XN000022-1996-05-15 — Page 24

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Reply:

Mr President,

Article 93 of the Basic Law states in very clear terms that judges and other members of the judiciary serving in Hong Kong before the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region may all remain in employment and retain their seniority with pay, allowances, benefits and conditions of service no less favourable than before. This mirrors the provision in the Joint Declaration on the continued service of judges and other members of the judiciary. Their continued service has therefore been very clearly and explicitly provided for in the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law. We have no reason to doubt that these provisions will be complied with.

End

Policy on unleaded petro!

Following is a question by the Hon Miriam Lau Kin-yee and a reply by the Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands, Mr Bowen Leung, in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):

Question:

In order to minimise pollution caused by lead content in the air, the Government introduced unleaded petrol (ULP) in 1991 and prohibited the import of vehicles using leaded petrol as from 1992. It has also been levying lower duties on ULP so as to encourage drivers to switch to the use of ULP. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)

(b)

(c)

whether the lead content in the air has been reduced after the implementation of the above measures; if so, please provide information on the improvement in air quality achieved in the past five years;

of the total reduction in petrol duties collected since the introduction of ULP; and

of the criteria adopted by the Government for assessing whether "the policy on unleaded petrol" has fulfilled the "cost-effectiveness" principle and achieved the purpose of reducing air pollution?