Whistle-blower in MTR scandal involving HK$97.1 billion Sha Tin-Central rail link blasted by contractor at inquiry
- Spirited opening speech at official inquiry by lawyer for Leighton Contractors accuses subcontractor of grudge arising from pay dispute
- Statement is firm’s first on allegations that steel bars were cut short to fake proper installation at station platform
The main contractor at the centre of a construction scandal plaguing Hong Kong’s most expensive rail project denied on Monday having engineered shoddy work and hit back at its “disgruntled” whistle-blower.
Leighton Contractors (Asia), the main contractor for the extended platform at Hung Hom station in the HK$97.1 billion (US$13 billion) Sha Tin-Central link, broke its silence over allegations steel bars were cut short to fake proper installation, attending the first day of an inquiry hearing on the scandal.
In an opening speech at a government-appointed independent commission of inquiry into the alleged substandard work, Paul Shieh Wing-tai, SC, representing Leighton, mounted an attack on its whistle-blower, Jason Poon Chuk-Hung, managing director of the concreting subcontractor China Technology Corporation.
“In front of the media, so far he has tried to paint himself as a conscientious whistle-blower when he was just a commercially disgruntled subcontractor acting out of revenge and vengeance,” Shieh said of Poon.
Shieh suggested the issue had merely been a commercial dispute. He accused Poon of harbouring a personal grudge against Leighton arising from disputes over a payment of HK$6 million while the contractor had complained about the performance standard of Poon’s firm.