Hong Kong’s MTR Corp tile procurement deal under scrutiny

The MTR Corporation is facing growing pressure to investigate a subcontractor’s procurement of Chinese-made tiles for a rail project, instead of the contract-specified German ones, with a lawmaker describing the controversy as merely “the tip of the iceberg”.

The rail operator confirmed on Monday that it had received complaints following a media report alleging that the contract for the Tung Chung East station project originally required the use of German-made “YTong” tiles.

The subcontractor reportedly supplied a similarly named product–“Beijing YiTong” – which is believed to be manufactured in mainland China.

Lawmaker Michael Tien Puk-sun, a former chairman of the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation, said the incident might be just “the tip of the iceberg”, suggesting many subcontractors could be using similar tactics, aware that the operator’s primary focus was on safety.

“While safety-critical items like concrete and steel bars are subject to rigorous checks, the MTR’s scrutiny on non-safety materials is less stringent,” he said.

“This creates a ‘grey area’ where subcontractors might substitute specified, higher-quality materials with cheaper alternatives.”