XN000022-1996-07-12 — Page 4

- 2 -

"Monthly site meetings attended by architects from this department were held throughout the construction period, and since November 1995 special efforts have been made to monitor the performance of the contractor with bi-weekly meetings and additional special meetings with the contractor to try and ensure that the pools are completed and ready for public use this summer.

"Ninety-eight per cent of the work has now been completed and a special arrangement will be made to ensure the opening of the pools in mid August 1996. The problems experienced by the contractor are not unusual in the construction industry.

"There are currently 43 Urban Council projects under construction of which only eight or 19 per cent are behind schedule. This is a reasonable figure which for the Urban Council mirrors the Department's general programme for the rest of the Government.

"Whilst the delay in the Jordan Valley Swimming Pool project is unfortunate, supervision and monitoring of the contractor has always been strictly in accordance with the contract and there has been no dereliction of duty on the part of members of this department.

"Under the Memorandum of Administrative Arrangements between the Government and the Urban Council, a figure of 16 per cent is charged based on the construction cost of projects for the work of various government agencies. This covers not only the work of Architectural Services Department in designing, supervising and constructing projects, and arranging maintenance works, but also the work of other departments such as Buildings Department, Lands Department, and Legal Department.

"It also covers the processing of tenders through the Central and Public Works tender boards, and accounting procedures for monitoring and paying for the works. Architectural Services Department also provide technical advice on potential projects without charge.

"The 16 per cent is an agreed charge and is designed to recover the costs of work performed, not to make a profit. A recent calculation indicated that for small Urban Council projects, the actual cost to Architectural Services Department is as high as 23 per cent. However, there is no intention to change the basis of the charge as this is considered a reasonable average for the work performed.

"While Urban Councillors may feel that they can obtain cheaper services by employing consultants, they may not realise that a special section will have to be set up in Urban Services Department to monitor and supervise the consultants, and they will still need the additional services mentioned above, which will then have to be charged separately.