View communications body with care, government is urged
The government has been urged to pay close attention to the membership of the communications authority it wants to form by merging the Broadcasting Authority and Telecommunications Authority. Legislators on the bills committee scrutinising proposed legislation to enact the merger welcomed the administration's proposal that five to 10 appointed members of the new authority will not be government officials, but said the appointees should be chosen with care, as the body would issue broadcasting and telecommunications licences, and members' personal and business interests could conflict.
Andrew Cheng airs geographical idea for district council seats
Independent pan-democratic lawmaker Andrew Cheng Kar-foo suggested the five new seats in the Legislative Council's functional constituency for district councils for the 2012 election should be allocated to each of the five geographical constituencies. The government says it is inclined to hold a city-wide election for the seats, in which 3.2 million voters without a vote in any other functional constituency will be eligible to cast their ballots. Cheng said his proposal would allow candidates with limited money for electioneering to confine their campaigns to certain districts.
Flat sales vow by finance chief
Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah said the government would continue to study the need for more rules to make flat sales transparent. The Real Estate Developers Association on Tuesday welcomed the introduction of rules requiring developers to announce the expected date of completion of flat sales and to specify transactions that have collapsed. Their introduction followed the collapse of 20 of 24 luxury flat sales at the controversial 39 Conduit Road development in Mid-Levels by Henderson Land.
