Hong Kong’s innovation and technology (I&T), intellectual property and investment promotion departments will receive budget increases of at least 10 per cent in the coming financial year, even as the government moves to curb recurrent spending, while the environmental branch and public broadcaster face sharp cuts of 70 and 28 per cent, respectively. The Home…
Hong Kong authorities will hold three logistics department officers accountable over their roles in a bottled water procurement scandal, with the former director, set to have his Silver Bauhinia Star revoked, cleared of direct oversight. Civil service chief Ingrid Yeung Ho Poi-yan said a probe into the scandal involving the HK$166 million bottled water procurement…
Hong Kong’s government is expected to announce next month the results of its investigation into a bottled water scandal that rocked the city and disciplinary action against those officials involved after confirming that the probe has been completed. The Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau, which set up a task force to probe the scandal…
A new accountability system for senior civil servants aims to strengthen the fitness of government departments and raise public trust in authorities, Hong Kong’s leader has said. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu told a radio programme on Saturday that the measure would push department heads to consistently look for areas for improvement, likening the practice…
Hong Kong’s senior civil servants will be subject to a new mechanism to hold them accountable for underperformance, with dismissal as the maximum penalty. Announcing the new “Heads of Department Accountability System” in his annual policy address, the chief executive later dismissed concerns that the move might deter senior servants. “If they think like that,…
Hong Kong’s senior civil servants will be subject to a new mechanism to hold them accountable for underperformance, with dismissal as the maximum penalty. Announcing the new “Heads of Department Accountability System” in his annual policy address, the chief executive later dismissed concerns that the move might deter senior servants. “If they think like that,…
Hong Kong’s leader has delivered a comprehensive policy blueprint pushing for further economic reforms by expediting key infrastructure projects and doubling down on the city’s competitive strengths, while also improving livelihoods, notably charting more paths to home ownership. In a wide-ranging speech that left no stone unturned, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu vowed to entice…
Hong Kong’s leader will introduce a mechanism to hold senior civil servants accountable for their misconduct in his policy blueprint, targeting incidents such as a recent bottled water supply scandal, the Post has learned. But political observers have warned of a possible pushback from civil servants concerned about job security, while recommending the government implement…
Hong Kong should be very concerned about the recent flurry of cases involving misbehaviour in the construction industry. It would be too easy to write them off as isolated incidents when they could just as easily be straw in the wind, indicating a serious underlying malaise. One high-profile case is the Anderson Road quarry redevelopment…
It is quite unimaginable that Hong Kong continues to struggle with basic necessities such as water. However, that is the case, at least when it comes to the government. Ten years ago, opposition lawmaker Helena Wong Pik-wan found excessive levels of lead in drinking water that was later discovered to have affected 11 public housing…