'No bad news' culture must end, says MTR Corp boss Lincoln Leong

The MTR Corporation's new chief has pledged to revamp a corporate culture that meant "bad news" about delays to its high-speed railway link never reached the top.

The opening of the controversial multibillion-dollar project to Guangzhou has now been pushed back by two years to 2017 and construction costs will rise "significantly" from the original HK$65 billion - leaving a stain on the company's previously excellent record in completing projects on time.

When Lincoln Leong Kwok-kuen officially took office last month, he was taking over a regime that had been sternly criticised by a panel, headed by Mr Justice Michael Hartmann, which found the company culture "discourages elevation of bad news without solutions".

The panel was formed by the government last year after a public outcry about the two-year delay. In Leong's first one-on-one interview since taking the helm in March, he told the Post he was making changes.

"I do very much encourage colleagues to raise the issues, no matter good or bad, and discuss," he said, adding that he had been going down on the ground to find out for himself how projects were progressing.

"That's better than reading reports in the office."