Hong Kong has had more than its fair share of public housing scandals over the years. The mysterious case of the falling tiles, which has hit 68 estates in recent months, is the latest problem. It requires further investigation.
The facts are worrying. Tiles have been falling from the walls of the estates in large numbers. This is not an isolated incident - the area concerned covers 70,000 square metres. This unhappy state of affairs has, understandably, upset residents. No one has been injured by the plunging tiles but it reflects badly on the quality of the housing provided by the government.
The cause of the problem is not clear. Housing chief Michael Suen Ming-yeung has attributed it to a combination of faults in design, selection of materials, workmanship - and 'environmental factors'.
If the last point is a reference to humidity, it cannot seriously be put forward as an explanation. If the weather was the problem, then tiles would be falling from the walls of most buildings in Hong Kong. Shoddy workmanship and poor materials are the more likely explanations - especially if previous controversies are anything to go by.
Officials have revealed that a new type of glue was being used in the late 1990s, when most of the affected estates were built. There is a suggestion that the tiles were not applied properly. The haste with which estates were being built at the time also appears to have contributed.
Another possibility is that the work was subcontracted several times, leading to diminishing returns for those applying the tiles, and therefore a temptation to cut corners.
