Hong Kong official calls for ‘heightened alertness’ among staff after water scandal
Bureaus, departments must step up efforts to prevent such incidents from happening again, says memo signed by logistics chief Carlson Chan
Hong Kong’s logistics chief has issued a set of guidelines to senior civil servants, urging them to “heighten their alertness” and conduct due diligence to prevent potential fraudulent acts by tenderers and contractors, following a recent drinking water procurement scandal.
“In light of the recent incident on procurement of bottled drinking water for which fraud elements involving the contractor are revealed, it is of utmost importance for bureaus and departments to step up efforts to prevent reoccurrence of similar incidents,” the memo, signed by Director of Government Logistics Carlson Chan Ka-shun, said.
“Colleagues responsible for handling procurement and stores management matters, especially those involving in tender [or] quotation exercises [or] contract management, should heighten their alertness to guard against possible fraudulent acts of tenderers and contractors.”
The directive followed the Government Logistics Department last month having to terminate a HK$52.9 million (US$6.8 million) contract with bottled water supplier Xin Ding Xin Trade.
The firm was suspected of having commissioned a third-party factory instead of the contracted manufacturer to provide water to some government offices on Hong Kong Island and parts of the outlying islands.
Two people – the director and a shareholder – have since been arrested over the matter.