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Reply:
Mr President,
At its meeting on 18 November 1996, the Managing Board of the Kowloon- Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC) decided to downsize the West Rail Division from 267 to 110 professional staff and 25 clerical and administrative staff members, and consequently the monthly expenditure of the West Rail Division will be cut by about half. This reduced monthly expenditure is dedicated mainly towards managing the Phase I technical studies, which are urgently needed to firm up the alignment and establish the land requirement of the Western Corridor Railway (WCR) project.
There are currently 10 KCRC staff members on the project team. Seven of them are Hong Kong permanent residents, while the remaining three are expatriates who have been working in Hong Kong for at least 7 years. All ten will remain on the down-sized team. The remaining 100 professional staff members will continue to be filled by consultant staff. In the longer term, KCRC envisage a progressive build up of their staff as planning for the project advances. KCRC are now in the process of increasing the proportion of KCRC staff on the team through internal transfer and external recruitment.
End
As regards the specific points raised:
(a)
(b)
(c)
The relatively small number of KCRC staff at present is not a permanent arrangement. As indicated above, KCRC are in the process of progressively replacing consultant staff with their own staff. Such an approach should ensure a smooth transfer and retention of experience within the Corporation. As regards KCRC's recruitment policy, the main criterion is to get the right person for the job. Localisation is an important factor as the Corporation advertise overseas if and only if no suitable local candidates can be found.
As will be seen from paragraph I above, the monthly expenditure of the West Rail Division is incurred mainly for work relating to the Phase I technical studies. We are not aware of the ratio referred to by the Honourable Member; and
There is no current spending on Phase II technical studies. However, in the light of Government's decision last week to construct the domestic passenger line of the WCR project first, there will be a need, in the months ahead, to move on to those parts of the Phase II technical studies which are necessary for the detailed design of this domestic passenger service. This will be the subject of further discussions between Government and the KCRC when the new Chairman of the Corporation is in post.
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