Hong Kong’s Water Supplies Department faces bulk of criticism in tainted-water report
The head of the department has since sidestepped questions on accountability and faces growing calls to step down.
Hong Kong could have tightened water quality standards more than two decades ago, according to an independent report on the lead-tainted water scandal.
The release of the report from the judge-led commission of inquiry on Tuesday has renewed pressure for the director of water supplies, Enoch Lam Tin-sing, to resign.
The fact-finding report dedicated 20 paragraphs in its concluding remarks to list seven criticisms against the Water Supplies Department, which was longer than the coverage on the Housing Authority, contractors and plumbers combined.
Among the criticisms made against WSD was its inadequate understanding of the World Health Organisation Guidelines it adopted in 1994, which set a guide value on lead at 10 micrograms per litre of water.
The report said WSD ought to have used the guidelines as the basis for developing its own water quality standard that would have addressed Hong Kong’s local requirement and situation.
One value suggested in the report was five micrograms per litre, which toxicologist professor John Fawell said could be “an easily achievable standard for Hong Kong”.
The report also revealed that the water supplies chief retracted his department’s responsibility after the scandal broke and amended its Water Safety Plan.
The water supplies chief sidestepped questions on whether his department should bear the greatest responsibility for the scandal.
“I don’t want to comment on other stakeholders’ responsibilities,” he said. “In my department, we feel there are many areas that we could work on to do better.”
Appearing on two Chinese radio programmes, Lam again expressed his apologies and said his “heart sank” when Democratic Party lawmaker Helena Wong Pik-wan called him insincere and demanded his resignation.
Wong was the first to discover tainted water at Kai Ching Estate in Kowloon City last July, before subsequent government tests found excess lead in 106 samples of drinking water drawn from 11 public housing estates.
Other principal officials also face questions on their accountability.
Secretary for Development Paul Chan Mo-po said he had nothing to add to Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s remarks on Tuesday, when she said no single official should be personally held responsible for a crisis caused by systemic failures.
Chan also announced yesterday that the government will come up with concrete plans in six to nine months when deciding if it will retest the drinking water of all public housing estates, as recommended by the commission.
The plans will be based on an international five-member panel’s recommendations on developing a water sampling protocol, establishing a water quality standard and setting an action level that triggers follow up action.
The commission expressed reservations towards the department’s contention that it was only responsible for the quality of water up to the connection points as it was unreasonable for the authorities to expect that consumers would have the professional knowledge and expertise to ensure their drinking water was safe.
Other faults included the department’s failure to uphold a robust regime of licensed plumbers and failure to update legislation to keep up with changes in British Standards as well the failure to exercise its legal powers to ensure compliance by the trade.
