Ex-officials to enhance rail link team

August 8, 2018

Chief Executive Carrie Lam
There are different levels of responsibility and accountability. In this particular incident the director, or the project director and the works team, have the most important responsibility that they have to shoulder. And that’s why we are very decisive in taking actions on that front. 

But as far as the senior management is concerned, because there is division of labour within a company the senior management perhaps could have done better in terms of monitoring, especially after the incident has hit the news. So they have been given a period of time to produce and submit reports to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government. So the senior management should have exercised an even higher level of diligence and vigilance to ensure the accuracy of the report, so Mr Lincoln Leong has also taken responsibility for that. 

Then finally is the chairman and the board of the Mass Transit Railway Corporation. I have a look at the facts and asked my government directors on the Mass Transit Railway board. They have been kept in the dark. They have performed their roles in asking a lot of questions from the management, especially the project team. But they have been kept in the dark. So my consideration is based on this sort of analysis of responsibility and accountability. But practically, the Mass Transit Railway Corporation is a very sizeable company. It has several business areas, one is of course the project, the railway projects. The other is operating (the) railway every day, transporting five million passengers on a daily basis. And they have the property side as well. 

For such a big company, to have all these senior people leaving at the same time, will not be a very sensible proposition. So despite Mr Fred Ma himself wanting to take accountability for this matter and step down, I have invited him and persuaded him to stay for a while, in order to help us to sort of, undertake the various functions.

Three former Government department heads have been picked as consultants to enhance the management of the Shatin to Central Link project.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam, speaking to reporters today, said the retired officials are former Director of Civil Engineering Lau Ching-kwong, former Director of Buildings Hui Siu-wai and former Head of the Geotechnical Engineering Office Wong Hok-ning.

Mrs Lam thanked them for accepting the Government’s invitation and said the team will be deployed to the Mass Transit Railway Corporation as soon as possible.

She said the Government has been decisive in holding the MTR Corporation senior management accountable for the construction issues at Hung Hom Station.

“There are different levels of responsibility and accountability. In this particular incident the director, or the project director and the works team, have the most important responsibility, that they have to shoulder. And that’s why we are very decisive in taking actions on that front,” she said.

“But as far as the senior management is concerned, because there is division of labour within a company the senior management perhaps could have done better in terms of monitoring, especially after the incident has hit the news.

“So they have been given a period of time to produce and submit reports to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government. So the senior management should have exercised an even higher level of diligence and vigilance to ensure the accuracy of the report, so Mr Lincoln Leong has also taken responsibility for that.”

Mrs Lam added she persuaded MTR Corporation Chairman Fred Ma to stay despite his wishes to step down.

“Then finally is the chairman and the board of the Mass Transit Railway Corporation. I have looked at the facts and asked my government directors on the Mass Transit Railway board. They have been kept in the dark. They have performed their roles in asking a lot of questions from the management, especially the project team. But they have been kept in the dark.

“For such a big company, to have all these senior people leaving at the same time, will not be a very sensible proposition.

“So despite Mr Fred Ma himself wanting to take accountability for this matter and step down, I have invited him and persuaded him to stay for a while, in order to help us to sort of, undertake the various functions.”