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A spokesman for the Transport and Housing Bureau (THB) said that it received today (July 6) the Report of the Legislative Council Select Committee to Inquire into the Background of and Reasons for the Delay of the Construction of the Hong Kong Section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (XRL)(the Report), and will study the Report in detail.
The spokesman said that in the past one and a half years, the THB and the Highways Department (HyD) have been committed to working with the Select Committee in a transparent and co-operative manner, and have provided the Select Committee with detailed information and a full account in the course of its work. The observations and recommendations in the Report are useful in Government's continuous efforts to improve the monitoring mechanism and work of the implementation of the XRL project.
The Report mentioned that before April 2014, the THB, the HyD and the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL) did not disclose the delay of the XRL project to the Subcommittee on Matters Relating to Railways (RSC) and the public. The spokesman emphasised that the Government never had the intention to withhold disclosure of information about the delay of the XRL project from the Legislative Council and the public. The Report also pointed out that the majority of members of the Select Committee considered that the THB, the HyD or any of their officers therein had not deliberately covered up the delay of the XRL project.
The XRL is a mega and complex project comprising 42 major contracts (which refers to contracts with the sum value over $50 million at the time of award) and many other contracts. The regular half-yearly reports submitted to the RSC in the early stages of the XRL project sought to report the progress of the works on a macro-level. Following the announcement of the project delay in April 2014, the THB strengthened the reporting to the RSC on the latest progress of the XRL project. Since the fourth quarter of 2014, the THB has been providing reports to the RSC quarterly, instead of half-yearly, on the detailed progress and financial status of the XRL project. At the same time, in addition to the progress report submitted by the MTRCL, the THB and the HyD will separately submit an assessment report to facilitate the RSC to better understand the progress and financial status of the project and the problems encountered.
The spokesman said that the THB and the HyD will study the Select Committee's Report and follow up the recommendations in the Report. In fact, in light of the delay of the XRL project, the Independent Expert Panel appointed by the Chief Executive and chaired by Mr Justice Hartmann released a report on January 30, 2015 to review the implementation of the XRL project and put forward recommendations which aim to improve the systems, processes and practices for implementing and monitoring the XRL project as well as future new railway projects. The dedicated division of the Railway Development Office (RDO) of the HyD has implemented measures (see Annex for details) to enhance the monitoring of the progress and financial status of the XRL project since mid-2014. The Secretary for Transport and Housing has dedicated monthly meetings with the Director of Highways to review the construction progress and financial status of the XRL project and other large scale transport infrastructure projects.
At present, the Government's most important work is to press ahead with the implementation of the XRL project for completion as soon as possible. The Government has engaged a legal team to follow up the obligations of the MTRCL in respect of project implementation, including the performance of the MTRCL as the "project manager". The Government and the MTRCL have different views in this aspect. The Government reserves all the rights to pursue the obligations from the MTRCL and does not rule out the possibility of taking legal means such as arbitration as stated in the Entrustment Agreement. However, in view of the extremely tight works schedules, both sides agree to initiate such action only after the project's commissioning in 2018.
Ends/Wednesday, July 6, 2016
Issued at HKT 16:11
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