XN000022-1986-03-25 — Page 12

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TUESDAY, MARCH 25, 1986

IN TERMS OF FACILITIES, CMB HAD PURCHASED NEW EQUIPMENT AND TOOLS TO IMPROVE THE STANDARD OF SERVICING AND MAINTENANCE OF BUSES. FACILITIES AT EXISTING DEPOTS IN WONG CHUK HANG, CHAI WAN. NORTH POINT AND JAVA ROAD HAD BEEN UPGRADED WHILE A NEW MULTI-STOREY DEPOT HAD OPENED IN WONG CHUK HANG.

WITH REGARD TO WORKING PROCEDURES, CMB HAD STREAMLINED ITS SERVICING AND MAINTENANCE PROCEDURES TO ENABLE EARLY DETECTION OF FAULTS ON BUSES AND PROMPT RECTIFICATION OF THESE FAULTS.

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BUSES WERE NOW SERVICED AT REGULAR INTERVALS OF NO MORE THAN 30 DAYS AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE QUALI CONTROL SECTION HAD HELPED ENSURE THAT THE QUALITY OF SERVICING AND MAINTENANCE WORK DONE ON BUSES WERE UP TO STANDARD,

IN THE FIELD OF STAFF TRAINING, CMB HAD UPGRADED AND INCREASED THE THROUGHPUT OF THE TRAINING PROGRAMMES FOR ITS WORKFORCE AT ALL LEVELS. THE BUS COMPANY'S TRAINING SCHOOL AT CHAI WAN DEPOT HAD BEEN EXPANDED AND TRAINING PROGRAMMES HAD BEEN ARRANGED WITH INSTITUTIONS SUCH AS THE HONG KONG POLYTECHNIC AND THE INSTITUTE OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS TO HELP CMB STAFF OBTAIN PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS.

THE SAFETY STANDARD OF CMB BUSES HAD IMPROVED SIGNIFICANTLY OVER THE PAST YEAR AND WAS NOW MAINTAINED AT A LEVEL OF BELOW 0.5 SAFETY DEFECT PER BUS SPOT CHECKED. BREAKDOWN TOWED-IN CASES HAD ALSO DROPPED BY NEARLY HALF FROM 12.5 IN JANUARY 1985 TO 6.4 CASES LAST DECEMBER.

AS FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF CMB'S ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT, SIGNS OF IMPROVEMENT WERE OBVIOUS, ESPECIALLY AFTER THE APPOINTMENT OF THE ENGINEERING MANAGER IN MID-JANUARY THIS YEAR, YET IT WOULD BE SOME TIME BEFORE THE FULL IMPACT OF HIS APPOINTMENT WAS FELT AND BEFORE CMB COULD FULLY IMPLEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS IN THE ORGANISATION AND METHOD CONSULTANT REPORT WHICH PROVIDED THE FRAMEWORK FOR STREAMLINING AND RESTRUCTURING THE ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT'S MANAGEMENT.

MOREOVER, THERE WERE INDICATIONS THAT CMB'S SENIOR MANAGEMENT WAS BECOMING MORE RESPONSIVE TO THE TRANSPORT DEPARTMENT'S SUGGESTIONS. THE COMPANY'S LIAISON WITH THE DEPARTMENT AT BOTH THE PLANNING AND OPERATIONAL LEVELS WAS ALSO GETTING CLOSER AND MORE CONSTRUCTIVE.

WHILE CMB'S BOARD OF DIRECTORS HAD PAID MORE ATTENTION ON MANAGEMENT ISSUES, THE FLOW OF INFORMATION FROM SENIOR MANAGEMENT UPWARD TO THE BOARD AND DOWNWARD TO MIDDLE MANAGEMENT STAFF HAD BECOME MORE EFFECTIVE.

THE TAC NOTED THAT THESE IMPROVEMENTS WOULD BRING LONG- TERM BENEFITS AND WAS HAPPY TO SEE WILLINGNESS ON THE PART OF CMB TO SUSTAIN THE IMPROVEMENT ACHIEVED.

/AT TODAY'S

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