TNAG-0937-FCO40-1156-Visits-of-Sir-Murray-MacLehose--Governor-of-Hong-Kong--to-th-1980 — Page 191

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offence. In accordance with normal police procedures, details of the

disciplinary action that was taken have not been revealed. The

Commissioner of Police has written to Mr Canavan to explain the outcome

of the CAPO investigation.

Maternity Benefits

9. At present the Hong Kong Employers' Ordinance provides for 10 weeks

maternity leave, with the possibility of extension on the grounds of illness or disability arising out of the pregnancy or confinement for up to a further four weeks. But the Ordinance does not require a payment luring maternity leave. Employers are prohibited by law from terminating

à contract of employment during a period of maternity leave. An inter- departmental working group has been established in Hong Kong to examine

the whole question of maternity benefits and to make recommendations for any changes that may be appropriate.

Industrial Accidents

10. Mr Canavan and his colleagues claimed to have been told by people in

Hong Kong that there had been a significant increase in industrial acci- dents and deaths there in the past few years. This is not in fact the

case: there are indications that the rate of accidents may be dropping. The Labour Department is planning to double the number of factory

inspectors (at present about 140) over the next five years. Safety

egislation has been extended, and the Workmen's Compensation Ordinance has recently been reviewed by a working party which has recommended many improvements in the compensation paid to injured workers.

Yau Ma Ti Boat People

11. There are about 60,000 people in Hong Kong living on small boats moored at various anchorages around the territory, many of them fishermen and their families, but also including a large number who work on shore.

Last year, a group of these boat people living in the Yau Ma Ti typhoon shelter attracted much publicity with a concerted campaign for priority treatment in the allocation of new housing on land. The visitings MPs expressed support for this campaign. The Hong Kong Government are sympa- thetic to the plight of the boat people, but are unwilling to give them priority over people living in equally unsatisfactory housing on land. Only those whose boats are found to be in imminent danger of foundering

are given priority in rehousing. Otherwise, the boat people must wait

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