7.125 In response to the Committee's enquiry as to whether the consultants had known that the road alongside the waterpipe was to be widened, the Managing Director of the mainlaying consultants said that they had never denied that they were aware of this.
7.126 On the question of the differences in level between the as-constructed drawings of the mainlaying consultants and the findings of the roadworks consultants, the Managing Director of the mainlaying consultants stated that the problem had arisen because of the positioning of the chainages. This point had recently been clarified with the Water Supplies Department. If the chainages were shifted from a certain origin, then the as-constructed drawings did match with the exploration results of the roadworks consultants.
7.127 The Committee asked the Managing Director of the mainlaying consultants who, in his opinion, was responsible for the mistake. The Managing Director said that it was neither the Water Supplies Department nor the mainlaying consultants. He stated that if any money had been wasted, it was the fault of either the New Territories Development Department or in the planning within Government for the Tsing Yi development. Government planning could not be blamed, if it had been made clear at the time the watermains were being laid when the roadworks programme would actually take place. At the time of laying the watermains, it had not been known when the road would be widened. If the Government planning had decided to develop Tsing Yi in say 20 years' time, the expenditure for the re-laying of the pipeline would have been justified.
7.128 Conclusions and Recommendations. The Committee wish to express their concern at the additional expenditure, estimated at $9.5 million, resulting from the need to re-lay newly laid watermains within a year of their being first laid. This expenditure was largely nugatory.
7.129 The Committee wish to express their concern at the lack of adequate and effective co-ordination between the Water Supplies Department and the New Territories Development Department in the planning of the mainlaying
contract.
7.130 Following their first hearing on this subject the Committee were disposed to believe that, while it was unfortunate that the Director of Water Supplies had to transfer responsibility for this scheme after work had started and there had been errors in the Water Supplies Department procedures, the major responsibility for what went wrong lies with the mainlaying consultants who committed fundamental, but avoidable, errors at the construction stage of the project. Having heard the evidence from the mainlaying consultants at the second hearing the Committee see no reason to alter their conclusion. The Committee believe that the consultants had a duty to determine the vertical level of the mains and that they did not do so.
7.131 The Committee note the Director of New Territories Development's view that in this case it was reasonable for the roadworks consultants to assume that the watermains had been laid in position correctly without having obtained confirmation or drawings showing their actual position. The Committee also note that the roadworks consultants had sought information about the location though not specifically the vertical level of the watermains at the design stage of the roadworks. The Committee accept that the roadworks consultants should be absolved from all blame.
7.132 The Committee recommend that the Director of Water Supplies should review working procedures with regard to mainlaying projects with a view to ensuring that there is adequate and effective co-ordination with the road authority.
7.133 The Committee further recommend that, as a matter of course, all basic design parameters should be determined before a mainlaying contract proceeds to the tender and construction stages and, if this is not possible, this should be made explicitly clear in the contract documentation.
7.134 The Committee believe that, while there is a fine balance between effective monitoring and excessive supervision, it is of paramount importance to ensure that the work of consultants is up to the prescribed standard. The Committee recommend that the Water Supplies Department procedures for managing the work of consultants should be reviewed and, if necessary, revised instructions issued.
8 GENERAL CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
8.1
The Director of Audit's powers. In the course of the Committee's work, suggestions were made in some quarters that the Director of Audit, in some parts of his report, was criticizing Government's policy decisions. In response to these suggestions and the Government Paper tabled in the Legislative Council, the Director made a statement at the public hearing on 29 November. He said that he had not criticized Government's policy but had commented on the way Government's policy had been implemented; that he had examined arrangements by which policy decisions had been reached; and that he had acted within his conventional remit to conduct value for money audits and report thereon having regard to the internationally accepted Government audit standards of economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which public money is spent. A copy of the Director's statement is at Appendix E.
8.2 The Committee accept the Director's statement and that he was not criticizing Government policy. However, while the Committee are of the view that the Director does have a remit to examine and report on policy implementation, the reaction to his report for the year ended 31 March 1985, both inside and outside the Administration, indicate that the boundaries of that remit, particularly in relation to value for money studies, have not been clearly defined. The Committee recommend that early action is taken to resolve this grey area.
8.3
The time tabling of the Public Accounts Committee's cycle. The present arrangements involve a single report by the Director of Audit to which the Public Accounts Committee must respond with its report within three months. Given the need for writing, editing, translating, and printing the Committee's Report within this period and the fact of weekly
333
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.