Following is a question by the Hon Lam Cheuk-ting and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Mr Frank Chan Fan, in the Legislative Council today (January 16):
Question:
At present, members of the Board of the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL) include four government officials, namely the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, the Secretary for Transport and Housing, the Permanent Secretary for Development (Works) and the Commissioner for Transport. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective roles and duties of the aforesaid four officials in the Board of MTRCL; and
(2) whether it knows the number of meetings convened by the Board of MTRCL since July 1, 2017; the respective numbers and percentages of such meetings attended by the four officials, as well as the reasons for each occasion (if any) of their absence from the meetings, and whether they appointed representatives to attend such meetings; if so, of the post titles of the appointed representatives; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
My reply to the Hon Lam Cheuk-ting's question is as follows:
(1) Currently, the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL) Board comprises 20 members, among whom four are government directors. They are the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr James Lau, who was appointed as a non-executive director in his personal capacity pursuant to the MTRCL's Articles of Association, and three additional directors appointed by the Chief Executive pursuant to the Mass Transit Railway Ordinance, namely the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Mr Frank Chan Fan; the Permanent Secretary for Development (Works), Mr Lam Sai-hung; and the Commissioner for Transport, Ms Mable Chan.
Pursuant to the aforesaid Articles of Association and the Protocol adopted by the MTRCL Board, the Board focuses on handling matters on the Corporation's overall strategies, corporate governance, and finances and shareholders, while the day-to-day running of the Corporation is delegated to the management, which reports to the Board. In this regard, the roles and responsibilities of the government directors are no different from those of the other directors of the Board. At the same time, government directors in the Board also represent the Government, relaying to the MTRCL the common concerns of the Government as well as the community about the management and operation of the Corporation.
(2) From July 2017 to December 2018, the MTRCL Board convened 21 meetings in total. In case a government director is unable to attend an MTRCL Board meeting owing to other official commitments, the usual practice is to arrange for an alternate director (Note) to attend the meeting on his/her behalf. The attendance rate of the four government directors or their alternate directors at the 21 meetings was around 90 per cent. Records of attendances of government directors at MTRCL Board meetings in 2017 are set out in the Corporation's Annual Report 2017. Records of their attendances at Board meetings in 2018 will be set out in the Annual Report 2018 to be released in due course. In response to Member's question, the Government has tabulated information on the attendances of the four government directors and their alternate directors at Board meetings in the Annex.
Note: The alternate director who may attend on behalf of the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury is the Deputy Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury (Treasury), Mr Andrew Lai;
the alternate directors who may attend on behalf of the Secretary for Transport and Housing are the Permanent Secretary for Transport and Housing (Transport), Mr Joseph Lai; the Under Secretary for Transport and Housing, Dr Raymond So Wai-man; the Deputy Secretary for Transport and Housing (Transport), Ms Rebecca Pun; and the Deputy Secretary for Transport and Housing (Transport), Mr Kevin Choi;
the alternate director who may attend on behalf of the Permanent Secretary for Development (Works) is the Deputy Secretary for Development (Works), Mr Vincent Mak; and
the alternate director who may attend on behalf of the Commissioner for Transport is the Deputy Commissioner (Transport Services and Management), Ms Macella Lee.
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