Date: 26 July 2017
Companies: K. Wah Group and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government
K. Wah Group’s construction materials arm K. Wah Construction Materials Limited (KWCM), in concluding its commercial excavation and operation work at the Anderson Road Quarry stretching over half a century, returned the site to the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on 26 July 2017.
K. Wah was the first private enterprise to be awarded a quarrying rights contract in Hong Kong, gaining access to the Anderson Road Quarry in 1964. Since then, K. Wah has established an exemplary model in the industry with its pioneering efforts in implementing automation equipment and green quarrying. The Anderson Road Quarry has played a pivotal role in the development of Hong Kong by supplying about 100 million tons of stone materials.
During the earliest years of operation, KWCM sought to develop the Anderson Road Quarry into a fully enclosed and environmentally friendly aggregate production site featuring automated operations and a modern management system. Such advancements were intended to ensure safe production, mitigate the quarry’s impact on the surrounding environment and establish K. Wah Group as a role model for the industry in respect of sustainable development. The quarry has also established a one-stop upstream and downstream industrial chain to produce premium construction materials such as concrete, asphalt, eco-bricks, pipes and precast components.
In 1997, KWCM entered into an agreement with the Civil Engineering and Development Department (CEDD) of the HKSAR involving the ‘Rehabilitation of Anderson Road Quarry’ to rehabilitate the ecological environment of the Anderson Road Quarry, and ultimately, create a multipurpose land tract with more than 40 hectares available for development. After 20 years of rehabilitation and embellishment, the site now includes nearly 230,000 planted trees, a 200-metre long stairway on a major slope and a drainage system that is over 10 kilometres in length. From such measures, KWCM has transformed the quarry into a beautiful natural landscape ahead of its return to the government, which aims to develop approximately 9,400 private and subsidised housing flats with a planned population of about 25,000 and thus benefit society and the people of Hong Kong.
Lam Sai-hung, JP, Director of Civil Engineering and Development Department and Commissioner of Mines of the HKSAR; Ho Kin-sang Kenneth, JP, Acting Head of Geotechnical Engineering Office and Deputy Commissioner of Mines of the HKSAR; Choi Kwong-yin, Deputy Head of Geotechnical Engineering Office of the HKSAR; Sing Hon-keung, Vice Chairman of the Sai Kung District Council; Hung Kam-in, Vice Chairman of the Kwun Tong District Council; Lambert Leung, Chief Executive Officer of Cheung Kong Infrastructure Materials; Lam Moon-tim, Bernard, SBS, Ex-Director of Civil Engineering; and Vincent Yu, Chief Executive Officer of Alliance Construction Materials Limited, along with Dr Lui Che-woo, Chairman of K. Wah Group; Francis Lui, Vice Chairman of K. Wah Group; Joseph Chee, Managing Director of K. Wah Construction Materials; and David Chen, Associate Director and Head of Southern Region of K. Wah Construction Materials officiated at the handover ceremony, witnessing this significant historical moment together.
