Corner-cutting on Hong Kong's Sha-Tin-Central rail link much more widespread than MTR admits, sub-contractor chief says

Director of company involved in building work backs calls for Hung Hom platforms to be dug up to find out just how many steel bars were improperly trimmed

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Jason Poon said he pointed out the building problems to Leighton superintendents but they dismissed his concerns. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

Published: 6:25pm, 28 Jun 2018Updated: 11:29pm, 28 Jun 2018

A construction boss directly involved in work on Hong Kong’s scandal-hit rail line has backed suggestions that shoddy work on the multibillion-dollar project could be far more widespread than already admitted.

Jason Poon Chuk-Hung, director of the subcontractor China Technology Corporation, also called for parts of the platforms at the Hum Hom station of the Sha Tin-Central link to be torn up for inspection, and claimed he tried to raise the alarm after personally witnessing corner-cutting.

Controversy arose last month as the MTR Corporation confirmed that on five occasions in late 2015 some steel bars were trimmed to look like they had been screwed properly into couplers on the platforms, when they had not. The police have opened an investigation at the request of the Highways Department, and the MTR Corp has handed documents on the build to law enforcement agencies. The government has also launched a judge-led inquiry into the furore.

On Wednesday lawmaker and former rail boss Michael Tien Puk-sun even called for part of the platforms to be ripped up to check for shoddy work. He had earlier claimed that a source told him 5,000 bars were faulty, instead of fewer than 25, as asserted by MTR Corp projects director Philco Wong Nai-keung.

Michael Tien called for part of the platforms to be ripped up to check for corner-cutting. K.Y. Cheng

Poon backed the call for a check, but his estimate of the number of faulty bars was more conservative.

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Corner-cutting on Hong Kong's Sha-Tin-Central rail link much more widespread than MTR admits, sub-contractor chief says

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Director of company involved in building work backs calls for Hung Hom platforms to be dug up to find out just how many steel bars were improperly trimmed

Director of company involved in building work backs calls for Hung Hom platforms to be dug up to find out just how many steel bars were improperly trimmed