For discussion PWSC(96-97)90
on 8 January 1997

ITEM FOR PUBLIC WORKS SUBCOMMITTEE
OF FINANCE COMMITTEE

HEAD 703 - BUILDINGS
Education - Tertiary/other
65ET - Reprovisioning of Po Leung Kuk Law’s Foundation School

Members are invited to recommend to Finance Committee the upgrading of 65ET to Category A at an estimated cost of $74.5 million in money-of-the-day prices for reprovisioning Po Leung Kuk Law’s Foundation School from Lei Muk Shue Estate to area 6, Yuen Long.

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PROBLEM
PROPOSAL
PROJECT SCOPE AND NATURE
JUSTIFICATION
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
PUBLIC CONSULTATION
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS
LAND ACQUISITION
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
65ET - Reprovisioning of Po Leung Kuk Law’s Foundation School

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PROBLEM

The existing Po Leung Kuk Law’s Foundation School (PLKLFS) at Lei Muk Shue Estate, Kwai Chung is due for demolition in February 2000 as it will be affected by the Housing Authority’s Comprehensive Redevelopment Programme.

PROPOSAL

2. The Director of Architectural Services (D Arch S), with the support of the Secretary for Education and Manpower, proposes to upgrade 65ET to Category A at an estimated cost of $74.5 million in money-of-the-day (MOD) prices for reprovisioning the PLKLFS from Lei Muk Shue Estate to area 6, Yuen Long.

PROJECT SCOPE AND NATURE

3. The scope of the project comprises the construction of a new special school with 80 school places and 60 boarding places for severely mentally handicapped children. The new school will consist of -

1. ten classrooms;
2. 11 special rooms;
3. student bedrooms;
4. an assembly hall cum gymnasium;
5. a student activity centre;
6. a dining room;
7. staff barracks and warden's quarters; and
8. ancillary facilities.

JUSTIFICATION

4. The PLKLFS in Lei Muk Shue Estate which currently provides 64 school places and 32 boarding places for severely mentally handicapped children has to be demolished by February 2000 as it will be affected by the Housing Authority’s Comprehensive Redevelopment Programme in the area. We therefore need to reprovision the school in order to maintain adequate provision of school places and boarding places for severely mentally handicapped students.

5. The provision of special school places and boarding places for severely mentally handicapped students is planned on a territory-wide basis. In deciding the location for reprovisioning an existing special school, the Director of Education (D of E) takes into account the demand for such school places in different regions. The aim is to achieve a more even distribution of school places among different regions as far as possible. D of E forecasts that by 1998, there will be a demand of 119 school places and 59 boarding places for severely mentally handicapped students in North West New Territories which includes Yuen Long and Tuen Mun. At present, there is no such special school in this area and students there are provided with school places mainly in Kwai Tsing district. We therefore propose to reprovision the PLKLFS from Lei Muk Shue Estate to area 6, Yuen Long.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

6. We estimate the capital cost of the project to be $74.5 million in MOD prices (see paragraph 7 below), made up as follows -

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

8. We have derived the MOD estimate on the basis of the Government’s forecast of trend labour and construction prices for the period 1997 to 2000. We will tender the project under a fixed-price lump-sum contract because we can define clearly the scope of the works in advance, leaving little room for uncertainty.

9. We estimate the additional annually recurrent expenditure for the project to be $5.8 million.

PUBLIC CONSULTATION

10. We consulted the Social Services and Publicity Committee of the Yuen Long District Board in March 1996 and the Board supported the project.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS

11. The Director of Environmental Protection vetted the Environmental Review (ER) conducted by consultants of D Arch S in August 1996. The ER concluded that with mitigation measures in place, the impact of road traffic noise on the proposed school can be reduced to an acceptable level stipulated in the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines.

12. We will implement the following mitigation measures -

1. provision of a 15-metres long and 1.5-metres high noise barrier at the south western boundary of the school;
2. provision of Type I well-gasketted windows and air-conditioning for the remedial room; and
3. provision of Type II well-gasketted double-glazed windows and air-conditioning for the nursing room.

We have included in the project estimate the estimated cost of $100,000 for providing the above measures.

13. For short term construction impacts, we will control noise, dust and site run-off nuisances during construction to comply with established guidelines/ standards through the implementation of mitigation measures in relevant contracts.

LAND ACQUISITION

14. This project does not require land acquisition.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

15. We upgraded 65ET to Category B in September 1995.

16. We have completed site investigations and detailed design, and are finalizing working drawings for the project. We will engage consultants to carry out pre-contract quantity surveying work at an estimated cost of $0.7 million. We will charge this amount to the block allocation Subhead 3100GX "Project feasibility studies, minor investigations and consultants’ fees selected from items in Category D of the Public Works Programme". We plan to start the construction works in June 1997 for completion in July 1998.

(KK154)

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Enclosure to PWSC(96-97)90

65ET - Reprovisioning of Po Leung Kuk Law’s Foundation School

Breakdown of the estimate for consultant’s fees

Notes

1. A multiplier factor of 3 is applied to the average MPS point to arrive at the full staff costs including the consultant's overheads and profit, as the staff will be employed in the consultant's offices. (At 1.4.1995, MPS pt. 40 = $51,440 p.m. and MPS pt. 16 = $17,270 p.m.)

2. Out-of-pocket expenses are the actual costs incurred. The consultant is not entitled to any additional payment for overheads or profits in respect of these items.

3. The figures given above are based on estimates prepared by the Director of Architectural Services. We will only know the actual man months and fees when we have selected the consultant through the usual competitive lump sum fee bid system.

(KK154)

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