Consent given to partial resumption of works for public housing development project at North West Kowloon Reclamation Site 1 (East)
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"Since the reading recorded in a utility settlement monitoring checkpoint installed at the MTRCL's underground water cooling mains at Tung Chau Street near Tonkin Street junction exceeded the pre-set trigger level, the works of the Project were suspended on June 29, 2020," the spokesman said. The Government announced the situation on June 30, 2020, and the Independent Checking Unit (ICU) under the Office of the Permanent Secretary for Transport and Housing (Housing) and MTRCL had confirmed the safety of the relevant railway facilities. The Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) had confirmed the safe operation of the railway.
The Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA)'s building professional team for the said works subsequently submitted to the ICU an investigation report on the incident and a proposal of mitigation measures to alleviate the effects of the said works on the safe operation of railway and the railway facilities. The HA's building professional team then requested partial resumption of the suspended works in area outside 30m distance from the affected MTRCL's underground water cooling mains.
Based on the investigation report and mitigation measures proposal submitted by the HA's building professional team, the resumption of works in area outside 30m distance from the MTRCL's underground water cooling mains would not cause any adverse effect to the underground water cooling mains. The ICU is satisfied with the proposal for the partial resumption of works. The ICU and MTRCL have confirmed the safety of the railway facilities concerned. The EMSD has reviewed the relevant report submitted by the MTRCL in relation to safe operation of the railway and confirmed that the condition of the railway fulfilled the operational safety requirements. The EMSD has also confirmed that the MTRCL has put in place stringent monitoring measures to ensure the safety of railway operation.
Having considered the above advice, the request for partial resumption of works in area outside 30m distance from the MTRCL's underground water cooling mains was accepted on February 5, 2021, and the relevant suspended works also resumed on February 6, 2021.
The ICU, EMSD and MTRCL will continue to closely monitor the situation to ensure the safety of the railway facilities and the safe operation of the railway.
Ends/Saturday, February 6, 2021
Issued at HKT 12:00
Issued at HKT 12:00
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