Faulty piling at third housing project

Another case of faulty piling has been discovered at a housing project, the third in six months.

Foundation work at a project in Yau Tong Estate, Lam Tin, was found to be substandard, delaying the projects by six months. This pushes completion of 3,500 homes back to early 2002.

The Housing Authority, which is paying for the projects, says it will consider doubling the random checks of its buildings.

At present, only five per cent of a building's pilings are chosen for spot inspections.

Remedial work by the contractor has been finished for phase three and is expected to be completed next month for phase two.

Phase two is rental public housing and phase three for the Home Ownership Scheme. Foundation work was done by San Cheong Engineering and China Civil Engineering respectively.

San Cheong Engineering was also involved in faulty piling discovered between January and March at Tung Chung. Ten people were arrested.

Last month, five Tin Shui Wai blocks were found to have substandard piling.