Recommendations required

A witness in the trial of former Prosecutor-general Ho Chio Meng revealed yesterday that a high-ranking official in the Prosecutor’s Office had “highly recommended” a company for the refurbishment project on the 16th floor of Hotline Building which cost MOP7 million (US$875,481).
Tang Wai Man, a former technician in the Integrated Management Team (IMT) of the Office, was called to the stand yesterday as the trial continued. According to the witness, she is the spouse of a cousin of the former official.
Regarding the outsourcing of the refurbishment project, Ms. Tang revealed that the Office had requested quotations from three companies, of which two had served the Office previously, while the other “was highly recommended” by the high-ranking official.
The witness did not disclose which company had won the bid in the end.
According to Ms. Tang, it was always the head of her department, Chan Ka Fai, who selected awardees for projects related to renovation or construction, adding she would make proposals based upon the quotations provided by Chan.
Ms. Tang said Chan explained that that was due to security concerns as the Prosecutor’s Office is a sensitive department that should not be exposed frequently and thus it abandoned the procedure of asking three suppliers to tender.
Mr. Chan had also told her that the Office could directly re-hire the same company if the company performed well in the past without the need for going through the evaluation procedure, she claimed.
For procurement contracts such as the purchase of computers and scanning services, Ms. Tang said she had gone through the procedure of requesting quotations from three different suppliers for each purchase.
In response to presiding judge Justice Song Man Lei’s enquiry, Ms. Tang said that Ho Kam Meng, who preceded Chan as IMT head, had never provided any quotation for her to draft a proposal.

Prohibited zone
Another witness, Chan Hoi In, who had also participated in the procurement procedures of the Office, testified yesterday that the IMT staff was prohibited from visiting the 16th floor of the Hotline Building for confidential reasons.
Ms. Chan claimed she had been beware it was the same group of people for different contracted companies that are involved in this bribery case, saying that she contacted these companies with the same people answering the phone.
Meanwhile, Ms. Chan disclosed an incident involving IMT head Chan Ka Fai and Roque Chan Lok Kei, the brother of former Secretary for Administration and Justice Florinda da Rosa Silva Chan.
According to the witness, Roque Chan had once refused to sign the confirmation of a service completion by a company for payments and then the IMT head ordered her to make the payment without Roque Chan’s signature.
She added that the former IMT head had ceased to request Roque Chan’s signatures following the incident.

Coffee beans
Tsang Wai Shan, head of the Assistance Department, also confirmed that Chan Ka Fai would provide quotations for her to make proposals during her position in the IMT.
Ms. Tsang claimed that proposals made by her subordinates would not be handed to her even after she took over as department head, saying the proposals would be submitted directly to Chan Ka Fai.
Meanwhile, the defence lawyer questioned Ms. Tsang whether the MP continues purchasing coffee. The department head replied that the Office still needs to outsource the procurement of coffee bean since the beans that the Office always consumes can only be found in Hong Kong.


Sonia Chan’s sister in court
Chan Hoi Yin, one of the three witnesses called to yesterday’s trial, is the elder sister of incumbent Secretary for Administration and Justice Sonia Chan Hoi Fan, according to Chinese language newspaper Macao Daily. The Secretary allegedly recommended one of her family members to work in the Office as previously disclosed by Ho Chio Meng during one of the hearings. The suspected practice of nepotism by the Secretary is still currently under investigation by the Commission Against Corruption (CCAC).