【明報專訊】FOLLOWING the revelation of ground sinking at the construction sites of the MTR's Exhibition Centre station on the Shatin-Central rail link, it is now suspected that the Wan Chai Development Phase II (WDII) project is also beset by subsidence problems. Subsidence readings at some monitoring points were over 100mm, even higher than those at Exhibition Centre station. Although the Civil Engineering and Development Department (CEDD) maintained that the sinking levels of affected facilities did not "exceed safety limits", given the fact that CEDD engineers can adjust the predetermined limits for subsidence according to the situations, that inevitably invites doubt that the so-called "not exceeding limits" may be simply due to the moving of goalposts. Documents show that subsidence problems had existed at the WDII project well before the commencement of the Shatin-Central rail link's major construction works. Whether the government will be "strict with others but lenient with itself" in addressing the problem is worthy of concern. The authorities are obliged to make public the subsidence data in detail and increase its transparency in an open and honest manner.