Following is a question by the Hon Leung Fu-wah and a written reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works, Dr Sarah Liao, at the Legislative Council meeting today (October 9) :
Question:
It is noted that excavation works are frequent along the cycling tracks and pavements on both sides of Sha Tin Hoi, particularly near Kam Tai Court, the sewage treatment plant and the piers near Ma Liu Shui, causing much inconvenience to cyclists and residents nearby. Furthermore, the resurfaced tracks and pavements after the works are often uneven and full of puddles. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the numbers of traffic accidents involving cyclists, broken down by causes, that took place at the above sites and the resultant casualties in each of the past three years;
(b) of the commencement and completion dates, the government departments responsible for vetting and approving the works and the utility undertakers responsible for the works in each of the past three years with respect to each of the excavation works at the above sites;
(c) whether it has evaluated the adequacy of the government departments' efforts in monitoring the road resurfacing works and inspecting the resurfaced roads before their acceptance; if the outcome of evaluation is in the affirmative, of an explanation for the prevalence of uneven road surfaces; and
(d) of the government departments currently responsible for vetting, approving, and monitoring the excavation works at the above sites, as well as those in charge of inspecting the resurfaced roads before their acceptance; whether it will review the division of duties among the departments concerned with regard to such responsibilities and assign one department to take charge of the duties instead?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) Statistics on traffic accidents involving cyclists, broken down by causes, that took place at the cycling track along Tolo Harbour and the resultant casualties in 1999, 2000 and 2001 are at Annex 1.
(b) In the past three years, there have been excavation works in three sections of cycling track along Tolo Harbour, viz. the section near Kam Tai Court, the section between Sha Tin Sewage Treatment Works and the Ma Liu Shui Public Pier, and the section between Ma Liu Shiu Public Pier and Island House Interchange. The commencement and completion dates of these excavation works, together with the corresponding government departments who vetted and approved the applications for excavation works submitted by utility undertakers, are tabulated at Annex 2.
(c) We consider that Government's efforts are adequate in monitoring and inspecting the resurfacing works. It is made a condition in both the excavation permit issued to utility undertakers and the contract awarded to a contractor of Government works that road surfaces have to be reinstated strictly in accordance with Government's specification. These permit and contract conditions allow Government departments to require utility undertakers and contractors to re-execute road surfacing works if they are found to be unsatisfactory.
(d) The Government departments responsible for vetting, approving and monitoring the excavation works and the resurfaced roads at the three sites mentioned in part (b) above are set out in Annex 2. The standards of resurfacing by utility undertakers and contractors have to be done in accordance with a set of specifications applicable to all projects irrespective of the Government departments in charge of such projects. We believe the present arrangements is serving the important objective of providing safe and quality roads to the public.
Annex 2 - Excavation Works at the Cycling Tracks along Tolo Harbour in the past three years
End/Wednesday, October 9, 2002NNNN