Revue de presse du 9 mars 2010

 Fourth alarm blaze in Cheung Sha Wan kills one, injures three

The papers in prominent text and pictorial coverage, with seven in their leads, reported that a special team had been set up to investigate a fourth alarm fire in Cheung Sha Wan yesterday which killed 47-year-old senior fireman Yeung Chun-kit and injured three other firefighters. Yeung was the fourth officer to die in the line of duty since 2007, many papers noted.

Reports widely noted that the blaze broke out in a knitting factory in Lai Cheong Factory Building on Castle Peak Road at about 8.20am. Firemen were ordered to withdraw when the unit was filled with dense smoke and the fire became more intense.

Mr Yeung and another colleague were reported missing but the latter was found soon afterwards. It was not until 12.10pm that Mr Yeung was located but it took another 45 minutes to remove him from the rubbles. He was rushed to hospital where he was declared dead. The blaze was put out at 2.24pm.

The Oriental Daily News, The Sun and Sing Tao Daily in headlines attributed the cause of the tragedy to the slow progress in upgrading fire-fighting equipment.

In an investigative report, Ming Pao said that yesterday’s tragedy had exposed fire hazard problems in 650 existing industrial buildings completed before 1973. The paper noted that these buildings were not installed with sprinkler systems, coupled with the fact that many of the units were « partitioned » into smaller units. The building materials used for partitioning did not satisfy fire safety standard. The means of escape had become narrow as a result of the partitioning, creating fire safety hazards.

HK Institute of Surveyors’ Ho Kui-yip called on the Government to make it mandatory for all industrial buildings to install automatic sprinkler systems

Civic Party legislator Audrey Eu agreed that sprinklers should be installed in all factory buildings.

 Bankers, more developers back HOS

The HK Economic Journal in its front-page lead and other papers in good coverage reported that more developers as well as bankers had voiced their support for relaunching the Home Ownership Scheme scheme to provide more housing to help prospective homebuyers.

Following New World Development managing director Henry Cheng’s call for more HOS flats, Shui On Group chairman Vincent Lo also held that the time had come for resuming the scheme. But he stressed that the number of flats should be restricted as too many could cause a property market collapse.

Henderson Land’s Lam Tat-man was of the view that if the markets for HOS units and private flats could be clearly separated, relaunching the HOS units for sale would not have an impact on the private housing market.

HSBC’s Vincent Cheng said the income of the younger generation made it impossible for them to purchase a property, believing that unless the Government did something for them, the society might be divisive and public discontent would rise.

Both the FTU and DAB’s Ip Kwok-him backed the call to relaunch the scheme. Mr Ip maintained that the sale of HOS flats would vacate more public housing units and would strengthen the low and middle-income groups’ power to buy a home. He suggested the Government to cap the number of HOS flats for sale at 1,000 a year while the FTU suggested 5,000 to 6,000.

Housing Authority member and legislator Joseph Li also opposed resuming the scheme, saying that unless the Government had scrapped its policy of not acting as a developer, there was no reason for it to relaunch the scheme.

Quoting sources, the HK Economic Times understood that the Government took the view that constructing new HOS flats would take at least five years, announcing the resumption of the scheme would only bring psychological relief and would not satisfy people’s need to purchase a home.

 URA hits back on Masterpiece criticisms

In an inside-page lead, the HK Economic Journal reported in headlines that the Urban Renewal Authority had confirmed that its views on the selling price for flats for The Masterpiece, a joint housing project with New World Development, were diverse and that it had led to a row.

In response to criticism that the authority had turned a redevelopment project into a luxury housing estate, an URA spokesman stressed that its principle was to ensure that the sale of its flat could adhere to the market and the guidelines issued by the Real Estate Developers Association and the Estate Agents Authority, a few papers reported.

Denying that the authority was trying to « prop up » the market, its chairman Barry Cheung was quoted by The Sun as saying that selling the flats cheaper than market prices would only benefit speculators, stressing that the Government had never demanded the URA to build properties for first time home buyers.

 SCMA to visit DP HQs for first time to discuss political reform

Apple Daily in an inside-page lead reported that Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Stephen Lam would visit DP’s headquarters for the first time on March 16 to discuss the constitutional reform issue with the party for an hour.

Welcoming Mr Lam’s visit, DP chairman Albert Ho said it at least showed that the SCMA was willing to communicate, but he was not optimistic with the results of the discussion.

Mr Ho reiterated that his party had all along demanded that the Government should make clear when it would implement « ultimate » universal suffrage, adding that the DP would not support « replicating » the constitutional reform proposal.

A Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau spokesman said the SCMA agreed to attend the discussion at DP’s invitation, stressing that the bureau was willing to listen to different parties’ views in different modes.

In a related development, Ming Pao and Wen Wei Po reported that NPCSC member Rita Fan had been recently persuaded to contest in the 2012 CE election, but Mrs Fan had declined on grounds of age and work pressure.

 Shared Care Programme to be launched in June

The papers widely reported that the three-year Shared Care Programme to provide enhanced primary care services to diabetes mellitus and hypertension patients in Sha Tin and Tai Po would be launched in June this year.

It was estimated that about 1,000 patients, who had received care for the diseases at public specialist out-patient clinics for at least two years, would be qualified for the $1,400 allowance for 12 months for seeking treatment from participating private medical practitioners.

The programme would also provide an incentive of $200 to participating doctors if the patient had met specified process indicators, such as regular monitoring of blood pressure and body weight.

Speaking at Legco yesterday, Secretary for Food and Health York Chow said the Government would review the scheme in a year’s time and consider extending it to other districts, so that 20,000 patients would benefit within the next three years.

 The scheme drew mixed reactions from legislators and the medical sector.

Sha Tin Doctors Network (沙田醫生網絡) chairman Wilson Fung (馮宜亮) supported the scheme, saying that it was a breakthrough in the concept of « money follows the patient » and cooperation between the public and private healthcare sectors.

Welcoming the scheme, Alliance for Patients’ Mutual Help Organisations chairman Cheung Tak-hai said it would help develop a long-term relationship between doctors and patients and promote the concept of family doctors in HK. However, he called on the authorities to strengthen monitoring and increase transparency of the charges by participating doctors.

  Govt studies paternity leave

In good coverage, the papers carried Secretary for Labour and Welfare Matthew Cheung’s remarks that the Government was conducting a study on overseas experience in providing paternity leave for male employees.

Speaking to the media after attending a luncheon hosted by the Women’s Commission, Mr Cheung said that there should be a public consensus before legislating on paternity leave and that the Government would have to study the impact on HK and strike a balance between the interests of employers and employees.

He added that in the meantime, the Government would encourage corporations to consider offering paid or unpaid paternity leave to their employees.

 Toxic contents in mud exceeds safety standards

Ming Pao in an inside-paged lead quoted the results of a CU survey which found that the contents of lead, Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons and DEHP (增膠劑) in mud samples collected from recycling sites in Yuen Long and Tin Shui Wai were found exceeding international safety standards by 36 to 530 per cent.

CU’s Chiu Siu-wai hit out at the Government for turning a blind eye to the problem. She urged the authorities to relocate those sites to vacant industrial buildings and regulate their operation.

The paper quoted an EPD reply as saying that there was no legislation regulating land contamination in HK, adding that the department would take enforcement action under the Waste Disposal Ordinance if recycling sites were found handling or disposing harmful waste in an inappropriate manner.

 US targets fake medicine during meetings with HK officials

The SCMP in moderate coverage reported that US officials were particularly concerned about fake medicine and food or consumer products that threatened public safety during their two-day stay in HK to meet immigration, customs, justice and police officials.

John Morton, the assistant secretary for immigration and customs enforcement of the US Department of Homeland Security, told the paper that in the case of counterfeit goods, HK’s problem was more to do with being a major hub for cargo transport.

He said a great deal of counterfeit items that ended up in the US were either coming directly from HK or through Europe and other major ports. HK was sourced to 10 per cent of the total value of pirated goods seized last year in the US, the paper said.

Mr Morton praised the « mature and sophisticated relationship » between his agency and counterparts in HK, the paper added.

 HK ranks third in integrity in Asia-Pacific region

A few papers in routine coverage reported that HK came third in terms of integrity among 16 countries or places in the Asia-Pacific region, after Australia and Singapore which ranked first and second respectively.

The grading was compiled by the Political and Economic Risk Consultancy which had interviewed 2,174 middle and high ranking people in the business sector from Asia, the US and Australia.

 Stock indices update

Hang Seng Index :	21,196.87	+408.90
Dow Jones Industrial Average :	10,552.52	-13.68
Nasdaq Composite Index :	2,332.21	+5.86
FTSE 100 Index :	5,606.72	+6.96