For discussion
on 14 April 1999
PWSC(1999-2000)5
ITEM FOR PUBLIC WORKS SUBCOMMITTEE
OF FINANCE COMMITTEE
HEAD 703 - BUILDINGS
Social Welfare and Community Buildings - Community centres and halls
173SC - Centre for Youth Development
- the upgrading of part of 173SC, entitled "Centre for Youth Development - pre-contract consultancy" to Category A at an estimated cost of $51.5 million in money-of-the-day prices; and
- the retention of the remainder of 173SC in Category B.
PROBLEM
We need to construct the Centre for Youth Development to serve as a centralised facility and a focal point for promoting youth development. However, the Director of Architectural Services (D Arch S) does not have sufficient in-house staff resources to carry out the pre-contract preparatory works for the proposed project.
PROPOSAL
2. D Arch S, with the support of the Secretary for Home Affairs, proposes to upgrade part of 173SC to Category A at an estimated cost of $51.5 million in money-of-the-day (MOD) prices for the employment of consultants to prepare the outline sketches, detailed design and contract documentation for the pre-contract stage of the proposed Centre for Youth Development.
PROJECT SCOPE AND NATURE
3. The scope of 173SC comprises the demolition of the existing five-storey Chai Wan Community Centre and the construction of a 24-storey Centre for Youth Development which will have an estimated total gross floor area (GFA) of 35 000 square metres at the junction of Chai Wan Road and Wan Tsui Road in Chai Wan. The new centre will provide reprovisioned accommodation for existing services, including a community hall, a day nursery, office/service accommodation for the Group Work Unit of the Social Welfare Department and supporting facilities, and to provide the following new facilities for youth development -
- a youth hostel with 150 twin guest bedrooms with bathrooms at about 20 square metres each, and communal pantry, common room/TV room on each floor, a conference room, activity/function/meeting rooms, a library, laundry rooms, staff rest rooms and changing rooms and offices;
- a youth convention centre with multi-purpose function/activity rooms and exhibition halls;
- youth development activities areas for various youth development programmes/services designed for promoting arts and culture, information technology and leadership training;
- operational areas for non-governmental organisations promoting youth development on a rental basis and government departments including the Social Welfare Department and the Home Affairs Department; and
- a cafe and shops to be run by youth entrepreneurs and commercial enterprises interested in promoting youth development.
4. The part of the project under 173SC that we now propose to upgrade to Category A comprises the employment of consultants to prepare outline sketches, detailed design and contract documentation for the proposed centre.
JUSTIFICATION
5. Over the years, there has been increasing concern within the community on the need to enhance youth development, in particular improving civic awareness and strengthening the moral values of the young. In November 1997, the Commission on Youth (the Commission) carried out a study on the role of young people. The findings of the study revealed that there was a trend that young people lack the motivation to participate in community affairs and to take up responsibilities. This also reinforced the concerns of many subscribers to the Charter for Youth who have urged the Administration to provide more training and development opportunities to equip young people for challenges of the future and the next millennium. In the light of the findings of the study, we have worked out with the Commission a two-pronged approach with emphasis on leadership training on the one hand, and encouraging voluntary participation in community affairs on the other. This two-pronged strategy involves a series of programmes for the long and short term. As part of the long term strategy, we propose to construct a youth development centre with various facilities as detailed in paragraph 3 above, at the existing site of the Chai Wan Community Centre to provide centralised facilities to promote youth development.
6. The existing Chai Wan Community Centre is a five-storey building, with a GFA of 2 808 square metres, built in the 1970s. The Community Centre has been in operation since 1975. The site is grossly under-utilised by today's standards. By redeveloping the existing community centre and combining it with the proposed youth development facilities, the site can be fully optimised at a plot ratio of 9.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
7. We estimate the cost of consultants fees for the pre-contract work to be $51.5 million in MOD prices (see paragraph 8 below), made up as follows -
| $ million
|
|---|
| (a) Consultants' fees for
|
|
A breakdown by man months of the estimate for consultants fees is at the Enclosure.
8. Subject to approval, we will phase the expenditure as follows -
| Year | $ million
(Dec 1998) | Price
adjustment
factor | $ million
(MOD)
|
|---|
| 1999 - 2000
| 8.0 | 1.02625 | 8.2
|
| 2000 - 01
| 32.1 | 1.06217 | 34.1
|
| 2001 - 02 | 8.4 | 1.09934 | 9.2
|
| ______ | | ______
|
| 48.5 | | 51.5
|
| ______ | | ______
|
9. We derived the MOD estimates on the basis of Government's latest forecast of trend labour and construction prices for the period 1999 to 2002. We will tender the proposed consultancy on a lump-sum basis with provision for price fluctuation because the contract period will be longer than 12 months.
10. The proposed consultancy will not give rise to any annually recurrent
expenditure.
PUBLIC CONSULTATION
11. We consulted the Eastern Provisional District Board on 173SC in April 1998. Members of the Board supported the project. We will consult the Eastern Provisional District Board again when detailed drawings for the proposed project are available.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS
12. D Arch S completed a Preliminary Environmental Review (PER) of the project in March 1998. The PER concluded that with the provision of central air-conditioning in the building, we can keep the traffic noise impacts from adjacent roads within the established criteria. The Director of Environmental Protection vetted the PER and agreed that an Environmental Impact Assessment would not be necessary. The proposed consultancy will not have any adverse environmental implications.
LAND ACQUISITION
13. The proposed consultancy does not require any land acquisition.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
14. We upgraded 173SC to Category B in September 1998. We plan to start the proposed consultancy in June 1999 for completion by March 2001. We plan to start the piling works and construction works in mid 2000 and April 2001 respectively for overall completion by June 2003.
-----------------------------------------
Home Affairs Bureau
April 1999
(PWSC0104/WIN4)
Enclosure to PWSC(1999-2000)5
173SC - Centre for Youth Development
DETAILS OF CONSULTANTS' FEES
Breakdown of estimates of consultants' fees
| Category of works/items
| | Estimated man
months | Average
MPS* | salary
point
Multiplier
factor
| Estimated
fee
($ million)
|
|---|
| (I) Outline sketch
|
|
* MPS = Master Pay Scale
Notes
1. A multiplier factor of 2.4 is applied to the average MPS point to arrive at the full staff costs including the consultants overheads and profit, as the staff will be employed in the consultants offices. (At 1.4.1998, MPS pt. 40=$62,780 p.m. and MPS pt. 16 = $21,010 p.m.).
2. The figures given above are based on estimates prepared by the Director of Architectural Services. We will only know the actual man months and actual fees when we have selected the consultants through the usual competitive bidding system.
(PWSC0104/WIN4)
