WK LO's LegCo Express

 

 

1. Interim findings of the Housing Authority’s Review Committee on Quality Assurance Issues Relating to Fresh Water Supply of Public Housing Estates

On 6 Oct, the Review Committee on Quality Assurance Issues Relating to Fresh Water Supply of Public Housing Estates issued its interim report. I am a member of this Committee. Before issuing the interim report, the Committee has held eight meetings since July. The report highlighted that the “excess-lead-in-water” incidents are unlikely attributed to the use of prefabricated kitchens or bathrooms; the incidence of “excess-lead-in-water” is not high, nor are the incidents confined to individual contractors, subcontractors or Licensed Plumbers; the 11 estates with water samples containing excess lead content are not confined to the most recently completed estates; and no sample taken from estates which did not use soldering joints has been found to contain excess lead content. The Committee is of the view that the past mechanism for ensuring the quality of drinking water supplied to PRH estates has certain inadequacies. The Committee recommended some interim enhancement measures covering water samples testing for heavy metal content (including lead) in accordance with WSD’s latest requirements; stringent plumbing subcontractor supervision and on-site monitoring; and the use of quick test methods to check for the presence of lead in soldering joints. The HA/HD has already started to implement these measures as a stop-gap to reduce the risk of the presence of excess lead in drinking water in newly completed PRH estates and in existing estates undergoing maintenance and improvement works. At the next stage of study, the Committee will conduct more exchanges with stakeholders, including professional organizations and industry representatives, to understand their views on the problem and possible solutions, and keep in view the development of how the law is enforced. It may also revise the above measures and consider additional ones. The Committee aims to submit a full report to the HA by end 2015.

 

2. Business sector expresses concern over cancellation of the MPF’s offsetting mechanism

The business sector has raised concern on Government’s attempt to cancel the Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) offsetting mechanism. The Government proposes the idea of an initial arrangement to ban the use of “new contributions” to offset payments but allow “old contributions” to be used. The business sector worried that if the Government calls for the cancellation of the MPF offsetting mechanism, small and medium size enterprises will face a heavy financial burden and liability in severance and long-service payments and that Hong Kong's business environment and competitiveness will also be affected.

 

3. Optimizing the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS)

On 22 Sept, together with representatives from catering, retail and tourism sectors, and members of the Business Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong (BPA), a press conference was held to announce a proposal of expanding the IVS to 20 million mainland e-passport holders. The proposed scheme will attract more overnight tourists, who typically outspend their single-day counterparts. Potential tourists holding e-passports and live in the mainland cities not covered in the IVS will be allowed to enter Hong Kong after securing online approval. They will be able to do this without the need to join tour groups. The proposal aims to attract this untapped market and boost Hong Kong’s tourist industry.

 

4. Bills Committee on Promotion of Recycling and Proper Disposal (Electrical Equipment and Electronic Equipment) (Amendment) Bill 2015

The Bill seeks to amend the Product Eco-responsibility Ordinance and Waste Disposal Ordinance to provide for a scheme for the recycling and disposal of specified types of electrical equipment and electronic equipment and make technical amendments to related legislation. The Bills Committee chaired by me has completed clause-by clause examination of the Bill at the meeting on 18 September 2015. The Administration will provide its proposed Committee Stage Amendments for the Bills Committee’s consideration at the meeting in November.

 

5. Regulation of edible fats and oils and recycling of "waste cooking oils"

At the Panel meeting on Food Safety and Environmental Hygiene on 6 Oct, members discussed regulation of edible fats and oils and recycling of “waste cooking oils”. As there are no specific regulatory provisions for edible fats and oils and no specific licensing system in place for regulating the recycling of waste cooking oil, the Government proposes to make it a statutory requirement that "waste cooking oils" and oils not intended for human consumption should not be used as ingredients for production of edible fats and oils manufactured locally and imported into/exported from Hong Kong. The Government proposes to revise the statutory safety standards for edible fats and oils.

 

6. Delegation to Shandong and Beijing

I led a delegation of Hong Kong professionals and senior executives to visit Shandong Province and Beijing in September. The delegation met the local authorities and exchanged views on issues related to environmental protection, sustainable development and regional business cooperation.