More Unapproved Work At Hung Hom Station: Govt

The construction scandal at the Hung Hom station of the MTR’s Shatin-to-Central link widened on Wednesday, with the government revealing a whole new set of construction problems at two approach tunnels and a set of secondary tracks.

Officials say the main contractor, Leighton Asia, made unapproved changes, and so much critical paperwork is missing that there’s not enough information to ascertain whether the station is safe.

Transport secretary Frank Chan told reporters that the government felt compelled to go public with the information after a meeting last week with MTR officials revealed that 40 percent of crucial construction records, known as ‘request for inspection and survey checks forms’ (RISC) were missing.

Contractors are normally required to submit these forms to the rail firm to declare that they have completed the works in accordance with the approved design, and MTR officers should have signed them after inspections.

The Director of Highways, Jimmy Chan, expressed regret over MTR’s performance.

“The incident is serious. Although we only have very limited information, we’d like the public to know the issue. We have requested the MTRC to provide more information concerning the deficiencies and the action it prepare to take,” he said.

Frank Chan said the MTR will have to prove definitively that the station is safe if it’s unable to come up with the missing records, saying “the government is committed to make every endeavour to ensure structural integrity and railway safety.”

The Highways Department said it was initially notified of ‘non-conformance reports’ by the MTR Corporation relating to the three areas last June, but was given no details.

The rail firm only specified in December that construction and test records were incomplete, and that Leighton made some unapproved construction changes.

Officials now say changes were made to how reinforcement bars are connected at two tunnels.

The station has already been dogged by allegations of corner cutting relating to the construction of two platforms, and MTR has been asked to conduct tests to verify if the allegations are true.

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