Five thousand imported workers are needed to ensure the airport railway is completed on time, a Mass Transit Railway Corporation senior official warned yesterday.
Project director Russell Black said the corporation was negotiating with the Government to try to import the workers by the end of the year.
Staff shortages, particularly electricians and mechanical workers, would prevent the project from being opened by mid-1998, he said.
But trade unionists complained the airport demand was a curtain-raiser for another wave of labour importation.
Wong Ying-yu, of the Confederation of Trade Unions, said that local workers were available and employers should give priority to them.
'There are more than 9,000 qualified electrical workers,' Mr Wong said.