This conversation was recently overheard between the Commercial Manager of a leading Hong Kong contractor and his senior QS:

QS: We're getting close to settling the accounts on contact CA001.
CM: That's that fencing job on the Mainland, right?
QS: Yes, they're calling it the "Great Wall". Just some issues about Mongol day labour to resolve and it's done and dusted.
CM: Fast work. So what's happening with contact DP202?
QS: Ah yes, that stonework contract on the upper Nile. Most of the numbers are in, but it seems we overpaid the quarry. Unfortunately, everyone who was involved with the project has now been embalmed and that Tut guy hasn't returned our calls for some time.
CM: That does complicate things. Any chance of closing out that Italian job?
QS: You mean the tower project. Apparently the foundations subcontractor put the piles down to only half the specified depth. Now there's a verticality issue and they've been charging us liquidated damages for on 700 years now.
CM: This gives me a bad feeling about that Stonehenge folly......

If this sounds only too familiar, maybe you aren't controlling your projects costs and monitoring project performance with sufficient rigor. If that's the case, then come out to the COINS Valuations seminar, now on both 11 and 12 March. If you want cost control, you'll get cost control. Full details are available here.

New Bulletin Board Postings & Responses

News Headlines

Skanska ranked No. 1 in the category of Engineering and Construction
SOPHIA WONG and SANDY LI, SCMP 26 February 2003
In Fortune magazine's annual ranking of the World's Most Admired Companies, Skanska, one of Gammon Skanska's parent companies, has for the first time ever been ranked No. 1 in the category of Engineering and Construction - up from No. 3 last year. Based on the votes of 10,000 business executives and financial analysts, this is a clear sign that the company is on the right track to achieve their vision of being "the world leader in our industry", according to a company spokesperson.

Village house policy to end
KEVIN SINCLAIR, SCMP 5 March 2003
A government minister has indicated that the controversial small-house policy - giving every male indigenous villager born in the New Territories a plot of land on which to build a home - is to be abolished.

Wave a dead chicken and pick up some sex appeal
David Wilson, SCMP 4 March 2003
The bird burst through the windscreen, broke the engineer's chair, and made a dent in the back wall of the engine cab. But this damage, it transpired, proved nothing because the British had not read the instructions closely enough. "Next time, thaw the chicken," came an advisory from (of all people) the United States Federal Aviation Authority.

Probe into harbour project award
Keith Wallis, The Standard 4 March 2003
An independent inquiry is being launched into the government's decision to award a HK$3.8 billion contract for the second phase of the Central reclamation to the second-highest tenderer.

Come on in . . . but keep your head out of the water
Heike Phillips and May Chan, SCMP 4 March 2003
"We keep our mouths closed and our heads above water of course," said Chan Luk Mui-yung, 52, as she prepared to dive into the heavily polluted Sulphur channel near Kennedy Town.

$8bn harbour foul-up
HEIKE PHILLIPS, Environment Reporter, SCMP 4 March 2003
An $8.2 billion sewage plant designed to reduce harbour pollution has instead increased bacteria levels in surrounding waters and played a significant part in the closure of four Tsuen Wan beaches last week.

The Heart of the Problem
SCMP, 4 March 2003
The plant has been linked to the closure of four beaches.

How HK is lagging while other cities clean up their waters
HEIKE PHILLIPS, Environment Reporter, 4 March 2003
Hong Kong is lagging far behind other major global cities such as London, New York, Sydney and Singapore in cleaning up its waters.

We all want a cleaner harbour - but at what cost?
Heike Phillips, SCMP 4 March 2003
Residents will have a chance to tell the government how much a clean harbour is worth to them when options for the remaining stages of the Harbour Area Treatment Scheme (Hats) are released for comment early next year.

Testing the water - a global comparison
SCMP Graphic, 4 March 2003
Hong Kong
- Population: 6.8 million
- $31.8 billion spent on sewerage projects since 1989. Hong Kong produces 2.4 million cubic metres of sewage each day.

Courts treat polluters lightly
HEIKE PHILLIPS, SCMP , SCMP 4 March 2003
Penalties for polluting the water in Hong Kong are generally light, with even repeat offenders escaping with fines of only a few thousand dollars.

Delta bridge will add 2pc to HK's growth, says study
GARY CHEUNG, SCMP 4 March 2003
The completion of a bridge linking Hong Kong, Macau and Zhuhai will bring an extra 2 per cent economic growth for Hong Kong and create more than 6,700 jobs in the city, a study has found.

No way to treat our greatest asset
SCMP, 4 March 2003
Singapore spent 10 years and $1.17 billion to clean up its river. Sydney spent the same amount of time and $377 million on restoring its harbour. Hong Kong spent 20 years and $8.2 billion to build a sewage treatment plant which, instead of cleaning the harbour, is further polluting it. What went wrong?

Promoting a rational debate
SCMP, 4 March 2003
The editorial in this newspaper last Friday headed "Time for Mr Tung to step up and sit back" has stimulated considerable debate, some of it constructive. Executive councillors and legislators, current and past, and delegates to the National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, have expressed a range of opinions on the idea that Mr Tung's main role should be promoting and guiding Hong Kong, leaving the day-to-day operations of running his government to a trusted deputy. Many ordinary people have expressed their feelings too.

Hong Kong visitors at risk in Shenzhen
SCMP, 4 March 2003
The number of Hong Kong visitors being robbed in Shenzhen is far greater than reported.

Going public over security garners approval at Oracle
BIEN PEREZ, SCMP 4 March 2003
Oracle chief security officer Mary Ann Davidson claims she is a "professional paranoid" - an apt qualification for the work she does.

New World slashes broadband fee
CAROLYN ONG, SCMP 4 March 2003
New World Telecom expects to shake up Hong Kong's broadband Internet market by offering 12 megabits per second (Mbps) connectivity at a rock-bottom fee of HK$36 a month for unlimited usage - one of the cheapest rates in the world.

IBM tells government to outsource IT
CAROLYN ONG, SCMP 4 March 2003
The government must move quickly to bolster Hong Kong's weak technological base if it is to revitalise the economy, says IBM Hong Kong's general manager Cordelia Chung.

Dilbert by Scott Adams
SCMP, 4 March 2003

E-commerce growth in HK under threat from tax bill
ALLAN DYER, SCMP 4 March 2003
A bill that will have a significant impact on the development of the knowledge-based economy is quietly passing through the Legislative Council.

Beijing delegation meets potential bridge investors
STAFF REPORTER, SCMP 3 March 2003
A Beijing delegation visiting Hong Kong to consider the proposed cross-border bridge between Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macau has met businessmen interested in investing in the project, it was reported yesterday.

Informal river delta council needed
Letters to the Editor, SCMP 3 March 2003
I am grateful for publication of my article on Pearl River Delta (PRD) integration ("The case for a regional economic council", South China Morning Post, February 24).

Authority to unveil plan to address HOS deficit
Eli Lau, The Standard 1 March 2003
The Housing Authority will soon unveil an assets securitisation plan for its commercial building and car-parking assets, in an attempt to overcome deficit problems caused by the suspension of Home Ownership Scheme flat sales.

Remark is a classic
Letters to the Editor, SCMP 1 March 2003
Your remark in yesterday's editorial about our Chief Executive, ''Mr Tung has many strengths...The problem, or at least part of it, is the job itself which needs to be tailored to Mr Tung's competencies'' is a classic.

How to enrich the city: allow helpers to integrate
CHRISTINE LOH, SCMP 1 March 2003
The government's new population policy is in effect an immigration policy. Like urban dwellers in many other cities around the world, Hong Kong people are marrying later and having fewer children than before.

A pox on chicken
FRANK CHING, SCMP 1 March 2003
Like most people, I had never heard of bird flu before 1997. Since then, of course, people in Hong Kong have learned a great deal about the avian flu, mainly because it affects chickens and, through chickens, may affect human beings.

Lower land revenue is a reality. A consumption tax is the best alternative
AYESHA MACPHERSON, SCMP 1 March 2003
Hong Kong's fiscal deficit problem could not have been summarised more accurately or concisely than it was by Civic Exchange, when the think-tank concluded that the real challenge is the future income of the special administrative region's government, not the size of its deficit.

Prospering in the China market is a matter of managing risk
STEVE VICKERS, SCMP 1 March 2003
China recorded another year of remarkable economic growth in 2002, despite a weak global economy. More impressive expansion of 7 to 8 per cent is forecast for this year, propelled by a rising flood of foreign investment and booming domestic demand.

Jardine's Lookout and Wong Nai Chung Gap Outline Zoning Plan approved
Hong Kong Government, 28 February 2003
The Chief Executive in Council has approved the draft Jardine's Lookout and Wong Nai Chung Gap Outline Zoning Plan (OZP).

Draft Tsuen Wan Outline Zoning Plan amended
Hong Kong Government, 28 February 2003
The Town Planning Board (the Board) today (February 28) announced amendments to the approved Tsuen Wan Outline Zoning Plan (OZP).

Draft Kwun Tong (North) Outline Zoning Plan approved
Hong Kong Government, 28 February 2003
The Chief Executive in Council has approved the draft Kwun Tong (North) Outline Zoning Plan (OZP).

Draft Ma Tau Kok Outline Zoning Plan approved
Hong Kong Government, 28 February 2003
The Chief Executive in Council has approved the draft Ma Tau Kok Outline Zoning Plan (OZP).

Draft Central District Outline Zoning Plan approved
Hong Kong Government, 28 February 2003
The Chief Executive in Council has approved the draft Central District Outline Zoning Plan (OZP).

Housing Authority 2003/04 Budget Endorsed
Hong Kong Government, 28 February 2003
The Housing Authority's (HA) Revised Budget for 2002/03 and Proposed Budget for 2003/04 were endorsed today (February 28) by its Finance Committee (FC) for the Authority's approval next month.

Upcoming Events

Click here to view the full Calendar of Events on our Web Site.