Following is a question by the Hon Kennedy Wong and a reply by the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Algernon Yau, in the Legislative Council today (July 13):
 
Question:
 
     It has been reported that on the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland, the Government advertised, through the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (ETO) in Brussels, Belgium, on trams in Brussels to celebrate Hong Kong's return to the motherland. Although the content of the advertisement had been passed by the local transport company and the outsourced advertising contractor concerned, the advertisement was eventually pulled by the tram company due to the complaints from a group of anti-China netizens. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) whether similar incidents have occurred recently when other overseas ETOs of the Government are carrying out promotional work on celebrating Hong Kong's return to the motherland; if so, how the authorities follow up such incidents;
 
(2) whether, in the light of the aforesaid incident, the Government has assessed the difficulties that it may encounter in its work on publicising and promoting Hong Kong in future, and how it will deal with such difficulties; and
 
(3) of its plans to introduce in detail the actual situation of the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland and the successful implementation of "one country, two systems" in Hong Kong to the international partners of Hong Kong through its overseas ETOs, and whether it will formulate key performance indicators for the relevant promotional work; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
 
Reply:
 
President,
     
     The 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) of the People's Republic of China is an important milestone for our country and HKSAR. Under the theme "A New Era – Stability • Prosperity • Opportunity", the HKSAR Government has organised a series of promotional events around the world, signalling the HKSAR's new chapter of governance and prosperity, and that Hong Kong will endeavour to integrate into the overall development of our country, proactively aligning with national development strategies such as the 14th Five-Year Plan, the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) and the high-quality development under the Belt and Road Initiative.
 
     As the overseas official representatives of the HKSAR Government, the 14 overseas Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices (ETOs) have partnered with government departments and agencies, including the Information Services Department, Invest Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council and the Hong Kong Tourism Board, as well as chambers of commerce and professional bodies, to organise over 160 events. These events comprise Hong Kong Month, Hong Kong Week, seminars on the Belt and Road Initiative/GBA, art and cultural performances, roving exhibitions, dragon boat races, food festivals, etc., showcasing Hong Kong's efforts and achievements in the past 25 years and fostering confidence and hope across all sectors overseas to jointly welcome a new era.
 
     As regards the three parts of the question raised by the Hon Kennedy Wong, my reply is as follows:
 
(1) and (2) In celebration of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the HKSAR, the Brussels ETO has organised 13 events including the Hong Kong Month in Europe. In June this year, the Brussels ETO launched a publicity campaign themed "Hong Kong is Moving Ahead – Hong Kong Trams in Europe" in Brussels, Istanbul, Lisbon and Milan, spreading the news of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the HKSAR across Europe. Furthermore, in line with promotions of the 15th and the 20th anniversaries of the establishment of the HKSAR, the Brussels ETO planned to dress Mannekin-Pis, the Brussels tourist attraction, in his Hong Kong costume previously donated to the local city government. Throughout the planning of these two events, the Brussels ETO had maintained close communication with the relevant public transport authority and the city government. The Government expresses regret and disappointment over the decisions of the relevant institutions to withdraw from the promotional events. As a matter of fact, the tram publicity campaign was successfully held in Istanbul, Lisbon and Milan. Moreover, gala receptions hosted by the Brussels ETO for the 25th anniversary celebrations in Brussels, Dublin, The Hague, Lisbon and Milan were warmly received; and the reception cum exhibition on the West Kowloon Cultural District held in Paris was favourably reviewed by international travel news media. The HKSAR Government expresses gratitude to all sectors for their support in these events.
 
     In addition, with the support from all sectors, the gala dinner in Vancouver and the art exhibition in Richmond were successfully organised by the Toronto ETO for the celebration of the 25th anniversary despite nuisances caused by a small number of protestors.
 
     The Government regrets that certain individuals caused nuisances to the celebrations. These were isolated incidents. ETOs shoulder the responsibility of promoting Hong Kong overseas and will continue to perform their duties with perseverance, sparing no effort in enhancing Hong Kong's international reputation and sharing the joy of celebrating the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the HKSAR with communities worldwide.
 
     In fact, as at end-June, ETOs have successfully hosted over 50 celebration events for the 25th anniversary, including the "Hong Kong: Through the Looking Glass" miniature art exhibition, the "Hong Kong Story" youth competition, the Dragon Boat Race Festival and the reception for international students from Hong Kong, receiving positive feedback and support across all sectors. For example, in May this year, the then Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development officiated at the opening ceremony of a roving exhibition and attended a business luncheon with more than 100 participants from the business community for the celebration of the 25th anniversary in Bangkok, Thailand; in June, the Minister of Trade of Indonesia delivered a speech at a business conference hosted by the Jakarta ETO to celebrate the 25th anniversary and attended by around 240 members of the local political and business sectors, exemplifying the close relationship between the two places. Furthermore, ETOs have organised celebration banquets and receptions in various cities, with participation from the local Chinese Consuls-General and members of the political, business and academic communities.
 
(3) ETOs have been providing updates on Hong Kong's latest situation to stakeholders from different sectors, including members of the political, business and academic communities, think tanks and media outlets, actively promoting the successful implementation of "one country, two systems", Hong Kong's new chapter of governance and prosperity following the enactment of the National Security Law and "patriots administering Hong Kong", as well as Hong Kong's important role under national development strategies such as the 14th Five-Year Plan, the Belt and Road Initiative and the high-quality GBA development, attracting investment and discovering more collaboration opportunities. Through organising various celebration events for the 25th anniversary, ETOs have deepened collaboration with overseas stakeholders and promoted the achievements of Hong Kong as an East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchange.
 
     The external promotion of Hong Kong is part of the regular duties of ETOs. The performance indicators for the operation of ETOs have been listed under the relevant heads of the Controlling Officer's Report in the Budget, including resources allocated to ETOs, policy objectives, event descriptions. The key performance indicators for evaluating the services of ETOs include the numbers of calls on senior government officials/organisations; seminars, exhibitions, workshops and promotional activities organised and participated; newsletters, pamphlets and press releases issued; and public speeches and media interviews/briefings given. In line with relevant policy objectives, ETOs will ensure proper utilisation of resources and assist policy bureaux in performing the duties of external promotion and liaison effectively.

     Following is a question by the Hon Tony Tse and a written reply by the Secretary for Development, Ms Bernadette Linn, in the Legislative Council today (July 13):

Question:

     The report of the Task Force on Land Supply, the "Hong Kong 2030+: Towards a Planning Vision and Strategy Transcending 2030", as well as the election manifesto of the Chief Executive have all put forward the planning principles of infrastructure-led and capacity-creating. However, many members of the public consider that, among the infrastructure projects being taken forward by the Government in various new development areas (NDAs) in the New Territories at present, the majority focus on the traffic, road and transport aspects, while little efforts are devoted to other infrastructure facilities which are needed for supporting a large population. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) of the sewerage and water supply projects under planning and construction for the purpose of creating capacity in various NDAs in the New Territories, and set out, by project name in a table, the following information: their latest progress, the projected population that they can serve (and whether they are sufficient to serve the population of the relevant NDAs), and the capacity reserved for expanding the development of the NDAs; 

(2) whether it has reviewed if the scale of the infrastructure capacity expansion projects under planning and construction can tie in with the Northern Metropolis Development Strategy; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and 

(3) in the light of the principle of infrastructure-led, what measures the Government has put in place to expedite the development of public and private infrastructure projects (including expediting the implementation of infrastructure capacity expansion projects which are not related to traffic, road and transport) in the Northern Metropolis, so as to achieve the goal of increasing the speed and quantity of, as well as improving the efficiency in, housing construction? 

Reply:

President,

     The Government is proactively taking forward various New Development Area (NDA) projects and will adopt the infrastructure-led and capacity-creating planning approaches to create conditions for early supply of land for housing and economic uses.

     The reply to the questions raised by the Hon Tony Tse is as follows:

(1) The information of the sewerage and water supply projects in various NDAs is set out below:
 

 
(2) Last year, the Government announced the Northern Metropolis Development Strategy, which proposes to provide some additional 600 hectares of development land on top of the projects commenced in the area. The studies on the additional land at San Tin/Lok Ma Chau and the Lo Wu/Man Kam To Comprehensive Development Nodes had commenced in October 2021. Studies on the development of Lau Fau Shan, Tsim Bei Tsui and Pak Nai (as the extension part of the Hung Shui Kiu/Ha Tsuen NDA) and the development of Ma Tso Lung (as the extension part of the Kwu Tung North NDA) will also commence later this year. By these studies, the Government will review the infrastructure requirements of these new development sites and properly adjust, including expansion or addition of, infrastructure to cater for the developments.

     On the other hand, the Government is conducting a review on the intensification of the development scales of Hung Shui Kiu/Ha Tsuen NDA, Kwu Tung North/Fanling North NDA and Yuen Long South Development, including further review of the capacities of relevant sewerage and water supply facilities.

     The relevant government departments will take into consideration the required supporting infrastructure as a whole and work out suitable planning and engineering options. 

(3) In taking forward the NDAs, the Government will carry out infrastructure works at an earlier stage as far as possible. For instance, the design capacity of the fresh water service reservoir constructed during the advance works of the Kwu Tung North NDA can already meet the water supply requirement of the remaining phase of the area. As for Yuen Long South Development, the Government also made arrangements so that the roads serving the later development phases will be constructed during the first phase development. In this way, the capacity of the transport infrastructure can be enhanced as early as possible, thus allowing the early completion of the subsequent development phases.

     Upon assuming office, the new-term Government has immediately set up the Steering Committee on Land and Housing Supply chaired by the Financial Secretary. The Steering Committee is dedicated to expediting land and housing supply on all fronts in a bid to streamline procedures and enhance the co-ordination of inter-departmental work to further enhance the speed, efficiency and quantity of land creation and housing construction, and foster more diversified development. To further unleash the development potential of land in Hong Kong, the Government will fully implement the infrastructure-led and capacity-creating approaches of development. The Steering Committee will co-ordinate the construction of various facilities amongst which include transportation and Government, Institution or Community facilities, so as to ensure the timely delivery of necessary infrastructure, thus making life more convenient for the public.

Note: Sufficient to serve the planned population of the areas concerned with buffer allowed as appropriate to cope with possible fluctuation in demand.

     Following is a question by the Hon Doreen Kong and a written reply by the Secretary for Environment and Ecology, Mr Tse Chin-wan, in the Legislative Council today (July 13):
 
Question:
 
     Recently, a resident of a private residential unit has complained to me that rodent infestation is serious in the building, affecting residents' daily lives. Moreover, some members of the public have relayed that rodent infestation in districts such as Kwun Tong and Ho Man Tin has spread from public housing estates (e.g. Oi Man Estate) to nearby shopping malls, seaside areas, turfed areas, streets, construction sites, etc. It is learnt that rodents also appear in commercial buildings. On coping with rodent infestation, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) in respect of the rodent infestation problem at public places such as seaside areas, turfed areas and streets, whether the Government has studied new ways to cope with such problem; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that, and whether it will conduct such a study immediately;
 
(2) in respect of the rodent infestation problem in different districts and different premises (e.g. private housing courts, public housing estates and commercial buildings), whether the Government has studied new ways to cope with such problem; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that, and whether it will conduct such a study immediately; and
 
(3) whether it has plans to promote an across-the-board adoption of the following rodent prevention measures in private and public residential buildings/premises:
 
(i) installing rodent meshes at drain openings to prevent rodents from crawling indoors, and
 
(ii) replacing gully gratings on streets (especially those streets in the vicinity of open-air markets) by drawing reference from the experience of installing gully gratings with steel plates in Model Housing Estate in North Point, so as to stop rodents from crawling out from gully inlets?

Reply:

President,
 
     Having consulted relevant departments, the reply to the question raised by the Hon Doreen Kong is as follows:

(1) and (2) The Government attaches great importance to rodent control. Tackling the rodent problems successfully calls for a multi-disciplinary, cross-sectoral and community-wide approach, underpinned by collaborative efforts by relevant bureau and departments (B/Ds) which carry out effective rodent prevention and control work in the premises under their purview. In this regard, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) and relevant B/Ds have all along been adopting targeted anti-rodent measures at various premises.
 
     The FEHD is responsible for rodent prevention and control in public places in general (including public streets, rear lanes and public places at the seashore) and provides guidelines, advice and training to relevant B/Ds. For general public areas, the FEHD conducts the routine anti-rodent work as well as two rounds of territory-wide and inter-departmental anti-rodent campaign and anti-rodent operations for designed target areas each year which last for 36 weeks in total. On top of these, the FEHD will allocate new resources to initiate the territory-wide night rodent control operations in all districts progressively, including forming the overnight rodent control teams and setting rodent traps in the small hours.
 
     As for rear lanes, the FEHD has been conducting improvement work items proactively on rear lanes of public roads with the assistance of the Highways Department (including repairing surface channels and damaged road surfaces) in order to eliminate hiding places of rodents and block their dispersal routes, as well as setting up additional dedicated cleansing teams for stepping up its sweeping and washing efforts on rear lanes in various districts. Furthermore, the FEHD has also tightened the regulation of meat and poultry delivery to fresh provision shops since January 2022, and is now working on ways to ensure that food business licensees will handle waste generated from their premises properly for the prevention of rodent infestation. In the meantime, the FEHD will issue advisory letters to the food business premises (especially those connecting to rear lanes), reminding them of the need to store food and wash used utensils properly before the close of daily business, to take regular pest control measures, and to properly dispose of food remnants. The FEHD will continue to arrange territory-wide thematic operations to focus on combating relevant irregularities such as food preparation and scullery at rear lanes.
 
     In respect of private premises, section 47 of the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Cap. 132) stated that it is the responsibility of owners or occupiers of private premises to perform disinfestation of vermin (including rodents) found in their premises. Depending on the actual situation, the FEHD will issue a notice requiring the owner or occupier of the premises to clean the premises and to destroy and remove any vermin within a specified time frame pursuant to section 47(1) of Cap. 132. The FEHD will also invoke section 126 of Cap. 132 to make application to the Magistrate's Courts for entry into private premises that are infested with vermin within a specified time; and may take reasonable steps to destroy or remove the vermin in the premises for protection of public health.
 
     Besides, the Chief Executive announced on July 6, 2022 the establishment of the District Matters Co-ordination Task Force. The Deputy Chief Secretary for Administration will lead a number of B/Ds to enhance the overall environmental hygiene and cityscape in Hong Kong. The first phase of work is to co-ordinate the launch of a three-month territory-wide clean-up campaign, the actions of which would help improve the rodent problems of the districts.
 
     On the other hand, the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) has all along been maintaining close communications and collaboration with the FEHD in respect of the environmental hygiene of the Public Rental Housing Estates (PRHEs). Where needed, the HA will invite the FEHD staff to conduct joint inspection in individual PRHEs, review the rodent prevention and control work and follow up the recommendations for improvement. The HA will continue to strengthen the community engagement through various publicity channels, carry out joint cleaning operations with local stakeholders and conduct pest control talks, etc, to encourage residents and shop tenants to participate in rodent prevention and control measures.
 
     As for vacant land and grass lawns located in Government premises (e.g. leisure venues managed by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, unleased government land managed by Lands Department, etc), the relevant departments or their contractors will undertake suitable measures to prevent rodents at the relevant locations, such as placing rodent trappings, trapping and handling caught rodents.
 
     To effectively tackle rodent infestation problems in different types of premises, it is necessary to take into account the specific characteristics of each premises (such as whether the concerned premises provides hiding places, dispersal routes and food sources, etc) and adopt targeted prevention and control measures. The FEHD and relevant B/Ds will continue to formulate targeted anti-rodent measures for different premises to enhance the effectiveness of the rodent control work.
 
(3) The FEHD and relevant B/Ds (including the Buildings Department and the Architectural Services Department) have been issuing guidelines on rodent prevention measures in public and private buildings to building professionals, registered contractors, property management companies, owners' corporations, etc, for reference. In particular, the FEHD issued "A Guide to Rodent Control for Building Management" (the Guide) in 2020, specifically reminding owners, owners' corporations and property management companies that rodents may make use of vertical pipes to reach entry points of pipes or their hiding places. The Guide also recommends feasible measures guarding against rodents from climbing the pipes, including the installation of metal rodent guards that are circular or in the form of an inverted funnel. Besides, the Guide recommends the installation of steel woven wire-cloths that meets the specifications underneath the grating of surface channels as a means to block rodent passage.
 
     The FEHD has also provided guidelines on rodent prevention in PRHEs to the HA in 2020, which provides similar recommendations. The HA has also made reference to the guidelines concerned and reinforced the rodent proofing facilities in all PRHEs, including installing rodent guards at suitable locations of the external wall/pipe of buildings; placing metal meshes at the opening of ventilation facilities, sewage and vent pipes, surface drainage, etc, in order to prevent rodents from entering into the buildings and block rodent passages and holes.
 
     The FEHD and relevant B/Ds will continue to promote the adoption of effective rodent control measures in private and public buildings/premises. To further assist relevant departments and organisations in dealing with rodent infestation in their premises, the FEHD is compiling a code of practice and a checklist to departments, property management companies, owners' corporations, etc, with more guidance on the rodent control work.

     The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Chan Kwok-ki, in his capacity as Chief Secretary for Administration of the new-term Government for the first time, had a meeting this afternoon (July 11) with the Chairman of the Legislative Council (LegCo) House Committee, Ms Starry Lee, and the Deputy Chairman of the Committee, Mr Ma Fung-kwok. They will meet regularly to strengthen communication between the executive authorities and the legislature.

    At the meeting, Mr Chan said that the new-term Government attaches great importance to the healthy interactions between the executive authorities and the legislature as the integral foundation for starting a new chapter for Hong Kong together, and that it looks forward to joining hands with the LegCo to press ahead with fully implementing the principle of "patriots administering Hong Kong" and take forward the four proposals laid out by President Xi Jinping in his important speech on July 1 this year. Mr Chan particularly thanked the LegCo for having a debate at the Council meeting last week on an adjournment motion in relation to the implementation of the address made by President Xi, as well as offering valuable views and suggestions to the Government, achieving a good start for good governance. 

     Mr Chan expressed his full confidence in the successful implementation of the executive-led system combined with the principle of "patriots administering Hong Kong" by the new-term Government and the LegCo, with not only checks and balances but also co-operation with each other, to ensure the long-term prosperity and stability of Hong Kong. He added that the Government will make every effort to co-operate with the LegCo in the discharge by the latter of its duties, including scrutiny of bills and funding proposals, asking of questions and debates on motions. 

     In addition to the Chief Secretary for Administration's regular meetings with the LegCo House Committee Chairman and Deputy Chairman, the Principal Officials of the Government will proactively exchange views with the LegCo Members through various means on the Government's legislative and funding proposals, etc, to be submitted to the LegCo for scrutiny and explain them in detail. Such means include meetings of the LegCo and its relevant committees/panels and regular Ante Chamber exchange sessions at the LegCo as put forward by the Chief Executive. The aim is to formulate and implement legislation and policy initiatives that are more conducive to developing Hong Kong society and improving people's livelihood.

    

     The Government today (July 11) again strongly appealed to all sectors of the community, including domestic helpers, to continue to fight the virus together. The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) conducted joint operations with several government departments again over the past weekend (July 9 and 10) to carry out publicity and educational work at popular places in various districts where the public and domestic helpers commonly gather, appealing to them to raise awareness of epidemic prevention and urging them to comply with the various anti-epidemic regulations and restrictions, and other legislations.
 
     The FEHD, in collaboration with the Hong Kong Police Force, the Labour Department, relevant District Offices, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and the Immigration Department, conducted joint operations at public places in various districts near popular gathering places of the public and domestic helpers during weekends and public holidays. Apart from arranging for cleaning contractors to strengthen the street cleaning services at the relevant spots, the FEHD also stepped up patrols to combat unlicensed hawking activities. Promotional leaflets in multiple languages were also distributed by the FEHD to appeal to the public and domestic helpers to maintain environmental hygiene and refrain from conducting unlicensed hawking activities. During the operations, a total of 22 fixed penalty notices (FPNs) were issued by the FEHD to persons who breached public cleanliness offences, 30 seizures of hawker abandoned articles, including cooked food, were effected, and two prosecutions were also taken against licensed hawkers for breaching the Hawker Regulation (Cap. 132AI). The public and domestic helpers were also reminded by other government departments to comply with the regulations on mask wearing and the prohibition of group gatherings in public places. Having regard to the effectiveness of the operations in those two days, the relevant departments have successfully blocked illegal hawking activities (be these cooked food or otherwise) at such public places where congregation activities are common.
 
     During the relevant operations since this year, a total of 230 FPNs were issued by the FEHD to persons who breached public cleanliness offences or caused obstruction in public places, 12 persons were arrested and prosecuted for illegal hawking in public places, 238 seizures of hawker abandoned articles, including cooked food, were effected. In addition, three prosecutions were taken against operators of restaurants for breaching the Food Business Regulation (Cap. 132X) and two prosecutions were taken against licensed hawkers for breaching the Hawker Regulation.
 
     A spokesman for the FEHD said, "The local situation of COVID-19 infection is still severe. Avoiding group gatherings is of utmost importance in preventing the pandemic from spreading in the community. Relevant departments will continue to step up publicity and education campaigns, and take stringent enforcement actions. All sectors must also stay vigilant, exercise self-discipline and co-operate to fight the virus together."