A legislator is to rally support from Legco to urge tighter controls on harassment of debtors and bad debt collection practices. Albert Chan Wai-yip said yesterday that he would propose the motion on debt collection at the Legislative Council meeting tomorrow, after persistent efforts to draw the government's attention to problems in the sector since 2001. Mr Chan said he had raised the issue with the secretary for justice last year but had got nowhere. 'I strongly criticise the government for just listening to the rich and the powerful but turning a deaf ear to those in need,' he said. A government propensity to favour banks had contributed to delays in passing debt-collection laws, he said. The lawmaker said he favoured laws proposed by the Law Reform Commission in July 2002, which had reviewed laws relating to creditors, debt collection agencies and debt collectors employed outside the court system. The commission's proposals, which included a debt collectors' licensing system, were rejected by the Security Bureau in 2005.