In the past, maintenance of the lockers was provided by EMSD under a contract at $2.31 million a year, but "in-sourcing" of the maintenance would be more cost-effective, incurring an annual recurrent cost of $600,000 only.

To deliver the best maintenance service, a team of four Radio Mechanics of the Operations and Services Support Division had completed training at the EMSD HQs before actual work commenced on December 1, last year.

Whilst Regional Workshops/Emergency Fault Report Centre staff is responsible for providing frontline fault rectification service with overall backup support by PHQ Workshop, COMMS staff has also analysed the recurrent and common fault symptoms of the locks with a view to enhancing their reliability and reusability.

Last month, former Assistant Commissioner (Information Systems) Tsang Wai-hung met the COMMS officers concerned and expressed confidence that they would provide a quality service in their new job.