Hong Kong leader vows accountability over faulty lifts at Queen Mary Hospital

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu of Hong Kong has pledged to hold construction firms and government personnel responsible for the faulty lift installation work at Queen Mary Hospital’s new block. The city's leader instructed the Development Bureau to conduct a thorough investigation into the matter and submit a report within a month.

Lee emphasized that accountability would extend to contractors, subcontractors, engineering personnel, and professionals, as well as government personnel, if deemed necessary. He also stressed the importance of identifying any inadequacies in the system and rectifying them. The hospital, the largest on Hong Kong Island, faced scrutiny a month ago when it was discovered that 24 out of 28 lifts in the 34-storey clinical block were unfit for use.

Sources have reported that Li Pak-yee, a chief project manager at the Architectural Services Department, had been asked to resign over the scandal, although the department denied a forced resignation, stating that she left for personal reasons after giving three months' notice. The investigation into the scandal remains ongoing, with Lee not directly addressing questions about how the resignation would impact the inquiry or why the government had not invoked the "Heads of Department Accountability System," proposed in his policy address last year to enhance governance.

Lee underscored the significance of medical services to the public and the need for the hospital's new block to open as soon as possible. The widespread installation defects have resulted in delays to the full commissioning of the hospital's HK$13.5 billion (US$1.7 billion) block by up to a year, raising concerns about project oversight and civil service accountability.