Report points to drilling in collapse of old block

Holes drilled to reinforce a wall of an old block in the 153-year-old former Central police station compound instead led to its collapse, according to a brief sixpage government report into the incident released yesterday.

The Buildings Department also said it was suing two contractors involved in the project, Gammon Construction and Stonewest (HK), as well as a Gammon engineer. The parties were accused of violating the Buildings Ordinance by deviating from an approved work plan or carrying out building works in a manner likely to cause a risk of injury or damage.

The case is scheduled to be heard in Eastern Court on July 6.

But critics said the report was too short and asked if there had been a cover-up.

Civic Party lawmaker Tanya Chan said she found the department’s “rough and simple” report “unacceptable”. “It took the department a full year to produce a six-page report,” Chan said.

Democratic Party lawmaker Ted Hui Chi-fung, also a Central and Western district councillor, shared this view and asked if only one or two people should be held responsible.

He questioned if the Antiquities and Monuments Office, the Development Bureau or any architects or surveyors should also take the blame. “We don’t know if we can still trust the contractors and whether buildings in the complex are safe,” he said.

The report attributed the collapse to “hollowing out multiple pockets in brick piers and brick walls for the installation of steel members for the timber floor strengthening works”.

The department said drilling weakened the bearing area, leading to the collapse of internal brick pillars and in turn the wall.

The findings more or less agreed with an earlier investigation report by the Jockey Club, which is in charge of the HK$1.8 billion revitalisation project.

The Jockey Club said: “The club takes the findings of the investigation very seriously and will review these findings carefully.”

Spokesmen for Gammon and Stonewest could not be reached for comment.