Police Report Made Over Rail Station's Shoddy Work

The Highways Department on Friday made a report to the police over the shoddy work scandal engulfing the MTR's Hung Hom Station.

It said it suspected criminal elements in relation to allegations targeting the main contractor, Leighton. But the department did not give any details.

The move by the department came after the MTR Corporation submitted a report to the government, highlighting conflicting accounts of the incident from Leighton and two subcontractors, China Technology and Fang Sheung.

But the railway operator concluded that it had fulfilled all the requirements of monitoring the project, and had accepted written confirmation from Leighton that the construction work fully complied with the contract.

However, the report said workers from bar-bending subcontractor Fang Sheung claimed they had been ordered by Leighton to cut threaded steel bars when they had difficulty screwing them into couplers in the wall "with the understanding that rectification measures would be carried out by Leighton."

But representatives from Leighton interviewed by the MTR said they had "no direct knowledge" of any such incidents.

For its part, the corporation said its inspectors found on five occasions in 2015, that the ends of some steel bars used to secure a large platform at the Hung Hom Station were cut off, in an apparent effort to make it look like they were properly screwed in to couplers. However, it repeated assurances that all these problems have since been fixed.

The report detailed how Leighton launched an investigation into the problem in January 2017, after China Technology alerted it to alleged 'malpractice'.

Leighton concluded that the construction and checking process had been carried out in accordance with the procedures.

However, an MTR source said that a staff member from China Technology directly contradicted assurances given to the rail firm by Leighton.

The source refused to give any details of the allegations made, saying that it has received legal advice not to publicise this information, and has forwarded the details to the government.

The report did say that Leighton has strenuously denied the allegations, and the corporation has not seen any evidence that substantiates the claims.

But in a statement, the Highways Department said that may involve criminal elements, and referred the matter to the police for follow-up action.

Speaking before the release of the report, the chairman of the MTR Corporation Frederick Ma told reporters that he has instructed the management to carefully inspect the entire Shatin-to-Central rail link project. The Hung Hom Station is one of the stations along the line.

When asked how the railway would follow up on the issue, MTR sources said the corporation has done its job, and the Commission of Inquiry set up by the government to look into the whole matter will have more power to investigate the incident than the MTR itself.