News Stories:

Click-on these handy "jump links" to quickly access the news item
you're looking for.

1.China State wins key KCRC contracts

2. Shear Elegance

1. China State wins key KCRC contracts
Danny Chung,The Standard, 2 August 2005

Hong Kong commuter rail operator KCRC has awarded three design-and-build contracts worth a total HK$3.1 billion for rail tunnel and building work on its Kowloon Southern Link.

It could be another two or three years before the overcrowded construction industry sees contracts this large. Multinational firms that failed to get a part of the KCRC work may be forced to rethink their future in Hong Kong.

The biggest single beneficiary will be China State Construction Holdings, which was listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange last month.

Its China State Construction Engineering (Hong Kong) unit saw off competitor Gammon Construction to bag two tunnel contracts for the northern section of the link.

The portion from Nam Cheong Station to the Yau Ma Tei Ventilation Building will be worth HK$636 million, while the portion from the ventilation building to West Kowloon Station will be worth HK$447 million.

The southern section contract worth HK$2.018 billion was awarded to a consortium formed by Leighton, Balfour Beatty, Kumagai and John Holland. Gammon merged with the local business of British contractor Balfour Beatty last year.

Included in the southern contract is construction of the West Kowloon Station next to the Canton Road government offices. The losing bidder was a consortium led by France's Dragages.

The 3.8-kilometer Kowloon Southern Link, budgeted at HK$8.3 billion, is slated for completion in 2009. It will connect the KCRC's West Rail and East Rail systems.

Since the late 1990s, the local construction industry has been characterized by too many firms seeking too little work. Following the awarding of contracts by the KCRC, it could be two or three years before there is work on other mega projects such as the western extension of the MTRC's Sheung Wan subway line and the redevelopment of the Tamar Site in Admiralty. Getting work on the Kowloon Southern Link ``might mean the difference between staying and leaving. There are no prizes for coming second. Dragages will obviously be disappointed,'' an industry consultant said.

The latest KCRC contracts do not include any tracklaying or signaling and power systems; contracts for this work will be let separately, a quantity surveyor for one of the unsuccessful bidders said. Overall construction costs on the link should not exceed HK$5 billion, he said. The remaining HK$3.3 billion in the budget will cover miscellaneous work and land resumption.

2. Shear Elegance
The Standard, 2 August 2005 Photo: AFP

Models display a variety of hairstyles at the launch of a beauty and haircare product in Beijing. The mainland is the eighth largest cosmetics producer in the world with annual sales of about 45 billion yuan (HK$43.16 billion).