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Following is a question by the Hon Frederick Fung and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, in the Legislative Council today (May 28):
Question:
Recently, I have received complaints from several members of the public alleging that the surfaces of the carriageway and the footpath (the road) outside the entrance to a construction site at Hung Luen Road, Hung Hom are constantly damaged and uneven as a result of frequent passage of heavy duty vehicles entering or leaving the construction site. The poor road surface conditions have posed danger to pedestrians and vehicles. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has explored the reasons for the constantly poor surface conditions of the aforesaid road; whether the Highways Department (HyD) will expeditiously repair the surface of that road in order to safeguard the safety of drivers and pedestrians;
(2) of the number of complaints received by HyD in the past three years about the surface conditions of the roads outside the entrances to construction sites and the details of such complaints; how HyD followed up such complaints, including whether it instituted any prosecution against the contractors concerned and requested the contractors to carry out corrective repairs on the relevant road surfaces; in case the repair works for the relevant road surfaces were carried out by HyD, whether HyD recovered the costs from the contractors concerned; and
(3) whether there is any mechanism at present to monitor the surface conditions of the roads outside the entrances to construction sites; if there is not, whether it will take actions only upon complaints received from members of the public, and whether it will only passively wait for the contractors concerned to take the initiative to repair the surfaces of the roads concerned?
Reply:
President,
Construction sites of private developments (including the construction site at Hung Luen Road (near the junction of Wa Shun Street)) are subject to control under the Buildings Ordinance. Each developer should appoint an authorised person in accordance with the Ordinance to co-ordinate and supervise the relevant construction works undertaken by registered contractors. As regards the vehicular entrance/exit of the construction site located at a public road, the relevant registered contractors should adopt appropriate measures to prevent the public road from any damage and, where necessary, to carry out suitable repair works.
The Highways Department (HyD) is the department responsible for the maintenance of public roads. It carries out road inspections regularly and arranges repair works in due course. If the damaged road surface is found to be caused by private construction works, HyD will immediately inform the authorised person of the relevant development project to carry out repair works and, at the same time, will keep the relevant departments informed for follow-up.
Our reply to the three parts of Hon Frederick Fung's question is as follows:
(1) HyD has been carrying out regular inspections of the road surface conditions at Hung Luen Road. Last October and this January, HyD found that the surfaces of the carriageway and footpath outside the entrance/exit of the subject construction site were damaged. Based on HyD's observation, it was believed that the damages were related to the frequent entering/leaving of heavy vehicles on the construction site. Upon identification of the defects, HyD immediately wrote to the authorised person of the subject development project and requested him to carry out repair works as soon as possible. Upon receiving HyD's notifications, the relevant authorised person shortly arranged the registered contractor to carry out temporary road surface repair works. The repair works were completed within the respective months when the damages were found.
This May, HyD found that the surface of a section of the carriageway near the entrance/exit of the construction site was damaged again. HyD has requested the authorised person of the subject development project to arrange the registered contractor to repair the road surface as soon as possible. As of today, the registered contractor concerned has finished the temporary road surface repair works. HyD will continue to closely monitor the road surface conditions of that section of the carriageway.
(2) HyD classifies complaints mainly on the basis of the types of road damage and the districts where they are found, so as to analyse the road surface conditions in different districts. It has not undertaken any specific classification on the complaints related to the surface conditions of the roads outside the entrances/exits of construction sites.
In the past three years, HyD has not received any complaints about the surface conditions of the road outside the entrance/exit of the construction site at Hung Luen Road (near the junction of Wa Shun Street). As mentioned in Part (1) above, HyD learnt about the damaged surfaces of the carriageway and footpath outside the entrance/exit of the subject construction site during its regular inspections last October, this January and May, and undertook timely follow-up action. As the relevant authorised person arranged the registered contractor to carry out temporary road surface repair works shortly after receiving HyD's notification, and the relevant repair works were completed, HyD did not need to seek recovery of any cost of works from the relevant parties.
(3) HyD is the department responsible for the maintenance of public roads. It carries out regular inspections and timely repair works of public roads within its purview.
During road inspections, if HyD finds any damage to the surface of a public road outside the entrance/exit of a private construction site, it will immediately inform the responsible authorised person to carry out repair works. If the relevant authorised person cannot ensure that the repair works of the damaged surface of the road concerned are properly carried out, or the damaged road will pose a danger to road users, HyD will carry out emergency repair works first to ensure the safety of road users and then seek recovery of the cost of the works from the relevant parties. According to HyD's records, the relevant authorised persons arranged registered contractors to carry out road surface repair works upon receipt of HyD's notification, so HyD did not need to recover any cost of works from the relevant parties.
Ends/Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Issued at HKT 12:00
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