BUILDING BLOCK

Construction workers appeal for assistance outside Housing Department headquarters in Ho Man Tin yesterday after their employer allegedly disappeared without paying them almost $5 million in wages.

The workers say they were hired by a contractor, whose offices have since been vacated, to carry out maintenance projects on four public estates in East Kowloon and the New Territories. The workers say they have not been paid since December.

The estates were Tsui Ping, Choi Wan, Hing Tin and Tai Wo. None of the projects has been completed. A maintenance surveyor with the department, Maxwell Chiu Ying-cheung, said officials were trying to find a solution and would consider the workers' requests.