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Steel bar bribery case at CK Asset project in Hong Kong: timeline of events

The nearly 3,000-flat development in Kwun Tong has been mired in controversy even before concerns over steel rebar works

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The number of main reinforcement bars in structural components was, on average, 10 per cent below approved specifications for the Anderson Road project. Photo: Dickson Lee

A CK Asset residential project in Hong Kong is in the spotlight after the anti-corruption agency arrested 10 suspects and uncovered subcontractors allegedly offering incentives to site supervisors in exchange for lax oversight of subpar steel reinforcement work.

The latest bribery scandal is not the only hiccup for the project in Kwun Tong, which had its contractor changed in 2023 and its presale consent application rejected twice last year.

The Post tracks the project’s development and controversies surrounding it.

March 2020: tender invite

Designated as Hong Kong’s second “starter home” project, the government invited tenders for the site on Anderson Road in Kwun Tong to help first-time flat buyers who are not eligible for subsidised housing.

Apart from providing private housing, at least 1,000 flats in the project have to be sold at 80 per cent of the market prices to Hongkongers who have never owned any residential property and meet income and asset limits.

May 2020: successful bidder revealed

CK Asset’s subsidiary Art Champion Investment beat eight other contenders, including companies under key developers in the city, and won the bid at a premium of HK$4.9 billion (US$625.7 million).

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