China State Construction Engineering rep claims it worked many years without encountering major issues
JASMINE.SIU@SCMP.COM
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 09 December, 2015, 3:47pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 09 December, 2015, 3:47pm
A resident collecting fresh water at Kai Ching Estate in Kowloon City in September. Photo: Edward Wong
A main contractor has claimed it did not know how excessive lead came to taint its drinking water at a public housing estate in Kowloon City, an inquiry heard.
Kai Ching Estate was the first of 11 public housing developments in the city to report excessive lead in drinking water this past summer.
It was built by China State Construction Engineering, with its plumbing works subcontracted to Ho Biu Kee Construction Engineering Company, which was responsible for procuring all plumbing materials except the sanitary ware.
READ MORE: Building contractor expresses regret over Hong Kong tainted water scare
China State’s senior building services engineer Patrick Leung Man-wai said it had worked with Ho
Biu Kee for many years without encountering any major work quality issues.
Since Ho Biu Kee had supplied lead-free solder wire samples for China State’s material submission to acquire the Housing Authority’s approval, Leung said his company proceeded believing lead-free solder wires would be used in the actual construction once they were approved.
“There was no reason for China State to query that the plumbing materials eventually supplied to Kai Ching Estate project would depart from the samples and material submission to the Housing Authority,” his statement read.
Leung explained that while it was a common trade practice for plumbing materials eventually used to deviate from those that were approved, he said it was the licensed plumbers’ responsibility to update and liaise with the Water Services Department.
China State did not know why authorities were not updated, nor could it explain the discrepancies, said Leung.
But his statement revealed that Ho Biu Kee had later explained to China State after the scandal that materials were changed at the time of testing in order to comply with standards.
Leung’s statement also revealed that some of the valves used at Kai Ching Estate were not listed in the licensed plumber’s application. Instead, they were found on the department’s directory list of plumbing materials despite not complying with the relevant British standard or the Waterworks Regulations on lead content.
China State was now sourcing its own solder, with each reel uniquely identified and recorded upon delivery, he said.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1888960/hong-kong-housing-estates-main-contractor-denies
