Hong Kong minister admits procurement vigilance ‘below expectations’, vows reform
Treasury chief Christopher Hui pledges to conduct site visits, prevent procurement process from becoming ‘robotic’ checking of boxes
Civil servants’ vigilance in guarding against potential procurement scams falls short of public expectations, Hong Kong’s treasury minister has admitted, pledging to conduct site visits and prevent the process from becoming a “robotic” arrangement of “checking boxes”.
But Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Christopher Hui Ching-yu stressed on Tuesday that the principle of “the lowest bidder wins” did not apply to government procurement procedures this time around and denied that it was the cause of a recent scandal over a bottled water tender.
A review by the Audit Commission found that the Government Logistics Department had repeatedly failed to follow up on suspicious signs, giving the green light to a company that allegedly used fraudulent documents to win the tender and supply substandard products.
On Monday, Hui, who chaired a task force set up in the wake of the scandal in August to review the government’s procurement process, announced six preliminary recommendations.
They include stipulating specific due diligence requirements, expanding the roles of the logistics department’s audit team and revising standard government contracts to empower authorities to conduct site inspections during the vetting process.
Hui said he hoped to improve the system to keep pace with a complex business environment that was plagued by scams.