Flood focus: Deputy Secretary for the Environment, Transport & Works Chan Wing-sang and Director of the Shenzhen Water Resources Bureau Huang Tianyuan sign the entrustment agreement on the third contract of Stage III of the Shenzhen River Regulation Project.

The Hong Kong and Shenzhen Governments today signed an entrustment agreement on the third contract of Stage III of the Shenzhen River Regulation Project.

The move is part of their joint efforts to alleviate flooding in the northern New Territories and Shenzhen.

The works involve the realigning, widening and deepening of the Shenzhen River between Man Kam To and Lo Shue Ling to reduce the risk of flooding on both sides. Two Dongjiang watermains two metres in diameter will also be reconstructed.

The agreement was signed in Hong Kong by Deputy Secretary for the Environment, Transport & Works Chan Wing-sang and Director of the Shenzhen Water Resources Bureau Huang Tianyuan.

The contract is the third and last for the river improvement project. The first two were awarded in December 2001 and July 2002.

The total cost of construction and management of the contract, to be shared equally between the two jurisdictions, is about $164 million.

The works will be wholly entrusted to the Shenzhen Municipal Government and will start next month for completion in early 2006.

A joint working group with representatives from both sides has agreed on the detailed arrangements for financial control, payment procedures, site security, and construction and environmental management for the works.