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Finally, members will recall that the levels of compensation specified in various sections of the Ordinance were last reviewed in December 1995. We intend to conduct reviews biennially to ensure that adequate protection are provided to employees. To facilitate future revisions, we propose to group the levels of compensation now specified in various sections under a new schedule, i.e. the Sixth Schedule, to the Ordinance.

Mr President, I beg to move.

End

Noise Control (Amendment) Bill

Following is the speech by the Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands, Mr Bowen Leung, in moving the second reading of the Noise Control (Amendment) Bill 1996 in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):

Mr President.

I move the second reading of the Noise Control (Amendment) Bill 1996.

The continuous and repeated sound of alarms in unattended vehicles causes considerable noise nuisance. The protracted sounding of false alarms, sometimes lasting for hours, is particularly disturbing at night, as reflected in the large number of complaints, which average 50 to 60 a month, received by the Administration over the last two years.

The false activation of vehicle alarms is largely due to improper installation or to oversensitive settings. As a result, some systems can be activated simply by the vibration induced by a passing vehicle or overflying aircraft. But these systems can, with proper attention, be easily corrected. At present, however, there is no legislative control on such alarms. The Noise Control (Amendment) Bill therefore aims to prevent noise nuisance from vehicle alarms by setting out the legal parameters of alarm activation, having regard to the security function they are designed to serve.

The Bill proposes three elements of control. The first control tackles over- sensitive systems and proposes that activation of an intruder alarm will become an offence unless the vehicle is physically interfered with. This control will ensure that alarm sensors are correctly set to detect attempts to tamper with or enter the vehicle rather than react to slight vibrations. Once this over-sensitivity is controlled, the incidence of false alarms will be reduced.