For discussion PWSC(96-97)22
on 26 June 1996

ITEM FOR PUBLIC WORKS SUBCOMMITTEE
OF FINANCE COMMITTEE

HEAD 703 - BUILDINGS
Support - Others
149GK - Minor improvements to sewage treatment and disposal facilities at various government buildings and military camps

Members are invited to recommend to Finance Committee the upgrading of 149GK to Category A at an estimated cost of $63.5 million in money-of-the-day prices for carrying out minor improvements to sewage treatment and disposal facilities at various government buildings and military camps.

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PROBLEM
PROPOSAL
PROJECT SCOPE AND NATURE
JUSTIFICATION
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
PUBLIC CONSULTATION
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS
LAND ACQUISITION
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
149GK - Minor improvements to sewage treatment and disposal facilities at various government buildings and military camps

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PROBLEM

Fifty-four existing government buildings and five military camps are located in areas where no public sewerage facilities were previously available. The basic sewage treatment and disposal systems used to deal with waste from these buildings and camps are producing effluent discharges which do not comply with the quality standards set by the Environmental Protection Department (EPD).

PROPOSAL

2. The Director of Architectural Services (D Arch S), with the support of the Secretary for the Treasury, proposes to upgrade 149GK to Category A at an estimated cost of $63.5 million in money-of-the-day (MOD) prices for improving sewage treatment and disposal facilities at 54 government buildings and five military camps.

PROJECT SCOPE AND NATURE

3. The scope of the project comprises -

1. provision of new, or enlarged capacity, septic tanks, installation of interceptors and equalisation tanks, separation of surface water from waste water drainage, installation of chlorination systems and formation of new soakaway pits for 50 government buildings (A list of these buildings is at Enclosure 1);
2. collection and routing of the existing waste discharge from four government buildings to public sewers in the vicinity (A list of these buildings is at Enclosure 2); and
3. installation of additional mechanical screen, provision of new rotating biological contractor units, sludge scraper to sedimentation tank, aeration system and ultra-violet sterilisation system, construction of new primary tanks and addition of final tank with recycle pump for five military camps (A list of these military camps is at Enclosure 3).

JUSTIFICATION

4. Under the Water Pollution Control Ordinance, the effluent discharge from any building or facility located within a declared Water Control Zone is subject to control and licensing. The Director of Environmental Protection (DEP), who issues the licences, has inspected the sewage treatment and disposal facilities at various government buildings and military camps. He advises that both the sewage treatment facilities and quality of the effluents do not meet the current standards and are in urgent need of improvement. As the Water Pollution Control Ordinance binds the Government, the discharge from these government buildings and military sites needs to meet the statutory requirements. The works described in paragraphs 3(a) and (c) above will improve the effluent discharge quality.

5. DEP also advises that a discharge should be connected to a public sewer once it is available in the vicinity of the discharge location. As new public sewers are now available in the vicinity of four government buildings, we need to connect the existing drainage facilities at these buildings to the new public sewers. Connection to public sewers will eliminate the need for individual treatment and discharge systems at these locations. This will result in savings in recurrent maintenance costs and release areas currently occupied by septic tanks/soakaways for other uses.

6. The British Forces will hand over five military camps, namely Gallipoli Lines, Cassino Lines, Tam Mei Camp, Malaya Lines and Sek Kong Village to the Chinese Garrison in June 1997. The Government Property Agency now manages the first three camps. The British Forces are still occupying the other two. Under the Defence Lands Agreement, we have to ensure that military sites to be handed over will be placed under proper protection and timely maintenance so that their integrity and original functions shall be kept intact. We therefore should complete the improvement works to the existing sewage treatment plants before the handover.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

7. We estimate the capital cost of the project to be $63.5 million in MOD prices (see paragraph 8 below), made up as follows -

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

9. We have derived the MOD estimate on the basis of the Government's forecast of trend labour and construction prices for the period 1996 to 1999. We will carry out the majority of the works under existing maintenance term contracts which are selected through competitive tendering. This will allow the early commencement of works. The maintenance term contracts managed by the Architectural Services Department (Arch SD) are three-year re-measurement contracts. The current contract period is from April 1995 to March 1998. We shall issue works orders to the term contractors and they can start works on site very quickly. The contractors will be paid according to actual works done on site. As most of the works at government buildings proposed in paragraphs 3(a) and (b) above (except the installation of chlorination systems) are simple and straight-forward drainage/external works which have to be carried out in occupied premises, we consider that using term contractors is appropriate. We shall use a fixed price lump-sum contract for the installation of chlorination systems. The job will be undertaken on the basis of drawings and specifications. We will invite suitable specialist contractors from the approved list for sewage treatment works to provide competitive tenders.

10. The works at the military camps, when compared to those at government buildings, are more extensive and involve the acquisition and installation of large-scale devices and equipment as detailed in paragraph 3(c) above. The Director of Drainage Services will design and manage the proposed modernisation of the sewage treatment plants and facilities at these camps. The provision of electrical and mechanical devices and equipment will be done by restrictive tendering from the approved list of specialist suppliers. Arch SD's maintenance term contractors will carry out the associated builders works.

11. We estimate that there will be no net additional annually recurrent costs for the Government.

PUBLIC CONSULTATION

12. We consider public consultation unnecessary as we will implement the proposed improvement works within government buildings and military camps.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS

13. DEP conducted an Environmental Review (ER) in March 1996 and concluded that an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was not necessary. The project will result in environmental improvement.

14. For short term impact, we will control noise, dust and off-site nuisances during minor construction work through the implementation of mitigation measures in the relevant contracts.

LAND ACQUISITION

15. This project does not require land acquisition.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

16. We included 149GK in Category B in January 1996. We have completed the detailed design for the proposed works described in paragraphs 3(a) and (b) above. For the works at the military camps, the consultant appointed by DSD will complete the design work in mid-July 1996. We plan to start the proposed building services and drainage and external works in August 1996 for overall project completion by October 1997.

(HH388)

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Enclosure 1 to PWSC(96-97)22

149GK - Minor improvements to sewage treatment and disposal facilities at various government buildings and military camps

List of government buildings to be included for improvement to sewage treatment

	$million (at Dec 1995 prices)
(a) Separation of surface water from waste water drainage		0.2
Tai Hing police station (see Note 1)
Castle Peak police station
Castle Peak boys' home (see Note 2)
Tuen Mun police station (see Note 3)
Tai Lam fire station
Tuen Mun government secondary schools
(b)(i) Provision of grease interceptor to kitchen drains		0.7
Sha Tau Kok police station
Sha Tau Kok border terminal
Man Kam To border terminal
Sheung Shui Junior Police Call club house
Ta Ku Ling police station
Man Kam To frontier police post
Lok Ma Chau border terminal (see Note 4)
Castle Peak boys' home
Tuen Mun police station
Tai Hing police station
Tung Tau correctional institute
(ii) Provision of petrol interceptor			1.2
Tin Shui Wai fire station and ambulance depot
Fanling fire station
Fanling ambulance station
Sheung Shui fire station
Yuen Long fire station
Yuen Long ambulance station
Pat Heung fire station
Tai Lam Customs and Excise training school (see Note 5)
(c) Provision of new septic tanks			6.1
Fire Services training school, Pat Heung	- 3 Nos.
Lok Ma Chau border terminal	- 2 Nos.
Sha Tau Kok frontier police post	- 1 No.
Tai Lam Chung centre, Agriculture and Fisheries Department	- 1 No.
Tai Lam correctional institute	- 2 Nos.
New Life House, Tai Lam	- 1 No.
Tai Lam junior staff married quarters, Correctional Services Department	- 1 No.
Siu Lam psychiatric centre	- 2 Nos.
Siu Lam officers' married quarters, Correctional Services Department	- 1 No.
Siu Lam junior staff married quarters, Correctional Services Department	- 1 No.
Siu Lam officers' quarters, Correctional Services Department	- 1 No.
Tai Lam Chung police quarters	- 1 No.
Tai Lam Customs and Excise training school	- 1 No.
Pak Hok Chau base	- Refurbish
Tai Lam officers' married quarters, Correctional Services Department	- Refurbish
(d) Installation of chlorination system			2.7
High Island detention centre
Pik Uk prison
Tai Lam centre for women
Tai Lam correctional institute
(e) Provision of new soakaway pits			1.2
Civil Aid Services Yuen Tun camp	- 4 Nos.
Sha Tau Kok frontier police post	- 1 No.
Cheung Chau field office	- 1 No.
Cheung Chau meteorological station	- 1 No.
Cheung Sha fire station	- 1 No.
Chi Ma Wan forest post	- 1 No.
Shek Pik police post	- 1 No.
Mui Wo Highways office	- 1 No.
Hei Ling Chau treatment centre	- 20 Nos.
Kam Tin clinic	- 1 No.
Siu Lam psychiatric centre	- 1 No.
(f) Provision of equalisation tanks			1.8
Ma Po Ping prison and Tong Fuk centre
			_____
	Total		13.9

Notes

1. Tai Hing police station will receive (a) and (b)(i) works.
2. Castle Peak boys' home will receive (a) and (b)(i) works.
3. Tuen Mun police station will receive (a) and (b)(i) works.
4. Lok Ma Chau border terminal will receive (b)(i) and (c) works.
5. Tai Lam Customs and Excise training school will receive (b)(ii) and (c) works

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Enclosure 2 to PWSC(96-97)22

149GK - Minor improvements to sewage treatment and disposal facilities at various government buildings and military camps

	$million (at Dec 1995 prices)
List of government buildings to be included for connection of their drainage systems to public sewer
(a) Ma Hang prison	1.8
(b) Tai Tam Gap correctional centre	2.0
(c) Yuen Long Jockey Club clinic	0.6
(d) Sha Tau Kok fire station	0.2
	_____
Total	4.6

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Enclosure 3 to PWSC(96-97)

149GK - Minor improvements to sewage treatment and disposal facilities of various government buildings and military camps

	$million (at Dec 1995 prices)
List of military camps to be included for improvement to sewage treatment
(a) Gallipoli Lines	9.6
(b) Cassino Lines	4.2
(c) Tam Mei Camp	6.7
(d) Malaya Lines	3.0
(e) Sek Kong Village	8.5
	_____
Total	32.0

(HH388)

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