JASMINE.SIU@SCMP.COM
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 02 December, 2015, 4:35pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 02 December, 2015, 4:37pm
Ng Hak-ming right) leaves court after completing his testimony. Photo: Dickson Lee
A former licensed plumber and contract manager of the subcontractor that built six of the 11 estates affected by tainted drinking water told an inquiry this morning that he had never heard of people introducing solder containing lead nor had he heard of solder containing the metal.
Ng Hak-ming worked for Ming Hop Company for 31 years. He resigned three months after the scandal broke in July and had his plumbing licence unexpectedly revoked by the Water Supplies Department yesterday.
Ng said he was aware that lead-free products needed to be used since the 1990s.
“Plumbers with over 20 years of experience would know [we have to use lead-free products], they just have to check prices,” he testified.
“So money matters?” commission chairman, High Court judge Mr Justice Andrew Chan Hing-wai, asked.
Ng replied that it was “beside the point”, adding that only prices of lead-free products were quoted.
He also told the inquiry it was once a practice to specify “lead-free” when they gave instructions to subcontractors.
“But later this was understood,” he said.
The inquiry came after excessive lead was found in materials used to solder drinking water pipes in public housing flats.
The inquiry previously heard that Ming Hop had since 2005 relied on subcontractors to purchase solder on their own because it was cheap and used up quickly.
Asked if the company considered introducing measures to ensure subcontractors were using the right solder, Ng replied that depended on inspections and all purchases were made only after product samples were approved.
But when Water Supplies Department counsel William Wong Ming-fung SC gave him two products - one with lead and one without - Ng said he could not tell them apart with the naked eye.
“Once it is cut, bent, it’s hard to see. We only recognise the packaging,” he explained, adding they did not check if substandard solder was used.
He also said there was a list of items to be examined - and solder was not one of them.
On his departure from Ming Hop, Ng said: “I felt very emotional,” he said. “I am under a lot of pressure because of this incident.”
He also wondered why his plumbing licence had been revoked yesterday.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1885877/former-plumber-had-never-heard-solder-containing
