FORMER Airport Authority chief Dr Hank Townsend will likely be asked to refund a $2.5 million gratuity after being found partly responsible for the chaotic opening of the new airport.
Authority Chief Executive Billy Lam Chung-lun said it was obliged to ask for a refund of gratuities from senior executives found to be responsible for the airport chaos, who have left the authority.
A special group has been set up to study what course of action to take against former chief executive Dr Townsend and three other officials blamed in the Commission of Inquiry on the New Airport.
Former project director Douglas Oakervee, airport management director Chern Heed and information technology director Kiron Chatterjee were also found primarily responsible for the problems in the official inquiry chaired by Mr Justice Woo Kwok-hing.
Mr Lam said on Commercial Radio yesterday the group would meet this week to discuss the gratuities paid to Mr Townsend and Mr Oakervee.
Both men left the authority late last year.
Dr Townsend returned to the United States with a $2.5 million end-of-contract gratuity, which critics said should have been withheld.