Hong Kong’s official auditor has criticised the Post Office, public dental services, bus operators and a government-funded NGO for failing to include national security clauses in contracts with various suppliers.
The Audit Commissioner released reports on Wednesday covering eight government sectors. While examining their spending and efficiency, it also urged various departments to safeguard national security in accordance with the Beijing-drafted law enacted in June 2020.
The watchdog said the Hong Kong Academy for Gifted Education (HKAGE), an NGO fully funded by the government, had not established any measures to safeguard national security.
Although HKAGE “engaged service providers to deliver its programmes and services to its members and stakeholders, it has not incorporated specific measures for safeguarding national security in its Procurement Policy, the tender documents and contracts,” the commissioner said in the reports.
In response to the commissioner’s advice, the academy last month updated its guidelines and regulations to defend national security.
The Education Bureau (EDB) last June released national security guidelines for all public schools, requiring them to add clauses to any procurement contracts to allow disqualification of a supplier or termination of a service agreement “in the interests of national security.”
Citing these guidelines, the Education Bureau in February told a school to withdraw a lease agreement with a Hong Kong performing arts group, resulting in the cancellation of two plays.
“Although HKAGE is not covered by the guidelines issued by EDB, its responsibilities to safeguard national security are as important as those of the public-sector schools, ” the government watchdog said in the report.
National security clauses
The watchdog said it found no clauses mentioning national security in Hongkong’s Post contracts with stamp designers, the Department of Health’s contracts with an institution to provide dental services for the elderly, and the Transport Department’s contracts for buses for rehabilitation services.
It required them to add relevant terms to safeguard national security in its service agreements.
Director of Audit Nelson Lam said in an interview with Ming Pao in February that some government departments and public organisations “completely disregarded” the national security law after it was enacted.
Therefore the watchdog actively examined the work of different departments in safeguarding national security.
In its audit reports released last October, the commissioner chided the Chinese University of Hong Kong for failing to incorporate measures relating to national security in tender documents.
It also said the government’s Innovation and Technology Commission should pay more heed to the issue.
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