Wallis Wang
A 62-year-old subcontractor has been arrested in connection to the death of two maintenance workers whose bodies were found in a locked underground pipe of the Elements mall on Austin Road West.
Security minister Chris Tang Ping-keung revealed the arrest as labor chief Chris Sun Yuk-han said the project’s main contractor, Raft (E&M) Engineering, could be prosecuted in accordance with the amended Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance that calls for up to two years in jail and a HK$10 million in fine.
Shum Yuk-kuen, director of subcontractor Shum Development, was arrested yesterday for allegedly breaching the ordinance by failing to ensure his employees’ safety.
”We are still gathering evidence of the case, and may press other charges including manslaughter. The case is serious and we will handle it seriously, leaving no stone unturned,” Tang said.
Gar Kam-lam, assistant district commander of Yau Tsim police district, said Shum was arrested in Tsim Sha Tsui in the early hours of yesterday and being detained for investigation.
Gar said Shum took workers Lau Ho-cheung and Kwok Fo-kee to the Austin Road West site on Saturday but left them half an hour later. Shum returned to the site on Sunday morning after receiving calls from family members of the workers, and allegedly found them lying unconsciously inside the pipe.
He called police and allegedly went into hiding.
Lau and Kwok were located about 180 meters from the entrance although they were supposed to work within 10 meters of the entrance, Gar said.
The force is still investigating why they went so deep into the pipe.
Gar believed the main and subcontractors had not followed government guidance for confined sites.
”Negligence was definitely involved in the case. Police still have to investigate how serious that negligence was and who should be held accountable,” Gar said. An autopsy is being conducted.
Speaking on radio, Sun said the contractors did not conduct risk assessment and failed to follow guidance on confined construction spaces.
He also held the main contractor responsible for the fatal incident, adding that Raft (E&M) Engineering assigned the job to Shum.
”Everyone should be responsible [for workers’ safety,]” Sun said.
In a related development yesterday, families of the two workers met with MTR Corp representatives at the Elements mall for an hour. The two families left the meeting dissatisfied with the gratuity payments being offered.
Unionists helping the families were not allowed into the meeting.
Lau’s son said MTRC agreed to review the gratuity amount and make another offer within the week.
”I hope the senior management of the company can give us an appropriate amount of gratuity, as the current offer is very insincere and unacceptable to the two families,” he said.
Kwok’s daughter said the MTRC should act responsibly because it is a large company.
wallis.wang@singtaonewscorp.com
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