Hong Kong’s MTR Corp tile procurement deal under scrutiny
Lawmakers call on rail giant to investigate reports that subcontractor allegedly substituted tiles used for Tung Chung East station project
The MTR Corporation is facing growing pressure to investigate a subcontractor’s procurement of Chinese-made tiles for a Hong Kong rail project, instead of the contract-specified German ones.
The rail giant confirmed on Monday that it had received complaints following a media report alleging that the contract for the Tung Chung East station project originally required the use of German-made “YTong” tiles.
The subcontractor reportedly supplied a similarly named product – “Beijing YiTong” – which was believed to have been manufactured in mainland China.
In response to the Post’s queries on Monday, the MTR Corp said it had tasked the contractor with examining the case and producing a full report, which it would “independently check and verify”.
The operator had said on Sunday that it would continue to follow up with the main contractor and would instruct and supervise them to complete the contract fully in accordance with the specifications, on time and with the required quality, scope and scale.
As the project owner, it was the main contractor’s responsibility to supervise subcontractors under its charge so that all obligations were fully met, the MTR Corp said.