22 n d
Summary of the Minutes of
Meeting of the Tsuen Wan District Council
The 22 n d Meeting of the Tsuen Wan District Council was held on 29 t h
May 2007. The major issues discussed were summari sed as follows:
Review of Built Heritage Conservation Policy
2.
Councillors opined that the Government should give a clear definition for
built heritage and collective memory and to develop guidelines on conservation of
heritage. As the publicit y and education on conservation of heritage was not
sufficient, Councill ors urged the Government to enhance its work on this respect
such as developing long-term education policy. However, a Councillor considered
that conservation of heritage should not hinder the economic development and the
Government should not interfere i n private properties. Some Councillors wished
that the Government could improve the transparency of the Antiquities Advisory
Board and invite representatives of all District Councils as members of the Board.
When assessing the historic buildings in vario us districts, the Board should
consider the views of the locals. A Councillor opined that a conservation funds
should be set up to provide adequate resources for conservation of heritage. Some
Councillors would like to know when Dragon Garden in Tsuen Wa n, which had been
accorded the status of a Grade II historic building, would be opened to the public .
3.
In response to the enquiries and suggestions of Councillors, the Secretary
for Home Affairs and the representative of Leisure and Cultural Services
Department said that during the assessment of historic buildings, the Board would
consult the public through various channels.
T he District Councils could
establish working group on conservation of heritage and submit their views to the
Antiquities Advisory Board for consideration. The Home Affairs Bureau put great
emphasis on heritage education. The Antiquities and Monuments Office had all
along been working on heritage education and promotion.
They would also
discuss with the Education and Manpower Bure au to include the topics of heritage
and museums into the school curriculum. The threshold for a building to be
declared as monument was very high and not all the heritage buildings could reach
the threshold though they had high heritage value.
The grading of historic
building was onl y an internal guideline and did not have any statutory effect. The
Government respected the ownership of private properties and would not exercise
its power to confiscate monuments which were privatel y owned. Regarding the
opening of the Dragon Garden, the Government was activel y following up the issue
with the owner of the Garden . They would report to Tsuen Wan District Council
once there was further progress.
Visit
of
Permanent
Secretary
for
Economic
Development
and
Labo ur
(Labour)/Commissioner for Labour to Tsuen Wan District Council
4.
The Permanent Secretary for Economic Development and Labour
(Labour)/Commissioner of Labour introduced employment situation of Tsuen Wan,
measures to promote youth employment, employment traps to watch out and Wage
Protection Movement as follows:
(A)
Employment Situation in Tsuen Wan
The unemployment of Hong Kong had been continuousl y improving. The
latest unemployment rate reduced to 4.3%, and the underemployment rate
also reduced to 2.1% which was the lowest in past nine years. According
to the Quarterl y Report on General Household Survey conducted in
mid-2005, the unemployment rate of Tsuen Wan was 4.7% which was
comparativel y low among other districts. The Government would continue
to push forward the economic development of Tsuen Wan, hence promot ing
the employment of residents in the district. The Tsuen Wan Job Centre of
the Labour Department would regularl y organise district -based job fairs.
The district offices of the Labour Relations Division, Employees ’
Compensation Division and Occupation Safet y Service (Operation Division)
in Tsuen Wan would assist the residents in handling all kinds of labour
related issues.
(B)
(C)
Promote Youth Employment
As most young people did not have working experience, they always
encountered greater difficulties and needed longer time in seeking for jobs.
The Government had spared no effort in promoting youth employment
through education, skills training and employment assistance. The Labour
Department had introduced the Youth Pre -employment Training Programme
and
Youth
Work
Experience
and
Training
Scheme
in 1999 and 2000 respectivel y. To maximise the benefits of the trainees of
the two program mes, a “Revolving Door ” mechanism had been introduced
b y allowing them to move between the two programmes at different stages
during the programme year. The Labour Department would continue to
improve the two schemes and work together with training institutes to
organise tailor-made employment training program mes which could fulfill
the demand of the market and the interest of the trainees.
Beware of Employm ent Traps
As young people did not have adequate working experience, they might
easil y fall into employment traps when finding summer jobs. The Labour
Department had alerted job seekers to be aware of employment traps by
providing them with information on this respect through different channels.
(D)
Wage Protection Movement
The Government would join hands with the business communit y and the
labour sector to launch the Wage Protection Movement (WPM). This was
to protect the wage level of clean ing workers and securit y guards through
voluntary
and
non-legislative
means.
P articipating
enterprises/
organisations were encouraged to offer cleaning workers and securit y guards
wages not lower than the relevant average market rates as stipulated in the
Census and Statistics Department ’s Quarterl y Report of Wage and Payroll
Statistics.
They should also ensure that the workers were properl y
compensated after overtime work.
Enterprises participating in WPM
which outsourced their cleansing and guarding services should require their
contractors and subcontractors to follow the above practices, with a view to
preventing the workers from being exploited due to outsourci ng.
Over 55000 workers, which accounted for 30% of the overall cleaning
workers and security guards in Hong Kong, had been benefited . List of
participating enterprises/ organisations had been uploaded onto the website
of WPM. After being encouraged by th e Government, many employers
who used the employment services of the Labour Department were willing to
participate in WPM by increasing the wages of the cleaning worker and
securit y guard vacancies to average market rate. The Labour Department
would conti nue to call upon commercial sector, employers and propert y
owners to participate in WPM through different channels including district
administrative level.
5.
Councillors concerned about youth employment. A Councillor pointed out
that the practicability and acceptance of the Youth Pre-employment Training
Programme and Youth Work Experience and Training Scheme was being questioned
and that the Government should review the two programmes . Some Councillors
suggested that the courses of the two programmes sh ould be designed to cope with
the needs of the young people. The courses should not onl y focus on ski lls
training but also on improving working attitude, control of emotion, work ethics
and so on. A Councillor said that some employers did not follow the verdict
against arrears of wages and wished that the Labour Department could follow up .
Another Councillor also thought that the work against arrears of wages was not
enough and hoped that the Labour Department should activel y initiate prosecutions
against those employers. Some Councillors gave their opinions for the policies on
minimum wages and maximum working hours .
They considered that the
Government should implement the policies as soon as possible so as to safeguard
the rights of the workers. However, the Government should be careful when
implementing the policies as the operation of some small and medium enterprises
was very difficult. The Labour Department and Labour Tribunal should explain to
the employees the rights they had, and take prosecution actions stringentl y and
establish a better reporting mechanism.
A Councillor asked if the Labour
Department had received any complaint about WPM . He would also like to know
the number of prosecutions for arrears of wages initiated by the department a nd the
number of cases that were successfull y convicted.
Besides, a Councillor
suggested that the Government should announce the unemployment rate of different
trades together with the overall employm ent rate.
6.
The Permanent Secretary for Economic Deve lopment and Labour
(Labour)/Commissioner of Labour pointed out that the Labour Department had
recentl y reviewed the Youth Pre -employment Training Programme and Youth Work
Experience and Training Scheme and the result showed that the two programmes
should be continued to implement. The review was conducted by scholars and the
views of various parties had been taken into consideration. He believed that after
completion of the training courses, the trainees could improve their competit iveness
and hence the employment situation.
There was already a mechanism for
reporting complaints against arrears of wages and the district offices of the Labour
Department would follow up such cases and initiate prosecutions if necessary.
He
explained that a rrears of wages w ere criminal offence and recentl y an employer had
been sentenced to imprisonment , and this could be a deterrent for similar cases.
The Labour Department had been reviewing cases on arrears of wages and would
continue to initiate prosecution s. However, as the procedures were stringent and
complicated, the department would need longer time to handle them. Regarding
the WPM, the Government need ed more time to implement and study it as it was a
controversial issue. The scheme was successful initiall y and it was hoped that it
could give greater protection to the workers. The Labour Department had not
received any complaint about the participating organisations/service contractors
lodged by the employees at the moment.
For the announcement of the
unemployment rate, the Government would also announce which trades experienced
movement in the unemployment rate.
Issues Relating to Scattering of Human Ashes at Sea
7.
A Councillor said that fishermen association supported the proposal but he
thought the conditions concerning the date and time for the ceremon y should be
more flexible as the activities at sea would be affected by the unexpected inclement
weather. Another Councillor worried that Chinese societ y might not accept the
proposed way of handling the ashes of the deceased. A Councillor opined that the
proposal was implemented in a hurry and the departments were not well prepared
which might make the future control over the ceremony more difficult. Some
Councillors had made suggestions on the proposal. One of them thought that
structures for memorial purpose might be built at sea. Another said that the
Government could consider performing the ceremony with new techniques and ideas
so that it could go on smoothl y and the descendants could be relieved. Another
opined that the Government should established a licensing system for the vessels
performing the ceremony, with a view to ensuring the safe operation of the vessels.
A Councillor asked if the Government had conducted assessment of the impact on
swimmers and beaches as the number of ceremony might increase in future.
8.
In response to the comments and suggestions of Councillors, t he
representative of Leisure and Cultural Services Department pointed out that the
date and time of the ceremony could be altered but the applicant s should appl y to
the related department s as earl y as possible. Upon the receipt of applications, the
Leisure and Cultural Services Department would notif y all relevant departments
and they would follow up the applications according to their normal procedures .
The Government would put effort to promote the proposal.
Regarding the
memorial structure at the sea, the Government had to consider whether the structure
would obstruct the marine traffic. He further explained that those who applied to
scatter the ashes of their ancestors at sea usuall y wished the ashes of the deceased
could be brought to different places by t he sea. So it might not be neces sary to
have a fixed location for memorial purpose. He said that the Government did not
want to impose too much control over the ceremony so that the public could adopt
the most suitable way for the ceremony according to their belief and traditional
customs.
At present, all the vessels had to be registered with the Marine
Department. As scattering human ashes would not endanger the safet y of the
passengers and the vessel s, there was no need to impose an y special requirement on
the vessels concerned. He explained that the designated locations for scattering
human ashes were carefull y cho sen by the departments and they were far away from
beaches. The ashes was harmless and would be washed away by the sea quickl y.
It would not have any adverse effect on the environment.
2007/08 Work Plan of the Independent Commission Against Corruption ( ICAC)
Region Office (New Territories South West)
9.
Some Councillors concerned about the conflict of interests between the
owners’ incorporations and the maintenance contractors.
They suggested that
ICAC should visit the incorporations to explain the guid elines on anti -corruption to
share the building management and maintenance experience with them.
The
Chairman asked Councillors to contact ICAC to organise talks on anti -corruption
for housing estates. A C ouncillor would like to know how ICAC handle d the
complaints received. Some Councillors opined that the Announcements of Public
Interest were very effective but recentl y they did not see any new ones on TV.
They would like to know if it was due to shortage of resources. Regarding youth
education, a Councillor suggested that ICAC should start to foster the correct value
to the children when they were in primary school.
10.
The representative of ICAC responded that as building maintenance works
always involved large profit, it would certainl y be the cau se of corruption. If
ICAC knew that a housing estate had received the maintenance order issued by the
Building Department or a new incorporation was set up, they would contact the
incorporation initiall y to explain the relevant ordinances and promote
anti-corruption services. ICAC would pay close attention to the issues about
corruption related to building management. If the public found that there were
cases of corruption, they should immediatel y report them to ICAC. ICAC was
willing to organise talks for the housing estates.
The Corruption Prevention
Department of ICAC always advised the Home Affairs Department (HAD) on the
issues about building management. She encouraged Councillors to reflect to HAD
when they encounter ed any problems on the issues. About 40% of the complaints
involving private organisations were related to building management. However,
the number of cases that had been successfull y convicted was low.
It was because
in most cases, the public onl y suspected that the incorporations were involved in
corruption. The incorporations were proved to be innocent after investigation.
The misunderstanding might be due to lack of transparency of the operation of the
incorporations. ICAC was very concerned about the anti -corruption education
related to building management.
An inter-departmental task force which was
chaired by the Commissioner was established in 2006 to study the building
management corruption problems and develop comprehensive strategies. ICAC
also encouraged the chairmen a nd members of the incorporations to adopt more
transparent way of management, with a view to reduc ing unnecessary complaint s.
The public was always welcomed to report any complaints to ICAC.
If the
complaints were not substantiated due to misunderstandin g or other reasons, the
complainants would not be prosecuted. However, if the cases involved giving
false information to deliberatel y misleading ICAC officers, the relevant part ies
would be prosecuted. Regarding youth education, ICAC would disseminate th e
message of anti -corruption to the secondary school students through inter -active
ways.
Due to limitation of resources, they could not organise talks for the
primary school students.
But they had discussed with the Education and
Manpower Bureau, hoping to include the topics related to integrit y into the school
curriculum. ICAC had started to produce a new series of TV programme and it
would be broadcast this year.
Request for Noise Reducing Surfacing at Texaco Road and Castle Peak Road –
Tsuen Wan
11.
The representatives of the Environmental Protection Department (EPD)
pointed out that the noise reduction surfacing material was effective. However, as
the material would be easil y deteriorated, it was not suitable for the roads with high
traffic flow or many bends, steep roads and roads which the vehicles always had to
start and stop. The Government was conducting a trial of using noise reduction
surfacing material on roads and certain sections of Chung On Street and Yeung Uk
Road were included in the trial. Upon its completion , the departments would
review the effect comprehensivel y and consider which roads were suitable for using
noise reduction surfacing material. EPD and Highways Department were also
studying the materials used by other countries.
12.
Councillors strongl y expressed that the Government should activel y respond
to the requests of the public and they were disappointed that the Government had
not properl y addressed the noise nuisance of Texaco Road and Castle Peak Road.
They urged the Government to include the two roads in the trial. The Chairman
pointed out that the departments should take into account the view s of Councillors
when selecting the roads for the trial. A Councillor also pointed out that using
noise reduction surfacing ma terial was onl y one of the ways of tackling the noise
pollution problem , improving the vehicles and their design to reduce the noise was
also important. Moreover, the departments should also activel y tackle problem of
noise generated by coupes and motorcycl es at night.
13.
The representatives of EPD and Highways Department responded that
Texaco Road was a district road and there were a lot of heavy vehicles using the
road. Therefore, the road was not suitable for using noise reduction surfacing
material . However, the Highways Department would use the material on some
fl yovers and highways in Tsuen Wan. When selecting the suitable roads to be
included in the trial, the department would take into account factors such as traffic
flow, proportion of heavy v ehicles using the road , speed of the vehicles and so on.
As the traffic flow and proportion of heavy vehicle s of Texaco Road exceeded the
standard, it was expected that the effect would not be desirable. However, after
listening to the views of Councillo rs, the department would consider including the
road into the trial. The Government had developed a comprehensive scheme to
improve the overall traffic noise in Hong Kong.
For the noise generated by
speeding, it was related to the habit of driving and should be controlled by the
enforcement actions of the Police.
Request for Improvement to En -route Stop of Cross Boundary Coach to
Huanggang at Sai Lau Kok Road
14.
In response to the paper tabled by Councillors, the representat ive of Lands
Department said that the department received an application for renting part of the
pavement of Sai Lau Kok Road for bus stop facilit y. The Transport Department
had given their written repl y stating that they supported the application considering
the operational need. The Lands Department was assessing the rent and the direct
renting conditions offer letter was expected to be issued in June. The Transport
Department had followed up the application with the bus company and knew that
the company would construct a guard ki osk at the location concerned .
15.
The Chairman expressed that Councillors had already reflected that the bus
fare from Tsuen Wan to Huanggang was even more expensive than that from
Mongkok to Huanggan g and they thought it was extremel y unfair. A Councillor
said that the residents requested to lower the fares of the cross -boundary coach and
increase the transparency of the tendering procedures. He also requested the
Transport Department to take on the responsibilit y for monitoring the operator.
Another Councillor would like to know when the franchise of the operator would
expire.
16.
The representative of the Transport Department pointed out that the
cross-boundary coach service was non-franchised bus service. The department
did not monitor the fare of this kind of service and it was determined by the market.
Apart from cross -boundary coach, the public could cho ose other means of
transportation. For example, they could take the train to Huanggang when the Lok
Ma Chau Spur Line opened in the middle of this year. It was believed at that time
the bus fare would adjust according to the needs of the passengers.
The
cross-boundary coach was operated under passenger service licence and the
department would provide information about its expiry after the meeting.
17.
A Councillors further expressed that many Cou ncillors were disappointed
with the Transport Department because they thought the representative could not
respond to their concerns or enquires. He wished that the Chairman would reflect
the problem to the senior level of the relevant bureau or department. Another
Councillor wished that to know under which polic y or ordinance stipulated that the
department did not monitor the fare of the non -franchised bus service.
A
Councillor said that he had refl ected to the department several time s the situation of
the bus stop of the cross -boundary coach. However, the problem had not been
solved yet.
He wished that the Transport Department and Lands Department
would handle the issue initiall y and continue to monitor the situation of the bus
stop after the guard kiosk was in use. The Chairman concluded that the existing
bus fare was unfair and he again invited the represent ative of the Transport
Department to attend the meeting of the working group.
18.
The representative of the Transport Department said that the department
would request the operator to ti dy up the bus stop. Besides, she emphasised that
as cross-boundary coach service was non -franchised bus service and the level of
bus fare would be determined according to the needs of the passengers and business
principles.
(Post-meeting note: The representative of Transport Department had attended the
meeting of the Task Force on Public Transport Network. As
Councillors were very concerned about the cross-boundar y
coach service, the department had invited the working group
to discuss the related matters with them.)
Issue about Domestic Violence
19.
Councillors wished that various departments would help to tackle the
problem. For example, the Housing Departm ent could speed up the procedures in
handling special cases such as famil y splitting cases without the referral of the
Social Welfare Department (SWD). The department could also increase the area
of the flats to prevent conflict between famil y members due to crowded living
environment.
They also wished that the department could make proper
arrangement so that the victims did not have to move to those flats that were far
away from their places of work or schools. Moreover, the department could refer
domestic violence cases to SWD for following up. On the other hand, SWD
should provide counselling service to those couples that had great difference in age,
so as to help them to handle their marital problems. The department should also
deploy more resources for home visits to those problematic families, and increase
the manpower and resources for social workers so that they could promote and
provide more marital counselling and famil y life education. They should also pay
more attention to the domestic viole nce problems in public housing estates.
20.
In response to the comments of Councillors, the representative of Housing
Department said that for general famil y splitting cases, they would be allocated
with renovated flats in the New Territories. If they wished for local rehousing,
the department had to seek professional advice from SWD. In divorce cases, the
part y having the custody of the children could be granted the tenancy of existing
flats whereas the single part y had to move to interim housing units in the New
Territories. Under the Living Space Improvement Space Transfer Scheme, all
rental households living below seven square metres internal floor area per person
might appl y for transfer to a larger flat to improve the living environment.
Due to
privacy of the individual, the department could not refer the domestic violence
cases to SWD without the consent of the parties involved. The number of flats
reserved for famil y splitting and Compassionate Rehousing Category did not limit
to 2000 and it could be increased when necessary. Temporary accommodation
could be provided to residents undergoing legal proceedings of the divorce cases in
form of Conditional Tenancy. The representative of SWD pointed out that Famil y
Planning Association of Hong Kong a nd other voluntary organisations would
provide marital counselling services.
SWD also organised talks and family
activities regularl y to families involved in domestic violence, with a view to
assisting them in handling emotional problems.
The department resumed
recruitment last year.
They would continue to enhance their services and
strengthen their communication with the communit y. They had maintained direct
contact with the Housing Department to improve the arrangement of housing,
especiall y that of famil y splitting and Compassionate Rehousing Category.