A mainland Chinese enterprise in April won a HK$430 million (US$55.5 million) public-sector project to build a coronavirus quarantine camp after the Hong Kong government invited only a limited number of bidders, raising speculation about favoritism toward those companies.

In response to the media revelation, the government said it broke with the usual practice of launching an open tender process — in which any interested and qualified contractor can submit a bid — in order to expedite the work in the light of the pandemic.

According to an Apple Daily investigation, the government’s Architectural Services Department invited only a limited number of bidders for the construction of 700 temporary quarantine units in Penny’s Bay on Lantau Island.

A notice issued by the Government Logistics Department showed that the government had cited “extreme urgency” in restricting its tender invitations. The multimillion-dollar project was awarded to China State Construction (Hong Kong) on April 16.

In a reply to Apple Daily’s enquiry, a government spokesman said that due to the fast worsening coronavirus pandemic, limited bidders were invited to speed up the tendering process begun in February. A total of 44 qualified contractors had been invited by March 16.

A public works contractor cast doubts on the reasons behind adopting the limited tendering process.

Jason Poon, managing director of China Technology Corporation, said a contract for ground levelling works at the Penny’s Bay site was awarded on Feb. 17, meaning that the site had been earmarked for quarantine facilities by then.

Poon said that if the government started an open tendering process in February, there would still have been plenty of time to award the contract in April.

He said the quarantine units in question did not involve complex construction works as they were containers for general lodging purposes and had no need to serve medical purposes like impromptu hospitals set up in Wuhan in mainland China. The drafting of contract documents would also be straightforward and the whole open tendering process could be completed within one month, he said.

Poon said the government should avoid suspicion that it was transferring interest to a particular business as public funds were at stake.

“It should have let all qualified contractors bid so as to allow fair competition,” he said. “Now, some contractors are on the verge of collapsing while others are being looked after by the government.”

In February, the government came under criticism when it awarded a HK$70 million project to China State Construction Engineering (Hong Kong) to build temporary facilities in Lei Yue Mun without an open tendering process.

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