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Source: Hong Kong Information Services

Secretary for Innovation, Technology & Industry Prof Sun Dong will depart for a visit to Beijing today.

In the capital, Prof Sun will call on the State Council’s Hong Kong & Macao Affairs Office, the State Council’s State-owned Assets Supervision & Administration Commission, the National Development & Reform Commission, and the Ministry of Industry & Information Technology.

He will also visit local innovation and technology-related enterprises.

Prof Sun will return to Hong Kong on August 20. During his absence, Under Secretary for Innovation, Technology & Industry Lillian Cheong will be Acting Secretary.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4

The Government Logistics Department (GLD) stated that it had partially terminated a contract for the supply of bottled drinking water to government offices on Hong Kong Island and parts of the outlying islands starting from today (August 16).

In June this year, the GLD awarded the contract to Xin Ding Xin Trade Co., Limited (XDX). According to the contract, XDX is to supply bottled drinking water, branded “XinLe” and manufactured by … (available in Chinese only), to government offices on Hong Kong Island and parts of the outlying islands starting from late June this year for a period of 36 months.

Having received information on XDX’s business operation recently, the GLD was not satisfied that XDX would still be capable of performing the contract, and decided to partially terminate the said contract starting from today (August 16) in accordance with contract terms. The GLD will follow up seriously and take follow-up action including whether to terminate the contract. The GLD has also referred the case to Police for investigation.

To ensure the supply of drinking water, the GLD has arranged for AS Watson Group (HK) Limited to supply bottled drinking water temporarily, branded “COOL” and manufactured by the company, to government offices on Hong Kong Island and parts of the outlying islands starting from next week.

The GLD has been monitoring contractual performance of the suppliers of bottled drinking water for government offices, with a view to ensuring stable supply of bottled drinking water in compliance with stipulated technical specifications according to contract terms and ensuring the safety of drinking water. Suppliers are required to submit test reports issued by independent accredited laboratories every two months to prove that the drinking water provided by them complies with the requirements under the technical specifications. The GLD also extracts samples of drinking water for testing from time to time throughout the contract period. In this regard, the GLD has earlier conducted a test of bottled drinking water samples in government offices, which confirmed that the bottled drinking water from all suppliers complied with the safety standards for bottled drinking water.

Following the expiry of the original contracts, the GLD conducted an open tender in March this year to select suitable suppliers of bottled drinking water for government departments. As regards the three successful tenderers and the brands of drinking water to be supplied pursuant to their tenders, the information is set out as follows:

Company name	Brand	Region of government offices for supply	Manufacturer
Xin Ding Xin Trade Co., Limited	XinLe	Hong Kong Island and parts of the outlying islands	(available in Chinese only)
AS Watson Group (HK) Limited	COOL	Kowloon	AS Watson Group (HK) Limited
Professional Trade International Limited	Happy	New Territories and part of Lantau Island	Dongguan Dongwa Drinking Water Co., Limited

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4

The Audit Commission (Audit)’s reply in response to the invitation from the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau to review the Government’s tender exercise for procuring bottled drinking water is as follows:
 
Audit carries out regularity audits under the Audit Ordinance (Cap. 122) to ensure that the financial and accounting transactions of the Government and public moneys are proper and conform to accepted accounting standards. The Government’s tender exercise for procuring bottled drinking water falls within the scope of Audit’s work. As the auditor of the Government’s accounts, Audit undertakes to identify any deficiencies through auditing the accounts. Should any deficiencies or irregularities be detected, Audit will make candid reporting of such, including proposed areas for improvement and recommendations in form of management letter for relevant government bureaux/departments’ follow-up actions.
 
In addition, apart from auditing the Government’s accounts, Audit also takes into account factors including materiality, timeliness, amount of public money and risk involved and value added in determining whether value for money audit shall be conducted on a specific subject. In line with the Government’s confidentiality requirement on value for money audits, all information on issues under consideration for examination or under examination are confidential. Therefore, Audit cannot disclose if it is considering to conduct examination or is conducting examination on a particular issue.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4

Regarding the recent incident concerning Government procurement of bottled drinking water, the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury (SFST), Mr Christopher Hui, convened an urgent meeting with relevant parties today (August 17) and decided at the meeting that a three-pronged approach would be taken to investigate into the incident and conduct a review on the system with a view to avoiding re-occurrence of similar incidents.

Mr Hui said, “The incident has brought up concerns among government colleagues and drawn extensive attention from the public. I have therefore invited the Audit Commission to conduct a review on the tender exercise in question. I will establish a task force, with me as the Chair, to work with other government bureaux and departments to comprehensively review the existing Government procurement regime. I have also instructed the Government Logistics Department (GLD) to step up its remedial action for the incident.”

The follow-up actions that the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) will take are:
 
(1) The FSTB has proactively invited the Audit Commission to review the tender exercise for the subject bottled drinking water contract to find out if there are any negligence or deficiencies in the process;
 
(2) A task force chaired by the SFST will be established with representatives from the Civil Service Bureau, the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, the Development Bureau and the Department of Justice to review the existing Government procurement regime with a view to plugging possible loopholes and avoiding re-occurrence of similar incidents. The FSTB anticipated that report on the preliminary recommendations will be available after three months; and
 
(3) The GLD has been tasked to take up the main responsibility to continuously monitor the contractual performance of the suppliers of bottled drinking water, step up its remedial action regarding the contract of bottled drinking water in question, as well as follow up with relevant government departments on other government contracts undertaken by the same contractor and its persons-in-charge to take an overall look on their performances.
 
At the same time, the GLD has informed all bureaux and departments to recall the bottled drinking water in question and made relevant arrangements.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government made a solemn statement yesterday (August 16) to express strong disapproval and opposition against the harbouring of criminals in any form by any country. The HKSAR Government emphasises that any suggestion that certain individuals or organisations should be immune from legal consequences for their illegal acts is no different from advocating a special privilege to break the law, and this totally runs contrary to the spirit of the rule of law. 

A spokesman for the HKSAR Government said, “Following the ‘black-clad violence’ and the Hong Kong version of ‘colour revolution’ in 2019, a number of criminals who have committed serious offences endangering national security absconded. Among them, some even forged documents and deceived the court with false information in order to obtain the court’s permission to leave Hong Kong while on bail, and jumped bail to evade legal responsibilities. During abscondence, they continued to blantantly engage in acts endangering national security. These are out-and-out shameful and cowardly acts.

“In Hong Kong, any arrest and prosecution is directed against the criminal act and has nothing to do with the political stance, background or thought of the person(s) concerned; arrest and prosecution are based on facts and evidence, and conducted in strict accordance with the law. Hong Kong has an independent judiciary with the power of final adjudication. Everyone shall receive a fair and just trial. Any country that harbours Hong Kong criminals in any form shows contempt for the rule of law, grossly disrespects Hong Kong’s legal systems and barbarically interferes in the affairs of Hong Kong. Turning a blind eye to the offences committed by the criminals and disregarding the potential security threats posed to the local community and residents, they shall eventually bear the consequences of what they have done.

“Absconders should not think they can evade criminal liability by absconding from Hong Kong. Ultimately, they will be held liable for their acts constituting serious offences endangering national security and be punished by the law.”

The spokesman reiterated, “Endangering national security is a very serious crime. The HKSAR Government will do everything possible and use all legal means to pursue and combat criminals who endanger national security as well as to hold them accountable, thereby safeguard national security.”

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4

​Hong Kong Customs on August 11 seized about 7.6 kilograms suspected heroin with an estimated market value of about $4.5 million at the Kwai Chung Customhouse Cargo Examination Compound. A man was arrested yesterday (August 15).
 
Customs on August 11 inspected a seaborne consignment, declared as sandals, arriving in Hong Kong from Thailand at the Kwai Chung Customhouse. Upon inspection, Customs officers found the batch of suspected heroin concealed in the heels of a batch of sandals.
 
Customs officers subsequently mounted a controlled delivery operation yesterday and arrested a 62-year-old man suspected to be connected with the case in Cheung Sha Wan.
 
An investigation is ongoing.
 
Customs will continue to step up enforcement against drug trafficking activities through intelligence analysis. The department also reminds members of the public to stay alert and not to participate in drug trafficking activities for monetary return. They must not accept hiring or delegation from another party to carry controlled items into and out of Hong Kong. They are also reminded not to carry unknown items for other people, nor to release their personal data or home address to others for receiving parcels or goods.
 
Under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, trafficking in a dangerous drug is a serious offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $5 million and life imprisonment.
 
Members of the public may report any suspected drug trafficking activities to Customs’ 24-hour hotline 182 8080 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk) or online form (eform.cefs.gov.hk/form/ced002).

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

Secretary for Financial Services & the Treasury Christopher Hui today convened an urgent meeting with relevant parties on the recent incident concerning government procurement of bottled drinking water.

It was decided at the meeting that a three-pronged approach would be taken to investigate the incident and conduct a review on the system with a view to avoiding a re-occurrence of similar incidents.

Firstly, the Financial Services & the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) has proactively invited the Audit Commission to review the tender exercise for the subject bottled drinking water contract to find out if there is any negligence or deficiencies in the process.

Secondly, a task force chaired by Mr Hui will be established with representatives from the Civil Service Bureau, the Commerce & Economic Development Bureau, the Development Bureau and the Department of Justice.

The task force will review the existing government procurement regime with a view to plugging possible loopholes and avoiding a re-occurrence of similar incidents.

The FSTB anticipates that a report on the preliminary recommendations will be available after three months.

Thirdly, the Government Logistics Department (GLD) has been tasked to take up the main responsibility to continuously monitor the contractual performance of the suppliers of bottled drinking water.

The department will step up its remedial action regarding the contract of bottled drinking water in question, as well as follow up with relevant government departments on other government contracts undertaken by the same contractor and its persons-in-charge to take an overall look at their performances.

Mr Hui said the incident has brought up concerns among government colleagues and drawn extensive attention from the public.

The GLD has informed all bureaus and departments to recall the bottled drinking water in question and made relevant arrangements.