Updated at 8.13pm: Efforts to hold a public inquiry into public housing scandals gathered momentum in Friday's Legislative Council meeting.
Thirty-four lawmakers supported James Tien Pei-chun's amendment on Albert Ho Chun-yan's motion to have a select committee to look into the problems at Housing Authority sites in Tin Shui Wai, Sha Tin, Tung Chung and Kwai Chung.
Details of the select committee's make-up and methods will be debated in a Legco meeting possibly as soon as February 7. And a full investigation committee could be formed within a month if the motion is passed.
The inquiry follows a series of scandals over substandard foundations in Authority projects, most serious of which was the announcment last year that two blocks in Sha Tin, found to have faulty piling, would have to be demolished at a cost of $200 million to the taxpayer.
The amendment proposed further action to look into the structure of the Housing Authority and to advise on suitable measures to boost building quality.
Members of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB) abstained, though they announced last night that they would back a statutory inquiry.
''It is impossible to have a comprehensive investigation over the whole Authority,'' DAB Vice-Chairman Ip Kwok-him.
