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HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 20 January 1988
Bill read the Second time.
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Bill committed to a Committee of the whole Council pursuant to Standing Order 43(1).
MIDWIVES REGISTRATION (AMENDMENT) BILL 1987
Resumption of debate on Second Reading (9 December 1987)
Question proposed, put and agreed to.
Bill read the Second time.
Bill committed to a Committee of the whole Council pursuant to Standing Order 43(1).
NEW TERRITORIES LEASES (EXTENSION) BILL 1987
Resumption of debate on Second Reading (6 May 1987)
Question proposed.
MR. HU: Sir, it has been almost nine months since the New Territories Leases (Extension) Bill 1987 was first introduced to this Council. The aim of this Bill is to implement paragraph 2 of Annex III of the Sino-British Joint Declaration, so that over 30 000 leases in the New Territories and the New Kowloon may be automatically extended for a period expiring not later than 30 June 2047 without payment of additional premium. Instead an annual rent equivalent to 3 per cent of the current rateable value of the property will be charged.
Due to the complexity of the task, the Legislative Council ad hoc group set up to study the Bill has held eight meetings, including six with the Administration. Representations from the New Territories Heung Yee Kuk were received and duly considered.
Although we were aware of the urgency of the matter, prolonged deliberation was inevitable given the significance of the proposed Bill. I am glad that the Bill is ready for its final reading today.
I would like to comment on four areas of concern which have been raised in the course of the ad hoc group's deliberations.
The first one is about the definition of ‘established village'. The Bill provides that rents for certain land held by descendants from those pre-1898 villages will remain unchanged after the leases involved are extended. However, these pre-1898 villages, totalling around 600 today, are defined according to a 1905
survey.
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