EDDIE.LEE@SCMP.COM
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 22 December, 2015, 2:55am
UPDATED : Tuesday, 22 December, 2015, 2:58am
The MTRC and the government announced that the latest estimate for the project was HK$84.42 billion, up HK19.6 billion from the original plan. Photo: Felix Wong
The government might allow lawmakers to read the entrustment agreement for construction and commissioning of the high-speed rail link to Guangzhou, Hong Kong’s transport chief said yesterday.
Secretary for Transport and Housing Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung said lawmakers had asked for details about the pact signed between the administration and the MTR Corporation, widely seen as key information in determining which party should be responsible for covering the cost overruns after prolonged delays in completion of the project.
“The agreement contains sensitive information ... but the administration will consider the lawmakers’ request and discuss with the MTR,” Cheung told an inquiry in the Legislative Council.
“We will make an announcement when we come to a decision,” he added, without giving a timetable for the disclosure.
Under a controversial agreement announced last month, the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link will be completed in the third quarter of 2018, with the cost revised to HK$84.42 billion – HK$880 million less than the corporation’s last estimate.
The government hopes to persuade a highly sceptical Legislative Council to approve the HK$19.6 billion in extra funding by February. Almost exactly the same amount should eventually be recouped through a special dividend to be paid by the MTR.
Cheung reiterated that the government had hired outside lawyers to look into the MTR’s management of the project, despite their clinching the new agreement. “We reserve the right to make a claim,” he said.
Asked whether the government had failed to supervise the construction work, Cheung said the government had for long believed that the railway operator, with its track record, could manage the project effectively.
He said in retrospect, the government should have taken a more proactive role in monitoring the implementation of the project, but he ruled out the possibility of terminating the agreement.
“If we terminate the contract [with the MTR], we may need to restart the tendering process for some construction work,” he cautioned. He cited poor management by the MTR as a major reason for the delays.
“If the MTR’s management had been more candid and informed Hongkongers earlier, it would not have led to this level of public suspicion,” he said.
But he played down the role of the Highways Department in alerting the authorities and the public.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/1893788/lawmakers-may-get-read-sensitive-rail-agreement
