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1. Scaffolding collapse kills two workers

2. Pipe rehabilitation projects to drive Chevalier growth

3. Sing Tao buoyed by $370m sale

4. Arts hub monitor plan would give Legco a say

1. Scaffolding collapse kills two workers
CLIFFORD LO and FELIX CHAN, SCMP 14 July 2005

Broken scaffolding at the scene.

Two workers fell five floors to their death after the scaffolding they were working on collapsed at an industrial building in San Po Kong yesterday.

It is believed the two men had not been wearing safety belts while working outside the window of a fifth-floor unit in Lee Wan Industrial Building, Luk Hop Street, at 11.30am. They were taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where they were declared dead at 2.30pm.

A government source said there were no signs of safety belts at the scene.

A preliminary investigation showed that the 4-by-4-metre structure collapsed when screws from a metal frame that was supporting the scaffolding came loose, according to the source.

Broken bamboo poles and parts of the metal frame were scattered on the ground. A fourth-floor window was also hanging off its metal hinges. Police said it was unclear whether workers had intended to repair the windows at the building, which is being renovated.

Last night officers named them as Pang and Lee, both aged 23, and said they were trying to locate the contractor of the scaffolding work. A police spokeswoman said they were both Hong Kong residents who had been working legally.

Meanwhile, the Buildings Department said there had been 47 cases so far this year of aluminium windows falling, compared with 46 for the whole of last year. Of this year's cases, 10 happened at buildings constructed after 1990.

Director of Buildings Marco Wu Moon-hoi told members of the Legislative Council's planning, lands and works panel that it would be difficult to pinpoint the reason for so many problems with windows.

But he was adamant such incidents could be avoided if there were regular inspections and proper maintenance by owners when they spotted defects, such as corrosion of the fixing rivets or the loosening of screws of the window frames and sashes.

The Housing Department said it had deployed special teams to check and repair aluminium windows at public estates and begin adding an extra screw to the windows at 53 estates built before 2000.

Independent legislator Albert Chan Wai-yip said the problem of falling windows lay with their design and not the number of screws installed.

2. Pipe rehabilitation projects to drive Chevalier growth
FOSTER WONG, SCMP 14 July 2005

Construction and engineering services firm Chevalier International Holdings said its pipe business would drive earnings growth this year in anticipation of Hong Kong's increasing infrastructure renewal projects.

The prediction came as the company announced a record net profit of $281.74 million, or $1.01 per share, for the year to March.

Chevalier, which revamped its pipe operations late last year, is hoping to benefit from the Water Services Department's recent plan to renew pipes throughout the city over the next decade.

"Pipe rehabilitation is a growing market in light of deteriorating sewers and water pipelines worldwide," chairman Chow Yei-ching said yesterday.

"Chevalier is ready to expand in the market after years of strategic planning."

Mr Chow said its pipe business, which operates in eight countries, had started making a profit last year but should make a more significant contribution this year. He did not provide any figures.

The company participated in three of the seven pipe renewal projects ordered by the government last year.

Turnover increased 34.1 per cent year on year to $4.29 billion.

Profit from construction and engineering grew 11 per cent to $160 million, while earnings from its property and hotel business shot up 288 per cent to $172 million.

No new mainland residential property projects would be sold until late next year, managing director Stephen Kuok Hoi-sang said.

He added that the company would invest $300 million in the mainland property market this year.

Chevalier declared a final dividend of 25 cents per share, up from 20 cents last year.

Meanwhile, Chevalier iTech Holdings, the company's computer and network provider unit, hoped its newly acquired Pacific Coffee would help boost its shrinking profits.

The company, which paid $205 million for 39 outlets in Hong Kong and five in Singapore in May, planned to open up to five new outlets in Hong Kong and their first outlets in Beijing and Macau by March next year, the management said.

Each new store will cost about $2 million.

"The fast-growing coffee business should generate a strong cash flow for the group this year," executive director Oscar Chow Vee-tsung said.

"Opening four to five new outlets this year is a realistic target because we don't want to expand in haste."

Triggered by a fall in its investment earnings, Chevalier iTech saw net profit plunge 83.54 per cent to $3.76 million, or 0.22 cent per share, for the year to March.

3. Sing Tao buoyed by $370m sale
ERNEST KONG, SCMP 14 July 2005

Sing Tao News Corporation's sale of its Kowloon Bay headquarters for $370 million saw the company's share price shoot up 70 per cent at one stage yesterday.

Soon after trading opened, the share price leapt from 38 cents to 65 cents before ending the day at 43 cents, 13 per cent higher on the day. The building sale brought the firm an accounting profit of about $190.89 million as it cashed in on the bullish commercial property market.

"The value of industrial properties in the vicinity of Kowloon Bay in general has risen to a record level. The sale will enable the group to unlock the potential redevelopment value of the building site," said Sing Tao in a written announcement.

Occupying a 44,714 sq ft site at No1 Wang Kwong Road, Kowloon Bay, the eight-storey industrial building comprised a gross area of 277,000 sq ft, said Kent Fong Chi-kit, director of DTZ Debenham Tie Leung's investment department, which brokered the deal.

"The transaction price translates into an accommodation value of about $1,000 per square foot," he said, adding that the redevelopment cost for an office project would be capped at about $1,000 per square foot.

The buyer, Billion Development and Project management, a developer involved in small-scale commercial projects in Kwun Tong and Lai Chi Kok, plans to bulldoze the building to make way for a high-end office block that is also likely to include space for light industry, according to Lau Yu-chung, a project planning manager of the company.

"Our firm has been developing residential and commercial properties but since the price of residential sites has risen to an unreasonable level recently we have put more resources into commercial projects," Mr Lau said.

"Kowloon Bay is a less convenient area compared with Kwun Tong and Cheung Sha Wan, so tenants eyeing this district mostly have particular needs for plenty of space to facilitate their operations. Our new building is likely to be built with features relevant for light industry."

He added that redevelopment work would start after the departure of Sing Tao, which had leased back the property for an initial nine months.

A Sing Tao spokeswoman said the firm had not decided on its relocation plans.

"We will move our operation as a whole, but we haven't fixed the location yet," she said, adding that Sing Tao would move out of the building within 18 months as it had the right to extend the tenancy for an additional three, six or nine months.

Prices of commercial properties in Kowloon Bay were buoyed by Sino Land's $1.82 billion winning bid for a commercial site in the district in a government land auction in February.

Office prices in Enterprise Square Three, the newest and most expensive office building in the district, have doubled since the beginning of last year.

Property agents said a fashion firm had sold a 159,000 square foot office on the building's 15th floor for $68.37 million, or about $4,300 per square foot, in April - more than double the $32.8 million it paid at the beginning of last year.

4. Arts hub monitor plan would give Legco a say
GARY CHEUNG and CHLOE LAI, SCMP 14 July 2005

The government is "very seriously" considering a proposal to set up a statutory body to oversee the West Kowloon Cultural District project, the chief secretary said yesterday.

Rafael Hui Si-yan said such a move would involve the drafting of a bill, giving the Legislative Council a chance to scrutinise it.

He also said the government would state its position on electoral changes for 2007-08 when the taskforce on constitutional development released its fifth report in the autumn. Having too many options in the report would be "irresponsible", given the time restraints.

It is the first time that Mr Hui - who is now in charge of the two controversial issues - has spoken about them at length publicly since becoming chief secretary.

He said after a meeting with the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong that "this idea [of a body] is worth very serious consideration".

It was the first indication of a Legco role in the plans for a 40-hectare, world-class arts hub in West Kowloon. Legislators last week claimed the government had effectively bypassed them by tailor-making a project that does not require public expenditure.

"No one wants to bypass Legco. If we set up a statutory body, we must go to Legco," Mr Hui said. "When the bill goes to Legco, lawmakers have their duty and right [to scrutinise it]." Mr Hui also promised more public involvement and said the government was still analysing views collected during the consultation exercise.

"What is important is the principle that at some stage in the development, there must be external and public participation by sectors that are directly involved."

On political reform, he said "the timing is very tight" as the new electoral arrangements had to be ready by next summer for the chief executive election in 2007 and the Legislative Council in 2008.

"I do not rule out the possibility of putting forward more than one package in the report. But I think it's time for the government to spell out a clear proposal and explain its position to the public. Given the time constraints, it would be irresponsible to provide many packages.

"It is our top priority, no doubt about it. But whether we can present something to the public, including the Legislative Council, in September, as of today I cannot definitely say whether we can make it or not."