TNAG-0760-FCO40-964-Annual-accounts-of-the-Hong-Kong-Government-for-1977-1978 — Page 43

:ads

ited to

delays savings for the

te was ) - the Wan'

e some

thority nenced 52.6%)

unt for

,343 or under ssation larters'

d final

58.7%)

I result pated; nenced

ce and

under

nerator : lower

cause a

project

o Ping

supply >spital'

e com-

ed staff before tender

use of Drive' Borrett

elay in *ucture Kong'

elay in

444 or 'Hung pected

ay due adium' within prices

very of ements

er than

, play- ɩrt, (ii) ounts; sts for items'

under anned;

:ion of uilding actors;

ecause

in the

police

:

rank and file married quarters' ($1,602,779), ‘Tai Lam addiction treatment centre, quarters for single wardens and for single officers' ($286,533), ‘Additional staff quarters, Queen Mary Hospital' ($365,693), 'Tai Po Government Building' ($284,490), 'Harcourt House, nurses hostel' ($336,957), 'Cheung Chau recreation ground' ($653,200) all of which had a 'nil' estimate in the printed estimates but were subsequently injected into the building programme during the year; "Temporary storage areas in Kowloon' ($765,804 or 127.6%) partly because under expenditure in 1975/76 led to higher expenditure in 1976/77 and partly due to the inclusion of additional items; 'North-East Kowloon Government offices' ($366,250 or 139.3%) mainly due to the re-assessment of a claim leading to an increase in expenditure on the project; 'New frontier divisional headquarters and station' ($1,499,023 as compared with a token provision of $1,000) because this project commenced earlier than originally planned; 'Prisons Department mental hospital' ($571,681 or 439.8%) because a payment which it had been anticipated would be made in 1975/76 was no made until 1976/77 and following the reassessment of a claim other expenditure on the project became payable in 1976/77 rather than 1977/78; 'New Lai Chi Kok hospital' ($322,564 or 99.3%) because the final account for the project was larger than anticipated; 'New General Post Office' ($1,556,974 or 20.5%) because payments allowed for in the estimate for the previous year were delayed due to changes in the scope of the work and were not made until 1976/77.

Head 69 - Public Works Non-Recurrent: Engineering

Of the 207 subheads in the printed estimates, there were 27 where the printed estimate was ‘nil' and no expenditure was incurred during the year and one where actual expenditure was exactly equal to the amount provided. Of the remainder, 143 recorded savings and 36 were overspent. Total savings amounted to $230,983,622 and the total overspent, $28,293,814 was covered by supplementary provision amounting to $47,319,193 including $19,133,500 for twenty nine new subheads of which $10,944,270 was spent. Ten subheads accounted for more than one-half of the gross savings on the printed estimates, these were: 'Kowloon Bay development drainage works – stage IV' ($6,761,963 or 38.3%) because contract prices were lower than originally estimated; 'Cheung Chau typhoon shelter' ($6,710,000 or the whole provision) because calling for tenders for the breakwater contract was deferred following objections to the size of the typhoon shelter by the Cheung Chau Rural Committee; 'Incinerator at Kwai Chung' ($5,881,585 or 13.6%) because of delay in the civil engineering work, electrical and mechanical work on the site could not proceed as scheduled; ‘Railway marshalling yard at Lo Wu' ($6,560,861 or 85.1%) was delayed owing to the late approval of staff and the late delivery of permanent way material; 'Pok Fu Lam Road/Connaught Road West Link - site investigations, design and land acquisitions' ($15,980,566 or 99.9%) because expenditure on land acquisition was reduced due to modification of the flyover alignment and payment in respect of resumption and compensation costs was not effected during the year; 'Canal Road Flyover: extension to Wong Nai Chung Road' ($10,320,744 or 51.6%) because the tender sum was substantially lower than origin- ally estimated and there was delay in calling for tenders due to land acquisition difficulties; ‘Aberdeen Tunnel – stage I' ($38,259,775 or 95.6%) because of delay in the decision to call for tenders due to funding arrangements and a change in the scope of the project necessitating additional financial approval; 'Western approaches to Airport tunnel' ($9,160,614 or 61.1%) because of delay in calling for tenders due to the receipt of objections under the Streets (Alteration) Ordinance and a rearrangement of contract works following a re-assessment of priorities; ‘Airport tunnel road, Mok Cheong Street to Kwoloon Bay reclamation' ($6,992,715 or 46.6%) because of a saving in the contingency sum under one large contract and the redesigning of an interchange due to a change of land use in the area; 'Kwun Tong Road/Lai Yip Street grade separated inter-section, stage I works at ground level and associated with the mass transit railway' ($10,722,274 or 73.4%) because of a programme revision by the Mass Transit Railway Corporation who supplied the estimate for these works. The six largest excesses on subheads appearing in the printed estimates were as follows: 'Controlled tipping of refuse at Sai Tso Wan' ($1,124,227 against an estimate of $27,000) because the approved project estimate was revised during the year to include additional works; ‘Landslide preventive measures for 31 areas' ($1,996,930 or 336.2%) because the scope of the work was extended during the year; 'Clear Water Bay Road development' ($2,121,887 or 18.8%) because progress of the work was slightly faster than expected; and ‘Argyle Street/Waterloo Road/ Princess Margaret Road - grade separated intersection' ($996,250 or 249.1%), 'Waterloo Road/Prince Edward Road/Boundary Street inter-change improvements' ($1,920,891 or 128.1%) and 'Duplication of Kwun Tong Road between Clear Water Bay Road and Lai Yip Street' ($2,181,818 or 485.9%) because contract payments for these projects which it had been expected would be made in 1975/76 were held over until 1976/77 to allow additional time for finalisation and agreement.

Head 70 - Public Works Non-Recurrent: New Towns and Public Housing (other than Housing Authority) There were 124 subheads in the original estimates including 10 with a ‘nil' estimate on which there was no expenditure during the year. On the remaining 114 subheads expenditure was less than the estimate in 89 cases, exactly the same as the estimate in one case, and exceeded the estimate in 24 cases. Total savings amounted to $223,677,171 and the total overspent, $30,804,787, was covered by supplementary provision amounting to $57,172,468. Eighteen new subheads were opened during the year with supplementary provisions totalling $34,580,000 against which expenditure of $19,396,258 was recorded. Of the new subheads the largest was 'Development of Licensed Areas' with provision of $15,000,000 of which $10,934,115 was spent. Ten subheads accounted for more than 50% of the gross underspenting on the printed estimated. These major savings occurred; under 'Pak Tin Housing Authority estate' ($7,148,067 or 58.9%) due to a number of factors including tender delays, a change in requirements as regards the provision of kitchens, lower than expected tender prices, delay due to wet weather and to rock encountered at the foundation stage, and smaller material deliveries than anticipated; under 'Kwai Shing Housing Authority estate, sites II and III' ($21,298,699 or 64.5%) because (i) expenditure during the previous year was greater than anticipated, (ii) there was a reduction in external works and drainage costs for housing blocks completed during the year, (iii) changes in the scope of the project and delay in agreeing requirements, (iv) delay in clearing sites for schools and (v) some tender prices were lower than previously estimated; under 'Tsing Yi development water supply, stage I' ($6,825,079 or 73.3%) mainly because of savings obtained by using the excavation for the service reservoir site as a borrow area and underspending due to the

19