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The following is issued on behalf of the Housing Authority:
The Tender Committee of the Housing Authority (HA) today (March 23) endorsed a set of tightening measures to deter unscrupulous cleansing and security services contractors from exploiting their workers.
"We have to send a clear message to the industry that we will not tolerate any exploitation of non-skilled workers," committee chairman Professor Patrick Lau said, adding that some malpractice still existed in the industry that affected the interest of non-skilled workers.
"Tightening measures to be introduced from May 1 this year will cover all fronts ¡ª tender evaluation, contract administration and list management to phase out unscrupulous contractors once and for all," he said.
At the tender evaluation stage, a tenderer's offer will not be considered by the authority if during the 12-month period prior to the tender approval date, the tenderer has committed one conviction under the Employment Ordinance, Employees' Compensation Ordinance, Immigration Ordinance or the Mandatory Provident Fund Scheme Ordinance in government or private contracts; or a total of three demerit points received from one or more government departments.
"This will also apply to contract extension and approval of sub-contractors proposed under Property Service Agent (PSA) contracts," Professor Lau said.
"Even if the conviction or demerit point in question is under appeal, it will still be deemed as subsisting and counted for tender evaluation purposes," he said.
On contract administration, a service contract will be terminated when the contractor has, in that particular contract, attracted three or more demerit points or has one or more conviction records under the relevant ordinances.
"Where a cleansing or security sub-contractor of a PSA contract has one or more conviction records under the relevant ordinances for the subcontract, the authority will, under the current PSA contract conditions, require the PSA contractor to remove the sub-contractor from the contract forthwith," Professor Lau said.
"In addition, the PSA contractor will be given an adverse report for poor management of its sub-contractors," he added.
As a "goalkeeper", the authority will further step up Contractor List Management control.
"A contractor will be removed from the respective authority Lists of Contractors if the contractor has accumulated three or more demerit points under one or more government contracts over a three-year rolling period; or it has one or more convictions under the relevant ordinances from any government and/or private contracts.
"The period of removal from the lists will be of a maximum of five years from the date of conviction or from the date on which the third demerit point was awarded," Professor Lau said.
"In order to take speedy action against contractors with convictions and demerit points, the Housing Department will regularly review the status of all listed contractors in respect of convictions and demerit points received by these contractors," he added.
For new applications for inclusion or for re-admission in the relevant authority Lists, particular attention will be paid to the probity of the services company, including records of fair treatment to non-skilled workers.
To bring PSA's subcontractors under HA's list management control, subcontractors are required to be chosen from those already listed on the relevant authority Lists of contractors.
The tightened tender evaluation criteria and contract administration measures will apply to contracts with tenders to be invited on or after May 1, 2006, and contract extensions to be approved on or after the same date. The contractor list management measures will also take effect on the same date and all relevant contractors will be notified in advance.
Ends/Thursday, March 23, 2006
Issued at HKT 17:15
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