Tin Shui Wai to get economic boost with HK$8.5m centre for construction training

An HK$8.5 million training facility for construction workers is being built in Tin Shui Wai, the first of several projects aimed at injecting life into the poor area.

Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, secretary for development, yesterday said a site, next to the Wetland Park, had been designated for the facility, which would be run by the Construction Industry Council. 'The most important thing is that the project will bring economic development to Tin Shui Wai and open up the area,' Mrs Lam said at a construction job fair in Tin Shui Wai North.

She said Hong Kong needed more construction workers, given the 10 infrastructure projects the government had in the pipeline.

The facility, which will open next year and recruit 300 full-time students, will be the first in New Territories North and the fifth in Hong Kong.

Tse Yau-kun, a representative of the Construction Industry Employees General Union, said: 'The employment rate is low in Tin Shui Wai, and the closest training centre is all the way out in Kwai Chung, so it's a good thing they are building one.'

Billy Wong, chairman of the council's training committee, said the facility would offer basic building courses and tuition for people who had more experience. He said 70 per cent of students would be taking the basic course. Courses would be free for full-time students and their travel expenses would be paid for by the facility.

Ng Koon-kwan, chief organiser of the Construction Site Workers General Union, noted that although the Construction Workers Registration Authority said there were 240,000 such workers in the city, this was not enough to cope with planned infrastructure projects.