For discussion PWSC(95-96)107
on 15 March 1996

ITEM FOR PUBLIC WORKS SUBCOMMITTEE
OF FINANCE COMMITTEE

HEAD 703 - BUILDINGS
Education - Secondary
164ES - Secondary school in area 5B, Tuen Mun

Members are invited to recommend to Finance Committee the upgrading of 164ES to Category A at an estimated cost of $57.3 million for the construction of a secondary school in area 5B, Tuen Mun.

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PROBLEM
PROPOSAL
PROJECT SCOPE AND NATURE
JUSTIFICATION
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
PUBLIC CONSULTATION
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS
LAND ACQUISITION
BACKGROUND INFORMATION

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PROBLEM

There will be a shortfall of 436 secondary school classes in the territory by 1997.

PROPOSAL

2. The Director of Architectural Services (D Arch S), with the support of the Secretary for Education and Manpower, proposes to upgrade 164ES to Category A at an estimated cost of $57.3 million for the construction of a secondary school in area 5B, Tuen Mun.

PROJECT SCOPE AND NATURE

3. The proposed school will be of standard design, which comprises -

1. 26 classrooms;
2. 14 special rooms;
3. three remedial teaching rooms;
4. a guidance activity/interview room;
5. two interview rooms;
6. a staff common room;
7. a student activity centre; and
8. an assembly hall and ancillary facilities.

JUSTIFICATION

4. The Director of Education forecasts that there will be a shortfall of 436 secondary school classes in the territory by 1997. As a temporary measure to meet the shortfall, we are adopting floating classes in secondary schools. In accordance with the Government policy to phase out floating classes in Secondary One to Secondary Five¹ , we propose to construct a secondary school in area 5B, Tuen Mun to reduce the shortfall. We are planning more schools to meet the remaining shortfall.

5. The proposed school site is located within a private residential development. In order to enable the timely completion of the school for pupil intake in September 1997, we will entrust the works to the private developer.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

6. We estimate the capital cost of the project to be $57.3 million at January 1996 prices, made up as follows -

A comparison of the standard cost of a secondary school with the project estimate of this school is at the Enclosure.

7. As agreed with the private developer, the Government will reimburse the private developer a lump sum³ of $52.3 million upon completion of the works. Other than any additional requirements specifically requested by the Government which will be paid for out of the contingency sum, the private developer will bear any other additional costs above the agreed lump sum including inflation adjustment⁴ .

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

9. We estimate the annually recurrent expenditure to be $30.5 million. As the new school will be an aided school, the sponsoring body will bear the costs of furniture and equipment, estimated at $4.8 million.

PUBLIC CONSULTATION

10. We consulted the Social Services Committee of the Tuen Mun District Board in August 1995. The Committee supported this school project.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS

11. The Director of Environmental Protection completed an Environmental Review in October 1995. He envisages that the teaching rooms and the laboratories in the special room block will be exposed to traffic noise in excess of the noise limit stated in the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines. We will provide air-conditioning for the teaching rooms and laboratories in the special room block at an estimated cost of $0.5 million. We have included the cost in the project estimate.

12. For short term construction impact, we will control dust, noise and run-off nuisance during construction to comply with the established guidelines/ standards through the implementation of mitigation measures in the relevant contract.

LAND ACQUISITION

13. This project does not require land acquisition. The private developer is required to form the site and hand it back to the Government under the land grant conditions.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

14. We upgraded this project to Category B in October 1995.

15. The developer has completed site investigation works and commenced the design of piling, substructure and external area and the preparation of tender documents⁵ . D Arch S will provide the standard design and drawings for the secondary school. We have scheduled works to start in April 1996 for completion in August 1997.

16. The site area for the proposed school is 7 416 square metres, which is greater than the standard site area of 6 950 square metres for a secondary school. D of E will release the surplus site area of 466 square metres as shown at the site plan for other uses whenever required in future.

1 -- The Administration's plan is to phasae out floating classes at Secondary One to Five by the year 2000, through builiding new schools and providing extra classrooms under the School Improvement Programme.
2 -- Entrustment cost represents developer's on-cost for financial charges, professional fees, project management fees and site supervision. Unlike other Government projects, we will make payment to the developer only on satisfactory completion of the works.
3 -- The lump sum of $52.3 million is estimated on the basis of the current cost to the Government of building a standard secondary school.
4--- Unlike other public works projects, we do not need to calculate the value of this project at money-of-the-day prices, which take into account inflation adjustment.
5 -- To meet this own works programme, the developer has started the design of piling, substructure and external area. The developer understands that if for any reasons the funding proposal for this project is not approved, the Government will bear no liability for the developer's abortive work.

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Enclosure to PWSC(95-96)107

*Assumptions for standard cost

1. Piling cost is based on 130 nos. of steel H-piles of an average depth of 25-30 metres.
2. No site formation work/geotechnical work is required as it is normally carried out under a separate engineering vote.
3. Cost for drainage and external works is for a standard school site area of 6 950 square metres built on a flat site.
4. No diversion of existing utilities is required.
5. No noise mitigation measures are required.
6. No consultancy services are required.
7. Furniture and equipment cost is excluded as it is usually borne by the sponsoring body.

Notes

1. Piling cost is based on 130 nos. of steel H-piles of an average depth of 10-15 metres to suit the shallower bedrock level of this site.
2. The cost of $0.5 million for noise mitigation measures is included.
3. Higher drainage and external works cost is due to the larger site area of about 7 400 square metres.
4. Entrustment cost is required to pay for developer’s on-cost for financial charges, professional fees, project management fees and site supervision.

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