The Commission Against Corruption (CCAC) has issued a report slamming flaws in the construction of public housing buildings, as well the inability of government departments to cooperate with investigations of the case.
The case under investigation relates to tiles falling in several common areas of the Lake Building and Ip Heng Building, two buildings constructed as part of the government economic housing program.
In an extensive report filed by the CCAC, the corruption watchdog said that the falling tiles had several causes and factors, such as the “design of wall finishes of common areas of the buildings by the design units, material selection and size of tiles, quality of tile-laying workmanship by construction workers, abrupt changes of ambient temperature, the stringency of oversight as well as inspection and acceptance [and] adequacy of the subsequent repairs and follow-up work.”
The CCAC said that there was no proof of corruption in both the public tender and the inspection procedures and materials approved by different government entities.
Nonetheless, the CCAC said that all involved, including government departments and contractors, “missed the favorable time to tackle the problem at its root, and it is, therefore, impossible to be a hundred percent certain about the underlying causes of the tile falling problem.”
Given the risk caused by the situation, the CCAC suggested that “relevant departments proactively respond to the needs of households and find an ultimate solution to the matter, together with them.”
The CCAC also pointed the finger at the lack of cooperation in the process from the former Infrastructure Development Office (GDI) which refused to provide the necessary information to the Housing Bureau (IH) on the matter. The latter was not spared from responsibility, as the corruption watchdog considered that the IH should not just accept a lack of cooperation from the GDI, and instead should have sought a solution from the office of the Secretary for Transport and Public Works, whom the two departments were under.
The commission also added that, “judging from the design and selection of wall tiles in the public corridors of the future economic housing buildings at Zone A of the New Urban Zones, it was obvious that the authorities had learned the lesson and made efforts to optimize the design and construction quality of economic housing buildings,” expressing hope that the issue would not be repeated in the future.
