Carrie Lam Talks Rail Scandal, Hospital Woes

Chief Executive Carrie Lam says the government will be prepared to take action if a Commission of Inquiry feels that there should be further investigations into the scandal-plagued Sha Tin to Central Link rail project.

The commission is preparing a report into the alleged cutting of steel reinforcement bars at Hung Hom station, and it's already been asked to look into how inspection documents covering three other aspects of the station project came to be missing.

The MTR Corporation revealed last week that up to 60 per cent of request for inspection and survey checks (RISC) forms were unaccounted for.

It's been reported that a number of forms relating to the Exhibition Centre station in Wan Chai have also gone missing.

The Hong Kong leader was speaking to reporters at the airport after appearing in an event to mark the first day of the Lunar New Year holiday.

She also acknowledged that a $500 million payout earmarked for the Hospital Authority to hire more people and reward overworked staff during the winter flu season will not solve the problems that the public health care system is facing.

She said the government will work on improving the primary health care system to reduce unnecessary admittance to hospitals.