ICAC officers have scheduled talks with top housing officials to discuss ways to prevent construction scandals.
After studying an independent report on the Sha Tin piling scandal that led to the decision to demolish two Home Ownership Scheme blocks, Corruption Prevention Department staff at the Independent Commission Against Corruption pinpointed three main areas of concern.
The ICAC's Dominic Wong said the Government must step up site supervision. Senior housing officials must also make sure contractors hire independent laboratories to test materials on completion of projects and draw up rules to prevent contractors and civil servants from becoming too close.
A report released on Thursday by a three-member independent panel named nine housing department staff and identified a business director from the department for their lack of supervision over work including that carried out by the main piling contractor, Zen Pacific.
'Sometimes site supervisors and contractors grow too close in their relationship, leading to a lack of effectiveness in supervision,' Mr Wong said.
The scandal, in which only three of the 36 piles under two blocks at a Home Ownership Scheme project in Yuen Chau Kok met the required standard, was uncovered in January. It will cost $250 million to pull them down. The ICAC has arrested eight people over the scandal.
