Officials 'knew Of Bridge Document Delay In 2016'

Transport officials have revealed that they first knew in 2016 that a contractor on a section of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau had failed to submit some 10,000 forms relating to construction safety.

The Highways Department had said in a press release on Sunday that it only found out in July last year that China State Construction Engineering had not submitted the request for survey inspection and checking, or RISC, forms.

Officials revealed more details of the case in a paper to the Legislative Council's panel on transport, which will discuss the situation on Friday.

The paper emphasised that the submission of the forms had only been delayed and there was no suggestion that the paperwork had gone missing or been destroyed.

The contractor will be asked to pay HK$2.3 billion in fees for an independent contractor to pore over the construction documents.

The documents relate to a HK$8.8 billion contract to build the link road connecting the new bridge to Hong Kong's highways system.

RISC documents have been in the spotlight since it was revealed last month that some 60 per cent of RISC forms on work relating to the MTR's troubled Hung Hom Station project had gone missing.