‘I have no regrets’, says Raymond Chien Kuo-fung on stepping down
EDDIE.LEE@SCMP.COM
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 29 December, 2015, 9:38pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 29 December, 2015, 9:41pm
Raymond Chien Kuo-fung said he was leaving MTR Corporation in good hands. Photo: SCMP Pictures
Outgoing MTR Corporation chairman Raymond Chien Kuo-fung said the railway operator had continued to grow and win an international reputation despite recent setbacks.
“One can’t improve until he or she surmounts the difficulties along the road,” Chien said on Tuesday when repeatedly asked whether he was bothered about the controversy surrounding the high-speed rail project which would link the city to Guangzhou.
The MTR, which manages the scheme’s Hong Kong section, blamed “unforeseeable” outside factors such as geological challenges and construction worker shortages for delays and cost overruns.
“We didn’t know there were so many ‘black swans’ in the world,” said Chien.
But he insisted that the MTR had long been well-known for its good service, and had successfully restored its credibility shortly after the news of cost overruns broke.
“I have no regrets about the project,” he said, while admitting there had been insufficient communication between departments within the corporation.
He said the project remained in good shape, dismissing the potential impact of the changes in the mainland part of the transport link after Chinese newspaper Ming Pao reported that two more stops would be added to the section across the border and would increase travel time.
“Every network system has its own logic,” said Chien, without elaborating on whether the effectiveness of the rail link would be diminished.
Under a controversial agreement announced last month, the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link will be completed in the third quarter of 2018, with the cost revised to HK$84.42 billion – HK$880 million less than the corporation’s last estimate.
Chien, who took over as chairman 12 years ago, expressed confidence in the current management team completing the project.
He said former commerce minister Frederick Ma Si-hang, who will succeed him in January, was capable of solving problems and taking the company forward.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1896391/right-track-outgoing-mtr-chairman-says-hong-kong-rail
