Tough to get suitable candidates, Carrie Lam says two weeks after the CE vowed probe
FANNY W. Y. FUNGfanny.fung@scmp.com
PUBLISHED : Sunday, 02 August, 2015, 5:05am
UPDATED : Sunday, 02 August, 2015, 5:05am
Sha Tin District Council member Yau Man-chun kneel in front of Carrie Lam's car urging the government to test water lead level for Shui Chuen O Estate. Photo: David Wong
Everything is in place for a commission of inquiry into the city's water contamination scare - except for the chairman and the only other member of the body - the chief secretary says.
No one had yet been named, more than two weeks after Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said he would appoint an independent high-level body, led by a judge, to study why drinking water in some public residential estates contained excessive lead.
Leung's No2, Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, said yesterday that it was proving tough to find suitable people to conduct the investigation, the third announced into the tainted-water scare.
She also clarified for the first time that just two people - the judge, plus one other - would make up the commission.
"The secretary, secretariat staff, office and hearing venue of the inquiry commission are all ready," Lam said.
Once the pair were found, she would put their names to the Executive Council for a formal appointment. "The most important task at the moment is to find a chairman," Lam said, adding that Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma Tao-li was looking for a judge to play that role while she sought the second member.
"The … commission will have a very heavy workload. Its work is expected to take six months.
"In such a brief time, it is very difficult to find two persons with the credibility and experience to take up the positions. Everyone has work on hand and they may not be able to put aside ongoing work to join the commission."
Leung announced the formation of the commission on July 17, a week after the Housing Department confirmed excessive lead was found in water samples at Kai Ching Estate in Kowloon City, as measured against the World Health Organisation's standard.
By that time, the Water Supplies Department had set up an expert task force, while the Housing Authority had announced a committee would review its procedures for monitoring the quality of water supply systems installed in its estates.
Five days later, pro-establishment lawmakers voted down a motion by Democratic Party legislator Wu Chi-wai to invoke the legislature's special investigative powers to hold its own checks.
Unlike the other two bodies, the judge-led commission will be formed under the Commissions of Inquiry Ordinance and has the legal power to summon people to give evidence.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1845843/no-judge-sight-head-hong-kongs-lead-water-inquiry
