Hong Kong's tainted water problem could be larger, warns housing minister Anthony Cheung

The impact of the tainted tap water scare could be much bigger than expected, the housing minister said yesterday.

"The three estates [with excessive lead levels] have three different main contractors and two different licensed plumbers," said Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, referring to Kai Ching Estate in Kowloon City, Kwai Luen Estate in Kwai Chung and Wing Cheong Estate in Sham Shui Po.

"We are looking into whether this is a problem with the existing mechanism. I believe the independent commission [soon-to-be formed to investigate the water scare] must look into the whole water supply system - no matter if it is in public or private housing."

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Cheung was speaking at yesterday's Legislative Council housing panel special meeting, after the government announced that 40 people out of 302 who had been tested were found to have "slightly higher than normal" levels of lead in their blood.

Of them, 27 are children younger than six, and 13 are breastfeeding mothers. They are all from Kai Ching Estate and Kwai Luen Estate.

Cheung also said the government planned to give tap filters to residents of public housing estates affected by excessive lead levels once it had determined which model would be effective in removing the heavy metal. "If we can find qualified filters, we will arrange them for affected estates," he said.

Both pan-democratic and pro-Beijing lawmakers criticised the government's slow response and called for full-scale water tests in all public housing estates in Hong Kong.