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SCMP Reporter

Aviation chiefs are seeking legal advice on claiming back an estimated several million dollars from two former executives blamed for the chaotic opening of the new airport.

 Former airport authority chief executive Dr Hank Townsend and former authority project director Douglas Oakervee were paid end-of-contract gratuity fees late last year.

 Since then, the three inquiries into the opening chaos have laid the blame mainly on the authority.

 Maria Tam Wai-chu, a member of the authority's board, said: 'On the question of the position of certain individuals named in the reports and matters relating to gratuities, external expert legal help has been engaged to advise on the way forward.'  She said the authority had acted swiftly on the results of inquiries and a working group would consider legal, contractual and other implications and recommend speedy follow-up action.

 'The board has acted quickly and firmly in the light of the findings of the three reports,' she said.

 Mr Justice Woo's report singled out Dr Townsend and Mr Oakervee for criticism.

 It accused Dr Townsend of making misleading statements to the Government steering committee about the airport's readiness.

 He was not 'in control of the management, resulting in a lack of co-ordination between the project division and airport management division', it said.

 Mr Oakervee was responsible for 'delays in development of [flight information] software . . . mainly caused by the lack of co-ordination between the project division and airport management.'  In the Legco report, Dr Townsend was again targeted, though criticism widened to top government officials including Chief Secretary for Administration Anson Chan Fang On-sang.

 Fred Li Wah-ming, Democratic Party spokesman for public utilities, who has held talks with the authority over the fiasco, welcomed the move to try to get back the gratuity fees.

 'The fees paid to the former managers are at least several million between them, although the figures have not been officially disclosed,' he said.

 Authority chiefs said in December that the executives would receive gratuity pay regardless of their performance because of the terms of their contracts.

 Ms Tam dismissed criticism that acting authority chief executive Billy Lam Chung-lun's role as a member of the working group would pose a conflict of interest because he had been criticised for his part in the airport fiasco.

 'The impartiality of the inquiry will not be affected and he is a very valuable member of the group,' said Ms Tam, adding that Mr Lam would not attend any meetings on issues involving him.

 She said a consultancy firm would be hired to streamline management structure and former director of civil aviation Richard Siegel would lead a panel on risk management and contingency plans for events like fires or typhoons.

 The three separate inquiries were launched after the disastrous opening on July 6.



Officials consider retrieving millions from executives blamed for Chek Lap Kok