An independent committee investigating the cause of Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades heard arguments on how improper practices that evaded regulatory oversight turned a small fire into a tragedy as the investigation neared its conclusion Friday, reports BritPanorama.
The November blaze spread through seven buildings of an apartment complex, killing 168 people and displacing thousands of residents at Wang Fuk Court in the suburban Tai Po district. Many of the residents now live in temporary housing.
Committee lead lawyer Victor Dawes stated that the use of non-fire-retardant scaffolding netting was very likely a key reason for the fire’s rapid spread at the complex, which was undergoing a major renovation project when the blaze started. He noted that wooden planks boarding up staircase windows caused plumes of smoke in residents’ escape routes.
Dawes indicated that Will Power Architects Company, a consultancy, and Prestige Construction & Engineering Co., the main contractor on the project, cut corners in their work and materials while also deceiving regulators and homeowners. Various substandard and improper practices were involved, including faked compliance inspections. Certain professionals responsible for inspections signed documents like a “rubber stamp,” he remarked.
Dawes also criticized the government’s reliance on an honor system in overseeing the project, asserting that relevant departments should share in the responsibility. “When faced with dishonest bad actors, the entire system collapsed,” he said.
Some residents unhappy with what they heard
Several residents wept during and after the hearing for closing statements, which concluded Friday. Yip Ka-kui, who lost his wife in the fire, was among them.
Yip expressed his emotions were heightened because Dawes’ statements showed he was trying his best to seek answers for them, even if the final results might not align with their expectations. However, he found the arguments from the government’s lawyer a day earlier to indicate that government departments had not learned a lesson.
“Even in the face of such a massive disaster, they cannot bring themselves to take bold and decisive action to completely root out these long-standing bad practices,” he remarked.
Lee Kwok-hung, whose mother and two domestic helpers died, took issue with the government’s comments that others deceived it, questioning why so many professionals fell victim to such deceit.
“What kind of salary are they earning? And they were hired just to be deceived by people?” he queried.
On Thursday, lawyer Jenkin Suen, representing the government, acknowledged some systemic vulnerabilities but argued it would be unfair to state that government departments were the instigators of the fire. He stated that some professionals and contractors abused a mechanism aimed at protecting the public and betrayed the trust placed in them.
Jeffrey Tam, a lawyer for nine residents of the Wang Fuk Court, mentioned that some residents chose to give evidence despite grappling with the tragedy. “We heard some witnesses appear that they just wanted to be shirking responsibility,” he noted on Thursday. “So sometimes I also understand why they could not hold back their anger.”
He added that deflecting responsibility in such a manner would not assist the city in uncovering the truth.
Bid-rigging is common
Beyond investigating the fire’s cause, the committee was examining whether systemic problems and bid-rigging corruption were involved in large-scale maintenance works.
Dawes stated on Friday that bid-rigging was common in the city and that the situation at Wang Fuk Court was not an isolated case.
Last month, Hong Kong authorities charged seven individuals, along with Will Power and Prestige, with offenses including manslaughter and conspiracy to defraud over the fire.
Authorities alleged that the two companies and some defendants conspired to defraud the apartment owners by concealing previous litigation records of Prestige and inflating the scores given to the firm in a tender analysis report. This ultimately led to Prestige being awarded the renovation project, a contract valued at more than 300 million Hong Kong dollars (over $38 million), according to officials.
Dawes emphasized that the tragedy could not be explained by a single simple reason, as the problems were deeply intertwined.
