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The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:
The Legislative Council will hold a meeting this Wednesday (March 7) at 11 am in the Chamber of the Legislative Council Building. During the meeting, Members will debate a motion on creating job opportunities and improving the income of elementary workers.
The motion, to be moved by Hon Chan Yuen-han, states: "That, despite the revival of Hong Kong's economy for a considerable period of time, the job market still suffers from serious structural imbalance and, without minimum wage protection, the income of workers is polarised, which has led to the widening of the disparity between the rich and the poor and the worsening of inter-generational poverty, this Council urges the Government to develop a diversified economy, such as promoting local community culture and creative industries, etc; at the same time, the Government should make changes to the relevant policies to facilitate the promotion of social enterprises, thereby increasing job opportunities and easing the oversupply of workers in the elementary labour market; in addition, the Government should provide more training opportunities to working youths and middle-aged people to enhance their competitiveness."
Hon Andrew Cheng, Hon Alan Leong Kah-kit and Hon Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen will move separate amendments to Hon CHAN Yuen-han’s motion.
Members will also debate a motion on strengthening the supervision of railway safety. The motion, to be proposed by Hon Andrew Cheng, says: "That, as the railway network in Hong Kong is continuously expanding with part of the railway systems starting to age, and in view of the recent serious West Rail incident as well as the incidents and delays involving the railway systems that occurred from time to time in the past few years, which have aroused public concern about the safety of railway operations, this Council urges the Government to strengthen its supervision of the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation and the MTR Corporation Limited ("railway corporations") and to adopt the following measures, in order to safeguard the safety of the public and ensure that the railway systems are capable of providing efficient, effective and safe services:
(a) creating the post of Commissioner for Railway Safety with the responsibilities to advise, conduct studies, make assessments and propose improvement measures on the various safety issues of the railway systems (including daily maintenance, system safety, train operations, etc), as well as to lead the work of the Railway Inspectorate;
(b) expanding the current staff establishment and powers of the Railway Inspectorate to assist the Commissioner for Railway Safety in discharging his duties;
(c) introducing a demerit points system for situations such as disruptions, delays and system failures in train services, and setting objective and clear standards for the service performance of the railway corporations;
(d) including the number of hours of service disruptions or delays resulting from railway incidents, the number of affected passengers and the number of the resultant casualties as factors to be considered when assessing annually whether the services of the railway corporations have attained the required standards;
(e) reviewing and improving the existing maintenance work of the railway systems, and requesting the railway corporations to allocate additional resources to their maintenance departments;
(f) reviewing and improving the current feeder service arrangements and the contingency procedures in the event of train service disruptions or delays owing to incidents, so as to strengthen the capability of the railway corporations to cope with emergencies;
(g) reviewing and upgrading the fire service equipment and means of escape provided along all the railways and inside the train cars;
(h) requesting the railway corporations to give more training and support to the frontline maintenance staff, and requiring them to provide sufficient rest breaks for the staff, so as to enhance their morale and service quality;
(i) requiring the railway corporations to provide radio reception services along all the railways (including the tunnels), so as to ensure that the public can obtain information on railway incidents and emergency arrangements more promptly; and
(j) requesting the railway corporations to install screen doors or automated gates at the platforms of all railway stations so as to ensure the safety of passengers."
Hon Wong Kwok-hing and Hon Li Kwok-ying will move separate amendments to Hon Andrew Cheng's motion.
On Government motion, the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury will move a resolution under the Public Finance Ordinance to give the Authority a sum not exceeding $55,269,264,000 to be charged on the general revenue for expenditure on the services of the Government in respect of the financial year commencing on April 1, 2007.
Meanwhile, the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food will move a resolution under the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance to seek the Council's approval to the Pharmacy and Poisons (Amendment) Regulation 2007; and the Poisons List (Amendment) Regulation 2007, which were made by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board on February 9, 2007.
On Members' motion, Hon Wong Kwok-hing will move a resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance to seek the Council's approval to extend the period for amending the Road Traffic (Traffic Control) (Amendment) Regulation 2007, which was laid on the table of the Legislative Council on February 7, 2007, to the meeting of March 28, 2007.
On bill, the Mainland Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) Bill will be introduced into the Council for First and Second Readings. Debate on the Bill will be adjourned.
During the meeting, Members will also ask the Administration 20 questions on various policy areas, six of which require oral replies.
The agenda of the above meeting can be obtained via the Legislative Council InfoFax Service (Tel: 2869 9568) or the Legislative Council web site (http://www.legco.gov.hk).
Members of the public are welcome to observe the proceedings of the meeting from the public galleries of the Legislative Council Chamber. They may reserve seats by calling 2869 9399 during office hours. Seats will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis.
Ends/Monday, March 5, 2007
Issued at HKT 17:42
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