Official reports say that at least two Hong Kong companies, both of which were separately awarded multimillion-dollar contracts to maintain trees in a public housing state, are closely connected. The state is where a branch fell and brought the death of a domestic helper.
According to the South China Morning Post, the owners of City Landscaping Company and C.K. Garden Company share the same residential addresses. They also set up both companies together and, at the same time, are involved in similar property transactions.
City Landscaping Company is tasked with risk assessment, while C.K. Garden Company is responsible for pruning.
Following the traumatizing death of the aforementioned helper, doubts have emerged as to whether one of the two companies is qualified to perform work.
Interestingly, the contractor must not be the same for both remedial tree work and risk assessment in a certain region. This is according to the Housing Authority's tendering conditions meant for such contracts.
Jumiati Supadi, an Indonesian, was hit by a branch (weights 30kg) from an Indian rubber tree at Shun Lee Estate in Sau Mau Ping. After the investigation, it was revealed that the firms responsible for the maintenance of about 21,000 trees are closely linked.
Yahoo! News, on the other hand, reports that C.K. Garden is not included on the authority's approved list of soft landscape contractors. A tree expert even said that the company is "irresponsibly fast" and does not have the much-needed knowledge or skills.
Victor Man Kwok-hing, the firm's director who co-owns another tree management firm with Chui, told the Post the company observed the authority's guidelines but refused to comment on whether there was a conflict of interest.
City Landscaping and C.K. Garden both received two-year tenders in 2017 to take care of the said trees in Kowloon East. The latter won the bid from the authority at HK$4.94 million (US$629,000) as per the authority's financial document.
