Collective oversight to blame in Hong Kong's CK Asset building scandal: experts
While describing the incident as rare, they agreed that the government should step up inspection efforts in the city's construction sites.
The bribery scandal, revealed by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) on
Wednesday , focused on CK Asset's Anderson Road project in Kwun Tong, which consists of six residential towers providing 2,926 flats, including about 1,000 that are designated under a 'starter homes' pilot scheme for Hong Kong residents.
Site supervisors are alleged to have accepted offers, including red packets, mooncake vouchers and lavish meals, from a subcontractor asking for lenient oversight of subpar construction practices, which deviated from the construction plans approved by the Buildings Department in a bid to maximise profits and save costs.
Investigations revealed that reinforcement bars in concrete in all six buildings were either thinner than required, missing, displaced or loosely arranged, failing to comply with approved building plans.
The number of main reinforcement bars in structural components was, on average, 10 per cent below approved specifications. At some spots in towers 1 and 2, dislocations were as much as 530mm, the probe found.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
38 minutes ago
- South China Morning Post
As stimulus beds in, this Chinese stock rally may have legs
It's been a long time coming but mainland Chinese stocks have risen to their highest in a decade amid appealing valuations and low deposit rates. The strength of the rally surprised some but may be seen as a delayed effect from last September when the government launched a comprehensive stimulus package , after an off-schedule Politburo meeting that further signalled Beijing's resolve to stimulate growth. That triggered a stock market rally but it did not last. Now, however, with strong corporate earnings anticipated and a revived risk appetite from both foreign and domestic investors for Chinese equities, the rally is back. Beijing's policy support has seen mainland-listed companies snapping a streak of 15 consecutive quarterly profit declines last year. From lows in April caused mostly by US President Donald Trump's 'Liberation Day' shock tariffs, the CSI 300 Index of yuan-traded stocks has rebounded by 19 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index by 26 per cent and the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index by 23 per cent. A Chinese-American truce in the tariff war has helped calm investors. A-share account openings have surged by 37 per cent so far this year. Tech stocks have been a bright spot, covering industries such as electronics, computing, new materials, robotics and digital machine tools that have been involved in Beijing's drive for self-sufficiency. Market darling Wuxi AppTec became the best performer on the CSI 300 Index after the biotechnology firm reported a 106 per cent jump in first-half net profit year on year. Bellwether tech giant Xiaomi also reported a record net profit of 10.8 billion yuan (US$1.5 billion) in the second quarter, up 75.4 per cent year on year, well exceeding the 8.88 billion yuan forecast by analysts. More companies are expected to report good earnings as they recover from the post-Covid slump, so the rally may extend. The average price-to-earnings ratio is still about 15, and valuations are not yet stretched. With interest rates on one-year bank deposits below 1 per cent since May, and 160 trillion yuan still sitting in household deposits, there could be accelerated flows from bank deposits to stocks and shares. Hong Kong has been both the beneficiary and facilitator of the mainland rally. The Stock Connect through the local bourse has been a key conduit for both foreign and mainland Chinese investors, creating a virtuous circle of cross-border investment. Though not restricted to equities, that is how the idea of the city serving as a 'superconnector', long championed by the Hong Kong government, is supposed to work. Meanwhile, with state policies continuing to be accommodative, this rally may have legs.
South China Morning Post
38 minutes ago
- South China Morning Post
Scammers exploiting rental platforms in Hong Kong amid rise in investment fraud
Online rental platforms have become scammers' latest tool for swindling Hong Kong residents, as the number of online investment fraud cases rose by nearly a quarter in the first six months of 2025 compared with the same period last year, with losses surging 36.4 per cent to HK$1.48 billion (US$189.5 million). Police Senior Superintendent Carmen Leung Oi-lam said that online rental platforms were a new channel that scammers were recently exploiting to establish contact with victims. 'When some property owners put their flats on online rental platforms, scammers will target them, posing as high-income potential tenants,' Leung warned. The force recorded 2,273 investment scams from January to June, a 24.8 per cent rise from 1,822 cases in the same period last year. Losses in the first half of the year reached HK$1.48 billion, 36.4 per cent higher than the HK$1.09 billion recorded in the same period in 2024. The biggest investment scam involved a 65-year-old retiree who lost more than HK$30 million in April after joining a stock investment group on WhatsApp via a Facebook page.
South China Morning Post
an hour ago
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong's anti-corruption credentials on display in handling of fraud case
Corruption comes in many forms. Those involved in such crimes seem to have limitless imagination when it comes to taking advantage of others. So it was encouraging to see Hong Kong's anti-corruption agency arrest a group including healthcare professionals for allegedly taking millions in subsidies earmarked for the city's elderly. The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) said a registered nurse and an occupational therapist were among five people arrested in July after an investigation sparked by a complaint last year from the Social Welfare Department. The case involved the Community Care Service Voucher Scheme for the Elderly. Matthew Chang Chor-ming, principal investigator in the ICAC operations department, said the group defrauded the government by 'exploiting residents who were unfamiliar with the scheme or manipulating their greed'. The three women and two men allegedly collected the funds through fake visit records and shared the money with the residents' family members. Three of them worked at a private care agency established by the nurse. All five are out on bail. The fraud revolved around government vouchers the elderly can use to directly purchase services ranging from day care to at-home support. As of August, 12,000 elderly people were using the vouchers and 319 recognised service operators were under the scheme. The care agencies served 20 to 200 elderly residents per month and took in about HK$18 million (US$2.3 million) in subsidies. Chang said the case was complex because the two agencies mixed genuine services with fraudulent ones. It is good that the Social Welfare Department has promised to step up checks of service provider records and to interview suspected victims and their families. Vigilance will also be needed in areas on the mainland where the scheme is in use. It was expanded early last year so Hongkongers could use vouchers in the Greater Bay Area The case also underscores the ICAC's effectiveness. Set up in 1974, the agency has earned an international reputation for helping make Hong Kong one of the least corrupt places in the world. All in the city should applaud its recent work to protect resources needed by some of Hong Kong's most vulnerable residents.
