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Following is a question by the Ir Dr Hon Raymond Ho and a written reply by the Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands, Mr Michael Suen, in the Legislative Council today (March 22):
Question:
In view of the serious slippage in the contractor's works, the Housing Authority ("HA") took re-entry action in the middle of last month regarding the construction sites of three public rental housing ("PRH") projects, including Fanling Area 36 Phase 1 and Phase 2. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
(a) given that the re-entry of the construction sites in Fanling will delay the anticipated completion dates of the relevant construction projects by 11 to 18 months, the arrangements to be made by HA for the households affected by redevelopment programmes and waiting to be rehoused in the relevant PRH flats; and
(b) whether HA will, in the light of the above delay, formulate any measures to strengthen the monitoring of its contractors' progress of work?
Reply:
Madam President,
Due to the contractor's failure to deliver according to contract, the three public housing construction projects at Fanling Area 36 Phases 1 and 2 and Shek Pai Wan Estate Phase 2 have been seriously delayed. On February 17, the Housing Authority re-entered upon these sites. As Shek Pai Wan Estate Phase 2 is the reception estate for the Wong Chuk Hang Estate redevelopment project, the slippage will affect the rehousing of tenants.
My reply to the two-part question is as follows:
(a) A total of 1 460 households in Wong Chuk Hang Estate who will be rehoused to Shek Pai Wan Estate Phase 2 are affected by the slippage. Immediately after the re-entry operation, the Housing Department has taken the initiative to invite them to consider alternative rehousing arrangements if they do not wish to wait for Shek Pai Wan Estate Phase 2. Possible options include some 270 uncommitted flats in Shek Pai Wan Estate Phase 1 or vacant flats in other existing public housing estates. To date, about 160 households have opted for Shek Pai Wan Estate Phase 1. Flats are being allocated to them. Meanwhile, for tenants who wish to stay put, the Housing Department will ensure good hygiene and security in Wong Chuk Hang Estate so as to maintain a satisfactory living environment until all tenants are rehoused.
(b) Strengthening project management and site supervision is one of the major improvement measures under the Quality Housing Initiatives Reform launched by the Housing Authority in 2000. All public housing construction projects are supervised by professional architects and engineers at every stage from commencement of works to the maintenance period after completion. There are also resident site staff at the construction sites to closely monitor the day-to-day site activities, thus enabling the Housing Department to identify promptly any problems arising during construction, as well as ensuring that the construction works are progressing on schedule and meet the quality requirements and specifications stipulated in the contracts.
The three public housing projects mentioned above had initially been progressing on course until early 2005 when signs of sluggish progress and under-performance started to emerge, which were detected by our site supervision staff immediately. The contractor was promptly asked to improve. At first the contractor made some efforts to catch up and deliver. In July 2005 the slippage in all the three sites became serious. The Housing Department took enforcement action under the contracts by issuing warning letters to the contractor. The Department also worked closely with the contractor to find practicable solutions to the problems. When it became apparent that the contractor was unable to fulfil his contractual obligations, the Housing Department, having regard to the public interest, re-entered upon the three construction sites pursuant to the provisions of the contracts dealing with such breaches. The Housing Authority's rigorous site monitoring system has indeed facilitated prompt identification of the site problems and allowed us to deal with these problems at the earliest possible opportunity within the contractual framework.
Ends/Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Issued at HKT 12:08
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