Aggressive Construction Engineering to stop operating
The government has given a contractor linked to a fatal construction accident less than a month to wrap up its business, after deciding not to renew its registration due to concerns over workers' safety. Development minister Bernadette Linn said on Wednesday that Aggressive Construction Engineering – a contractor linked to a deadly accident at a Yau Tong site last December in which a 55-year-old worker was killed by a falling H-beam – will have to stop its operations from November 16.  Linn said the company’s application for renewal of registration has been denied, and it will be removed from the registry list.  The company must now find another contractor to take over its five remaining private residential and commercial construction projects, as well as a smaller one involving a recreational facility.   The development chief said Aggressive Construction Engineering had failed to convince authorities that it has the ability to ensure workers’ safety.  She also brushed aside criticism that it had taken the government too long to delist the contractor.  “The government has a multi-pronged approach in enforcing against mishap in construction sites … The various approaches under all the regimes involve very serious investigation, prosecution and other follow-up action so inevitably it may take some time,” she said “Particularly [when it comes to] investigations involving criminal liability, we have to be very careful but I have to emphasise that justice will be done and must be done.”  Linn said Aggressive Construction Engineering’s sister company, Aggressive Construction Company, is also under review. Aggressive Construction Company was involved in a fatal crane collapse at a Sau Mau Ping construction site in September last year, which killed three workers and injured another six.  Last week, an electrician also fell to his death at a Yau Ma Tei construction site overseen by Aggressive Construction Company.