Hong Kong’s chief auditor scolds environmental watchdog for ‘inadequate supervision’ of stalled government-funded projects

Director of Audit reports that 47 per cent of the 607 projects had been underway for more than four years without proper oversight

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A solar panel system at the St. Bonaventure Catholic Primary School in Diamond Hill. The Environment and Conservation Fund was set up in 1994. Photo: Edmond So

Published: 12:18am, 18 Apr 2019Updated: 9:20am, 18 Apr 2019

Hong Kong’s chief auditor said Wednesday that nearly half of all government-funded environmental projects took more than four years to complete, exposing inadequate supervision by the city’s environmental watchdog.

The Director of Audit’s twice annual report found that only 22 per cent of the projects approved by the Environment and Conservation Fund (ECF) had been completed in a year or less. The report also said 47 per cent of the 607 projects had been underway since 2014 without proper oversight by the Environmental Protection Department (EPD).

The ECF was established in 1994 as a statutory trust to provide financial support to local non-profit organisations for educational, research and other projects and activities. As of December 2018, more than HK$6.7 billion (US$854 million) had been injected into the fund.

The audit report noted one case in which a secondary school was granted HK$866,550 in 2010 to build a green roof, which was scheduled for completion in July 2013.

The NGO Green Power received HK$8.5 million from the government's Environment and Conservation Fund in 2018. Photo: Nora Tam

Three years later, however, the school said it was still raising funds for fencing that was needed before the installation of the green roof could begin.

After failing to reach out to the school on multiple occasions in 2018 and 2019, the audit found that the government was still waiting for the school to respond and report its progress.