The Highways Department has given the Mass Transit Railway Corporation a deadline of June 15 to submit an investigation report on the construction works of the Shatin to Central Link project.

In a statement issued this evening, the Transport & Housing Bureau said the Government will thoroughly examine the report and if any misconduct is found, it will defer to law enforcement agencies for further action.

The Government does not rule out setting up an independent investigation committee, the bureau added.

The statement also gave a detailed account of the bureau’s liaison with the parties involved in the construction works.

It said subcontractor China Technology Corporation emailed the Secretary for Transport & Housing's Office on September 15 last year.

The subcontractor requested a meeting with the bureau, the MTRC, and Leighton Contractors (Asia), the main contractor for the platform construction works of Hung Hom Station, to discuss construction issues.

The bureau was subsequently informed by China Technology that the issue was related to technical matters and the company agreed to directly contact Highways Department professionals for discussion.

On September 15 and 16 last year, the department made several attempts to contact China Technology for further discussion and information, but was unsuccessful.

The statement also said the department made further enquires to the MTRC on September 15 and the rail operator replied it needed more information to give a response.

On September 18, the company sent an email to the bureau saying the issue had been clarified and no further action was required. Therefore the meeting did not proceed. 

As China Technology indicated there was no need to follow up on the issue and did not provide relevant information, the department could not follow up further.

Secretary for Transport & Housing Frank Chan was not aware of the meeting request as the firm agreed to directly contact Highways Department professionals to discuss the technical matters, the bureau added.

The MTRC did not notify the department about any problems related to the quality of bar bending works for Hung Hom Station’s platform construction from August 2015 to the end of May 2018, the bureau said.

It added the Entrustment Agreement the MTRC signed with the Government for the project stipulates the qualifications of the main contractors and subcontractors employed must comply with the MTRC’s standards required in the implementation of railway projects.