Right from the start there were warnings that the creation of three separate inquiries into the chaos that marred the opening of Chek Lap Kok would cause confusion and a wasteful duplication of resources.
This week the first practical example of this has arisen with Airport Authority chief executive Dr Hank Townsend being told he was expected to appear next Tuesday before both the Legislative Council's select committee on the issue and Mr Justice Woo Kwok-hing's Commission of Inquiry.
Although legislators now look likely to postpone his testimony, this scheduling conflict only highlights the absurdity of having both inquiries, together with Ombudsman Andrew So Kwok-hing's parallel investigation, simultaneously scrutinising the same events.
Some of the blame for this belongs to the Government, which was reluctant to set up an inquiry, only doing so when it became clear Legco was intent on launching an investigation. Had the administration acted faster, legislators would have been less suspicious and could probably have been persuaded to back off.
Nor has the snail-like progress of Mr Justice Woo's commission done much to inspire confidence that it will be completed by next January, as promised. Nonetheless this is the inquiry that has been charged by the Government with getting to the truth of the Chek Lap Kok fiasco. With its sweeping powers to examine official documents or summon witnesses, and an army of legal experts to question them, it is best equipped to find out what went wrong.
Legislators are right to have their suspicions, especially when the Government's behaviour has done so much to encourage them. But, for now, their role should be to back off - as in the conflict over Dr Townsend's testimony - and give the commission a chance.
