The worst offenders have been fined 30 times but still land multi-million-dollar contracts
Some of the biggest names in Hong Kong's construction industry have been convicted and fined for breaching anti-pollution laws more than 30 times in the past three years, an investigation by the Sunday Morning Post has revealed.
But despite their shoddy records, many of the worst offenders continue to be awarded multimillion-dollar government contracts, having paid fines as low as $10,000 each time they were caught.
As a result, environmental lawyers and noise-pollution experts yesterday called for tighter law enforcement, tougher penalties and spot checks on construction sites to deter repeat offenders.
Among the worst repeat offenders convicted of breaching anti-pollution laws, according to a list from the Environmental Protection Department (EPD), were Hong Kong Construction (Holdings) Limited and Chun Wo Construction and Engineering Company. The EPD list details convictions in the 12 months from last June and a history of convictions in the case of repeat offenders.
The list shows that Hong Kong Construction (Holdings) - one of the city's largest publicly listed construction companies - has amassed 31 convictions under the Noise Control Ordinance (NCO) since January 2000 and eight under the Air Pollution Ordinance.