XN000022-1995-01-11 — Page 42

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

- 31.

Employers who have been awarded works contracts which qualify for importation of labour under the special labour importation scheme for Airport Core Projects (ACP) and who wish to do so should first submit a preliminary application to Immigration Department for permission to import workers. The Immigration Department will consult the Labour Department on employment matters and the New Airport Projects Co- ordination Office (NAPCO) to ensure that the number and types of workers to be imported and the proposed employment periods are compatible with the nature of works and the contract period. The vacancies are then registered with the Local Employment Services of the Labour Department and sent to relevant trade unions for information for a minimum period of four weeks in order that local workers are given first priority to apply for them. When the Immigration Department is satisfied that the application to import labour can be approved, a standard employment contract is provided to the employers who are required, amongst other conditions, to pay the imported workers wages at a level no less than the allowable median monthly wages of local workers for similar jobs in Hong Kong as determined by the relevant wage statistics compiled and published every six months by the Census and Statistics Department. Once their preliminary applications are approved, the employers involved can then submit formal visa applications for the workers to be imported.

The number and percentage of imported workers vis-a vis the total number employed for each of the ACP projects up to 31 December 1994 are set out at Annex A.

The cumulative breakdown of imported workers for the special Labour Importation Scheme for the ACP since it was introduced in 1991 by the types of jobs and corresponding wage levels as at 31 December 1994 is at Annex B.

We have estimated that the total number of workers required for ACP projects when it reaches the peak in 1996 will be 30,000 man-years. This figure has been worked out on the basis of the estimated gross labour demand of three categories of projects, namely, the 7 Government ACP projects and the Western Harbour Crossing, Chek Lap Kok Phase 1A works, and Mass Transit Railway Corporation's contracts for the Airport Railway. The detailed breakdown is at Annex C.