Construction on Hong Kong’s Sha Tin-Central rail link allowed to proceed without required forms as workers were in a rush, senior MTR Corp manager says

Sixty per cent of inspection forms missing, more than the 40 per cent originally reported by officials

Government has reported latest developments to law enforcement agencies, transport minister says

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MTR Corp managing director Jacob Kam says the missing documents might never be found. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 2:30pm, 1 Feb 2019Updated: 3:35pm, 2 Feb 2019

Hong Kong’s embattled railway operator drew more fire on Friday over a construction scandal gripping its most expensive project, with the suggestion that its on-site managers let the main contractor carry on works without the proper papers because they were in a rush to get the job done.

With Leighton Contractors (Asia) having failed to submit more than 60 per cent of inspection documents for work at the troubled Hung Hom station of the HK$97.1 billion (US$12.4 billion) Sha Tin-Central link, transport minister Frank Chan Fan told lawmakers the government had reported the matter to law enforcement agencies.

The proportion of the documents that had gone missing was even higher than the 40 per cent reported earlier this week. The new figure was disclosed by the MTR Corporation, which is overseeing the project, at a Legislative Council railway subcommittee meeting on Friday.

What does missing document scandal mean for Sha Tin-Central rail link?

Speaking after the meeting, MTR Corp managing director Jacob Kam Chak-pui said: “[Site staff] suggested that because of the rush in the construction programme, they approved the work on site but could not get the documentation afterwards.”

“But I have no proof of this,” he added.

An aerial view of the Sha Tin-Central link’s Hung Hom station. Photo: Winson Wong

During the meeting, MTR Corp divisional general manager James Chow So-hung said the completed forms should have been uploaded to an online platform by Leighton.