Tag Archives: China

     The effective exchange rate index for the Hong Kong dollar on Friday, May 25, 2018 is 99.6 (same as yesterday’s index). read more

     Super Dragon Management Limited was prosecuted by the Labour Department (LD) for failing to pay an employee’s wages, totalling $108,000, within seven days after the expiry of the wage period as required by the Employment Ordinance (EO). The employer was fined $60,000 after pleading guilty at Eastern Magistrates’ Courts today (May 25).

     “The ruling helps disseminate a strong message to all employers that they have to pay the wages to employees within the time limit stipulated in the EO,” an LD spokesman said.

     “The LD will not tolerate these offences and will continue to make dedicated efforts in enforcing the EO and safeguarding employees’ statutory rights,” the spokesman added. read more

     Hong Kong e-Legislation (HKeL) will be the only government legislation website from July 1, 2018, following the discontinuation of the previous Bilingual Laws Information System (BLIS) website on the same date, a spokesperson for the Department of Justice (DoJ) said today (May 25). 
      
     HKeL was launched in February 2017. To facilitate the transition from BLIS to HKeL, the two websites have been running in parallel. After consulting the HKeL Liaison Group and considering the views of the legal profession, it has been decided that BLIS will discontinue service on July 1, 2018.
      
     The spokesperson said, “We have been giving advance notice on the decommissioning of BLIS through various channels since December 2017. To assist our users in transitioning to the HKeL regime, we have published user’s guides on how to perform basic BLIS functions in HKeL and how to maintain printed copies of legislation. Briefing sessions on HKeL and its advance functionalities have also been arranged for members of the legal profession.

     “We are committed to improving and enhancing the functionality and user-friendliness of HKeL. Since its launch, we have introduced a number of enhancements, for example, the Chapter Number Index was enhanced so that users could conveniently download PDF copies of different chapters using the Index. A progress bar was also added to the ‘view legislation’ page to show users the loading progress of a chapter.
      
     “Further enhancements will be introduced in the coming months to facilitate quicker and easier access to legislation.”
      
     The spokesperson added that the HKeL website marks a new milestone in the Government’s efforts to facilitate public access to information on legislation. The Government will continue to listen to the views of users to enhance HKeL for the benefit of the general public and the legal profession.   read more

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

     The Legislative Council (LegCo) Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will hold a public hearing on “Management of restored landfills” (Chapter 1) of the Director of Audit’s Report No.70 at 9am tomorrow (May 26) in Conference Room 2 of the LegCo Complex.

     Fifteen witnesses have been invited to appear before the above hearing to respond to points raised in the Report and answer questions asked by PAC members.

     The programme for the public hearing is as follows:

Date: May 26 (Saturday)
Time: 9am
Venue: Conference Room 2

Subject: Management of restored landfills (Chapter 1 of the Director of Audit’s Report No.70)

Witnesses:

Secretary for the Environment
Mr Wong Kam-sing

Under Secretary for Home Affairs
Mr Jack Chan

Principal Assistant Secretary (Recreation and Sport)2, Home Affairs Bureau
Ms Linda Law

Director of Environmental Protection
Mr Donald Tong

Deputy Director of Environmental Protection (2)
Mrs Vicki Kwok

Assistant Director (Environmental Infrastructure), Environmental Protection Department
Ms Betty Cheung

Assistant Director (Nature Conservation and Infrastructure Planning), Environmental Protection Department
Dr Samuel Chui

Principal Environmental Protection Officer (Landfills and Development), Environmental Protection Department
Mr Fong Kin-wa

Director of Leisure and Cultural Services
Ms Michelle Li

Chief Executive Officer (Planning) 2, Leisure and Cultural Services Department
Ms Linda Cheung

Director of Architectural Services
Mrs Sylvia Lam

Project Director/3, Architectural Services Department
Mr Edward Tse

Chief Project Manager 302, Architectural Services Department
Mr Chris Liu

Director of Home Affairs
Miss Janice Tse

Assistant Director (2), Home Affairs Department
Ms Eugenia Chung

     PAC is chaired by Mr Abraham Shek, and its Deputy Chairman is Mr Kenneth Leung. Other members include Mr Paul Tse, Mr Steven Ho, Mr Lam Cheuk-ting, Mr Shiu Ka-fai and Ms Tanya Chan. read more

     The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) today (May 25) released the latest grading of water quality for 37 gazetted beaches and one non-gazetted beach (Discovery Bay) that are open for swimming.
        
     Twenty-five beaches were rated as Good (Grade 1), 11 as Fair (Grade 2) and two as Poor (Grade 3).
 
Grade 1 beaches are:       

Cheung Chau Tung Wan Beach	Middle Bay Beach
Chung Hom Kok Beach	Pui O Beach
Clear Water Bay Second Beach	Repulse Bay Beach
Deep Water Bay Beach	Shek O Beach
Discovery Bay	Silverstrand Beach
Golden Beach	South Bay Beach
Hap Mun Bay Beach	St Stephen’s Beach
Hung Shing Yeh Beach	Stanley Main Beach
Kadoorie Beach	Tong Fuk Beach
Kiu Tsui Beach	Trio Beach
Kwun Yam Beach	Turtle Cove Beach
Lo So Shing Beach	Upper Cheung Sha Beach
Lower Cheung Sha Beach

 
Grade 2 beaches are:

Anglers’ Beach	Casam Beach
Approach Beach	Castle Peak Beach
Big Wave Bay Beach	Clear Water Bay First Beach
Butterfly Beach	Hoi Mei Wan Beach
Cafeteria New Beach	Ma Wan Tung Wan Beach
Cafeteria Old Beach

 
Grade 3 beaches are:

Lido Beach

Ting Kau Beach

 
     Compared with the grading released last week, Golden Beach, Kadoorie Beach, Pui O Beach, Shek O Beach and Stanley Main Beach have been upgraded from Grade 2 to Grade 1, and Anglers’ Beach, Approach Beach, Casam Beach, Hoi Mei Wan Beach and Ma Wan Tung Wan Beach from Grade 3 to Grade 2.
      
     Under the present grading system, beaches are classified into four grades according to the level of E. coli in the water. Grades are calculated on the basis of the geometric mean of the E. coli counts on the five most recent sampling occasions.
      
     While the ratings represent the general water quality at the beaches, the EPD spokesman reminded members of the public that water quality could be temporarily affected during and after periods of heavy rain. Bathers should avoid swimming at beaches for up to three days after a storm or heavy rainfall.
      
     A summary of beach grades is published weekly before the weekend. The latest beach grades based on the most current data may be obtained from the department’s websites on Beach Water Quality (www.beachwq.gov.hk and www.epd.gov.hk/epd/beach) or the beach hotline, 2511 6666. read more