For discussion PWSC(95-96)85
on 7 February 1996

ITEM FOR PUBLIC WORKS SUBCOMMITTEE
OF FINANCE COMMITTEE

HEAD 707 - NEW TOWNS AND URBAN AREA DEVELOPMENT
Environmental Protection - Sewerage and sewage treatment
Housing - Rural housing improvement^1*
Transport - Roads
109DS - Provision of sewers and sewage treatment plants in rural areas in the New Territories
18HH - Village improvements and development schemes in the New Territories
446TH - Improvement, reconstruction and extension of village access roads in the New Territories

Members are invited to recommend to Finance Committee -

1. the upgrading of part of 109DS, entitled “Provision of sewers and sewage treatment plants in rural areas in the New Territories: 1996-97 Programme”, to Category A at an estimated cost of $2.4 million in money-of-the-day prices;
2. the upgrading of part of 18HH, entitled “Village improvements and development schemes in the New Territories: 1996-97 Programme”, to Category A at an estimated cost of $229.7 million in money-of-the-day prices;
3. the upgrading of part of 446TH, entitled “Improvement, reconstruction and extension of village access roads in the New Territories: 1996-97 Programme”, to Category A at an estimated cost of $100.7 million in money-of-the-day prices; and
4. the retention of the remainders of 109DS, 18HH and 446TH in Category B.

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PROBLEM
PROPOSAL
PROJECT SCOPE AND NATURE
JUSTIFICATION
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
PUBLIC CONSULTATION
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS
LAND ACQUISITION
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Proposed project list for the Rural Planning & Improvement Strategy (1996/97 programme)

109DS - Provision of sewers and sewage treatment plants in rural areas in the New Territories
18HH - Village improvements and development schemes in the New Territories
446TH - Improvement, reconstruction and extension of village access roads in the New Territories

Public Consultation for the Implementation of RPIS Implementation Programme 1996-97

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PROBLEM

Some villages in the New Territories (NT) lack basic amenities and infrastructure and suffer problems arising from pollution and local flooding.

PROPOSAL

2. The Director of Home Affairs, with the support of the Secretary for Home Affairs, proposes to upgrade parts of 109DS, 18HH and 446TH to Category A at an estimated cost of $332.8 million in money-of-the-day (MOD) prices to implement the 1996-97 programme of the Rural Planning and Improvement Strategy (RPIS) in the rural New Territories.

PROJECT SCOPE AND NATURE

3. The scope of RPIS works comprises -

1. works related to infrastructural improvement or development within village layouts and provision of serviced land for village expansion;
2. provision of sewerage networks and treatment plants to unsewered developments within the village confines (major sewers relating to the implementation of the Sewerage Masterplan Studies by the Environmental Protection Department are excluded from the RPIS);
3. improvements and extensions of existing village roads and van tracks with footpath, passing places and associated drainage;
4. incorporation of new amenities such as sitting-out areas, children’s playgrounds and gardens in existing village layouts;
5. works related to land drainage, river training and flood protection schemes for villages;
6. provision and improvement of communal irrigation and field drainage facilities as well as farm access in selected agricultural areas; and
7. other related works endorsed by the RPIS Minor Works District Working Groups and approved by the RPIS Minor Works Steering Committee.

Details of the above proposed works are at Enclosure I.

JUSTIFICATION

4. Some rural villages in the New Territories lack basic modern amenities and infrastructure. There has also been general deterioration of the environment in these rural areas mainly due to pollution arising from human, animal and industrial wastes. In addition, local flooding during periods of heavy rainfall creates difficulties. We need to implement a wide range of minor improvements. The proposed works form the 1996-97 programme of the RPIS, which focuses on infrastructural development and environmental improvement works in the rural New Territories, where the cost of each minor works project does not exceed $15 million.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

5. We estimate the total capital cost of the 1996-97 programme of works to be $332.8 million in MOD prices (see paragraph 6 below), made up as follows -

6. Subject to approval, we will phase expenditure as follows -

7. We derive the MOD estimate on the basis of the Government’s forecasts of trend labour and construction prices over the period between 1996 and 2000. The proposed works consist of about 60 small improvement projects. We will implement most of these items under the existing remeasurement term contracts of the relevant works departments. We will use fixed price lump-sum contracts for the remaining items undertaken by the works teams of the NT District Offices.

8. We estimate the annually recurrent expenditure to be $15.43 million.

PUBLIC CONSULTATION

9. We consulted the nine relevant NT District Boards in October 1995 and November 1995 and they supported the proposed works. Details of the District Boards meetings are at Enclosure II.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS

10. RPIS projects involve small scale improvement works in the rural areas. They will improve the rural environment after implementation. For short term impact during construction, we will implement standard environmental pollution control measures under the relevant contracts to mitigate noise, dust and site run-off impacts.

LAND ACQUISITION

11. We estimate the total land acquisition cost in respect of the works proposed under the 1996-97 programme to be $102 million which will be charged to Head 701- Land Acquisition. The land we will resume is agricultural land, the area of which is about 32 900 square metres.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

12. We included 109DS, 18HH and 446TH in the Public Works Programme in October 1990 for the implementation of a programme of infrastructural development and environmental improvement works in the rural New Territories as formulated in the RPIS under the co-ordination of the Director of Territory Development. The Director of Home Affairs became responsible for the administration and co-ordination of the three RPIS items in October 1994.

13. We revised the scopes of 109DS, 18HH and 446TH in December 1991 and January 1994 respectively to include improvement works falling within country park areas and rural areas that are within new towns. We upgrade works under these three items to Category A on an annual programme basis.

14. We schedule the proposed works to start in June 1996 for completion in March 2000.

1* -- Members' attetion is also drawn to the PWSC paper (95-96)84 which covers similar works. For administrative purposes, we have divided rural improvement works into two types. Those works covered by the PWSC paper (95-96)84 are minor in scale with each item costing less than $2 million and do not require land resumption. The works propsed in this paperare relatively larger in scale with each item costing between $2 million and $15 million, and may involve land resumption.

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Enclosure I to PWSC(95-96)85

Proposed project list for the Rural Planning & Improvement Strategy (1996/97 programme)

109DS - Provision of sewers and sewage treatment plants in rural areas in the New Territories

18HH - Village improvements and development schemes in the New Territories

446TH - Improvement, reconstruction and extension of village access roads in the New Territories

Public Consultation for the Implementation of RPIS Implementation Programme 1996-97

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