According to the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, 36 staff, including 10 lifeguards, will be employed through outsourcing at the sports centre, which will open at the end of the year. It will include a multi-purpose arena, an indoor climbing wall, three multi-purpose activity rooms, a gymnastics room, a children's playroom, and an indoor swimming pool.

Alex Kwok Siu-kit, vice-chairman of the Hong Kong and Kowloon Life Guards' Union, said: 'This will set a bad example, leading to more outsourcing of public facilities to contractors in the future.

'We're afraid that the quality of service will drop when lifeguards are employed through outsourcing, thus affecting public safety.'

The group said the department sent a letter to its staff in February stating that it had no plans to contract out work at the new complex.

The protesters said they would be worried about job security if the government continued to expand its outsourcing.

Doris Fok Lee Sheung-ling, the department's chief leisure manager, said the organisation had to outsource its management work because it could not create new posts due to the freeze in civil service recruitment.

'We have considered the matter thoroughly before implementing such a policy,' Mrs Fok said, pledging that existing staff would not be affected.

'Letters have been sent to all staff explaining that they will not be affected in the process. And our service quality will not be affected either because we will conduct regular visits to the venue and mount surprise checks.'

At present, the management work at 10 public sports centres has been contracted out. The department has set up a standing committee to monitor the standards of services provided by contractors.

Mrs Fok said their records showed that the quality of outsourced services at Island East Sports Centre over the past four years had been satisfactory.

She added that the department was open to discussion with its employees or unions on the issue.