Hong Kong authorities have suspended the main contractor and lift subcontractor working on a new clinical block at Queen Mary Hospital from tendering for public works after serious defects left most lifts unreliable and delayed the launch of services.
An engineer and a lawmaker said on Saturday that the extent of the defects was “extremely rare” in Hong Kong and unreasonable, while the government’s decision to temporarily stop the firms from tendering for other projects was appropriate.
The Architectural Services Department said in a social media post late on Friday that the contractors’ poor performance had been recorded in assessment reports.
It added that the firms would need to bear the full cost of remedial works and could face claims for losses arising from delays to the HK$15.15 billion (US$1.93 billion) redevelopment project at the hospital in Pok Fu Lam.
“In accordance with contractual mechanisms, we have also reflected the contractor’s and works subcontractor’s poor performance on the project in their assessment reports and suspended their eligibility to tender for public works contracts,” the department said.
The main contractor for the first phase of the redevelopment was a Paul Y-Able joint venture. The lift subcontractor, Anlev Elex Elevator, is a subsidiary of ATAL Engineering Group, founded by Otto Poon Lok-to, the husband of former justice secretary Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah.