TNAG-2449-FCO40-3565-Legislative-Council-of-Hong-Kong-1992 — Page 116

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MDLIAN 5469

IN-HOUSE AND PERFORM SIMILAR FUNCTIONS. IT WILL ACT AS A CLEARING HOUSE FOR BILLS AS WELL AS OTHER LOGISTICAL MATTERS COMING BEFORE THE COUNCIL.

18. THE NUMBER OF BILLS COMMITTEE WILL BE DETERMINED BY THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON THE BASIS OF THE NUMBER OF BILLS TO BE SCRUTINISED. MEMBERSHIP OF EACH COMMITTEE IS OPEN TO ALL MEMBERS WHO HAVE INDICATED INTEREST. A BILLS COMMITTEE WILL DISSOLVE AFTER THE RELEVANT BILL HAS BEEN ENACTED.

19. ALL COMMITTEE MEETINGS WILL BE HELD IN PUBLIC UNLESS OTHERWISE DECIDED BY THE COMMITTEES. WHERE SO AUTHORISED BY THE FULL COUNCIL BY RESOLUTION, A BILLS COMMITTEE MAY CALL ANY PERSON TO ATTEND, GIVE EVIDENCE OR PRODUCE DOCUMENTS.

20. WITH THE OPEN MEETINGS AND THE INCREASINGLY POLITICAL APPROACH TO LEGCO BUSINESS, MORE POSTURING BY COUNCILLORS IS EXPECTED. THIS MAY SLOW DOWN THE PACE OF LEGISLATIVE WORK. HOWEVER, OPEN MEETINGS WILL PROVIDE MORE TRANSPARENCY AND MORE PUBLIC MONITORING OF COUNCILLOR'S PERFORMANCE.

FINANCE COMMITTEE

21. TWO MEETINGS IN JULY. 27 ITEMS APPROVED.

22. ON 10 JULY 1992, AFTER CONSIDERABLE DISCUSSION, THE PROPOSED CONTRIBUTION OF 10 MILLION DOLLARS TOWARDS THE REINTEGRATION OF VIETNAMESE MIGRANTS RETURNING TO VIETNAM WAS APPROVED. (SEE ALSO OUR TELNO 1855).

23. THERE WAS MUCH DEBATE ON THE PROPOSAL TO UPGRADE THE ENGINEERING WORKS FOR BACK-UP AREA AND THE INFRASTRUCTURE OF THE CONTAINER TERMINAL NO 9 AT FC MEETING ON 24 JULY. THE ITEM WAS APPROVED IN THE END BUT 11 MEMBERS (MOSTLY UDHK MEMBERS) WERE AGAINST THE PROPOSAL ON GROUNDS OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND TRAFFIC

CONSIDERATION.

CRC

24. CRC MEMBERS HAVE SET UP A WORKING GROUP, WITH MOSES CHENG AS THE CONVENOR, TO STUDY THE POSSIBILITY OF ESTABLISHING A POLITICAL PARTY. THIS MOVE HAS BEEN EXPECTED FOR SOME TIME. SOME EXISTING CRC MEMBERS, ESPECIALLY THOSE FROM FUNCTIONAL CONSTITUENCIES, ARE UNCERTAIN WHETHER THEY WOULD JOIN THE NEW POLITICAL PARTY. MR VINCENT CHENG, LONG DISENCHANTED WITH THE CRC, HAS FINALLY DECIDED TO WITHDRAW ON GROUNDS OF

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