Judge rejects judicial review bid over plumbing work at lead-tainted estates
Kevin Zervos rules that inquiry now being conducted into tainted water samples will deal with the matter
A judge has rejected a Cheung Chau resident’s application for a judicial review of a government decision on plumbing work at public housing estates found to have tainted drinking water.
Mr Justice Kevin Zervos ruled that an independent inquiry would deal with the matter.
Kwok Cheuk-kin filed the application to the High Court against the heads of three departments: Transport and Housing, Water Supplies and the Housing Authority.
He wanted to challenge the departments’ failure to hire qualified plumbers to carry out works and for allowing the installation of prefabricated elements in the construction of public housing.
Zervos wrote in his judgment: “In the circumstances of the case where a commission of inquiry is being undertaken which includes the subject of the application, there are no exceptional circumstances to warrant the intervention of the court.”
The safety of drinking water in some public housing estates raised public concerns when reports last summer revealed worrying levels of lead in water samples taken from some of the buildings.
