Author Archives: hksar gov

     The Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, together with the Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan; the Secretary for Development, Mr Michael Wong; and the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Mr Frank Chan Fan, announced today (June 29) a package of six new initiatives on housing.
      
     “As I said in my maiden Policy Address delivered last October, the housing problem is the most challenging, formidable and complex among all livelihood issues. It is also the very issue that our people most earnestly look to the current-term Government to resolve with innovative solutions in a resolute manner. The new initiatives on housing announced today address some of the people’s concerns, but we need to expand our developable land in order to significantly boost housing supply. The Government will do its utmost to reverse the current situation in which housing supply cannot meet the demand and property prices continue to soar,” Mrs Lam said. 
      
     “The Task Force on Land Supply is carrying out a major public engagement exercise and is expected to draw up a comprehensive package of proposals and a visionary land supply strategy by the end of this year for the Government’s consideration. I believe that the initiatives announced today will help the community focus its discussion on increasing land supply and build a broad consensus,” she added. 
      
     Mrs Lam introduced six new housing initiatives, which aim to meet three objectives, namely making subsidised sale flats (SSFs) more affordable, increasing supply of subsidised housing units and enhancing support for transitional housing supply, and encouraging more timely supply of first-hand private flats.
      
Revising the pricing policy for SSFs
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     “To make SSFs more affordable to lower- to middle-income households, we will revise the affordability test of the existing pricing mechanism for the Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) by using the median monthly household income of non-owner occupier households (currently around $39,500, net of Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) contributions) as the reference point instead of the income limit of White Form (WF) family applicants (currently $57,000, net of MPF contributions), and ensuring that at least 75 per cent of flats are affordable (increased from 50 per cent). If we had adopted the new affordability test in the 2018 HOS sale, the flats would be sold at 52 per cent instead of the original 70 per cent of the ‘assessed market value’,” Mrs Lam said.
      
     Under the existing pricing policy, the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) prices HOS flats at a 30 per cent discount from “assessed market value” if the resultant prices meet the affordability test. The test is met if, for at least 50 per cent of the flats, households with income at the prevailing income limit for WF family applicants ($57,000, net of MPF contributions) need not use more than 40 per cent of their income on mortgage payments. If the affordability test is not satisfied, a discount higher than 30 per cent will be offered. 
      
     In simple terms, the income limit of WF family applicants represents the amount of household income required to purchase a reasonably sized flat in the private sector. Households with income below the limit are deemed to be unable to afford home ownership in the private sector and hence qualified for the HOS. In other words, the WF income limit includes a housing cost element which inevitably varies with private property prices. Such a linkage is logical for the purpose of determining the eligibility for the HOS since the higher the price of an average property in the private market, the more households would find it unaffordable and need government assistance for purchasing property. An income limit that is linked to market prices of private housing serves precisely this purpose and should remain unchanged.
      
     However, when the WF income limit is used as a benchmark in the affordability test, it may create an issue: as the WF income limit rises with market prices, more applicants will find it difficult to afford the HOS prices determined by reference to the WF income limit.   
      
     “The Government has reviewed the affordability test and found that there is room to fine-tune the test by delinking it from the reference to the HOS income limit, hence removing its indirect link with private property prices,” Mrs Lam said.
      
     As for the pricing mechanism for the Green Form Subsidised Home Ownership Scheme (GSH), there would be a further discount of 10 per cent for the GSH from that decided for the preceding HOS sale exercise. 
      
     With the introduction of a new pricing mechanism which may give rise to selling HOS and GSH flats at higher discount from assessed market values, the Government proposes that the HA consider tightening the alienation restrictions for SSFs. There will be no changes to all other elements of the established pricing mechanism, which include adopting a single discount rate in the pricing of all flats in a sale exercise and ensuring the HA will not incur a loss in each sale exercise with the discount rate not lower than 30 per cent.
      
     The new pricing policy will be adopted as from the 2018 GSH sale exercise. The Government will invite the HA to consider whether it will implement the new pricing policy for the sale of the 2018 HOS.
      
Inviting the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) to assign its non-joint venture project at Ma Tau Wai Road as a Starter Homes (SH) pilot project
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     “SH aims to help the higher-income families who are not eligible for the HOS and yet cannot afford private housing to meet their home ownership aspirations in the face of rising property prices. I announced in my Policy Address last year that the Government would use a residential site at Anderson Road on the Government’s 2018-19 Land Sale Programme to provide about 1 000 SH units. However, since it would take several years before SH units at the Anderson Road site can be put up for pre-sale, we are now testing out the SH concept earlier by inviting the URA to assign its non-joint venture redevelopment project at Ma Tau Wai Road as an SH pilot project,” Mrs Lam said.
      
     The Ma Tau Wai Road project can provide 450 SH units. The project is expected to be issued with an Occupation Permit in the second quarter of 2019. Taking into account the time required for relevant preparatory work, it is estimated that the pre-sale exercise can be launched in December 2018 at the soonest.
      
     Mrs Lam also introduced the major eligibility criteria for applying for SH units. Among other criteria, eligible applicants have to be Hong Kong residents who have lived in Hong Kong for seven years or more, who have never owned any residential property in Hong Kong, whose income falls between the prevailing income limits for WF applicants for the HOS and about 30 per cent higher than such limits, and whose assets should not exceed the limit of 30 per cent above the prevailing HOS asset limits for WF applicants. 
      
     The discount for SH units should be 10 per cent to 20 per cent less than that decided for the preceding HOS sale exercise, in order to maintain relativity among different rungs along the housing ladder. 
      
     The Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation Limited will provide mortgage insurance cover for 30 per cent to 40 per cent of the property value such that SH buyers can obtain mortgages of up to a 90 per cent loan-to-value ratio from banks. As the target buyers of SH are those with higher income, more stringent alienation restrictions than those for HOS and GSH will be imposed. SH owners cannot sell or let their units in the first five years after purchase. After the first five years, SH owners can sell or let their units in the open market after payment of premium to the URA.
      
     “The Government will make reference to the experience from the SH pilot project at Ma Tau Wai Road in taking forward the SH project at Anderson Road,” Mrs Lam added.
      
Reallocating private housing sites for public housing
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     Mrs Lam said that the Government has been working hard to allocate sites for public housing, including some sites that were originally intended for private housing. 
      
     “To better meet the need for more affordable housing, the Government will further reallocate a total of nine private housing sites in Kai Tak and Anderson Road Quarry, capable of providing about 10 600 flats, for public housing. The Government will further consider if the developments should be arranged for sale or rental.”
      
Setting up a task force to assist the community to take forward transitional housing projects
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     The 2017 Policy Address noted the Government’s effort to facilitate the implementation of various short-term community initiatives to increase the supply of transitional housing, with a view to alleviating the hardship faced by families on the public rental housing waiting list and the inadequately housed. To that end a task force will be set up under the Transport and Housing Bureau to provide one-stop, co-ordinated support to assist and enable more non-government institutions in pursuing transitional housing.
      
Introducing Special Rates on vacant first-hand private residential units
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     The Government is concerned about the increasing number of unsold first-hand private residential units in completed projects in recent years, from around 4 000 units at the end of March 2013 to 9 000 units at the end of March 2018. This trend is undesirable in the face of a severe housing shortage. There is a need to introduce more effective measures to spur developers to expedite the supply of first-hand private flats.
      
     The Government proposes to introduce Special Rates on vacant first-hand private residential units by amending the Rating Ordinance (Cap. 116). Owners (mainly developers) of first-hand private residential units with the Occupation Permit issued for 12 months or more will be required to furnish annual returns to the Government on the occupancy status of the units. Units that have not been occupied or rented out for more than six months during the past 12 months will be considered as vacant and subject to Special Rates.  
      
     Special Rates will be collected by the Rating and Valuation Department annually at two times (i.e. 200 per cent) the rateable value of the units concerned, which is roughly equal to 5 per cent of the property value based on the average rental yield of 2.5 per cent for residential property in March 2018. 
      
     The Government plans to introduce an Amendment Bill into the Legislative Council (LegCo) during the 2018-19 legislative year to amend the Rating Ordinance. The Special Rates will take effect after gazettal of the Amendment Ordinance following passage of the Amendment Bill in LegCo.
      
Amending the Lands Department (LandsD) Consent Scheme to improve sales practices
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     To improve market transparency and enhance consumer protection, Mrs Lam announced that the Government will amend the Consent Scheme to improve sales practices by requiring developers to offer for sale no less than 20 per cent of the total number of residential units subject to the relevant pre-sale consent at each turn of sale, regardless of the sales method (including tender and auction). If the remaining unsold residential units are less than 20 per cent, the developer has to offer for sale all remaining units in one go. This 20 per cent requirement will take immediate effect upon announcement, and applies to new pre-sale consent applications and applications currently being processed by LandsD under the Consent Scheme.
      
     Mrs Lam said that the six initiatives show the Government’s commitment to tackling the housing problem. She also invited the community to take part in the public engagement exercise of the Task Force on Land Supply to contribute to the formulation of land supply strategy for Hong Kong. The Government will continue to work towards increasing adequate and affordable housing for the community.

  

     Police today (June 29) appealed to the public for information on a man who went missing in Kwai Chung.      Chan Lap-ming, aged 42, went missing after he was last seen on Kwai Chung Hospital Roa… read more

     Police will implement crowd safety management measures and special traffic arrangements on Hong Kong Island on July 1 (Sunday) to facilitate three events to be held.

(1) Flag Raising Ceremony at Golden Bauhinia Square in Wan Chai

Special traffic arrangements
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A. Road closure

     Expo Drive, Expo Drive Central and Expo Drive East will be closed from 00.01am to 11am, except for vehicles with permits.

     Road P2 will be closed from 5.30am to 11am, except for vehicles with permits.

B. Suspension of parking spaces

     The coach parking spaces at Expo Drive East will be suspended from 00.01am on June 30 to 11am on July 1.

(2) Public procession starting from Quarry Bay Park

Special traffic arrangements
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A. Road closure

     The following roads will be intermittently closed from 8.45am until the crowd has dispersed and traffic resumes normal:

– The leftmost lane of eastbound Hoi Chak Street;
– Southbound Finnie Street;
– The leftmost lane of westbound King’s Road; and
– The leftmost lane of westbound Causeway Road.

B. Suspension of parking spaces

     The metered parking spaces No. 1957A, 1958(A), 1958(B) at Hoi Chak Street will be suspended from 8pm on June 30 to 1pm the following day.

(3) Public meeting and public procession starting from Victoria Park

Crowd safety management measures
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     Police will implement crowd safety management measures to facilitate the holding of a public meeting at Victoria Park (the Park) and subsequent public procession.

     In addition to the said event, the “Greater Bay Area Lion and Dragon Carnival” is being held at the football pitches of the Park. It is also expected that a large crowd will visit Causeway Bay area for sightseeing and shopping on July 1, which is a public holiday. In anticipation of the large number of people in the area, Police will implement a number of temporary traffic control and crowd safety management measures to facilitate the public to attend the carnival or participate in the public order event.

A. Arrangements for the Public Meeting and Carnival at Victoria Park

     The public meeting at Central Lawn of the Park will commence at 2pm and the subsequent public procession will start at 3pm. The public procession will set off to the western pavement of Tim Mei Avenue and East Wing Forecourt of Central Government Offices (CGO), venue of another public meeting, via South Boulevard, Basketball Court and Gate 15 of the Park, Causeway Road, Leighton Road, Irving Street, Pennington Street, Yee Wo Street, Hennessy Road, Queensway, Rodney Street and Harcourt Road.

     To ensure that the participants of the public meeting enter the Central Lawn and set off the subsequent procession sequentially, the organiser will divide the Central Lawn into four sections and their marshals will implement crowd management measure thereat.

     Members of the public participating in the public meeting may enter the Central Lawn of the Park from Tin Hau via Gate 14 (near Hing Fat Street public car park), East Boulevard and North Boulevard; or from Causeway Bay via Gate 7 (near Great George Street), West Boulevard and North Boulevard. For those attending the carnival, they may enter the venue from Tin Hau via Gate 15 on Hing Fat Street or from Causeway Bay via Gates 6 or 7 (near Sugar Street and Great George Street) (see diagram 1).

     The procession will set off at 3pm or when the participants have occupied about 85 per cent of the Central Lawn, whichever is earlier. The procession will depart from the Central Lawn via Exits 1 and 2, and move along the South Boulevard and Gate 15 of the Park to start.

     After the public procession starts, the participants who wish to join can still enter the Central Lawn through the above route. For members of the public attending the carnival, they can enter the venue from Causeway Bay via Gate 6 or 7 or from Tin Hau via Gate 14 on Hing Fat Street as Gate 15 will be used by the procession (see diagram 2).

     Gate 14 on Hing Fat Street is one of the main accesses to the carnival, Police will implement tidal flow measure for crowd safety management during the public meeting/procession. When the procession is passing the Basketball Courts near Gate 14, participants of the public procession should follow Police’s instruction and may have to give way to the carnival attendants when such need arises.

     On the event day, there will be signage displayed in the Park. The public should follow the instructions given by Police officers or event organisers on site to enter the venues in a safe and orderly manner. The Police will implement crowd safety management measures, including tidal flow measures, setting up of segregation points and buffer zones, to properly manage the crowd flow. Depending on the prevailing situation, appropriate crowd safety management measures will also be implemented in Tin Hau and Causeway Bay. If necessary, the Police will arrange the participants to queue up and wait at Tin Hau and Causeway Bay areas to prevent overcrowding inside the Park.

B. Arrangements for Public Procession

     The procession will proceed along the westbound carriageway of the procession route and the eastbound and westbound tram lanes along Yee Wo Street, Hennessy Road and Queensway. The eastbound carriageway will be reserved as emergency vehicles access and used by other road users.

     The crossing zones outside SOGO Department Store and Paterson Street will be suspended during the procession. Past experience has shown that many procession participants jammed in the procession at these two points, causing obstructions and delay to the main procession from the Park. Moreover, it will also affect the traffic at the eastbound carriageway and its function as emergency vehicles access, posing risks to public safety and public order. Procession participants are requested not to jam in at these two points. People who intend to cross Yee Wo Street can use the subway of MTR, Sugar Street footbridge and Percival Street footbridge.

     Participants who wish to leave upon arriving or during the public meeting in Central may leave via various directions towards Admiralty or Wan Chai. For safety reason, if the venue of public meeting is saturated, other participants arriving at later stage should leave via the same directions (see diagram 3). They should pay attention to the announcement made by the organiser and follow the instructions given by the Police, staff of CGO or event marshals for a safe departure.

     To maintain public safety and public order, Police imposed several conditions to the organiser. The conditions include requesting the organiser to appeal to the participants taking part in fund-raising, hawking or any other propaganda activities to ensure that their stalls or temporarily-erected structures would not cause obstructions to the public procession or endanger the safety of the public procession participants or other road users.

     Members of the public going to Admiralty, Wan Chai, Causeway Bay and Tin Hau are encouraged to use public transport. They should follow the instructions given by Police officers or event marshals and pay attention to the temporary signage displayed on site.

     It is the policy of the Police to facilitate all lawful public order events and it will take measures to ensure public safety and public order. Police wish to co-operate closely with the organiser to facilitate a safe and orderly public event.

     Police appeal to the event participants to remain calm, be considerate and co-operative, as well as to express their views in a peaceful manner.

Special traffic arrangements
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A. Road closure

     The following roads will be closed from about 1.30pm until the crowd has dispersed and traffic resumes normal:

– Gloucester Road U-turn slip road between southbound and northbound Gloucester Road underneath Tai Hang Road flyover;
– Sugar Street;
– If necessary, Great George Street;
– If necessary, Paterson Street between Gloucester Road and Great George Road;
– If necessary, Kingston Street;
– If necessary, southbound Gloucester Road between Victoria Park Road flyover and Causeway Road; and
– If necessary, Cleveland Street.

     The following roads will be closed from about 2.15pm until the crowd has dispersed and traffic resumes normal:

– Jardine’s Bazaar;
– Tang Lung Street;
– Canal Road East between Russell Street and Hennessy Road;
– Canal Road West between Sharp Street West and Hennessy Road;
– Wan Chai Road between Canal Road West and Morrison Hill Road; and
– Bowrington Road between Sharp Street West and Hennessy Road.

     The following roads will be closed from about 2.45pm until the crowd has dispersed and traffic resumes normal:

– Westbound Causeway Road;
– Moreton Terrace;
– Shelter Street;
– The slip road leading from eastbound Yee Wo Street to westbound Causeway Road;
– Irving Street;
– Pennington Street between Keswick Street and Yee Wo Street;
– If necessary, the slip road leading from westbound Leighton Road to Pennington Street;
– Westbound Yee Wo Street;
– Westbound Hennessy Road;
– Lee Garden Road between Kai Chiu Road and Hennessy Road;
– Kai Chiu Road;
– Yun Ping Road between Lan Fong Road and Kai Chiu Road;
– The slip road leading from eastbound Johnston Road to westbound Hennessy Road;
– Thomson Road between Johnston Road and Luard Road;
– Luard Road between Johnston Road and Hennessy Road;
– Fenwick Street between Hennessy Road and Johnston Road;
– Westbound Johnston Road between Ship Street and Landale Street; and
– Eastbound Johnston Road between Fenwick Street and Hennessy Road.

     The following roads will be closed from about 4pm until the crowd has dispersed and traffic resumes normal:

– Westbound Queensway between Queen’s Road East and Rodney Street;
– Eastbound Queensway;
– Westbound Harcourt Road between Harcourt Garden car park exit and Cotton Tree Drive;
– Southbound Tim Wa Avenue between Lung Wo Road and Harcourt Road, except for vehicles heading for the Chief Executive’s Office and Central Government Offices car park;
– Southbound Edinburgh Place between Lung Wo Road and Connaught Road Central;
– Rodney Street;
– Drake Street;
– Tamar Street;
– Southbound Cotton Tree Drive slip road leading to eastbound Queensway;
– If necessary, southbound Cotton Tree Drive between westbound Harcourt Road and Queensway;
– Northbound Garden Road flyover leading to eastbound Queensway;
– If necessary, northbound Garden Road slip road leading to northbound Cotton Tree Drive;
– Murray Road between Harcourt Road and Queensway;
– Eastbound Des Voeux Road Central between Pedder Street and Queensway; and
– Northbound Ice House Street between Queen’s Road Central and Des Voeux Road Central.

     The following roads will be closed when necessary until the crowd has dispersed and traffic resumes normal:

– Yacht Street;
– Lau Li Street between Ngan Mok Street and Hing Fat Street;
– Electric Road between Lau Sin Street and Tsing Fung Street;
– Lau Sin Street west of King’s Road;
– Hing Fat Street between Causeway Road and Lau Sin Street;
– Northbound Tai Hang Road flyover; and
– Percival Street between Gloucester Road and Lockhart Road.

B. Traffic diversions

     The following traffic diversions will be implemented from about 1.30pm until the crowd has dispersed and traffic resumes normal:

– Traffic along southbound Gloucester Road cannot turn right to northbound Gloucester Road underneath Tai Hang Road flyover;
– Traffic along eastbound Yee Wo Street cannot turn left to Sugar Street;
– If necessary, traffic along northbound Tai Hang Road flyover cannot turn left to westbound Kingston Street;
– If necessary, traffic along southbound Paterson Street must turn left to eastbound Kingston Street;
– If necessary, traffic along Cleveland Street cannot turn right to westbound Kingston Street;
– If necessary, traffic along westbound Gloucester Road service road cannot turn left to Paterson Street and Cleveland Street;
– If necessary, traffic along westbound Victoria Park Road slip road cannot turn to Cleveland Street; and
– If necessary, traffic along southbound Victoria Park Road flyover must turn right to westbound Gloucester Road service road.

     The following traffic diversions will be implemented from about 2.15pm until the crowd has dispersed and traffic resumes normal:

– Traffic along Pennington Street cannot turn left to Jardine’s Bazaar;
– Traffic along westbound Hennessy Road cannot turn left to Canal Road East;
– Traffic along Russell Street must turn left to Canal Road East;
– Traffic along Canal Road West near Sharp Street West will be diverted to the up-ramp leading to northbound Canal Road flyover;
– Traffic along eastbound Sharp Street West will be diverted to the up-ramp leading to northbound Canal Road flyover;
– Traffic along eastbound Sharp Street West cannot turn left to Bowrington Road;
– Traffic along Bowrington Road must turn right to eastbound Sharp Street West; and
– Traffic along eastbound Wan Chai Road must turn right to southbound Morrison Hill Road.

     The following traffic diversions will be implemented from about 2.45pm until the crowd has dispersed and traffic resumes normal:

– Traffic from westbound King’s Road must turn left to southbound Tung Lo Wan Road or turn right to Hing Fat Street;
– Traffic along westbound Tung Lo Wan Road cannot enter Moreton Terrace;
– Eastbound Tung Lo Wan Road between St. Paul’s Hospital and Moreton Terrace will be re-routed to westbound;
– Traffic along southbound Tung Lo Wan Road cannot turn left to the re-routed westbound Tung Lo Wan Road between St Paul’s Hospital and Moreton Terrace;
– Traffic along eastbound Yee Wo Street cannot turn right to southbound Tung Lo Wan Road or westbound Leighton Road;
– Traffic along northbound Tung Lo Wan Road cannot enter Irving Street and must turn left to westbound Leighton Road;
– Traffic along Pennington Street must turn right to Keswick Street;
– Traffic along Yun Ping Road must turn left to Lan Fong Road;
– Traffic along westbound Leighton Road must turn left to Wong Nai Chung Road, except for franchised buses;
– Traffic along Percival Street will be diverted to Lockhart Road or eastbound Hennessy Road;
– Traffic along Tin Lok Lane cannot turn left to westbound Hennessy Road;
– Traffic along Stewart Road cannot turn right to westbound Hennessy Road;
– Traffic along eastbound Johnston Road cannot turn left to westbound Hennessy Road;
– Traffic along southbound Fleming Road cannot turn right to westbound Hennessy Road;
– Traffic along northbound Fleming Road cannot turn left to westbound Hennessy Road;
– Traffic along Fenwick Street must turn left to eastbound Hennessy Road;
– Traffic along eastbound Hennessy Road cannot turn right to southbound Fenwick Street;
– Traffic along Tai Wong Street East must turn right to eastbound Johnston Road;
– Traffic along westbound Johnston Road cannot turn right to Thomson Road;
– Traffic along eastbound Johnston Road cannot turn left to Thomson Road or Luard Road;
– Traffic along westbound Johnston Road cannot turn right to Luard Road;
– Traffic along westbound Johnston Road must turn left to Ship Street;
– Traffic along Lun Fat Street must turn right to eastbound Johnston Road;
– Traffic along westbound Johnston Road from Landale Street must turn left to Anton Street; and
– If necessary, traffic along westbound Leighton Road cannot turn right to Pennington Street;

     The following traffic diversions will be implemented from about 4pm until the crowd has dispersed and traffic resumes normal:

– Traffic along westbound Queen’s Road East must turn left to southbound Justice Drive;
– Traffic along eastbound Des Voeux Road Central must turn left to northbound Pedder Street;
– Traffic along westbound Queen’s Road Central cannot turn right to Ice House Street;
– Traffic along Ice House Street must turn left to westbound Queen’s Road Central;
– Traffic along westbound Harcourt Road cannot turn left to southbound Murray Road;
– Traffic along Garden Road flyover cannot turn to eastbound Queensway;
– Traffic along westbound Harcourt Road near Harcourt Garden car park exit will be diverted to westbound Harcourt Road flyover;
– If necessary, traffic along southbound Cotton Tree Drive will be diverted to southbound Cotton Tree Drive flyover, except for franchised buses;
– If necessary, traffic along Lung Wo Road cannot enter Tim Wa Avenue, except for vehicles heading for the Chief Executive’s Office and Central Government Offices car park; and
– If necessary, traffic along Lung Wo Road cannot enter southbound Edinburgh Place.

     The following traffic diversions will be implemented when necessary until the crowd has dispersed and traffic resumes normal:

– Traffic along northbound Tai Hang Road flyover must go straight to northbound Victoria Park Road flyover leading to westbound Gloucester Road;
– Traffic along westbound Gloucester Road service road cannot turn left to Percival Street;
– Traffic along eastbound Causeway Road cannot turn left to Hing Fat Street; and
– Traffic along westbound King’s Road cannot turn right to Hing Fat Street.

C. Suspension of parking spaces

     All parking spaces at Hing Fat Street public car park, and disabled parking spaces at northbound Gloucester Road near Sugar Street will be suspended from 10.30am to 8pm.

     All on-street parking spaces at Tung Lo Wan Road will be suspended from about noon to 8pm.

      All on-street parking spaces, motorcycle parking spaces and disabled parking spaces at eastbound Lung Wui Road opposite to CITIC Tower will be suspended from noon to 11.59pm.

     During road closure period, vehicles will not be allowed to enter or leave car parks on the closed roads.

     Any vehicles found illegally parked within the precincts of the special traffic arrangements will be towed away without prior notice, and may be subject to multiple ticketing.

     Actual implementation of the crowd safety management measures and traffic arrangements will be made depending on traffic and crowd conditions in the areas. Members of the public are advised to exercise tolerance and patience and take heed of instructions of the Police on site. read more

The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:

     The Legislative Council (LegCo) will hold a meeting next Wednesday (July 4) at 11.30am (or immediately after the meeting for the Chief Executive’s Question Time to be held at 11am) in the Chamber of the LegCo Complex. During the meeting, Members will consider a motion under the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance.
 
     The motion, to be moved by Ms Claudia Mo, states: “That this Council appoints a select committee to inquire into the incident of one of the layers of steel reinforcement bars in a structural wall in To Kwa Wan station of the Shatin to Central Link being shaved thin, and whether the incident involved ineffective monitoring by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the MTR Corporation Limited and their deliberate concealment of the construction scandal, and other related matters; and that in the performance of its duties the committee be authorised under section 9(2) of the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance (Cap 382) to exercise the powers conferred by section 9(1) of that Ordinance.”
 
     Meanwhile, Dr Lo Wai-kwok will move a motion on expediting the promotion of smart city development. The motion states: “That, since smart city is one of the four major areas of focused development of innovation and technology in Hong Kong, the Administration released the Smart City Blueprint for Hong Kong in December 2017, mapping out the policies and measures to be implemented in the next five years in six areas, namely smart mobility, smart living, smart environment, smart people, smart government and smart economy; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to proactively allocate resources to perfect various policies and ancillary measures, so as to expedite the promotion of smart city development; the relevant measures include facilitating the research and development and application of innovation and technology, upgrading the technological infrastructure of Hong Kong, promoting the intellectualisation of infrastructure and green architecture, facilitating the opening of data by public and private organisations for development and application, setting up a platform for sharing big data, making optimal use of innovation and technology for improvement of people’s daily living, as well as developing a low-carbon green and smart community, with a view to fostering the sustainable development of Hong Kong and facilitating the people in leading a quality life.”
 
     Mr Christopher Cheung, Mr Tony Tse, Mr Alvin Yeung, Dr Elizabeth Quat, Mr Hui Chi-fung and Mr Charles Mok will move separate amendments to Dr Lo’s motion.
 
     Dr Fernando Cheung will move a motion on the Report of the Subcommittee on Children’s Rights. The motion states: “That this Council notes the Report of the Subcommittee on Children’s Rights.”
 
     Dr Helena Wong will move a proposed resolution under section 34(4) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance to extend the period for amending the Food Adulteration (Metallic Contamination) (Amendment) Regulation 2018 laid on the table of the Council on June 13, 2018 to the first sitting of the next session of the Legislative Council.
 
     On government bills, the Evidence (Amendment) Bill 2018 and the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources Bill will be introduced into the Council for the First Reading and the Second Reading. The Second Reading debate on the Bills will be adjourned.
 
     The Second Reading debate on the Inland Revenue (Amendment) (No. 6) Bill 2017 will resume. If the Bill is supported by Members and receives its Second Reading, it will stand committed to the committee of the whole Council. After the committee of the whole Council has completed consideration of the Bill and its report is adopted by the Council, the Bill will be set down for the Third Reading.
 
     During the meeting, member of the Advisory Committee on Corruption of the Independent Commission Against Corruption Mr Abraham Shek, and the Chairman of the Independent Commission Against Corruption Complaints Committee, Mr Jeffrey Lam, will present the “Independent Commission Against Corruption Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Annual Report 2017” and the “Independent Commission Against Corruption Complaints Committee Annual Report 2017” respectively. They will address the Council on the Reports.
 
     Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Finance Committee, Mr Chan Kin-por, will present the Finance Committee Report on the examination of the Estimates of Expenditure 2018-2019 and address the Council. The Chairman of the Panel on Environmental Affairs, Ms Tanya Chan; the Chairman of the Panel on Security, Mr Chan Hak-kan; the Chairman of the Panel on Development, Mr Tommy Cheung; the Chairman of the Panel on Home Affairs, Mr Ma Fung-kwok; and the Chairman of the Panel on Information Technology and Broadcasting, Mr Charles Mok, will present the 2017-2018 reports of the related Panels and address the Council respectively.
 
     Members will also ask the Government 22 questions on various policy areas, six of which require oral replies.  
 
     The agenda of the above meeting can be obtained via the LegCo Website (www.legco.gov.hk). Please note that the agenda is subject to change, and the latest information about the agenda could be found on the LegCo Website.
 
     Members of the public are welcome to observe the proceedings of the meeting from the public galleries of the Chamber of the LegCo Complex. They may reserve seats by calling 3919 3399 during office hours. Members of the public can also watch or listen to the meeting via the “Webcast” system on the LegCo Website. read more

     The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department today (June 29) announced that a water spinach sample was found to contain pesticide residue at a level exceeding the legal limit. The CFS is fol… read more