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The Water Supplies Department is proceeding at full speed with its territory-wide water mains replacement and rehabilitation programme.
Speaking at today﷿s (April 1) ground-breaking ceremony for the 䩕Replacement and Rehabilitation of the Dongjiang and Lion Rock Tunnel Water Mains蒅, the Director of Water Supplies, Mr Ma Lee Tak, said the territory-wide programme was making good progress.
䩕Under the programme, the department will replace and rehabilitate about 3,000 kilometres of aged water mains throughout the territory in four stages at an estimated cost of $15 billion,蒅 Mr Ma said.
䩕The works under Stage 1 of Phase 1 are almost completed, while the works under Stage 2 of Phase 1 are in full swing. All the contracts under Stage 2 have already begun and we expect that the commencement of Stage 3 works will be advanced to mid 2008.蒅
䩕The contract for the ﷿Replacement and Rehabilitation of the Dongjiang and Lion Rock Tunnel Water Mains﷿ is the last of the 17 contracts under Stage 2. Today﷿s ceremony marks the full commencement of site works for all the 17 contracts under Stage 2.蒅
䩕The department is also striving to advance the procedure for employment of consultants for Stage 4, with the aim of starting the investigation and design work in the second half of this year,蒅 Mr Ma said.
䩕We fully understand that people want to have ageing water mains replaced as soon as possible to ensure normal water supplies.蒅
Mr Ma said the department was striving to minimise the impact of the works on the general public, adding that the works needed to be carried out in stages to avoid water supply disruptions and traffic congestions arising from trench excavation.蒅
䩕To overcome these challenges, members of the project team are working closely together to enhance communication with the public, and employ innovative technology to strike a balance between the progress of the programme and its impact on traffic and environment, 蒅 he said.
The contract,䩕Replacement and Rehabilitation of the Dongjiang and Lion Rock Tunnel Water Mains蒅, at an estimated cost of $223 million, includes the replacement and rehabilitation of about 19 kilometres of aged water mains in Lo Wu, Tai Wo and the Lion Rock Tunnels.
Ends/Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Issued at HKT 15:38
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