For discussion PWSC(96-97)87
on 8 January 1997

ITEM FOR PUBLIC WORKS SUBCOMMITTEE
OF FINANCE COMMITTEE

HEAD 702 - PORT AND AIRPORT DEVELOPMENT
Territory Development
(Civil Engineering - Land development)
321CL - Reclamation and servicing of Tuen Mun area 38 for special industries

Members are invited to recommend to Finance Committee -

1. the upgrading of part of 321CL, entitled "Reclamation and servicing of Tuen Mun area 38 for special industries - stage II reclamation and associated infrastructure", to Category A at an estimated cost of $562.3 million in money-of-the-day prices; and
2. the retention of the remainder of 321CL in Category B, retitled "Road improvements and construction of a cargo pier for special industries in Tuen Mun area 38".

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PROBLEM
PROPOSAL
PROJECT SCOPE AND NATURE
JUSTIFICATION
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
PUBLIC CONSULTATION
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS
LAND ACQUISITION
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
321CL - Reclamation and servicing of Tuen Mun Area 38 for special industries

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PROBLEM

We need more formed and serviced land for the Special Industries Area (SIA) in Tuen Mun area 38 and a new public dump in the area nearby.

PROPOSAL

2. The Director of Territory Development, with the support of the Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands, proposes to upgrade part of the remaining 321CL to Category A at an estimated cost of $562.3 million in money-of-the-day (MOD) prices for the stage IIII reclamation and provision of infrastructure for the SIA in Tuen Mun area 38.

PROJECT SCOPE AND NATURE

3. The remaining scope of 321CL comprises -

1. reclamation and servicing of 33 hectares of land for the SIA;
2. improvement to Tuen Mun Road and Wong Chu Road interchange;
3. construction of a new road from Tuen Mun area 45 to Wong Chu Road;
4. construction of stormwater culverts; and
5. construction of a common user pier for cargo handling.

4. The part of 321CL we now propose to upgrade to Category A comprises -

1. reclamation of 33 hectares of land for tof the SIA with a 550-metre long vertical seawall;
2. construction of internal roads, drains and sewers; and
3. landscaping works.

JUSTIFICATION

5. In 1989, the Port and Airport Development Strategy identified Tuen Mun area 38 as suitable for special industries. The Expanded Development Study (EDS) of Tuen Mun area 38, which was completed in October 1990, confirmed the demand for land for special industries as well as the feasibility in planning, engineering and environmental terms of the development of a SIA. It is important that suitable new industrial land is made available to allow existing companies to re-invest and expand and to encourage new companies to invest in Hong Kong. These will provide job opportunities to the local workforce.

6. The development of the SIA is phased over two stages. We commenced stage I works in September 1995 and will complete 28 hectares of reclamation and associated infrastructure in late 1998. Subject to approval, we will commence the stage II works in April 1997 and will complete 33 hectares of reclamation and associated infrastructure in April 2002.

7. In the stage I SIA reclamation, we provided a site for receiving suitable public dumping materials generated in the northwest New Territories throughout the whole reclamation period. This public dump received 87 000 truckloads of inert construction waste¹ from November 1995 to September 1996. We estimate that the dump will be full by late 1997.

8. Consequently, we need a new public dump site in Tuen Mun area 38 to continue to receive public dumping materials generated from the northwest New Territories. We therefore propose to use the stage II SIA reclamation site as a public dump which will be able to receive a total of some 280 000 truckloads of construction waste throughout the reclamation period until late 2000. This will divert usable filling material from landfill sites to the reclamation thus saving valuable landfill space. This will also help to alleviate the problem of illegal dumping of building debris in the northwest New Territories. The proposed public dump will help reclaim the remaining area of 33 hectaresTrade Terminal. We estimate that about one-third of the filling material for reclamation will come from public dumping while the remaining two-thirds will be supplemented by imported fillingedimported filling where necessary.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

9. We estimate the capital cost of the project to be $562.3 million in MOD prices (see paragraph 10 below), made up as follows -

We propose to employ resident site staff through consultants as there are insufficient in-house staff to supervise the project. A breakdown by man-months of the estimate for resident site staff expenses is at the Enclosure.

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

11. We have derived the MOD estimates on the basis of the Government’s forecasts of trend labour and construction prices for the period from 1997 to 2003. We will tender the reclamation works under a standard remeasurement contract because of the uncertain ground conditions at the sea bed and uncertain quantities of public dumping materials available and imported filling. We will provide for inflation adjustment in this contract because the contract period will exceed 21 months. We will tender the road and drainage works under a separate fixed-price lump sum contract because we have firm quantities for the majority of works.

12. We estimate the annually recurrent expenditure for the project to be $2,976,000million, of which $179,000 (in respect of the sewerage works) will be a charge to the Sewage Services Trading Fund. Subject to the Legislative Council passing a Resolution on appropriation of the assets to the Trading Fund, the sewerage works under the project will, upon completion, become assets in the Fund valued at cost.

13. The impact on sewage charges arising from the sewerage works in this project is negligible.

PUBLIC CONSULTATION

14. We presented the EDS of Tuen Mun area 38 to the Tuen Mun District Board on 21 August 1990. We also presented the draft layout plan of Tuen Mun area 38 which demarcated the use of the area as SIA to the Tuen Mun District Board on 10 December 1991 and 20 January 1992. The District Board raised no objection to the proposed development, but some District Board members expressed concern about the traffic and environmental implications of the proposed development.

15. To mitigate the traffic impact, we will improve the roads in Tuen Mun as stated in paragraphs 3(b) and 3(c) above in phases between 1998 and 2001. We commenced the improvement to the section of Lung Mun Road fronting Tuen Mun area 38 in October 1996 for completion in March 1999. We will have completed all the improvement works to Tuen Mun Road by the end of 1996, with the with the exception ofion of the Tai Lam Section which we will improve at a later stage after we complete a feasibility study for these particular works. The Country Park Section of Route 3 is currently under construction and will be completed in mid 1998. All these roadworks improvements will help to relieve traffic congestion in Tuen Mun and the northwest New Territories.

16. We completed an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in December 1994 and presented the EIA report to the Environmental Improvement and District Development Committee of Tuen Mun District Board on 12 January 1995. The Committee raised no objection to the EIA report. The Advisory Council on the Environment (ACE) endorsed the EIA report on 20 February 1995.

17. We consulted the Environmental Improvement and District Development Committee of the Tuen Mun District Board on the stage II SIA reclamation and associated infrastructure on 6 September 1996. The Committee raised no objection to the proposed works.

18. We gazetted the whole SIA reclamation works under the Foreshore and Sea-bed (Reclamations) Ordinance on 19 February 1993. We received three objections. After addressing their concerns, two objectors withdrew their objections. One objector did not withdraw his objection. The Governor-in-Council overruled this objection and authorised the reclamation on 10 June 1994.

19. We gazetted the proposed roadworks on the stage II SIA reclamation under the Roads (Works, Use and Compensation) Ordinance on 25 August 1995 and received no objection. The proposed roadworks were authorised on 8 December 1995.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS

20. The EIA report referred to in paragraph 16 above concluded that there will be no long term adverse impact arising from the proposed reclamation. We will incorporate appropriate environmental mitigation measures and requirements under the works contracts to keep the short term air, noise, water and site run-off impacts during construction to within established standards and guidelines.

LAND ACQUISITION

21. The proposed works do not require land acquisition.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

22. We included 321CL in Category C in September 1988 and upgraded it to Category B in November 1990.

23. On 9 June 1995, we upgraded the first part of 321CL to Category A as 500CL entitled "Reclamation and servicing of Tuen Mun area 38 for special industries - stage I reclamation and associated infrastructure" at an estimated cost of $486.94 million . On 12 July 1995, we upgraded the second part of 321CL to Category A as 502CL entitled "Reclamation and servicing of Tuen Mun area 38 for special industries - sewerage and drainage works" at an estimated cost of $299.5 million. On 12 April 1996, we upgraded the third part of 321CL to Category A as 600TH entitled "Improvement to Lung Mun Road fronting Tuen Mun area 38 and associated sewerage and drainage works" at an estimated cost of $221.7 million. On 10 July 1996, wethe upgraded the fourth part of 321CL to Category A as 291DS entitled "Upgrading of Pillar Point sewage treatment plant" at an estimated cost of $106.6 million.

24. We started the stage I reclamation of the SIA under 500CL in September 1995 for completion in late 1998. We started the sewerage and drainage works under 502CL in April 1996 for completion in June 1998. We started the Lung Mun Road improvement works under 600TH in October 1996 for completion in March 1999. We also started the upgrading works of the Pillar Point sewage treatment plant under 291DS in October 1996 for completion in September 1998.

25. The Director of Civil Engineering has completed the detailed design and drawings for the stage IIII SIA reclamation and associated infrastructure works using in-house staff resources. We intend to start the proposed works in April 1997 for completion in April 2002.

26. We intend to carry out those works still remaining under 321CL in stages from early 1998 for completion in 2002.

(LL180)

1 -- Inert construction waste is waste generated by the contsruction industry and comprises earth, broken rock, concrete and building debris (e.g. bricks and plaster).

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Enclosure to PWSC(96-97)87

321CL - Reclamation and servicing of Tuen Mun Area 38 for special industries

Breakdown of the estimate for resident site staff expenses

*MPS = Master Pay Scale

Notes

1. The in-house staff of the Director of Civil Engineering (DCE) will provide the services of the professional staff.

2. A multiplier factor of 2.1 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 supplied by the consultants. (At 1.4.95, MPS pt. 16 = $17,270 p.m.)

3. The figures given above are based on estimates prepared by DCE. We will only know the actual man months and actual fees when we have appointed the resident site staff.

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