The price of residential real estate in Hong Kong is the highest in the world , and one would expect quality to be in line with this. Any property located on top of the MTR railway has so far been known for its quality control, as the cost is higher than other estates. However, it was recently reported that two of the seven tower blocks of The Pavilia Farm III, Hong Kong’s best-selling new residential property of 2020 , would have to be demolished and rebuilt after it was found that some of the lower floors did not meet the required concrete strength tests. As you reported , the concrete walls in the podium of blocks 1 and 8 “did not meet the requirements of the approved design” during concrete strength tests, according to a statement by MTR Corp, which is co-developing the high-profile project. As many as 846 buyers have been affected. While this development might not have sent the reputation of properties atop MTR station down the drain, it has still got quite a few investors and buyers very concerned. Lawmaker calls for probe into defective construction at Pavilia Farm Questions have been raised about possible defects in, or problems with, the monitoring process undertaken by our government, MTR Corp and developers; and whether this is why the defects with the Pavilia Farm project were only identified when construction was well under way . According to your report of July 11, New World Development carried on selling flats at the affected towers even after the defects had been identified, because engineers did not consider them serious enough for drastic action. But now the cruel reality is that the two towers would have to be torn down and rebuilt. MTR, contractor slammed for ‘serious deficiencies’ as probe into rail line wraps Needless to say, this incident has tarnished the image of MTR, the construction sector and contractors. But looking back, incidents of construction error have been happening time and again in recent years. It would seem that there is no effective monitoring of the construction or civil engineering in place. It’s not too late to take this episode as a lesson. But would all those involved learn from this experience and work to stave off any further failures in future projects ? Randy Lee, Ma On Shan