Hong Kong government seeks legal advice on leak of confidential data on contentious housing project
Lawmakers slam decision to impose three-month ban on engineering giant Arup from bidding for government contracts, saying criminal offence may be involved
Hong Kong’s Development Bureau is seeking legal advice on whether a government-commissioned consultancy illegally leaked official data to a private developer involved in a project in Wang Chau in Yuen Long district.
The private development was proposed to be next to a site set aside for a controversial public housing project.
Lawmakers criticised the government for being too lenient and demanded an explanation from officials on why the punishment was not stricter.
Pan-democrat lawmaker Raymond Chan Chi-chuen asked the Development Bureau if it had considered reporting the incident to the police as it could also be a criminal offence.
“This isn’t a matter of poor performance or being technically incompetent; it’s a matter of whether they broke the law,” Chan said at a meeting with government officials and Wang Chau village residents yesterday.