COMPLETION of the huge reclamation project at the Chek Lap Kok airport site is expected several months early, the Provisional Airport Authority (PAA) said yesterday.
'The work is way ahead of schedule so it's conceivable it will be finished months early,' said PAA reclamation and construction support director Frans Uiterwijk.
About 75 per cent - 931.7 hectares - of the 1,248-hectare site has been formed. This includes important areas for the terminal building, aircraft maintenance and cargo handling.
But Mr Uiterwijk admitted the safety record at the site still did not meet the target set by the New Airport Projects Co-ordination Office.
That target is for no more than 60 workers injured per 1,000 employed on each of the 10 airport core projects.
The latest PAA figures showed that 63 people were injured per 1,000 workers, although this average was considerably better than for the Hong Kong construction industry in general. One in three workers were injured in accidents last year.
