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Following is a question by the Hon Daniel Lam and a reply by the Secretary for Home Affairs, Dr Patrick Ho, in the Legislative Council today (November 30):
Question:
In his policy address delivered in October, the Chief Executive indicated that by the end of 2006, the Government would invest about $190 million to carry out over 120 Rural Public Works ("RPW") and Urban Minor Works projects, hence would create jobs. Regarding such projects and other RPW projects the commencement dates of which have yet to be fixed, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) among the 120-odd projects, of the respective numbers of projects to be carried out in the New Territories and the urban area, their categories, as well as the longest, average and shortest periods of time for which they have been included in the list of Home Affairs Department's projects;
(b) apart from the 120-odd projects, of the number, titles and categories of RPW projects the commencement dates of which have yet to be fixed, as well as the periods of time for which they have been included in the above list; and
(c) whether it plans to seek funding specially for expediting the implementation of the projects mentioned in (b); if so, of the details of the plan; if not, of the negative impact the delay in the implementation of such projects would have on the rural community, particularly on environmental hygiene?
Reply:
Madam President,
The Government introduced the Rural Public Works (RPW) Programme in 1999 in order to upgrade the infrastructure and improve the living environment of the rural areas in the New Territories. The Urban Minor Works (UMW) Programme was set up in 2000 with a view to improving the environment and local facilities in the urban districts. These two programmes were launched with the objective to improve the local environment and resolve the related issues in a swift and flexible manner. The related cost incurred is charged to the Subheads 7014CX and 7015CX respectively under the Capital Works Reserve Fund Head 707.
In his Policy Address delivered in October, the Chief Executive stated that by the end of 2006, the Government would invest about $190 million to carry out over 120 RPW and UMW projects. Of these 120-odd minor works projects, over 100 are RPW projects while 17 are UMW projects.
The 100-odd RPW projects, which will cost about $160 million in total, include construction/improvement of footpaths (27%), access roads (22%), drainage facilities (24%) and pavings (5%); construction of rain shelters/pavilions (7%) and other projects (15%) such as installation of welcome signs and "Pai Laus".
The 17 UMW projects, which will cost about $30 million in total, cover construction/improvement of walking trails (12%) and sitting-out areas/arbours (18%); beautification works (23%), greening works (29%) and other projects (18%).
Among these 120-odd projects, the majority (about 70%) have been included in the RPW Programme for less than six months and only a small portion (about 10%) have been included in the programme for over two years.
Apart from the 120-odd projects, another 32 projects have also been included in the RPW Programme. They are now under planning and the commencement dates for construction are yet to be fixed. Of these 32 projects, 10 have been included in the programme for less than six months, 16 for one and a half years and 6 for over two years. About half of the projects involve the construction/improvement of footpaths or access roads. The remaining ones include the provision of seating facilities, improvement of drainage facilities, reconstruction of rain shelters and other village improvement works.
Regarding these 32 projects as mentioned above, we can only fix their commencement dates for construction once the project details have been confirmed and the objections and technical problems resolved. We have reserved sufficient funds under the block allocation of Subhead 7014CX for the purpose to enable these projects to start work once these problems are solved.
Since the implementation of the RPW Programme in 1999, the Home Affairs Department (HAD) has completed over 900 RPW projects at a total cost of around $662 million. Moreover, since the launching of the UMW Programme in 2000, the HAD has completed over 300 UMW projects at a total cost of around $204 million. Since the launching of these two programmes, all our funding requests have been approved, and no project has ever been put on hold due to funding problems since then.
With the implementation of these two programmes, the living environment in many districts has been improved on the whole. We do not think the fact that some projects are without fixed commencement dates for the time being will have any significant negative impact on the local community.
Ends/Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Issued at HKT 14:29
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