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Following is a question by the Hon Albert Ho and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, in the Legislative Council today (January 30):
Question:
It has been learnt that the Highways Department has all along grouped small traffic improvement works in the New Territories (NT) into three districts (namely NT West, NT Northeast and NT Southeast) for tender purpose. Some members of the public have relayed to me that the progress of such works is slow. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the average time taken to complete traffic improvement works after issuance of the Works Request Forms by the Transport Department in the past three years, as well as the respective shortest and longest time taken for such works, with a breakdown by the aforesaid districts;
(b) of the reasons why it has taken one year or even over two years to complete some simple traffic improvement works; the general causes for delays in such works, and whether such causes are related to manpower shortage on the part of the Highways Department or the contractors;
(c) of the measures to prevent delays in traffic improvement works; and
(d) whether it will consider reducing the areas to be covered in the traffic improvement works contracts and shortening the contract periods so that more contractors can be engaged to expedite the progress of such works; if it will, when it will do so; if not, of the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
The Highways Department (HyD) is responsible for the maintenance of public roads and associated road facilities under its jurisdiction. Regular inspections are arranged and timely repair works are conducted. The Department will also carry out district road improvement works in accordance with the proposals of the Transport Department (TD) with a view to enhancing road facilities. As far as the New Territories (NT) is concerned, the HyD has engaged one contractor each for the three districts concerned, namely, NT Southeast, NT Northeast and NT West, to implement the maintenance works and minor road improvement works within the respective designated contract areas (DCAs).
Our reply to Hon Albert Ho's question is as follows:
(a) In the past three years (i.e. 2010 to 2012), the TD issued about 3 600 works requests to the HyD for carrying out district road improvement works in NT. The completion time for such works in various DCAs subsequent to the issuance of works requests by the TD is detailed in the table below:
NT Southeast NT Northeast NT West
------------ ------------ -------
Shortest 3 days 16 days 7 days
completion
time
Longest 26 months 25 months 24 months
completion
time
Average 6 months 7 months 4 months
completion
time
Overall speaking, the distribution of the completion time of works in NT is as follows:
Completion Time Percentage of Number of
Works Projects
----------------- ------------------------
Completed within 68%
6 months
Completed within 22%
6 to 12 months
Completed within 8%
12 to 24 months
Taking more than 2%
24 months to complete
We must stress that improvement works vary in scope as well as complexity. As such, we cannot directly compare the time required for completing individual works.
(b) As shown by the table above, the road improvement works can generally be completed in about six months' time.
Upon receiving the works requests from the TD, the HyD will send staff to conduct site inspections at the locations concerned, assess the feasibility of improvement works and the necessary procedures as well as draw up a priority list for the works in order to arrange the commencement dates for individual works items. The HyD will arrange prompt implementation of urgent works while following up on the remaining works in a timely manner.
Before commencement of each works project, the HyD has to carry out the relevant advance work, including preparation of temporary traffic arrangements, arrangement for diversion of public utilities, application for tree transplant and consultation with stakeholders. The advance works required by each project differ. Some projects are constrained by the actual conditions and involve a larger amount of changes. They would require a longer process of consultation with stakeholders. For such projects, the HyD also has to closely co-ordinate the efforts among various departments and public utility companies concerned. Therefore, it will take a longer time to process the advance works and carry out the works.
For works item of local concern, the HyD would report to the Traffic and Transport Committees of the concerned District Councils the works progress.
(c) To ensure timely completion of the works, a completion date is specified in each works order issued to the contractors by the HyD. The works progress has been stringently monitored by the HyD. If the contractors fail to complete the works concerned before the deadline, the HyD will take appropriate actions as stipulated in the contract terms. Such actions include imposition of liquidated damages, issuance of warning letters and reflecting such failures in the contractors' quarterly performance reports, which would be one of the criteria to assess the contractors when they bid for Government projects in the future. Regarding works of a general nature, the contractors are able to finish the works by the completion dates specified in the works orders.
(d) To implement maintenance works of public roads, a contractor must possess sufficient experience and resources, especially the capability of carrying out timely repair works during emergencies, to cater for the actual operational needs. Therefore, contractors with expertise, resources and experience should be attracted to participate in the tender process. An appropriate delineation of DCA guarantees the contractors of a stable number of works projects, whereas a contractual period of appropriate length facilitates the proper planning, deployment of sufficient quality equipment and machinery as well as injection of adequate resources by the contractors to tackle the intensive district maintenance works within the duration of the contract.
While considering the DCA delineation and contractual period for road maintenance works contracts in the NT as appropriate (currently six years in general), the HyD will keep a close watch over the performance of its contractors and review the situation on a regular basis. In case of unsatisfactory performance of a contractor during the contractual period, the HyD has the right to terminate the contract early.
Ends/Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Issued at HKT 12:01
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