*
In the circumstances, the Government has decided that further.
consultations should be held with 'several of the consortia with a view'
to obtaining, to the maximum extent possible and within a strict time
schedule, the information necessary for a decision to be reached. I
must emphasise, for the avoidance of doubt, that the fact that the
Group is to hold further consultations with certain consortia does
1
not indicate a preference for the single-contract approach. In other
words, I must emphasise that a decision on the approach to be adopted
has yet to be made.
But, whatever arrangements are made to finance, construct and
equip the Mass Transit Railway, there will have to be a body responsible for implementing the project though the extent to which the responsible body would have to build up its own engineering design and project
management capability for these tasks would depend on whether a single
or multi-contract approach was adopted. An entity will also be required
In this respect,
;
to operate,and maintain the system after construction.
$
the size and nature of the project have created requirements which are,
in a way, conflicting. On the one hand, the system.will need to be
operated on commercial lines if its financial viability is to be assured, On the other hand, the magnitude of the capital requirement, the length
of the construction period, and the important role which the system will
have to play in the Government's overall transport policy in the 1980s,
all point to the need for the operating authority to be subject to a
greater degree of Government supervision and control than has hitherto
been applied to public utility undertakings in Hong Kong. Having regard
to all those factors, the Government has decided that the operation of
- the Mass Transit Railway'should be entrusted to a public corporation
/established