Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Christopher Hui said the government’s priority now is “damage control” after a contractor was accused of lying about the source of bottled water supplied to public offices.

His remarks came after Chief Executive John Lee said he was “very disappointed” with the Government Logistics Department for failing to act as a gatekeeper during the procurement process.

Speaking on a radio programme on Sunday, Hui said the government terminated the contract with Xin Ding Xin last week.

He said the incident showed deficiencies in the government’s existing procurement procedures, and a task force had been set up with various policy bureaus and departments to map out follow-up actions.

“We have come up with many plans, among which some are close to the instructions of the chief executive who has required the improvement of our colleagues' alertness in doing procurement works,” Hui said.

“Enhancing this, using technology and training in the future, is one of the directions in a series of measures that we have proposed.”