UMELCO
DRAFT SPEECH BY HON CHENG HON KWAN LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL - 20.11.85
Resumption of Second Reading of the Building (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 1985
sir,
An Ad Hoc Group, with my colleague Mr Peter C WONG as the convener, was formed to study the bill. The Group had the pleasure of meeting the Secretary for Lands and Works and his colleagues in the Administration on 5 November to clarify two points of concern.
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The first relates to Clause 3 in the bill, which seeks to validate retrospectively the delegations previously made to officers outside the Building Development Department.
The Group, which was concerned about the effect the clause might have on cases due to be heard in court, was assured at the meeting that there was no pending litigation. The Group accepts that the retrospective provision is necessary to put beyond doubt the Building Authority's power to recover costs of works which have been carried out by, for example, the Engineering Development Department, on behalf of private developers.
The Group's second - and in a way more serious - concern is about the wide power of delegation sought in the bill, whereby the Director of Building Development, if the bill is enacted as it is, will be able to delegate his powers and functions to any Government officers in any Government departments. The Group takes the view that the scope of delegation should not be wider than necessary. On the understanding that currently delegations have to be made to officers in only four departments, namely, Building Development Department, Engineering Development Department, New Territories Development Department and Lands Department, it is considered that these departments should be specified in the legislation.
UMELCO