Whistle-blower says helping inquiry into shoddy work on Hong Kong’s Sha Tin-Central rail link was a waste of his time and money

Jason Poon says he is studying whether to launch a judicial review against government and commission of inquiry over findings

Inquiry found work was not executed to plan but concluded platform was safe and did not need rebuilding or strengthening

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Jason Poon says he spent more than six months helping the inquiry. Photo: Edmond So

Published: 2:23pm, 27 Mar 2019Updated: 4:32pm, 27 Mar 2019

A whistle-blower says he wasted his time and money taking part in a high-level inquiry into shoddy work at Hong Kong’s most expensive rail project, warning he may take legal action over the findings.

Jason Poon Chuk-hung, managing director of subcontractor China Technology Corporation, said on Wednesday he was studying whether to launch a judicial review against the government and the commission of inquiry, which concluded in an interim report that the work was safe.

“I am now studying with my lawyers the possibility of launching a judicial review against the concerned parties over the findings as it is obvious there are some errors in the report,” he told a radio programme. “And also that this report has failed to consider all the facts.”

Main contractor Leighton Contractors (Asia) hired China Technology to carry out concreting work for the expanded platform at the Hung Hom station stop of the HK$97.1 billion (US$12.3 billion) Sha Tin-Central link.

The scandal centred on work on an expanded platform at Hung Hom station. Photo: Dickson Lee

Allegations surfaced that steel bars used in reinforced concrete were cut short to fake proper installation into couplers on the platform and also that there had been unauthorised design changes.