ENG-1996 — Page 265

14 LAND, PUBLIC WORKS

AND UTILITIES

¡

EFFICIENT delivery of a wide range of public works is essential to sustaining Hong Kong's economic growth and improving its lifestyle. In the five years since 1992, the government has spent more than $72 billion on public works, other than works in connection with the new Airport Core Programme, to build the infrastructure necessary to cope with Hong Kong's rapid development. This constitutes an increase of 40 per cent in real terms by comparison with the previous five years.

The works group of departments managed more than 1 000 ongoing projects of all kinds in 1996. To help ensure that these projects are completed on time, a computerised public works management system was installed in 1994. The system was upgraded in 1996 and 155 terminals were installed in various government departments. Dedicated project management teams have also been set up in works departments to facilitate the execution and co-ordination of projects. Suitable training materials have been developed and training programmes implemented to improve professional skills in project management and co-ordination.

A regular Land Acquisition Co-ordination Meeting has been set up to identify and resolve major problems and streamline the land acquisition process and facilitate land resumption for public works. This is supported by district level committees which have been reorganised to deal more effectively with local issues.

The Architectural Services Department and the Medical Electronics Projects and Procurement Sub-divisions of the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department were certified to ISO 9000 quality standards in April and June 1995 respectively. To further promote quality management in public works construction, consultants for major consultancies and contractors for major contracts were required to be certified to ISO 9000 international quality standards by April 1 and October 1, 1996, respectively. The industry response was good. Meanwhile, the first phase of the Civil Engineering Department's quality management training programme started in mid- 1996 while the Department's Landslip Prevention Branch established a documented quality management system to ISO 9000 standard in October 1996. The Territory Development Department, Highways Department, Drainage Services Department and Water Supplies Department have also embarked on developing their own quality management systems.

The Port Projects Co-ordination Office was expanded in 1996 to facilitate the planning and implementation of the proposed port development. Key port projects that are in active planning include Container Terminals 9, 10 and 11. The office is co- ordinating the investigation and construction of various new port facilities such as typhoon shelters, sites for mid-stream operations and river trade terminals.

201