Hong Kong authorities ‘concerned’ by unapproved fasteners used in station works

Hong Kong’s rail operator has confirmed that unapproved materials were used in some construction works for the Tung Chung East MTR station project, with the Transport and Logistics Bureau raising concerns and demanding the firm avoid any repeat incidents.

In a reply to the Post, the MTR Corporation said on Wednesday that it had already issued notices of non-compliance over the use of such materials in construction work at two locations before it received media inquiries.

But it stopped short of providing any details about the issues with the construction work.

The bureau said it had demanded that the rail firm flag the issue when it conducted an appraisal of the contractor.

“We are very concerned about the incident where the contractor of the Tung Chung East Station had used construction materials that were not given to the MTR Corporation for approval,” a spokesman said.

“We have already demanded that the MTR Corporation take the appropriate measures, reflect the incident in the contractor’s performance evaluation, stringently supervise the contractor to follow the requirements of the contract, ensure construction quality, as well as stringently follow the requirement for approvals to prevent similar incidents from happening again.”

According to local media, issues were uncovered involving the self-tapping screws and shear bolts used by the contractor at the planned station.