HK Can't Trust MTR Anymore, Warn Lawmakers

Lawmakers from both the pro-democracy and pro-Beijing camps on Friday blasted the MTR for what they described as a "cover-up" over a safety scare at Hung Hom Station, warning the corporation can no longer be trusted.

On Wednesday, the railway operator had said it had been made aware in December 2015 that contractors had cut corners when fitting steel bars at the station and the problem was then rectified.

But on Friday, MTR officials admitted in Legco that that wasn't the case after media reports said the flawed works had already been concreted over in September of that year. The issues were actually noticed in August 2015, the MTR then claimed, saying a news release issued by the corporation "wasn't clear".

The scandal has led to fears that a platform floor at the station, that is not yet in use, could be in danger of collapsing.

Michael Tien, the chairman of Legco's railways subcommittee, said the quality and safety of tens of thousands of construction parts could now be in question, with the same steel bars used across the future Shatin-Central link.

Tien said the government should now set up an independent committee to check that all the MTR's construction works are safe.

"It's something to do with whether the MTR has a very robust project management control system to ensure all of these cement-pouring contracts are done after the metal framework has been certified and signed off by the contractor and the MTR," Tien said.

Meanwhile, Civic Party lawmaker Tanya Chan said the MTR Corporation cannot be trusted anymore. She told RTHK's Frances Sit that the government should launch its own independent probe into the affair.

"I don't think the legislators or the public trust the MTR. We have no confidence in their monitoring system and we have no confidence in the words they have said or the statements they have made," Chan said.

"It's very obvious that they are trying to change their story according to the information published by the media. It's even given the public the impression that the MTR is trying to change their story to cover up their errors."