggest

locations for inspections.

177. The Vice-chairman welcomed the WGBSC to issue letters to invite local DC Members to

give suggestions on inspections.

178. The Chairman announced that Members in principle agreed to the programme, which

would be referred to the CRCS&HC and FC for discussion on funding applications.

(iv) “Green Promotional Stall” at the Hong Kong Flower Show 2018

(YLDC Paper No. 16/2018)

179. The Chairman asked Members to take note of Paper No. 16 which was related to a letter

from the Chairman of the Show Committee of the Hong Kong Flower Show 2018 to the Chairman

of YLDC inviting YLDC to nominate a DC Member to be the adjudicator of three new awards for

“green promotional stalls” at Hong Kong Flower Show 2018. Adjudication was scheduled at

10:30 a.m. on 18 March 2018 (Sunday) at Victoria Park. The Chairman asked Members if they

were interested in serving as the adjudicator.

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180. Mr Zachary WONG enquired if any member of the Working Group on the Promotion and

Education for Environmental Protection would serve as the adjudicator.

181. The Chairman replied that it was not stipulated in the paper and the nomination should be

made by YLDC.

182. Mr TANG Cheuk-yin, Mr TO Ka-lun and Mr Zachary WONG nominated Mr LEUNG

Ming-kin as the adjudicator.

183. The Chairman asked if there would be other nominations and whether Mr LEUNG

Ming-kin was willing to serve as the adjudicator.

184. Mr LEUNG Ming-kin said that he would like to be the adjudicator.

185. The Chairman announced that Mr LEUNG Ming-kin would serve as the adjudicator on

behalf of YLDC.

(v) Achievement of Yuen Long Football Club

186. The Chairman said that Yuen Long Football Club was the Champion again after fifty years

and invited the Vice-chairman to share the achievement of Yuen Long Football Club in the

tournament.

187. The Vice-chairman said that Yuen Long Football Club, having won the championship of

Senior Shield after fifty years, was very grateful for the support of YLDC. On the day of the game,

the Chairman, District Officer (Yuen Long), many Members and Yuen Long residents came and

cheered for the football team. Having the morale boosted, team players spared no effort to excel.

After gaining the silver medal, Yuen Long Football Club arranged a parade to celebrate and

received enthusiastic response from the public. A celebratory gathering was scheduled in

end-March. Members would be invited to attend the event and share the joy. He would also like

to take the opportunity to appeal for continuous support for the development of football.

188. The Chairman congratulated the Vice-chairman again on leading Yuen Long Football Club

to achieve remarkable results.

(vi) Duty Visit Plan of YLDC

(YLDC Paper No. 17/2018)

189. The Chairman asked Members to take note of Paper No. 17 which was about the duty visit

plan of YLDC. The Duty Visit Working Group meeting was convened on 9 February and the plan

of visiting Tokyo, Japan was endorsed. The Chairman invited Mr CHING Chan-ming, the

Chairman of the Working Group to give a presentation.

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190. Mr CHING Chan-ming said that the Working Group endorsed the duty visit to Tokyo,

Japan between 5 June and 8 June 2018. During the visit, Members would learn about cycling

policy, land planning, refuse handling and recycling policy in Japan. He then invited Ms WONG

Man-ting, Mandy, the Secretary of the Working Group to explain the details of the duty visit plan in

the paper.

191. Ms WONG’s briefing was outlined as follows:

(1) The Duty Visit Working Group endorsed that the duty visit would be in the form of

mission tour in the name of “YLDC”. The minimum number of participants in the

mission tour was 20 YLDC Members. YLDC Members could join the mission tour,

except co-opted members, family members of District Councillors and people other

than District Councillors (e.g. District Councillor Assistants);

(2) Having received positive replies from several institutions/receiving organisations in

Japan, the Secretariat commenced the liaison. The Secretariat had also taken the

initiative to contact the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (Tokyo) which would

liaise with relevant government departments/organisations in Tokyo, Japan to arrange

for visits. The actual itinerary was yet to be confirmed;

(3) According to the Manual on the Use of Provision for Duty Visits Outside Hong Kong

for Members of the DCs (“The Manual”), a report should be submitted to the DC

within three months after the duty visit where possible. The Duty Visit Working

Group agreed that its Chairman would undertake the visit report;

(4) The leader of the mission tour would be the DC Chairman and the deputy leaders of

the tour would be the DC Vice-chairman and the Working Group Chairman. Unless

approved by the DC, all Members should take part in the whole trip. During the visit,

all Members must participate in the activities together and should follow the

instructions of the leader and tour guide. No Members could leave the group without

prior approval. Members of the mission tour should check if their travel documents

and visas were valid;

(5) DC Members’ expenses incurred during the duty visit would be reimbursed on an

accountable basis. Members would pay the expenses of the activities during the duty

visit first and apply for reimbursement afterwards. In the meantime, according to the

HAD’s reply to the enquiry of the Secretariat, in case a DC Member was unable to

participate in the duty visit for any reasons, including sickness, unforeseen accidents,

or rejection by the immigration authorities of the destination etc., even his/her duty

visit had not begun, the expenses should be borne by that Member and he/she could

not apply for reimbursement;

(6) According to the Manual on the Use of Provision for Duty Visits outside Hong Kong,

air tickets, meals and transport could be arranged via travel agencies/agents so as to

save the cost and ease logistic arrangements. In view of the complexity in

procurement procedures and to centralise procurement matters, the Duty Visit

Working Group requested quotations from travel agencies via the Secretariat in the

name of YLDC. The Secretariat had already obtained quotations of Tokyo tour

package for four days and three nights from five travel agencies. As at the deadline

for reply, the Secretariat had received four written quotations in total. After

discussion, the Duty Visit Working Group agreed to accept the quotation of Travel

Agency B (Kuoni Travel) since there was concern that the interpreter of Travel

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Agency C who was unable to offer Japanese to Cantonese interpretation might fail to

fulfill the needs of the mission tour. Pending finalisation of the itinerary details, the

actual expenses would be adjusted accordingly;

(7) After endorsement of the proposal by the DC, the Secretariat would further liaise with

receiving organisations/associations and the travel agency to formulate detailed

itinerary and budget for the mission tour.

192. The Chairman asked Members if they had any views towards the duty visit plan of YLDC.

193. Members had not raised any objection.

194. The Chairman announced that YLDC endorsed the duty visit plan proposed by the Duty

Visit Working Group and travel agency’s quotation. The Secretariat was also requested to follow

up.

195. The Chairman declared the meeting adjourned. He thanked departmental representatives

and Members for attending the meeting.

Yuen Long District Council Secretariat

April 2018