Calls for Hong Kong government to speed up probe into pricier water deal

Hong Kong authorities are under pressure to speed up their investigation and account for how a company offering more expensive bottled water and without an operating factory could win a tender, while a civil service union leader has said many workers are now worried about their health and are buying their own water.

Lawmaker Doreen Kong Yuk-foon on Monday questioned the deadline of three months that the government had set for itself to come up with preliminary conclusions on its bottled water procurement process.

“There are a few very basic questions from residents and it should not take three months to tell us,” she told a radio programme.

“If you take too long to respond to residents, you will fail to assure them [of the government’s integrity].”

Kong said authorities should reveal how the company involved had entered the supplier list and whether due diligence had been conducted before the contract was awarded to it.