Forms were submitted late for work on mega bridge because of rush to meet schedule, Highways Department chief says
- The matter could have been handled better, Jimmy Chan admitted at a Legco transport panel meeting
- An independent auditor confirmed work on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge was in order, panel is told
The rush to meet the schedule of the much-delayed mega bridge was the reason a contractor had submitted almost 15,000 inspection documents late, Hong Kong’s highways chief has revealed as he admitted inadequacies over how the matter was handled.
Highways Department head Jimmy Chan Pai-ming was speaking at a Legislative Council transport panel meeting on Friday.
The department had acknowledged in a Legco paper the previous night that it was informed about the overdue documents as early as 2016 but it did not pursue the matter until two years later.
Fending off allegations of a cover-up alongside Chan, Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan Fan insisted that the latest incident involved only delayed submission of the documents and not any missing papers or construction quality issues. An independent auditor appointed last year had confirmed that most of the work concerned had been conducted under supervision.
“The incident had nothing to do with missing or damaged documents, nor did it involve any quality issues … Before the opening of the Hong Kong Link Road project (for the bridge), the Highways Department had verified that the contractor had constructed the works in accordance with the contract. The construction quality has conformed to the technical and safety requirements,” he assured lawmakers.