Hong Kong’s Hospital Authority has reported to police an alleged fake equipment certificate submitted by a subcontractor and suspended the company from its duties at an expansion project.
The authority revealed on Wednesday night that Novox had submitted the certificate through the main contractor of the Princess Margaret Hospital expansion project in Kwai Chung to verify the accuracy of vibration monitoring systems.
But the certificate was not issued by mainland Chinese laboratory Guangdong Zhongzhenhang Metrology Testing Co Ltd as claimed.
The ethical and integrity issues alarmed the authority, which said it reserved the right to take legal action and seek financial compensation from the subcontractor.
It demanded that the project’s main contractor, China Railway Construction Corporation, investigate the suspected forgery and temporarily suspend Novox’s duties.
It said vibration systems were usually deployed as a preventive measure to avoid any adverse impact from construction work on hospital operations and services.
In addition to the vibration sensors, there are occasions when workers conduct manual monitoring.
These devices undergo annual calibration to ensure the accuracy of monitoring data, and the main contractor is responsible for providing an accredited certificate after calibration.
An authority spokesman said that Bewis Sensing, a Jiangsu-based service provider for Novox, told the body on October 27 that it had terminated its contract with the firm.
The authority subsequently told the main contractor to ensure the project would not be affected and also tasked it and its consultants with reviewing Novox’s performance.
The authority had received five calibration certificates, four dated October 28 and one dated November 25, the spokesman said.
On Monday, the main contractor told the authority that Bewis had not issued any calibration certificates to Novox and that the document was suspected to be forged.
The authority said the incident had no impact on patient safety or medical services.
However, it was examining vibration monitoring systems deployed by Novox at four other sites: Kwong Wah Hospital in Yau Ma Tei; Our Lady of Maryknoll Hospital in Wong Tai Sin; Grantham Hospital in Wong Chuk Hang; and North District Hospital in Sheung Shui.
“The authority has zero tolerance for forgery,” the spokesman said.
Medical-sector lawmaker-elect David Lam Tzit-yuen said that finding the problem only when the 10-year expansion project was nearly finished was unacceptable, describing the construction industry as “already rotten beyond repair”.
He said problems within the industry were also reflected in the recent Tai Po fire which claimed at least 160 lives, adding that strong remedies were needed for rectification.
His strongly worded criticisms prompted development minister Bernadette Linn Hon-ho to defend the construction sector, arguing that its long-standing strong regional and international reputation for quality and infrastructure development remained intact.
She conceded that some “bad apples” had failed to adhere to regulations, but said one should not “tar everyone with the same brush”.
Outgoing lawmaker Michael Tien Puk-sun said the incident was just the latest scandal after recent cases of bogus certificates for scaffolding mesh at some construction projects and a bottled water procurement fiasco in August.
“We have many requirements for all parties to conform with, but do we have the time and the capability to scrutinise whether every requirement is met?” he said, urging authorities to inspect all requirements in detail. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
