Shui On Building Contractors deputy general manager admits no specific measures were taken to ensure quality and safety of drinking water
JASMINE.SIU@SCMP.COM
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 16 December, 2015, 8:39pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 16 December, 2015, 8:46pm
Au Choi-wa, Deputy General Manager of Shui On Building Contractors, the main contractor for Kwai Luen Estate Phase 2, spoke at a hearing of the Commission of Inquiry into Excess Lead Found in Drinking Water. Photo: SCMP Pictures
A contractor apologised this morning for overlooking the use of lead solders in its construction of Kwai Luen Estate, after admitting to an inquiry that no specific measures were taken to ensure the safety and quality of the drinking water.
Shui On Building Contractors deputy general manager Au Choi-wa testified that he did not know how lead solders came to be used.
But he suggested they might have been mistakenly ordered or delivered to site, or that the plumbing subcontractor, Ho Biu Kee Construction Engineering Company, might have switched sources in order to cope with tight schedules.
Au admitted that Shui On “inadvertently overlooked the use of non-compliant soldering materials”.
But he added: “We had no reason to question [if] Ho Biu Kee was not using [the approved lead-free solder]. We had no idea how this material was switched.”
“On behalf of Shui On, I would take this opportunity to say that the company is sorry for the inconveniences caused by this incident to residents of Kwai Luen Estate Phase 2,” he said.
The inquiry came after excessive lead was found in the drinking water of 11 public housing estates.
Au said Shui On had never inspected the soldering materials used, nor taken any specific measures to ensure the safety and quality of the drinking water.
“This is because the main contract, Waterworks Ordinance and Buildings Ordinance did not require Shui On to check lead content in drinking water before the incident,” he said.
Otherwise, he said, Shui On would have complied and required its subcontractor to do so.
As such, the contractor relied on Ho Biu Kee, whom it has frequently engaged for over 30 years, to procure and supervise the use of lead-free solder in accordance to the contract’s lead-free requirement.
“The licensed plumber also had a statutory duty to ensure that the approved lead-free solder was used on site,” Au said.
In October 2011, Ho Biu Kee submitted samples of lead-free solder to Shui On before plumbing works commenced in June 2012. Au said neither Ho Biu Kee nor its licensed plumber, Lam Tak-sum, had ever reported the use of non-compliant materials.
But an invoice dated April 24, 2013 shows Ho Biu Kee’s order of 110 pounds of lead solder strips delivered to the Kwai Luen site. A similar invoice showed another delivery of 165 pounds about two months later.
Meanwhile, the lead-free solder that Ho Biu Kee had previously submitted samples of appeared only once in the invoices available to the Commission of Inquiry, in an order dated June 4, 2013.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1892186/tainted-water-scandal-hong-kong-contractor-sorry
