IN accepting the job as head of the Provisional Airport Authority (PAA), Dr Hank Townsend's first task will be to solve a dispute with some of the world's top consulting engineers over contract conditions.
Championed by the Association of Consulting Engineers of Hongkong, more than 20 firms which had been shortlisted for eight design projects, refused to submit tenders by two recent deadlines.
After no bids were received by deadlines on January 29 and February 12, the PAA sent a letter to consulting engineers saying tendering had been indefinitely deferred.
Affected projects include the designs for temporary utilities, permanent utilities, storm water, sewerage and waste water and the irrigation system.
''This is certainly an urgent issue and I hope Dr Townsend will look into it right away,'' one consulting engineer said yesterday.
''If this situation goes on too long it would be a disaster - I certainly would not be too interested in bidding anymore.'' He warned of delays in the airport project if the dispute dragged on much longer and suggested the six-month viability period usually given to a successful bidder should be made retroactive to compensate for lost time.