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In response to a newspaper headline story today (October 10) that $240 million was wasted due to contract termination with an IT contractor, a spokesman for the Social Welfare Department (SWD) has made the following clarifications:
The Finance Committee of the Legislative Council allocated a budget of $240 million in 2002 for the setting up of two computer systems - the Technical Infrastructure (TI) and Client Information System (CIS).
TI has been running smoothly since its launch a year and a half ago. As for CIS, despite SWD¡¦s close monitoring and repeated discussions with the contractor, the contractor still failed to provide a system which could fulfil the requirements of the contract.
CIS accounts for only $30 million of the total budget allocated. SWD has so far paid a small amount of the contract price to the contractor and the department is considering reclaiming the fund paid to the contractor. It is therefore wrong to suggest that ¡§SWD has wasted $240 million¡¨.
The main function of CIS is to improve the efficiency of case management and enhance service quality on the welfare front. The delayed implementation of the system will have no impact on the department¡¦s continual work of combating social security fraud.
SWD, after terminating the contract with contractor, has already fully informed colleagues of the matter through the intranet and internal discussion .
As for the posting out of Mr Kok Che-leung, Principal Social Work Officer (Information Systems and Technology), it is a normal posting arrangement with no relation whatsoever to do with this matter.
In view of the possibility of litigation, it is inappropriate for SWD to comment further on the matter. SWD is dedicating full effort on re-tendering the project. If everything goes well, CIS is expected to operate in about two years¡¦ time.
The spokesman expressed regret over such inaccurate report which had been made without seeking verification with the department.
Ends/Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Issued at HKT 15:14
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