6,000 more Hongkongers at risk as eighth housing estate found with heavy lead in water
Water samples from Ma On Shan estate over limit, while 12 blood tests also come back high
More than 6,000 Hongkongers are affected by the latest revelations in the water contamination scare, after an eighth public housing estate was found to have high levels of lead in its water.
Five samples out of 69 tested at Yan On Estate in Ma On Shan were found to contain between 10.01 and 31 micrograms of lead in a litre, above the World Health Organisation's guideline of 10, director of housing Stanley Ying Yiu-hong said yesterday. The estate, built in 2011, has 2,600 flats and is home to 6,300 residents.
The main contractor that built Yan On Estate was Yau Lee Construction, while the sub-contractor that installed water pipes was its sister company Ming Hop.
Since its discovery almost five weeks ago, the scare has spread to the private housing sector, with luxury development The Caldecott in Cheung Sha Wan also affected, according to tests commissioned by its owners' corporation.
The Hospital Authority said that 12 people living in four earlier named public estates were also found to have excessive lead in their blood, in tests arranged for 292 residents last weekend.
Among them were nine children, the youngest aged one, a pregnant woman and two breastfeeding mothers, said Dr Derrick Au Kit-sing, director of quality and safety at the authority. Their lead levels ranged from 5.4 to 10.4 micrograms per 100mls of blood. The official safety cap is 5mcg.
"We will immediately provide bottled water to [Yan On Estate residents]," Ying said.
There were emotional scenes last night as residents of the estate met to discuss the affair.
"The [Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong] and the government are doing correct things today. They sent water tanks and delivered free mineral water to us instantly," a man, in his 80s, said.
He accused the pan-democrats of blaming the government without doing anything useful.
Another resident suggested the government take more care of seniors and children and have clean water sent directly to those at risk.
Housing minister Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung revealed that a judge and another member had been identified for an independent commission to investigate the cause of the lead scare, announced by Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying on July 17.
Cheung also confirmed that the Housing Authority would not test water at the 39 Tenant Purchase Scheme estates - public housing initially built for rental but with some flats sold to tenants under a now-defunct policy between 1997 and 2002. That was despite a pledge to test water for all 170 public rental housing estates.
