The KCRC is side-stepping rules on the awarding of consultancy contracts for the Western Corridor Railway, legislator Samuel Wong Ping-wai has charged. Mr Wong, a former Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC) director, said yesterday the methods used to award contracts were questionable. 'It has just divided contracts into smaller ones each worth just less than $20 million so that the approval of the board of directors was not required,' he said. The KCRC disclosed last week it had awarded 14 contracts worth more than $80 million without using tenders, including two contracts worth $36.3 million and $25.7 million. According to KCRC practice, contracts worth more than $20 million have to be approved by the board before being awarded but the two contracts were allowed without the board's endorsement. The corporation argued that the contracts consisted of a series of deals each worth less than $20 million and because of this approval was not necessary. Mr Wong called for the setting up of a body similar to the New Airport Co-ordination Office to oversee the railway project. He said the airport body had learned a lot from Bechtel, the project co-ordinator for the railway, and the experience gained should be utilised.
