Government warns MTR Corp and Leighton Contractors against altering safety standards in Hung Hom station platform case
- Counsel for government, in final submissions for inquiry, says such a move would be unacceptable and would amount to rewriting the contract
- Richard Khaw, SC, also accused Leighton of ‘corporate arrogance’ and said both parties abrogated their responsibilities
The government has cautioned the MTR Corporation and construction firm Leighton Contractors (Asia) against any attempt to lower the safety standard for the scandal-hit Hung Hom station, calling such a move unacceptable and tantamount to rewriting their contract.
The warning came on Monday as Richard Khaw, SC, representing the government, made final submissions before the commission of inquiry into the shoddy building work that has plagued the HK$97.1 billion (US$12.4 billion) Sha Tin-Central rail link.
Leighton, the main contractor for the project, has been embroiled in allegations that reinforcement bars were cut short to fake proper installation into couplers on a platform at the station, and that supporting diaphragm walls were changed without authorisation.
Khaw pointed out that recently the MTR Corp and Leighton were trying to rely on a test by the couplers’ supplier, BOSA Technology, to claim that just 60 per cent of rebar installation, an embedded length of about 26mm, would be enough to maintain the structural safety.
However, BOSA once said that the correct installation was to have 10 threads fully engaged into the coupler, or a minimum embedded length of 40mm.
“The MTR Corp and Leighton now rely on one single test result done by BOSA to argue that ‘we actually don’t need to do that much to keep the structure safe’,” he noted.