In response to the dissatisfaction expressed by staff of the Water Supplies Department (WSD) over the Government's arrangements for consulting their views on the in-situ re-provisioning and ongoing operation of the Sha Tin Water Treatment Works (STWTW) through Public Private Partnership (PPP), a Government spokesman said today (May 18): "We appreciate staff concerns. For this reason, the Director of Water Supplies (DWS) issued an open letter to all colleagues on May 14 making clear the Government's assurance of no forced redundancy as a result of using PPP for the STWTW re-provisioning project."
The Government has also decided not to carry out any major institutional reform in WSD and will focus on the feasibility study of using PPP for the re-provisioning and operation of the STWTW and related facilities.
Besides, WSD has established a special consultative committee to strengthen communication with staff on PPP issues and to reflect their views to Government. DWS' open letter has been uploaded to the webpages of WSD and ETWB.
The Government is conducting extensive consultation on whether to use PPP for the in-situ re-provisioning and operation of STWTW and related facilities. To increase the transparency of the study, the consultancy report has been uploaded to the webpage of ETWB for information and comments by interested staff and members of the public.
The Government will fully consider the views of the public and staff before taking a decision. The Government reiterates that irrespective of the eventual mode of operation to be adopted, it will ensure that the fresh water supply services will be maintained at the current high level and comply with all relevant World Health Organization standards."
Ends/Tuesday, May 18, 2004
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