MTR Seeks More Time To File Report On To Kwa Wan

MTR officials have asked the government for more time to submit a report on missing construction records for the upcoming To Kwa Wan Station.

The Director of Highways, Jimmy Chan, said the government is not happy that the MTR had requested more time to draw up its report after being given until the end of this month.

The Transport Department asked for answers after finding "deficiencies" in the station's construction records. The MTR had already admitted that up to 60 percent of Request for Inspection, Survey and Check (RISC) forms regarding three work sites at Hung Hom Station can't be found.

But the rail operator's chief executive officer-designate, Jacob Kam, said the company has to go through many records to organise the report. He admitted that it was not ideal that data is being organised one or two years after the project work.

Kam also said they have accepted the recommendations put forward in the interim report of a government-appointed probe panel which is looking into the construction scandal at Hung Hom Station.

But some pro-democracy lawmakers have also questioned the credibility of the report by the Commission of Inquiry, which determined that a newly built platform and diaphragm wall at the station are safe, even though some reinforcement bars weren't fitted properly.

Transport Secretary Frank Chan told the legislators that the commission had interviewed many experts before they arrived at such a decision. He urged the lawmakers and public to study the report which has been published.

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