THE much-delayed legislative programme has undergone a big reshuffle, with 25 new bills added to the agenda. But officials yesterday denied having problems keeping pace with the original schedule and could add even more blueprints. The Chief Secretary for Administration's Office has reshuffled the priorities of bills in the remaining six months of the Legco session. A total of 27 bills have been postponed, of which 16 are to adapt colonial statutes for post-handover use. These include bills dealing with home affairs, family law and probate matters, which have been deferred until May. Only one bill - on tenancy - has been brought forward, from May-July to April. Proposed amendments to the Customs and Excise Ordinance were scrapped from the revised schedule. Fifty bills have been introduced to Legco since last July, with only 15 having received the three readings. Ninety-five bills have yet to be introduced, of which 25 are newly incorporated into the schedule, which was last revised in November. The large number of bills means lawmakers will have to enact at least six legislations in each of the remaining 15 Legco sittings. Assistant Director of Administration Jacky Lum Kwok-keung said the workload was heavy, but denied the original agenda was seriously behind schedule. He said most of the bills delayed required only technical changes. 'We're not too worried about the progress at this stage,' he said. Mr Lum said top of the agenda was amending the Protection of Wages Insolvency Ordinance, whose first reading is scheduled for next month. Mr Lum said the additional blueprints or amendments had been previously left out as they were still under discussion. 'Most of them were mentioned in the Policy Address. Now that a final decision has been taken, we have therefore put them in,' he said. He said further changes were inevitable and pledged to readjust priorities to reflect the importance of policies. The 25 new bills: Administration of Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill Prevention of Bribery (Amendment) Bill Interpretation and General Clauses (Amendment) Bill Protection of Wages on Insolvency (Amendment) Bill Hong Kong War Memorial Pensions (Amendment) Bill Land Titles Bill District Court (Amendment) Bill Labour Tribunal (Amendment) Bill Small Claims Tribunal (Amendment) Bill Consular Relations Bill Provision of Municipal Services Bill Lingnan College (Amendment) Bill Occupational Retirement Schemes (Amendment) Bill Bill to charge a fee for Home Affairs Department's declarations service Electronic Transactions Bill Telecommunication (Amendment) Bill Amendments to Land (Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance Arbitration (Amendment) Bill Law Reform (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill Amendments to Employment Ordinance Places of Public Entertainment (Amendment) Bill Broadcasting Bill Amendments to Section 6 and Schedule of Traffic Victims (Assistance Fund) Ordinance Road Tunnel Legislation (Miscellaneous Amendment) Bill Cross-harbour Tunnel (Amendment) Bill 27 bills delayed: 16 Adaptation of Laws Bill (diplomatic privileges, labour, schools and education, roads and tunnels, private bodies, import and export, intellectual property, Legislative Council, shipping and marine, home affairs, family law, probate, law enforcement agencies, public transport) Securities (Amendment) Bill Town Planning Bill Administrative Appeals Board (Amendment) Bill Civil Aviation (Amendment) Bill Industrial Training (Construction Industry) (Amendment) Bill Employees' Compensation (Amendment) Bill Securities and Futures Commission (Amendment) Bill Amendments to Conveyancing Property Ordinance Witness Protection Bill Bill on taking of intimate and non-intimate sample Science Park Corporation Bill Bills advanced: Landlord and Tenant (Consolidation) (Amendment) Bill Bill dropped from legislative programme: Amendments to Customs and Excise Service Ordinance
