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Keep SAR different: Anson 2.
Human error behind killer collapse
1. Keep SAR different: Anson
Former top civil servant Anson Chan urged Hong Kong people yesterday not to forget
about ``two systems'' while emphasising ``one country''. She said they should
not ignore the SAR's opportunities and advantages while turning their eyes north.
``We undermine our differences at our own peril,'' Chan said, in remarks that
contrasted sharply with recent calls by senior officials, including Chief Executive
Tung Chee-hwa, for people to look to the mainland for opportunities. Her most
forthright public speech since retiring in April was made after she received an
honorary doctorate of law from the Chinese University. Nobel Prize-winning dissident
author Gao Xingjian received an honorary doctorate in literature at the same time.
Chan said some argued that, with the eyes of the world turned increasingly on
China, Hong Kong should be emphasising one country and forgetting about two systems.
```I suggest that quite the opposite is true,'' she said. ``Hong Kong can best
help itself and help our country by leveraging our differences under the two-systems
concept.'' As China's window on the world, the four-year-old SAR could play a
role that no other city or province could play, and one that would take on added
importance with China's commitment to comply with the rules of World Trade Organisation
membership. While calling for emphasis on opportunities at home, Chan listed the
relationship with "an increasingly strong and supportive neighbour'', the
mainland, as one of the SAR's three special strengths. The others were its location
and infrastructure and its open market with rights, freedoms and the rule of law.
After the September 11 terrorist attacks, following three years of Asian financial
turmoil, ``somewhere we seem to have lost our way''. But she believed Hong Kong
could spring back as it had in the past, ``provided we face up to our problems''.
Chan said Hong Kong needed ``more people who are prepared to stand up and be counted''.
``We must put aside partisan politics and political correctness and do what is
right,'' she said. [Source:
Hong Kong iMail, 30 November 2001] 2.
Human error behind killer collapse
Human error was behind last month's collapse of the Asia Trade Centre in Yau Tong
which killed six workers, a government investigation has found. Criminal charges
could be laid after a report on the tragedy was passed to the Department of Justice.
The month-long inquiry blamed the collapse on "excessive" debris on
the fifth floor of the six-storey building as it was being demolished, Director
of Buildings Leung Chin-man said. Eight other workers were injured in the collapse.
The Sze Shan Street incident happened on October 29, the first day of demolition
work and three days after an inspection of the site by engineers from the Buildings
Department. The structure collapsed without warning, burying six workers under
tonnes of debris and steel piles. It took firemen 11 days to recover all six bodies.
The unstable condition of the collapsed structure also hampered rescue efforts.
Most of the victims were the sole breadwinners for their families. Mr Leung said
the possibility of human error was confirmed, but did not give names or details.
The report was referred to the Department of Justice for possible prosecutions,
he said. A spokesman for Asia Standard International, which owned the site and
planned to redevelop the collapsed factory into a residential block of 210 flats,
said the company regretted the tragedy. He said the company had relied on the
contractor, Chantex Engineering, to take care of demolition work. Asia Standard's
chairman, Clement Fung Siu-to, has since donated $700,000 as compassionate relief
for families of the victims. Chantex Engineering was unavailable for comment yesterday.
Demolition work is currently under way at 50 sites across Hong Kong. Mr Leung
said work on these sites had been closely monitored since the collapse. New measures
would also be introduced to step up control of demolition work, including new
guidelines for contractors on handling building rubble. The guidelines, to be
submitted for industry consultation, would in future form a condition for the
issuing of permits to begin building demolition work. The guidelines were likely
to be introduced in the next two weeks. Contractors involved in such projects
would need to employ a full-time engineer to oversee the demolition where complex
building structures were involved. Training and trade tests would be provided
to workers to improve their skills and knowledge. The Buildings Department is
also proposing that contractors make a videotape of demolition work. The maximum
penalty for violating the Buildings Ordinance is a fine of $250,000 and three
years' jail. It is proposed that the fine be increased to more than $1 million. [Source:
SCMP, 30 November 2001] |  |
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