The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:
The meeting of the Legislative Council (LegCo) Finance Committee originally scheduled at 3pm tomorrow (May 11) in Conference Room 1 of the LegCo Complex will start at 3.45pm.
The Rating and Valuation Department (RVD) today (May 10) reminded the public that proposals to alter the rateable value of properties from April 1 this year must be served on the Commissioner of Rating and Valuation by May 31.
Proposals should be made on the specified form (R20A) and be served by post or in person. Copies of the form can be obtained from the department at Cheung Sha Wan Government Offices, 15/F, 303 Cheung Sha Wan Road, Kowloon, and the Home Affairs Enquiry Centres of the Home Affairs Department. The form can also be downloaded from RVD's website (www.rvd.gov.hk).
The public can also lodge proposals on an electronic form (e-R20A) using the Electronic Submission of Forms service provided on the department's website. Proposals sent by fax are not acceptable.
An RVD spokesman emphasised that under the Rating Ordinance and the Government Rent (Assessment and Collection) Ordinance, proposals served after May 31 will not be accepted.
"Notwithstanding the lodging of a proposal, rates and rent payers must pay rates and government rent by the last day for payment shown on the demand notes. We will carefully consider all proposals and inform the proposers of our decisions before December 1. Any changes in rates and government rent payable resulting from such decisions will date back to April 1 this year and any overpayment will be adjusted in subsequent demands," he said.
For enquiries, please call 2152 0111.
The Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Lau Kong-wah, will depart for Shenzhen tomorrow morning (May 11) to attend a forum on co-operation of Mainland, Hong Kong and Macao cultural industries and cultural co-operation in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area. Mr Lau will speak at the opening ceremony of the forum.
The forum is one of the events of the 14th China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair. It aims at enhancing cultural exchange and exploring new opportunities among the Mainland, Hong Kong and Macao. The event also acts as a platform for performance venue operators on the Mainland and arts groups from Hong Kong to get to know each other, so as to explore co-operation opportunities. Around 100 representatives from Hong Kong arts groups have registered for the activities of the forum tomorrow.
To assist Hong Kong arts groups to hold exchanges in the cities in the Bay Area and all over the world, the Budget this year stated that the Government will allocate $140 million to the Leisure and Cultural Services Department to support local arts groups and artists for performances and cultural exchanges in the Bay Area, and progressively increase the recurrent provision to $50 million to support Hong Kong arts groups for outbound cultural exchanges.
Mr Lau will return to Hong Kong in the afternoon on the same day.
Attention TV/radio announcers:
Please broadcast the following as soon as possible:
Here is an item of interest to swimmers.
The Leisure and Cultural Services Department announced today (May 10) that due to big waves, red flags have been hoisted at Stanley Main Beach, Turtle Cove Beach, Shek O Beach and Big Wave Bay Beach in Southern District, Hong Kong Island; Kwun Yam Beach and Cheung Chau Tung Wan Beach in Islands District; and Silverstrand Beach, Clear Water Bay First Beach and Clear Water Bay Second Beach in Sai Kung District. Beach-goers are advised not to swim at these beaches.
In response to media enquiries on the Centrally Managed Messaging Platform (CMMP), the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO) said the following today (May 9):
The OGCIO invited tenders for a system integrator to provide an email solution for the new CMMP through an open tender exercise last year. Tenders from local, overseas and Mainland companies are normally accepted in open tendering. In accordance with the Government's established tendering procedures, the relevant tenders were vetted by the Central Tender Board to ensure fairness and the proper use of public funds. The contract was awarded to Richinfo Technology Co Ltd in late February 2018 and the tender result was subsequently gazetted.
Richinfo is a member of the Microsoft Partner Network. As the system integrator, Richinfo adopted the Microsoft Exchange email solution instead of using its self-developed RichMail system as rumoured.
The service scope of Richinfo covers the installation, integration and maintenance of Microsoft Exchange and provision of assistance to the Government in system migration.
The contractor has no access to any emails or user data in the systems in carrying out system integration, migration and maintenance work. Actual system operation and execution of system migration will only be performed by OGCIO personnel.
All government emails are managed by government personnel and stored in government-owned data centres located in Hong Kong. They are also protected by multiple layers of security defence, including encryption of sensitive emails, to avoid data leakage.