Editorial | Rule breakers must face full wrath of Hong Kong’s law
- An engineering company was given a mere slap on the wrist for taking short cuts in Hong Kong’s most expensive rail project; that hardly serves as a deterrence
The punishment did not seem to fit the crime when a leading construction company in Hong Kong was fined a mere HK$40,000 for cutting corners on the Hung Hom MTR station project that contributed to costly delays on the city’s most expensive rail link.
Leighton Contractors (Asia) pleaded guilty in Kowloon City Court last Tuesday to failing to adhere to an approved plan for a space in the station built as part of the more than HK$99 billion Sha Tin-Central link.
The project’s safety was called into question in mid-2018 after some steel reinforcing bars were found to have been cut short during installation. A whistle-blower triggered a government inquiry and the resulting scandal forced an overhaul of the rail operator’s top management team, delayed the rail link project for more than a year and piled on an additional HK$2 billion in costs.
Investigators eventually ruled that the station was safe and fit for use in mid-2020, but Leighton and the MTR Corporation were blamed for “serious deficiencies” in supervision of the project. The company’s lawyers told the court the violation involved a “technical” error in a small area and argued that it was the company’s first offence. The magistrate said the firm had a social responsibility to complete the new link in accordance with guidelines, but agreed the substandard work in the case concerned a limited area and did not result in casualties or further defects.
Leighton’s modest fine is a far cry from the potential maximum fine of HK$1 million the ordinance allows for. The Buildings Department said after the ruling that it would still refer the case to the Contractors’ Disciplinary Board.
This is a sensible move since the industry and authorities clearly have more work to do, a fact underscored by a fresh case that emerged on June 20 when the same whistle-blower reported shoddy work on a campus housing project at the University of Hong Kong.
Engineering specifications are often set high to ensure safety, but margins for error are no excuse for taking risks. Public safety and the industry’s hard-earned reputation are at stake. If rules are not being followed, disciplinary action must be taken to provide a deterrent.