Lawmaker and non-official member of the Housing Authority Scott Leung is urging swift concrete testing at a public housing development project in Tung Chung to ensure safety.

Leung’s call came after the authority confirmed on Saturday that structural components in Blocks 3, 4, and 5 of the project in Area 42 may have failed to meet required safety standards.

The authority’s engineering team uncovered the issue during routine concrete cube strength tests carried out between late August and early this month.

While the contractor concerned has been instructed to repeat the tests, Leung urged authorities to speed up the process.

"Most importantly, the Housing Authority needs to instruct the contractor and relevant stakeholders to complete the re-examination as soon as possible," Leung told an RTHK radio programme on Monday.

"This is to confirm whether the problem lies with the procedures followed during spot checks, or whether the concrete strength of the buildings is a concern."

Leung stressed that only about a month had elapsed between the discovery of the problem and its public announcement, showing that the authority’s testing mechanism was effective at spotting potential issues early.

As a precaution and to minimise delays, a different supplier is now providing concrete for the project, Leung noted.

Although the Housing Authority said no similar problems had been found at other sites, Leung suggested officials conduct extra sample testing across other development projects to ensure overall concrete quality meets standards.

He added that the full impact on public housing supply and who should bear responsibility would only be known once the re-examination is complete.

Speaking on the same programme, engineering-sector lawmaker Aaron Bok said it’s unlikely anyone had cut corners by skimping on cement.

He noted that if concrete strength proves inadequate, additional remedial measures would be required, resulting in far greater time and financial losses.





Edited by Tony Sabine