The Hong Kong government said today that it disagrees with statements from the MTR Corp. that it can only claim damages for a maximum of HKD4.5 billion over the delayed high-speed rail link.
The proposed railway that would link the city to mainland China was originally given a HKD65 billion budget. That budget has now gone up to HKD85.3 billion.
The project is also a year delayed, with completion plans for the third quarter of 2017 now pushed to 2018.
The MTR stated in its annual report that the total liability the Hong Kong government could claim is equal to the project management fee, HKD4.5 billion.
According to the SCMP, Transport Secretary Anthony Cheung told legislators in a meeting today that the government disagrees with that understanding.
Sounds like somebody needs to get off their arse and read the small print!
Transport authorities are also questioning why the MTR needs an extra HKD2.1 billion and six month’s contingency for completing the project.
The MTR blamed the issues on new unforeseen challenges, especially extra time needed to build the terminus entrance.
Fair enough. Maybe they didn’t realise they would need an entrance before?
Officials have stated they will study the latest estimates submitted by the MTR and meet for talks next week.
Photo: Wing1990hk from Wikipedia Commons
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