Concerning over the gratuity for KCRC senior executives

27th April 2007

According to the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation's latest annual report, chief executive James Blake and four top directors received gratuity totaling over 5 million.
Mr. Andrew Cheng Kar Foo, the chairman of the Transportation Panel, said the gratuity given to the directors were unacceptable, as the performance of the railway last year was poor. He noticed that the KCRC's management had refused to abandon the contact gratuity, yet again defiant against Dr. Sarah Liao Sau Tung's advice to revert the gratuity matter to the managing board of KCRC.

He questioned if the government has been losing the control KCRC. Further, he worried that once the merger of Mass Transit Railway Corporation and KCRC is realized, the government would have no say in the new corporation, and the new corporation would become quasi-independent from the government.

At the same time, he concerned about the progress of the proposed Shatin-Central Link. According to the annual report, the planning and construction of the Link was stopped in 2005, which is expected to finish in 2011.

Because of his concern, Andrew Cheng will demand Mr. Donald Tsang, the Chief Executive of the government:
1. To review the system of giving extra bonuses to the directors of KCRC. and;
2. To resume the progress of Shatin Central Link immediately.
He will also raise this immediately after the press conference in the Transportation Panel meeting.