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

     The Legislative Council (LegCo) and its Committees will hold 18 open meetings, one public hearing and two closed meetings during the week from May 14 to 19 in the LegCo Complex.  Details of the meetings are available in the meeting schedule attached.
 
     The information in the meeting schedule is subject to change.  Please refer to the "LegCo Calendar" on the LegCo Website (www.legco.gov.hk) for the latest details of meetings.
 
     Members of the public are welcome to observe open meetings of LegCo and its Committees.  Interested individuals and groups are advised to make advance booking of seats by calling the LegCo Secretariat at 3919 3399 during office hours.  Members of the public can also listen to or watch all open meetings via the "Webcast" system on the LegCo Website.

     The Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, will set off in the evening of May 14 for a two-day visit to Hangzhou.

     While in Hangzhou, Mr Chan will officiate at the opening ceremony of "SmartHK 2018" organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) and witness the signing of a memorandum of understanding on co-operation between the HKTDC and the Hangzhou Municipal Government.

     He will also meet with senior officials of the Government of Zhejiang Province, visit enterprises from emerging and innovative sectors, and meet with Hong Kong people doing business in Zhejiang.

     Mr Chan will return to Hong Kong in the afternoon of May 16 (Wednesday).

     In his absence, the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr James Lau, will act as the Financial Secretary.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Housing Authority:

     Members of the Hong Kong Housing Authority's (HA) Commercial Properties Committee today (May 11) visited three HA shopping centres to better understand their business conditions.
 
     Members firstly visited the Pok Hong Shopping Centre at Sha Tin. The shopping centre was opened in 1982, with a retail area of about 3 300 square metres. Members were briefed on the improvement works completed last year. The restaurant at Pok Hong Shopping Centre was re-designed and the space released was converted into six shops, providing the residents with more retail services. Moreover, new entrances, a corridor and a barrier-free lift platform were added, which improved the circulation of the shopping centre. The improvement works also included refurbishment of the toilets and renovation of the external walls of the shopping centre, the multi-storey carpark building and advertising panels, giving the shopping centre a new appearance.
 
     Members then visited Kwai Shing West Shopping Centre in Kwai Chung. The three-storey shopping centre was opened in 1975 and has a total lettable area of about 4 500 square metres. Improvement works were also completed last year to enhance the business environment of the shopping centre. The improvement works included construction of a new lift tower connecting the ground floor, first floor and the podium on the second floor; renovation of market stalls, with some of them converted into a Chinese restaurant and storerooms; addition of new shops; floor re-tiling of the shopping centre and the market; renovation of the external walls and signboard of the shopping centre; and installation of glazed covers at podium level.
 
     To conclude the tour, Members visited Ching Long Shopping Centre at the new Kai Tak development area in Kowloon City. The shopping centre was completed in mid-2013 and has a total lettable area of about 9 200 square metres, comprising shops of various trades and a single operator market. It has adopted a "roadside shops" layout with natural ventilation for the corridors, offering the residents of Kai Ching Estate and Tak Long Estate diverse retail services and restaurants.

     Visits to the HA's commercial facilities have been organised from time to time by the Housing Department for members of Commercial Properties Committee to enable them to gain first-hand knowledge of the operation of the HA's commercial facilities.

          

     Police will implement special traffic arrangements to facilitate a public procession to be held on Hong Kong Island this Sunday (May 13).

Road closure
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     The following roads will be intermittently closed from 1.30pm until the crowd is dispersed and traffic resumes normal:

– Tin Chiu Street;
– Marble Road;
– Kam Hong Street;
– Westbound King’s Road;
– Westbound Causeway Road;
– Westbound Irving Street;
– Northbound Pennington Street;
– Westbound Yee Wo Street;
– Westbound Jardine’s Bazaar;
– Westbound Hennessy Road;
– Westbound Queensway;
– Queen’s Road Central;
– Northbound Morrison Street between Queens Road Central and Bonham Strand;
– Bonham Strand between Morrison Street and Bonham Strand West;
– Bonham Strand West;
– Des Voeux Road West between Connaught Road West and Queen Street; and
– Westbound Western Fire Services Street.

Suspension of parking spaces
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     Metered parking spaces No. 3040(A), 3040(B), 3041(A) and 3041(B) at Marble Road will be suspended from 10pm on May 12 to 6pm the following day.

     Vehicles may not be permitted to leave car parks along the procession route during the road closure period.

     Actual implementation of the traffic arrangements will be made depending on traffic and crowd conditions in the area. Motorists are advised to exercise tolerance and patience and take heed of instructions of the Police on site.

     The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health is today (May 11) investigating two food poisoning clusters affecting seven persons, and reminded the public to maintain personal, food and environmental hygiene to prevent food-borne diseases.

     The first cluster comprised one man and four women aged 29 to 64 who developed fever, abdominal pain and diarrhoea about 10 to 18 hours after having dinner at a restaurant in Prince Edward on April 29. Three of them have sought medical advice and one has been discharged upon hospitalisation. Separately, the stool specimen collected from one patient tested positive for Salmonella enteritidis upon laboratory testing.

     The second cluster comprised two women both aged 35 who developed fever, abdominal pain, diarrhoea and vomiting about 14 to 21 hours after having dinner at the same restaurant on April 30. Both patients of the second cluster have sought medical advice and no hospitalisation is required.
 
     All patients are in a stable condition. The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department has been alerted to the incident and the CHP's investigations are ongoing.

     To prevent food-borne diseases, members of the public are reminded to maintain personal, food and environmental hygiene at all times. When dining out:
 

• Patronise only reliable and licensed restaurants;
• Avoid eating raw seafood;
• Be a discerning consumer in choosing cold dishes, including sashimi, sushi and raw oysters, at a buffet;
• Ensure food is thoroughly cooked before eating during a hot pot or barbecue meal;
• Handle raw and cooked foods carefully and separate them completely during the cooking process;
• Use two sets of chopsticks and eating utensils to handle raw and cooked food;
• Do not patronise illegal food hawkers;
• Drink boiled water;
• Do not try to use salt, vinegar, wine and wasabi to kill bacteria as they are not effective; and
• Always wash hands before eating and after going to the toilet.