EC(1999-2000)10

For discussion
on 19 May 1999

ITEM FOR ESTABLISHMENT SUBCOMMITTEE
OF FINANCE COMMITTEE

HEAD 43 - CIVIL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
Subhead 001 Salaries

    Members are invited to recommend to Finance Committee the conversion of the following supernumerary posts in the Geotechnical Engineering Office of the Civil Engineering Department to permanent posts -

      1 Government Geotechnical Engineer
      (D2) ($116,650 - $123,850)

      2 Chief Geotechnical Engineers
      (D1) ($98,250 - $104,250)

PROBLEM

The Director of Civil Engineering (DCE) needs continued directorate support for the Landslip Preventive Measures (LPM) Programme on slopes 1 registered in the New Catalogue of Slopes, and to manage ongoing slope safety functions, including maintaining the Catalogue, promoting slope maintenance, enhancing statutory geotechnical control and carrying out maintenance audit.

PROPOSAL

2. DCE proposes to convert the following three supernumerary posts in the Geotechnical Engineering Office (GEO) of the Civil Engineering Department (CED) to permanent posts -

  1. a Government Geotechnical Engineer (GGE) (D2) heading the Landslip Preventive Projects Group (LPPG);

  2. a Chief Geotechnical Engineer (CGE) (D1) heading the Landslip Preventive Works Division of the LPPG; and

  3. a CGE (D1) heading the Slope Safety Division of the Island Group.

JUSTIFICATION

Acceleration of the LPM Programme

3. Hong Kong's mountainous terrain, heavy rainfall and dense hillside development make us prone to risks from landslides. We are committed to promoting slope safety in Hong Kong. In the five-year period between 1990-91 and 1994-95, CED upgraded about 270 government slopes and carried out "safety-screening" 2 2 studies for the enforcement of statutory actions on about 300 private slopes under the LPM Programme. Following the Kwun Lung Lau landslide in 1994, the Slope Safety Review carried out by the then Works Branch concluded that the rate at which old man-made slopes were being made safe under the LPM Programme was too slow, and that many private owners were unaware of their responsibility for the safety of slopes within their property. The Slope Safety Review also concluded that proposals for legislative changes should be explored to improve statutory geotechnical control of private slopes and developments.

4. On 1 April 1995, CED launched a five-year accelerated LPM Programme to upgrade about 900 government slopes and to carry out "safety-screening" study on about 1 500 private slopes, and undertook to provide slope safety information and education to the public. The five-year accelerated LPM Programme has been dealing primarily with slopes registered in the Slope Catalogue which CED compiled in 1977-78. We estimate that on completion of the accelerated LPM Programme in early 2000, the overall landslide risk to the community will be reduced by 50% against that in 1977.

5. To implement the accelerated LPM Programme and to enhance public awareness of slope safety, the Finance Committee in April 1995 approved the creation of three supernumerary directorate posts of one GGE and two CGEs for a period of five years until March 2000. Government Geotechnical Engineer/Landslip Preventive Projects (GGE/LPP) is responsible for the overall management of the landslip preventive projects and the related functional streams to ensure the delivery of the accelerated LPM Programme. Chief Geotechnical Engineer/Landslip Preventive Works (CGE/LPW) is responsible for administering consultancies on slope studies and design of upgrading works, and managing contracts on slope upgrading works. Chief Geotechnical Engineer/Slope Safety (CGE/SS) is responsible for managing the compilation of the New Catalogue of Slopes and the operation of the computerised Slope Information System, implementing public education and information campaigns, and auditing slope maintenance by private owners and Government departments. The job descriptions for GGE/LPP, CGE/LPW and CGE/SS are at Enclosures 1 to 3. The organisation structure of the GEO is at Enclosure 4.Encls. 1-3
Encl. 4

6. CED has recently compiled a New Catalogue of Slopes to replace the old Slope Catalogue, registering all sizeable man-made slopes in Hong Kong. To implement our long-term strategy to improve slope safety, we have drawn up an expanded upgrading and maintenance programme to cover additional slopes listed in the New Catalogue and to further reduce the risk of landslides.

7. As part of this long-term strategy, CED will commence a ten-year expanded LPM Programme in early 2000, immediately following the completion of the current accelerated LPM Programme, to deal with high-risk slopes affecting buildings and heavily-trafficked roads. The expanded LPM Programme will further boost the level of LPM output in respect of old substandard slopes which affect developments and major roads. The target annual output under the expanded LPM Programme from 2000 onwards is to upgrade 250 substandard government slopes and to study 300 private slopes. This amounts to about five times of the output before the commencement of the accelerated LPM Programme, or about 40% higher than that in the accelerated LPM Programme in terms of the number of government slopes to be upgraded annually. We estimate that on completion of the expanded LPM Programme in early 2010, the overall landslide risk to the community will be further reduced to 25% of that existed in 1977. A breakdown of slopes formed before 1977 which call for landslide risk mitigation action is at Enclosure 5. Encl. 5

8. With the implementation of the expanded LPM Programme, all the high-risk slopes will have been dealt with by 2010. However, many thousands of old slopes not covered in the programme, although of lower risk, may require attention. Some of the slopes that were built after the late 1970s may also have deteriorated to such an extent that upgrading works would be required. In view of the public's high expectation of slope safety and the anticipated increase in population and hillside development, our landslip prevention efforts will have to continue at a high level beyond 2010, in the interest of public safety.

Enhancing Slope Maintenance and Statutory Geotechnical Control

9. Regular maintenance is essential for ensuring slope safety in Hong Kong. CED has been tackling the slope maintenance problem on three fronts -

  1. to maintain the New Catalogue of Slopes, which contains pertinent information on slopes. Members of the public will have free access to the Catalogue. This will provide slope owners with essential slope information to facilitate slope maintenance and improvement works;

  2. to strengthen public education and publicity on slope maintenance. Through the campaigns, we enhance the public's knowledge of slope safety and raise the awareness of private owners and their agents of their responsibility to maintain their slopes to the required safety standards; and

  3. to audit and assist other government departments with slope maintenance responsibility in maintaining about 40 000 government slopes in the New Catalogue of Slopes.
10. Since the creation of the Slope Safety Division in 1995, the usefulness of the above initiatives has been reinforced. The experience in the past few years and the very positive feedback from stakeholders re-affirm the need for sustained effort with these initiatives on a long-term basis, with regular reviews and re-alignment of strategy to meet the changing demands of the society.

11. Effective and efficient statutory geotechnical control on private slopes and developments will enhance slope safety by preventing the creation of new substandard private slopes. We have been reviewing the existing geotechnically-related legislation and ordinances in the past few years and provided input to legislative amendments enacted in respect of buried water-carrying services, demolition of buildings supporting ground and registration of specialist contractors for site formation works. We shall propose further legislative amendments and new ordinances/regulations to enhance statutory geotechnical control. Continued input will be required for the necessary preparation work for the resultant legislation.

Proposed Conversion to Permanent Posts

12. As slope safety is a major long-term commitment of the Administration, and the management and implementation of landslip prevention initiatives are on-going challenges that call for in-depth diagnosis of the current and future problems and meticulous resource and strategic planning, we propose that the three posts in question be converted to permanent ones.

.13. Upon completion of the five-year accelerated LPM Programme, GGE/LPP will oversee the planning and management of the ten-year expanded LPM Programme. He will also be responsible for formulating a suitable landslip prevention strategy to deal with other slopes in the New Catalogue of Slopes that may require attention after 2010. CGE/LPW will implement the expanded LPM Programme by administering consultancies on slope studies and design of upgrading works, and managing contracts on slope upgrading works. He will continue to oversee slope studies and upgrading works after 2010. CGE/SS will perform the slope safety functions of enhancing slope maintenance and statutory geotechnical control, with emphasis on the regular review and re-alignment of strategies to meet the changing demand of the public and the implementation of the new policy commitment of providing proactive advice on slope safety to the community. Taking account of the experience and feedback on these slope safety functions over the past few years, we propose to revise the job description for CGE/SS, as shown at Enclosure 6.Encl. 6

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

14. The additional notional annual salary cost of the above proposal at mid-point is $3,869,400. The full annual average staff cost of the proposal, including salaries and staff on-cost, is $6,799,848. We have included sufficient provision in the 1999-2000 Estimates to meet the cost of this proposal.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

15. The slope safety responsibilities of the GEO include -

  1. landslip preventive work, involving the upgrading of substandard old government slopes and initiation of works on non-government controlled land, and safety clearance of squatters;

  2. promotion of slope maintenance;

  3. provision of landslip warning and emergency services;

  4. checking of new building and civil engineering works to ensure that geotechnical standards are met;

  5. advising on land use plans to minimise landslip hazards and improve the geotechnical content of Government's land planning documents; and

  6. research on landslip investigation and prevention and publication of guidance documents.

16. In the Report of the Legislative Council Select Committee on the Kwun Lung Lau Landslip and Related Issues published in July 1995, the Committee recommended, among other things, that the Administration should step up measures to promote public slope safety awareness and responsibility, and to submit progress reports on slope safety to the Legislative Council Panel on Planning, Lands and Works at six-monthly intervals. Since then, the Administration has submitted six information papers on the progress to the Panel.

17. The old Slope Catalogue compiled in 1977-78 covered about 10 000 slopes, mainly located in the urban areas of Hong Kong and Kowloon as they existed at that time. The recently completed New Catalogue of Slopes registers all sizeable man-made slopes in Hong Kong and contains about 54 000 slopes. Of these, about 37 000 are old slopes built before the establishment of the Geotechnical Control Office in 1977 (renamed as GEO in 1991). These old slopes may be substandard and thus require studies and improvement works.

18. A Legislative Council brief on the maintenance and upgrading of man-made slopes registered in the New Catalogue of Slopes was issued on 20 July 1998.

CIVIL SERVICE BUREAU COMMENTS

19. The Administration has considered carefully alternative means to provide the level of service required, including redeployment bearing in mind the need for greater efficiency and productivity under the Enhanced Productivity Programme. We are satisfied that the proposal contained in the paper is the most appropriate way to proceed. Civil Service Bureau supports the conversion of the proposed posts to permanent posts, having regard to the long-term operational requirements.

ADVICE OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON DIRECTORATE SALARIES AND CONDITIONS OF SERVICE

20. The Standing Committee on Directorate Salaries and Conditions of Service has advised that the proposal is appropriate.

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Works Bureau
May 1999

Enclosure 1 to EC(1999-2000)10

Job Description

Government Geotechnical Engineer/Landslip Preventive Projects

Rank : Government Geotechnical Engineer (D2)

Main Duties and Responsibilities

Responsible to the Principal Government Geotechnical Engineer (PGGE) for the overall management of various projects under the Landslip Preventive Measures (LPM) Programme, to ensure that project requirements are met, spending plans are achieved and projects are delivered on time and within budget. Duties include -

  1. to control and monitor the allocation of resources to individual projects;

  2. to set project management procedures for the Landslip Preventive Projects Group;

  3. to approve programme targets and project activity schedules prepared within the Landslip Preventive Projects Group and by the functional groups;

  4. to liaise with internal and external parties on major issues that affect project delivery, to resolve major interfacing problems and to escalate issues which require PGGE's involvement;

  5. to approve change orders and escalate major scope changes;

  6. to review and approve replanning that results from changes;

  7. to review the progress of functional groups and to resolve project management/functional group conflicts;

  8. to report progress on projects to PGGE and the Director of Civil Engineering;

  9. to be Chairman of the LPM Committee; and

  10. to be Chairman of consultants selection panels for engagement of consultants for LPM studies and works.

Enclosure 2 to EC(1999-2000)10

Job Description
Chief Geotechnical Engineer/Landslip Preventive Works

Rank : Chief Geotechnical Engineer (D1)

Main Duties and Responsibilities

Responsible to the Government Geotechnical Engineer/Landslip Preventive Projects for the upgrading works under the Landslip Preventive Measures (LPM) Programme. Duties include -

  1. to prepare remeasurement contracts for landslip preventive works designed in-house;

  2. to prepare schedule-of-rates contracts and associated designs for landslip preventive works;

  3. to manage and supervise contractors engaged in the construction of LPM;

  4. to manage consultants to carry out stability studies, or to investigate, design and supervise landslip preventive measures;

  5. to advise the Building Authority on the geotechnical aspects of works carried out on private account following default of statutory notices;

  6. to set up and manage lists of contractors for landslip preventive measures;

  7. to manage and supervise contractors engaged on the construction of preventive works for defence projects; and

  8. to control and maintain such records and information systems as are appropriate to the activities of the Landslip Preventive Works Division.

Enclosure 3 to EC(1999-2000)10

Job Description
Chief Geotechnical Engineer/Slope Safety

Rank : Chief Geotechnical Engineer (D1)

Main Duties and Responsibilities

Responsible to the Government Geotechnical Engineer/Island for the following duties -

  1. to manage the compilation of new Catalogue of Slopes, and to ensure that it is properly maintained and continuously updated thereafter;

  2. to deal with applications from the public for information from the Catalogue of Slopes;

  3. to oversee the ongoing public education and publicity campaign on slope maintenance;

  4. to formulate policy and initiate action for the improvement of slope maintenance by private owners;

  5. to audit the performance of Government departments in discharging their slope maintenance responsibilities and report to the Works Bureau;

  6. To manage non-development clearance (NDC) of squatters on slope safety grounds;

  7. to follow-up work on NDC recommendations, including interviews with affected squatters, handling of petitions and complaints, LegCo and District Board questions, and attendance at LegCo panels and District Board meetings;

  8. to identify and initiate studies and works to reduce boulder and debris flow hazards from natural slopes;

  9. to control and maintain such records and information systems as are appropriate to the activities of the Slope Safety Division; and

  10. to be Chairman of the inter-departmental NDC Liaison Group.

Enclosure 4 to EC(1999-2000)10

ORGANISATION STRUCTURE OF GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING OFFICE

Enclosure 5 to EC(1999-2000)10

Breakdown of Pre-1977 Slopes for Landslide Risk Mitigation Action

Pre-1977 slopes affecting : Landslide risk mitigation action Output targets
Buildings, schools, major roads, squatters, etc.

(Total: about 16 000 nos.)

Pre-1995 LPM action

5-year accelerated LPM Programme
(1995 to 2000)

10-year expanded LPM Programme
(2000 to 2010)

Other action, including squatter clearance, upgrading as part of redevelopment, and enhanced maintenance

630 government slopes
500 private slopes
900 government slopes
1 500 private slopes

2 500 government slopes
3 000 private slopes

All other slopes in this category

Roads with low to moderate traffic, open spaces, country parks, etc.

(Total: about 21 000 nos.)

Lower risk slopes to be dealt with, including those to be upgraded as part of redevelopment, and those which need enhanced maintenance Number in thousands requiring follow-up action

Notes -

(1) About 37 000 pre-1977 slopes and 17 000 post-1977 slopes have been registered in the New Catalogue of Slopes. LPM action is generally not required for post-1977 slopes at this stage.

(2) It is estimated that on completion of the five-year accelerated LPM Programme in early 2000, the overall landslide risk to the community will be reduced by 50% of that in 1977. On completion of the expanded LPM Programme in early 2010, the overall landslide risk will be further reduced to 25% of that in 1977.

Enclosure 6 to EC(1999-2000)10

Job Description
Chief Geotechnical Engineer/Slope Safety

Rank : Chief Geotechnical Engineer (D1)

Main Duties and Responsibilities

Responsible to the Government Geotechnical Engineer/Island for the following duties -

(1) to plan, control and manage the New Catalogue of Slopes and the computerised Slope Information System to ensure that it is well maintained and regularly updated for use by the public and other government departments;

(2) to formulate strategy and initiate action on the dissemination of slope information to meet public demand;

(3) to review, formulate strategy and initiate action on public education and publicity on slope maintenance and slope safety to meet public demand;

(4) to formulate policy and initiate action for the improvement of slope maintenance by private owners;

(5) to audit the performance of government departments in discharging their slope maintenance responsibilities and report to the Works Bureau;

(6) to review, formulate and implement proposals to enhance statutory geotechnical control on private slopes and developments;

(7) to control and maintain such records and information systems as are appropriate to the activities of the Slope Safety Division; and

(8) to formulate policy and initiate action on providing proactive advice on slope safety matters to the community.

1."Slopes" in this context is used as a generic term for man-made cut and fill slopes and retaining walls.

2.A safety-screening�study is to establish any prima facie evidence for serving Dangerous Hillside Orders to private owners under the Buildings Ordinance to require them to upgrade their substandard slopes. The study comprises a review of the background information and data on the slope, examination of the site history and characteristics from a study of aerial photographs, site observations and geotechnical stability assessment.