The Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO) announced today (May 9) that various training courses under a new round of the Enriched Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Training Programme for the Elderly are … read more
The Home Affairs Department, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) and the Lands Department (LandsD) today (May 9) launched a joint enforcement operation at the Permitted Burial Ground (PBG) of Po Toi O (SK/03) in Sai Kung against illegal hillside burials. It is anticipated that 13 illegal urns will be removed in about one day’s time, and the human remains therein will be reburied at the Sandy Ridge Cemetery.
The FEHD and the LandsD posted notices on 13 unauthorised urns located within the PBG of Po Toi O in Sai Kung on March 14 this year, requiring the related persons of the urns concerned to cease occupation of the government land and to contact relevant government departments on or before April 15 this year, or else the human remains therein would be reburied at the Sandy Ridge Cemetery. As all 13 urns remained unclaimed upon expiry of the deadline, the Government commenced the clearance operation today.
The Government has been implementing a pilot scheme on the management of PBGs in individual PBGs since 2016. Taking into account the actual circumstances of each PBG, the Government has been implementing appropriate improvement measures, including erecting boundary pillars for the PBGs, conducting record surveys of existing graves/urn houses/urns, imposing restrictions on the size of burial sites and demarcating available spaces in PBGs for new applications of burial sites, in order to ensure that the places of burials are within PBGs. The pilot scheme has now been extended to 15 PBGs, covering all nine administrative districts in the New Territories.
Having examined the data obtained from the pilot scheme, the Government has commenced enforcement actions against illegal burials in the PBGs in phases from July 2021 onwards. Besides conducting enforcement actions in the PBG of Po Toi O in Sai Kung, the Government will also commence follow-up actions in other PBGs under the pilot scheme, including posting notices on other unauthorised graves/urn houses/urns before the coming Chung Yeung Festival, with a view to removing unclaimed graves/urn houses/urns as soon as possible after the expiration of the notice period.
A Government spokesman reiterated that, according to the Land (Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance (Cap. 28), it is an offence when any person occupying government land, otherwise than under permission from the Authority, does not cease the occupation as required by a notice prescribed by the Ordinance. Any property or structure on the occupied government land may be demolished and removed by the Government, and the occupier may be prosecuted. Furthermore, according to the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Cap. 132), it is an offence to bury human remains without permission in writing of the Authority. Offenders are liable to prosecution, and the human remains inside the graves concerned will be removed. read more
The Transport Department (TD) today (May 9) reminded members of the public that the eastbound carriageway of the section of Lung Cheung Road between Tai Hom Road and Hammer Hill Road (near Plaza Hollywood) will be temporarily closed in phases from 11pm this Saturday (May 11) to 5.30am the following day to facilitate footbridge erection works, and the following temporary road closures will be implemented during that period:
| Temporary road closure period | Road sections closed |
| From 11pm this Saturday (May 11) to 5.30am the following day |
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| From 0.00am to 5.30am this Sunday (May 12) |
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| From 1am to 5.30am this Sunday (May 12) |
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The Labour Department (LD) today (May 9) promulgated a revised Code of Practice for Employment Agencies (CoP), superseding the CoP promulgated on February 9, 2018.
In accordance with the Employment Ordinance (EO), the Commissioner for Labour may issue codes of practice setting out the principles, procedures, guidelines and standards for the operation, management or control of employment agencies (EAs). In response to the concerns of the public about the services of EAs in recent years and the views collected during public consultation, the revised CoP introduces additional standards expected by the Commissioner that should be met by EAs.
“The newly introduced standards mainly include requiring EAs to, when making an application for a licence and renewal of a licence, inform the LD of whether they are associated with any financial institution; and stipulating that EAs should not provide job seekers with information relating to personal loans and should not withhold job seekers’ employment contracts to force them to pay or repay any sum of money. To address the suspected abuse of premature termination of employment contracts by foreign domestic helpers (FDHs) seeking to change employers, the revised CoP requires EAs to clearly brief FDH job seekers on the relevant immigration regulations, and not to adopt business practices such as providing monetary incentives to FDHs in employ to induce them to prematurely terminate their employment contracts,” a spokesman for the LD said.
“To further protect the interests of FDH employers as consumers, the revised CoP requires EAs to include, in service agreements signed with FDH employers, the amount of fee set for each service category, and clearly state whether a refund or arrangement for a replacement FDH will be provided where their services are not delivered in full, or the employment contract has been prematurely terminated by the FDH within the two-year contract period. Pursuant to the revised CoP, EAs are required to provide the LD with information relating to temporary accommodation provided for FDH job seekers and ensure their compliance with the relevant requirements. EAs also should not publicly post, display or disclose the sensitive personal data of job seekers and related individuals.”
The spokesman reminded EAs of the need to operate in accordance with the requirements of the CoP. Under the EO, the Commissioner may refuse to issue or renew, or revoke an EA licence if its licensee or person intending to be the licensee, the related persons of, or persons employed by the licensee or the person intending to be the licensee fail(s) to comply with the CoP.
The CoP is available for public inspection for free during office hours at the office of the Employment Agencies Administration of the LD (Address: Unit 906, 9/F, One Mong Kok Road Commercial Centre, 1 Mong Kok Road, Kowloon). It may also be downloaded from the Employment Agencies Portal (www.eaa.labour.gov.hk).
For enquiries on the CoP, please contact the Employment Agencies Administration of the LD at 2115 3665. read more
The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:
The Legislative Council (LegCo) Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will hold the second public hearing on “Emergency dental services and elderly dental care support” (Chapter 2) of the Director of Audit’s Report No. 82 tomorrow (May 10) at 8.30am in Conference Room 1 of the LegCo Complex.
Six 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:
Subject: Emergency dental services and elderly dental care support
(Chapter 2 of the Director of Audit’s Report No.82)
Date: May 10 (Friday)
Time: 8.30am
Venue: Conference Room 1
Witnesses:
Professor Lo Chung-mau
Secretary for Health
Mr Thomas Chan
Permanent Secretary for Health
Mr Eddie Lee
Deputy Secretary for Health 2
Dr Frankie So
Consultant (Oral Health Care)
Health Bureau
Dr Ronald Lam
Director of Health
Dr Kitty Hse
Consultant i/c Dental Services
Department of Health
The PAC is chaired by Mr Shiu Ka-fai, and its Deputy Chairman is Mr Paul Tse. Other members are Ms Yung Hoi-yan, Mr Luk Chung-hung, Mr Edmund Wong, Mr Louis Loong and Ms Carmen Kan. read more