Residents in Tai Kok Tsui are worried that construction of the underground high-speed railway will undermine the structure of their building as it sits on an 'extremely weak' rock layer.
They found the description in a geotechnical report, compiled by the MTR's consultant in 2008, in a public library, with the help of an anti-rail activist and politicians.
The report contained a drill-hole record which shows the granite underneath the 42-year-old Chung Yew Building on Kok Cheung Street is extremely weak and 'completely decomposed'.
'The railway will run right underneath. I'm really afraid the building will sink and collapse,' said Wong Chung-wo, chairman of the owners' corporation of the building. Wong said the block, located on the former shoreline before land reclamation, had shown signs of subsidence over the years, sinking about 10cm.
The Tai Kok Tsui residents are not alone in their concerns over the impact of the HK$66 billion line, which will run entirely underground from West Kowloon to Shenzhen and Guangzhou.
On Wednesday, villagers in Ngau Tam Mei, Yuen Long, a fish-farming area, told the media they were worried that the construction would lower the water level and eventually dry up their wells.
The MTR Corporation said the tunnelling work, to start in Tai Kok Tsui in the second half of next year, would not affect the building structure. 'The railway will run 30 metres below the Chung Yew Building, which is far deeper than the block's foundation,' a spokeswoman said.
