So Ping-chi allegedly told subordinates they didn’t have to enforce law ensuring enough life jackets on passenger vessels
EDDIE.LEE@SCMP.COM
UPDATED : Friday, 15 April, 2016, 8:24am
So Ping-chi outside the court. Photo: K.Y. Cheng
A senior official linked to the 2012 Lamma ferry collision that cost 39 lives told the District Court on Thursday he did not expect answers he gave in an internal probe would be used against him in a criminal case.
Marine Department assistant director So Ping-chi, who is charged with one count of misconduct in public office, said he would have remained silent if he had known he was a target of an investigation.
So allegedly told subordinates they were not required to enforce a new law ensuring there were enough life jackets on passenger vessels when he was a principal surveyor of ships from April 2007 to March 2013.
The non-enforcement instruction was given before the accident on October 1, 2012, when the Lamma IV was taking 124 passengers on a trip to view National Day fireworks in Victoria Harbour and collided with the Sea Smooth catamaran, which had 62 passengers on board. Eight children were among the 39 killed.
After the incident, So revealed in a questionnaire compiled by the department that he did issue his ship inspection team with a “temporary suspension instruction” relating to the provision of life jackets on passenger vessels, which was intended to give the shipping industry a grace period to adjust to a regulatory change.
The bow of the Lamma IV during a rescue operation the morning after it collided with a Hong Kong ferry killing over 30 people. Photo: Antony Dickson
“I thought the survey was aimed at exploring ways to improve the department’s operation,” So told the court, in response to queries about the information he provided when the government carried out an internal probe into the disaster in 2013.
“I didn’t expect the questionnaire was related to my specific conduct,” the official said. So said he understood the literal meaning of the questions, but was unaware that they had a “deeper meaning”, much less a legal implication.
“I’m not a quick-witted, sophisticated man,” the senior official said.
“I should have been told that I had the right to remain silent,” said So, stressing that he needed to be cautioned beforehand if the information he provided would be used for any disciplinary hearing or criminal investigation.
In describing his duties at the department, So said earlier he was not involved in approving the construction drawings of Lamma IV. Nor did he inspect the provision of life jackets on board the vessel himself.
The trial continues before District Court Judge Douglas Yau Tak-hong on Friday.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1936021/i-would-have-kept-quiet-if-id-known-probe-says-hong-kong
