Review committee will wait on experts' report and visit construction sites
ELIZABETH CHEUNG AND DANNY MOK
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 22 September, 2015, 11:13pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 22 September, 2015, 11:13pm
Ching Ho Estate residents will receive water filters from Friday.
Soldering materials were one of the main causes of the lead-in-water scandal, according to the chairman of a review committee on fresh water quality in public estates.
Cheung Tat-tong, from the Review Committee on Quality Assurance Issues Relating to Fresh Water Supply of Public Housing Estates - which is due to release an interim investigation report in a few days - said more results from water supplies experts were necessary to reach a final conclusion on the causes of the scandal.
"Soldering materials were one of the main causes … but we also need to wait for the report from the expert panel of the Water Supplies Department," Cheung said on Tuesday, after the committee's seventh meeting.
Pipe components and details from Kai Ching Estate in Kowloon City - the public estate that kicked off the scandal - have been submitted to experts for further analysis.
The eight-member committee, under the Housing Authority, will visit the construction sites of public estates early next month to understand the regulation and process of building work. The four contractors responsible for the 11 public estates that have already been found with excessive lead in their water have already submitted reports to the committee.
Meanwhile, the Independent Commission Against Corruption has started a probe into the scandal. It is understood the commission made its decision about a month ago, but a spokesman refused to comment.
"The commission would not comment on any individual case. It's the commission's statutory duty to receive and consider corruption-related allegations, which are followed up in accordance with the laws if there is sufficient information," he said.
Simon Peh Yun-lu, commissioner of the ICAC, earlier confirmed that a number of complaints about the scandal had been received.
People Power lawmaker Albert Chan Wai-yip, who wrote to Peh regarding the scandal, suspected there may be problems in the process.
"There might be something being omitted in the process: from the tendering for water system contractors to the construction of the systems," Chan said.
Yau Lee Construction, one of the four involved contractors, said it would install water filters for residents in Ching Ho Estate, Sheung Shui, from this Friday. The installation will take around three to four weeks and filters will be replaced at the contractor's expense in the coming two years.
As of Monday, 94 kindergartens had had their water tested, with samples from two - in Kwun Tong and Sai Ying Pun - found to contain lead level above recommended World Health Organisation levels, both from electric boilers in the school.
The health department has arranged for 122 students in the Sai Ying Pun school to take blood tests.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1860609/soldering-materials-could-be-behind-hong-kongs
