The Wang Fuk Court owners’ corporation tried to pressure the renovation contractor not to use flammable boards and substandard construction nets before the fire hit, an independent inquiry has heard.

Tony Tsui, who served as chair of the management committee of the Wang Fuk Court owners’ corporation when the tragedy struck, testified on Friday at a hearing organised by an independent committee investigating the fatal fire at the Tai Po housing estate.

Tsui said that he and other members of the Wang Fuk Court owners’ committee had told the main contractor, Prestige Construction & Engineering, not to use foam boards – a flammable material – and not to allow construction workers to smoke on the renovation site.

However, he failed to push for a change, he said. Tsui broke down in tears at the end of his testimony, saying it was hard and stressful to serve on the owners’ board and to oversee such a large-scale renovation project.

“How could residents like us lead a HK$330 million renovation project?” Tsui said in Cantonese, “I hope after the hearings, large renovations [of residential buildings] could be assisted more by the government in terms of regulations and supervision.”

Tsui, who works for the MTR Corporation, was chair of the owner’s board from September 2024 until it was dissolved by a court in January 2026 and replaced by a firm appointed by the government.

Wang Fuk Court, home to 1,984 families, was under renovation when the fire broke out on November 26, killing 168 people and displacing thousands.

All eight of the estate’s buildings had been covered with bamboo scaffolding and construction nets when the renovation work started in July 2024. Construction workers also used foam boards to cover the windows to protect them from debris as they removed the old tiles. 

Initial investigation showed that the use of non-retardant nets and flammable foam boards exacerbated the spread of the fire, which began at Wang Cheong House and engulfed six other residential towers.

Tsui said he raised concerns about the foam boards to Prestige in September 2024 after residents filed complaints to the owners’ committee.

According to a WhatsApp conversation record shown at the hearing, a Prestige representative told the committee that the foam boards would not ignite upon contact with a cigarette butt, and there was no law in Hong Kong banning the use of foam boards in construction.

Tsui said the owners’ committee then asked Prestige to consult the Fire Services Department (FSD). Prestige then replied that, according to the FSD, there was no regulation banning the use of foam boards.

“In terms of the owner’s corporation, we’ve tried our best [to oppose the use of foam boards]. However, there was no law in Hong Kong to [support] our advocacy, and we felt helpless,” Tsui said.

Senior counsel Victor Dawes, the lead lawyer of the independent committee, said at the hearing that some residents felt Tsui did not work hard to oversee the construction project and that it was hard to contact him before the fire.

In response, Tsui said the accusation was unfair and that he shared his personal phone number with all residents after he took up the position as the chairperson. He added that he also held weekly meetings to update residents on the progress of the renovation project, which everyone could join.

Workers’ smoking on site

Tsui said that before the deadly blaze, the owners’ board kept receiving residents’ complaints about construction workers smoking on the scaffolding.

The inquiry previously heard that the deadly fire was “most likely” caused by smoking.

The former chair said the board urged Prestige multiple times to ban workers from smoking, even trying to hold payments to pressure the contractor to tackle the issue.

A WhatsApp conversation record shown at the hearing confirmed this. However, a Prestige representative kept asking the board to pay first.

Tsui also said he noticed that many scaffolding nets were torn after a major typhoon hit Hong Kong in September and that construction workers replaced them with nets in a lighter green colour.

Tsui said the board was concerned about the quality and safety of the scaffolding nets and asked Prestige if it could replace them with higher‑quality, fire‑retardant nets. However, the contractor refused, he said.

A group of survivors of the deadly Wang Fuk Court fire have petitioned Hong Kong’s top officials twice in a week, urging the government to rebuild the fire-ravaged residential estate on site and to respect their private property rights.

According to copies of the petitions received by HKFP on Thursday, the petitioners sent the letters to a group of top officials on Wednesday this week and last week, asking them to reconsider the in-situ redevelopment of Wang Fuk Court.

The letters were sent to Chief Executive John Lee, Deputy Chief Secretary for Administration Warner Cheuk, Deputy Chief Secretary for Finance Michael Wong, Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho, and Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Minister Alice Mak.

According to the petitions, Wang Fuk Court homeowners were not given transparent information and were not properly consulted about resettlement plans.

The petitioners urged the government to coordinate with the Hop On Management Company, appointed by authorities to take over the Wang Fuk Court owners’ board, to call a general meeting of homeowners to vote on on-site redevelopment.

“To us, Wang Fuk Court is more than just a private property protected by the sanctity of the law; it is a home we have spent half our lives building,” the letters said.

“We are grateful to the government for its earlier empathy in allowing residents to briefly return to Wang Fuk Court to retrieve precious belongings,” it continued.

“However, regarding the long-term planning that dictates the future of our homes and our resettlement, we have profound doubts and anxieties about the underlying logic and legal basis of certain official decisions.”

The petitions were organised by two Wang Fuk Court homeowners – known by their surnames: Cheung and Ho.

In January, they went to China’s Liaison Office and the Legislative Council (LegCo) to deliver the petition, which was signed by more than 1,100 homeowners and asked for on-site redevelopment.

The organisers told HKFP on Thursday that, so far, they had not received any response from the government.

HKFP has sent an enquiry to the government for comment.

Property rights of the minority

The government announced on February 21 a buyout offer for homeowners, rejecting the option to rebuild the apartment block.

Flat owners can either sell their property titles to the government or move into another government-subsidised estate under a flat-exchange scheme.

Wong, the deputy chief secretary for finance, said at a press conference that according to a consultation conducted by the government, 83 per cent of Wang Fuk Court homeowners preferred to prioritise speedy resettlement.

He also said that on-site redevelopment would take more than 10 years, and therefore would not be a good option.

However, some homeowners criticised the plan, saying it ignored their wishes.

In the letters sent this month, the petitioners said the government should not conclude that on-site redevelopment would take 10 years before conducting a formal survey.

They also pointed out that, with more than 1,100 homeowners from nearly 400 households signing the January petition, around 17 per cent of Wang Fuk Court households supported on-site redevelopment.

“The dignity of a society governed by the rule of law lies in the fact that the legal property rights of a minority should not – and will not – be easily stripped away under a crude administrative logic of ‘the minority yielding to the majority,'” the April petitions read.

“Even if only two or three buildings can ultimately be reconstructed on site, the government bears an inescapable responsibility to properly address the lawful wishes of these nearly 400 households.”

A massive fire ripped through Wang Fuk Court, a government-subsidised housing complex in Tai Po, in late November, engulfing seven of its eight towers. The blaze – Hong Kong’s deadliest in nearly eight decades – killed 168 people and displaced thousands of residents.

A Hong Kong man who lost three family members in the massive Tai Po fire has recounted their “despair” during the final phone calls with his loved ones, telling a public hearing that he will speak up for them for the rest of his life.

Lee Chun-ho testified on Thursday before an independent committee investigating the blaze in November that killed 168 people at the Wang Fuk Court housing estate in Tai Po. Among the deceased were Lee’s older brother, his 15-month-old niece, their elderly mother, and a domestic worker employed by the family.

The family of six is survived by Lee, his elderly father, and his sister-in-law. The three survived the blaze as they were at work when the fire broke out on November 26.

“I vow to speak up for [my family] for the rest of my life. This anger and despair… come from my mother, my brother, Yan-yan [niece], and our worker,” he said in Cantonese. “Now that they cannot speak, I will speak for them.”

Recounting his experience on that day, Lee said he was informed of the blaze by a co-worker and rushed home shortly after 4pm. As he reached Tai Po Market, he already saw plumes of smoke billowing from Wang Tai House, where his family lived.

Unable to enter his building due to a police cordon, Lee said he maintained contact with his mother at home via the phone every 15 minutes. Meanwhile, he sought help from police officers at the scene.

As night fell, Lee had a video call with his brother, who was trying to keep their elderly mother and the domestic worker awake. Around 9.30 pm, he had a final video conversation with his family, who were trapped in the fire.

Lee told the inquiry that his family was “extremely nervous, desperate, and angry” at that time. On the ground, Lee told a police commander that his mother had a chronic illness and hoped that firefighters could rescue the elderly and his baby niece as soon as possible.

Together with his sister-in-law, Lee also sought help from on-the-ground firefighters, who radioed the frontline about his family trapped in their 19th-floor flat. However, Lee overheard the frontline responders replying in Cantonese: “We can’t break through the 14th floor. The fire is too big.”

Lee said he watched his brother fall into a coma on the video call, while he and his sister-in-law kept shouting into the phone until the battery ran out on the other side.

Complaints

Lee said his mother and brother had complained about the high price tag of Wang Fuk Court’s renovation project to the authorities, including the Independent Commission Against Corruption and the Home Affairs Department.

His mother also complained about workers smoking and damage to the scaffolding nets to the renovation contractor, Prestige Construction & Engineering, he added.

See also: Tai Po fire survivors recall futile whistle-blowing attempts

He said he had lived in Wang Fuk Court for over 40 years, and that the tragedy could have been avoided if the government had taken residents’ complaints “seriously.”

Lee’s account appeared to move the committee chair, Judge David Lok, who pledged the inquiry would spare no effort in uncovering the truth behind the tragedy.

Three Wang Fuk Court residents also testified during Thursday’s hearing, touching on issues such as “problematic” proxy votes during the estate’s meetings that made decisions on renovation matters.

Danny Fung, who lost his mother in the blaze, criticised the lack of verification of proxy votes. He said that those who attended the meetings in person were checked for their IDs, but proxy votes were not verified.

He also named Tai Po district councillor Peggy Wong, claiming that Wong brought her “gang” to estate owners’ board meetings, including the one in January 2024. During that meeting, Prestige was picked as a renovation contractor and a highly controversial HK$330 million project was approved.

“Wong’s team was queueing to get proxy votes,” he said, adding that some of “Wong’s people” intimidated residents.

The hearing resumes on Friday.

China’s top official in charge of Hong Kong affairs has warned of some people who “politicised” the deadly Tai Po fire and tried to use the disaster to “stir up chaos” in Hong Kong.

Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, delivered his remarks on Wednesday via a recorded video shown at a National Security Education Day ceremony.

In his speech, Xia mentioned the massive fire that broke out at Wang Fuk Court, a government-subsidised housing estate, on November 26, killing 168 people.

“After the Tai Po fire, some malicious people politicised the tragedy, attempting to use the disaster as a means to disrupt Hong Kong,” Xia said in Mandarin, without giving further details.

“Once again, it reminds us that along Hong Kong’s path toward prosperity under good governance, there will be various risks and challenges.”

He went on to emphasise that there are still national security risks in Hong Kong, six years after the China-imposed national security law came into effect in the city.

“Anti-China and anti–Hong Kong troublemakers are still plotting and biding their time to launch a comeback… Everyone should be alert to the risks of external forces meddling and interfering,” Xia said.

Speaking at the same event on Wednesday, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee also said that some people were “using the disaster to stir up chaos” and “to incite hatred” in Hong Kong.

“Only through the government’s swift action and decisive law enforcement has the situation been able to return to normal,” Lee said in Mandarin.

He vowed that the government “will hold people accountable” and implement “systematic reforms” once the independent committee completes its investigation into the blaze.

The independent committee, chaired by Judge David Lok, is currently hearing testimony from various parties – including residents, employees of fire contractors, a property management firm, and firefighters.

Hong Kong authorities and China’s national security authorities have repeatedly issued warnings related to the blaze – the city’s deadliest in eight decades.

On November 29, days after the blaze, Beijing’s Office for Safeguarding National Security (OSNS) warned that “anti-China disruptors” sought to co-opt the deadly Tai Po fire to “incite resentment” against the government.

In early December, the Hong Kong government issued a statement, blasting “foreign forces, including anti-China media organisations, and anti-China and destabilising forces” for “making unfounded and slanderous remarks,” and trying to use the fire to “stir up chaos in society.”

More recently, in February, Hong Kong security chief Chris Tang warned of people engaging in “soft resistance” by making false claims about the tragedy.

National security police said in mid-February that three people had been charged under Article 23, Hong Kong’s local national security law, over comments relating to the blaze.

A woman trapped in the burning Wang Fuk Court estate in Tai Po died after police did not pass her 999 emergency call to the fire department, a public inquiry has heard.

Inter-departmental communications during the blaze that killed 168 people in November came under scrutiny when the public hearings into the tragedy resumed on Wednesday.

Sunny Wong, deputy chief fire officer of operational support and professional development at the Fire Services Department (FSD), testified before an independent committee on the 12th day of the hearings.

Victor Dawes, lead counsel for the committee, drew attention to the hundreds of emergency calls during the fire, most of them first picked up by the police’s 999 call centre and forwarded to the FSD. However, some calls were not passed on.

In a 999 call made at 3.06pm on November 26, a woman, who lived on the 17th floor of Wang Cheong House, the first building that caught fire, said she was taking refuge in a toilet as fumes crept into her flat.

The 999 operator told her that firefighters were at the scene and asked at least five times whether she needed “firefighters to bring you out,” according to an audio recording of the call, which was played during Wednesday’s hearing.

The woman did not make such a request but said she would close all the windows. The call ended with the operator urging her to “call back if needed.”

Dawes said the woman eventually died and raised concerns about why the police’s 999 call centre did not immediately pass on the call to the FSD.

Wong, who is responsible for managing FSD’s call centre, said the police should have forwarded the call.

“I have not heard of a situation like this in my experience. For this specific case, I think it should not have been like this,” he said in Cantonese.

In another 999 call at 9.22 pm, a man told the police that a grandfather of his student was reportedly trapped in flat 2802 in Wang Shing House. The elderly man had asthma, the man said, while the 999 operator responded by saying they would forward the case to the FSD.

However, FSD’s case records from that day showed that the department was only alerted to the case roughly an hour later based on information collected “at the scene.”

Dawes said the elderly man was rescued at about 4.30 am the next day but eventually died due to severe injuries.

Wong agreed that the communications between the police and the FSD could be improved, but he also said that the police had generally assisted the FSD’s work “significantly.”

Backlog of calls

Wong also said the fire at Wang Fuk Court was “extraordinary” and “unprecedented,” leading to a serious backlog of emergency calls and longer-than-average response times.

After the fire broke out, it took on average 58 seconds for a 999 call to be picked up by an FSD officer, he said.

Dawes told the inquiry that in extreme cases, some callers had to wait for 15 minutes for their 999 calls to be picked up by the FSD. He also said the FSD call centre was able to handle 30 simultaneous calls.

Wong said the blaze had tested the capacity of the FSD call centre, with the department having to allocate about 80 staff to establish a support centre for call-backs. However, the department believed that it was able to handle the volume of calls during the fire, Wong said.

He also pushed back against Dawes’s suggestion that FSD call operators should provide real-time fire updates to callers, such as an evacuation order issued at around 4.10 pm that day.

Emergency call operators should focus on collecting information and passing it to frontline commanders, who could assign firefighters on rescue missions, Wong said, calling it “inappropriate” for operators to evacuate callers.

Biggest lesson from the blaze

The senior FSD officer also addressed several criticisms of the FSD operation, including that the department should have employed drones and sought help from mainland Chinese fire services.

He said drone technology remained “immature” for firefighting and the city was “not ready” to seek help from mainland Chinese fire services due to significant differences in equipment and operational protocols.

Wong said that the biggest lesson from the blaze should be about how to prevent such a tragedy from happening again.

“Rescue teams have very little to do against such a disaster. I think any talks about improvement must start from prevention,” he said.

Committee chair Judge David Lok noted public calls to elevate the inquiry into a statutory body with the power to summon witnesses.

He said the strategy has “pros and cons” and would be addressed in the future, but he did not elaborate further.

A resident of the fire-ravaged Wang Fuk Court housing estate in Tai Po has reported a suspected theft to authorities after photos taken inside her flat showed apparent signs of ransacking.

The resident, surnamed Lee, told HKFP on Tuesday that her younger sister received three photos of their upper-floor flat in Wang Cheong House from the government social worker assigned to assist the family on Monday.

Lee said her sister’s room appeared to have been searched, and boxes used to store cash and jewellery had also been opened, leading to suspicion that their flat had been looted.

The photos, seen by HKFP, appeared to show several open drawers and boxes.

After she and her family made a police report on Monday, officers went to their flat to investigate the next morning and found “most of the cash” left at their home, she told HKFP.

However, she said she did not rule out that other valuables might be missing.

“Because it is quite chaotic inside the flat right now, we will have to personally assess the loss on the day we return home,” Lee said.

Wang Cheong House was the first building at Wang Fuk Court that caught fire on November 26. The blaze engulfed seven of the eight blocks at the government-subsidised housing complex, killing 168 people and displacing thousands.

Authorities have cordoned off all eight blocks since the tragedy due to extensive damage and potential safety hazards.

Starting next week, residents of the seven fire-hit buildings will be allowed to return to their homes to collect personal belongings under strict government arrangements, including a three-hour limit per visit.

Lee said that her family has been scheduled to return on April 28.

Police told HKFP on Tuesday that officers of the Tai Po district found cash and jewellery inside the flat earlier that day and the family had performed a count of the properties.

Three construction workers were arrested last month on suspicion of stealing jewellery worth HK$90,000 from a unit in Wang Tai House, the block that saw the largest number of casualties, while carrying out reinforcement works.

The arrests prompted authorities to step up security, including body searches of workers and more frequent inspections of the blocks.

A fire station officer deployed to the fatal Wang Fuk Court fire has told an independent committee that the Fire Services Department (FSD) has no standard operating procedures to deal with non-functioning alarm systems during a blaze.

Tai Po Fire Station’s Senior Station Officer Hui Kin-on gave testimony on Monday, the 11th day of the hearings investigating the fire in Tai Po that killed 168 people, including a firefighter.

“Would it be a much greater help if there were clear instructions?” asked Lee Shu-wan, a lawyer representing the independent committee.

“Agree,” Ho replied, adding that the operational response would depend on the commanding officer’s orders, based on the actual situation at the scene.

See also: 7-month water tank works that disabled fire safety systems acceptable, official tells Tai Po blaze probe

The probe into the Wang Fuk Court fire previously heard testimony from an electrician for estate management firm ISS Eastpoint, who unknowingly switched off all the fire alarms months before the tragedy, and from residents who did not hear the fire alarms go off during the blaze.

Priorities

Hui, who led firefighters in the first 30 minutes of the blaze, said on Monday that the firefighters had loudhailers they could have used to urge residents to evacuate, but they instead prioritised deploying water jets to combat the fire.

Lam Ho-chun, the FSD’s deputy divisional commander for New Territories East, said that police officers on the scene were tasked with using their own loudhailers to notify residents of the fire.

Tai Po Fire Station Commander Cheung Lok-hang, who took over as incident commander from Ho on November 26, said on Monday that he deployed firefighters to suppress the fire so residents would have a chance to evacuate.

The blaze “was spreading too quickly. I wanted to make sure our brothers suppressed the fire to buy time for the residents to escape,” he said.

Cheung also told the hearing that his fire station did not inspect Wang Fuk Court’s fire systems, although the FSD received notices before the blaze that the fire hydrant and hose systems had been shut down, saying that doing so was not within their remit.

A Fire Services Department commander involved in fighting the fatal Wang Fuk Court fire has told a probe committee that there was no record of firefighter Ho Wai-ho entering one of the estate’s buildings before his death.

Testifying on Monday, the 11th day of the hearings investigating the tragedy that killed 168 people, Senior Station Officer Hui Kin-on of Tai Po Fire Station said he did not deploy a designated officer to keep a record of firefighters entering the buildings.

Hui, who led firefighters in the first 30 minutes of the blaze, told Lee Shu-wan, a lawyer representing the independent committee investigating the fire, that he did not designate an entry control officer as the firefighters were still suppressing the fire outside the buildings.

The late Ho was among the 168 lives lost in the fire that engulfed seven of the eight buildings at the Tai Po housing estate. He died in the line of duty on November 26, the day the fire broke out, and was posthumously promoted to senior firefighter.

The fallen firefighter, stationed at Sha Tin Fire Station, was assigned to a rescue operation with two colleagues on the 27th floor of Wang Cheong House, the first building that caught fire. But video evidence showed him entering the neighbouring Wang Tai House alone at 3.15pm.

At 3.22pm, other firefighters received a Mayday distress signal from the 30th floor of one of the buildings, later confirmed to have been sent by Ho.

He was unable to determine his own location when he made the distress call, the committee heard. When firefighters radioed him asking for his name, he did not reply.

‘At a complete loss’

Asked if he was “at a complete loss” as to where the firefighter could have been, Hui said he was. “I was surprised as to how he got up to such a height when the fire was so severe,” he added.

Five to six teams, each comprising up to 20 firefighters, were deployed in the Mayday rescue operation.

The committee also heard that the firefighters were initially unable to enter the buildings because falling debris, including bamboo scaffolding and nets, had piled up outside the entrance of Wang Cheong House, the first tower to burn.

They were at times able to make openings to enter the premises, but they had to keep clearing the falling debris.

Ho was discovered on the ground outside Wang Tai House at 3.55pm. He was rushed to hospital and later pronounced dead.

A Fire Services Department (FSD) official has told a public hearing investigating the Wang Fuk Court blaze that water tank maintenance works that lasted more than half a year were acceptable.

Keung Sai-ming, assistant director of licensing and certification at the FSD, testified at the hearing on Friday – days after a fire services contractor’s director said that the firm had shut down fire hydrant and hose reel systems for months.

It was revealed on Wednesday that China Status Development and Engineering had filed a total of 85 shutdown extensions across the estate’s eight blocks since April last year to enable water tank maintenance – seven months before the fire.

Keung told the independent committee’s lead lawyer Victor Dawes on Friday that the FSD had never asked why the fire services contractor’s repairs took so long, as some water tank works, in his experience, had taken seven to eight months. No questions would be asked as long as the works were ongoing, he said.

‘Didn’t find it odd’

Keung said that the contractor might have to handle tendering exercises or investigate the cause of the water leakage — all processes that “require time.”

Dawes then asked the FSD official whether he “didn’t find it odd” that the tank maintenance went on for seven months. “Is that your evidence?” Dawes asked Keung, who answered: “Correct.”

Keung also told the committee that the FSD would take action only after a shutdown lasted more than a year. Only about 1,000 out of the 6,000 rectification works in 2024 were not completed within nine months, while most were resolved within a year, he added.

Dawes also presented on Friday a code of practice stipulating that the FSD may take enforcement action if a major defect is not rectified within two months.

Keung told the committee that the water tank leakage was not a major defect, contrary to an internal report Dawes presented, indicating it was.

But Judge David Lok, who chairs the committee, questioned whether the distinction between a minor or major defect made any meaningful difference, as the fire safety facilities ended up inoperable in either case.

No spot checks

Wang Fuk Court had been undergoing a large-scale renovation for more than a year when the deadly blaze struck in late November. The city’s deadliest fire in nearly eight decades killed 168 people and displaced thousands.

Asked if the department knew that major renovation works would come with heightened fire risks due to scaffolding and facade works, Keung said he “does not agree entirely,” pointing to the availability of both compliant and non-compliant scaffolding nets on the market.

Keung confirmed that the department had no policy for additional surprise inspections during large-scale works and agreed that it was an area for improvement.

Addressing Dawes’ question as to why the FSD had no spot check measures, Keung said that after the fire, the department had implemented such arrangements for buildings undergoing or set to undergo renovation works.

Earlier on Friday morning, Keung said that it was illegal for personnel at Wang Fuk Court’s estate management company to turn off fire safety equipment at the housing complex.

Keung also said that ISS EastPoint electrician Law Kwok-shui’s deactivation of the estate’s fire alarms amounted to “misrepresentation” under Hong Kong’s fire services regulations.

The committee heard last week that Law unknowingly switched off all the fire alarms months before the tragedy. Law told the committee that he was afraid he would be punished if he refused the order.

According to the regulations, only workers with a fire safety licence are allowed to handle relevant equipment.

A petition launched by homeowners of the fire-hit Wang Fuk Court housing estate lacked authentication mechanisms and may contain forged signatures, the government has said following residents’ complaints.

The Home Affairs Department said on Thursday that it received complaints from several Wang Fuk Court residents, who criticised the petition for not verifying the identities of signatories.

“Individual flat owners said the so-called petition lacked authentication mechanisms and may involve people impersonating owners and forging signatures. Personal information collected is also at risk of being abused or misused without authorisation,” the department said in a Chinese-language emailed reply.

The department said it has referred the matter to law enforcement agencies for investigation.

Demand rejected

The petition, launched last month, called for a formal owners’ meeting with the government-appointed estate administrator, Hop On Management.

As of Wednesday, it had been signed by 428 Wang Fuk Court flat owners – down from the previous tally of 431 after invalid signatures were found, the petition’s organisers told HKFP.

Residents are seeking clarity on unresolved issues, including future accommodation, the disbursement of public donations and insurance claims, and the management of remaining funds for the estate’s renovation and maintenance.

Hong Kong’s Building Management Ordinance stipulates that a management committee must convene a general meeting at the written request of at least five per cent of owners. Wang Fuk Court has a total of 1,984 units, and 430 valid signatories would exceed the required threshold.

However, Hop On, a subsidiary of real estate giant Chinachem Group, rejected the demand. In an emailed reply on Sunday, Hop On told a signatory that the petition did not meet the statutory requirement and that it would not hold a formal owners’ meeting at this stage.

“Following a detailed review and consultation with legal counsel, we note that… you had gathered owners’ concerns via an online form, but provided no further information,” Hop On said in the email, which was seen by HKFP.

‘Update session’

However, the government-appointed administrator is set to hold an in-person “update session” in early May regarding financial matters such as compensation and refunds, according to a notice issued on Saturday.

Hop On said the session would not overlap with the ongoing public inquiry into the fire or the scheduled dates for residents to return home to collect personal belongings. Details of the session will be announced later, it said.

Wang Fuk Court residents will be allowed to return to their fire-ravaged flats between April 20 and May 4 to retrieve personal items, the government announced earlier.

The blaze in November killed 168 people and displaced thousands – the worst fire in Hong Kong since 1948.

Hop On was chosen by the government in January to take over as the “administrator” of the estate after the owners’ corporation board was dissolved by the Lands Tribunal.

A fire contractor that notified the government about deactivating Wang Fuk Court‘s fire safety systems did so despite never conducting inspections at the estate, the firm’s director has said.

Hearings into the deadly Tai Po blaze in November continued on Wednesday with testimony from Leung Ping-kay, a director of China Status Development and Engineering, one of the two fire safety contractors at the estate.

Leung appeared at City Gallery, where the hearings held by an independent committee tasked with investigating the fire are taking place. He answered questions from lawyers about his firm’s involvement in overseeing fire safety at Wang Fuk Court.

He said the company was tasked by Prestige Construction & Engineering, the main contractor for the large-scale renovation project at the estate, to apply to the Fire Services Department (FSD) to shut down the fire hydrant and hose reel system so that water tank maintenance could be carried out.

China Status applied for shutdown notices for Wang Fuk Court’s eight blocks between April and September last year, filing for a total of 85 extensions as each shutdown lasts a maximum of 14 days under FSD rules. Wang Tai House and Wang Chi House had 16 extensions each, while the other six blocks had between five and 13.

Leung signed off on the notices as one of the company’s directors.

When Senior Counsel Victor Dawes, the independent committee’s lead lawyer, likened their work procedure to a “rubber stamp,” Leung stayed quiet but appeared to agree.

He confirmed that neither he nor company personnel went to Wang Fuk Court to understand the proposed maintenance work or the necessity of disabling the fire hydrant and hose reel system.

Dawes pulled up conversations from a WhatsApp group that comprised Leung, his colleague Daisy, and a man from Prestige surnamed Cheung.

Dawes showed screenshots of the group, consisting mostly of files sent by Daisy of the shutdown applications and corresponding notices to be placed in buildings to inform residents about fire safety systems being disabled.

The lawyer pointed out that Leung never raised questions about the maintenance work or its progress.

When Dawes asked why, Leung said the group was “just for sending documents.”

Leung also said he did not know who was actually carrying out the water tank maintenance. He said Prestige may have sub-contracted workers from another firm, but that he never asked.

‘Responsibility’

The investigative hearings began in mid-March, with dates scheduled on almost every weekday until the end of April.

Prior to Leung’s testimony, representatives from other parties presented their evidence, including staff at Victory Fire, the other fire safety contractor hired by Prestige.

Workers from ISS EastPoint Properties – Wang Fuk Court’s estate management company – also testified, with an electrician saying that he turned off main switches in all eight buildings because he thought it was necessary ahead of water tank maintenance.

He said he was not aware that doing so would also deactivate fire alarms. That the alarms did not go off has been blamed as one of the reasons for the high death toll in the fire, which killed 168 people.

On Wednesday, Leung asked Dawes whether they would have turned the main switch back on if personnel from his company had noticed that it was off. Leung said he believed they would have.

“If [your company] had lived up to its responsibility as a registered fire installation contractor and did an inspection… the fire alarm system would not be turned off,” Dawes said.

See also: Renovation workers still smoked despite estate management’s complaints to contractor, Tai Po fire inquiry hears

Leung said that might not “absolutely” have been the case.

After being pressed, he admitted that his company bore some responsibility for the fire alarms not working on the day of the blaze.

Shutdown notifications

During the hearing, Dawes also read out parts of a letter issued by the FSD to contractors in January 2021 on revised procedures for handling the shutdown of fire safety installations.

Fire safety contractors are required to notify the FSD of shutdowns of fire safety equipment if work is expected to be carried out overnight or for more than 24 hours continuously, under the rules.

Dawes highlighted the part of the letter that stated the shutdown duration should be capped at 14 days each time, and that shutting down fire safety systems “for a prolonged period should be avoided.”

Leung said he was aware. He also confirmed that the company had already been punished once in late 2021, after it failed to inform the FSD about a suspension of fire safety equipment that lasted more than 24 hours at a building in Kwai Chung.

When asked by Dawes whether the company reviewed its procedures after that, Leung said this was handled by another colleague.

Leung concluded his testimony on Wednesday afternoon. He confirmed that he would be the only person testifying from China Status.

Dawes asked why another director, surnamed Yim, would not be testifying despite providing a comprehensive written submission that was useful to the committee. Leung said he was not sure why.

The hearings will continue on Friday.

A property management firm appointed by the government to take over the owners’ board at the fire-hit Wang Fuk Court has told owners it has no plans to hold a general meeting.

According to an email sent on Sunday by Hop On Management Company, which was appointed to take over the Tai Po estate’s owners’ board in January, a petition for an owners’ meeting launched last month did not satisfy statutory requirements.

No official meeting for owners or residents has been held since the fire broke out in late November.

“Following a detailed review and consultation with legal counsel, we note that… you had gathered owners’ concerns via an online form, but provided no further information,” Hop On said in the email.

“Since the information you provided does not meet the relevant statutory requirements, we will not be arranging an owners’ meeting at this stage,” the estate management firm added, without specifying what information was needed for those requirements to be fulfilled.

Estate management firm Hop On, a subsidiary of real estate giant Chinachem Group, was chosen by the government in January to take over as the “administrator” of the estate while the owners’ corporation board was dissolved, following the massive fire that killed 168 people and displaced thousands.

HKFP has reached out to Hop On for comment.

Legal requirement

Hong Kong’s Building Management Ordinance stipulates that the chair of an estate’s management committee shall convene a general meeting at the written request of no less than 5 per cent of the owners.

The meeting must be convened within 14 days of receiving the request and held within 45 days of receiving it.

More than 420 homeowners at the estate – exceeding the 5 per cent threshold – petitioned for a general meeting with Hop On last month.

“We believe that only through a formal homeowners’ meeting, during which every resident can directly pose questions and receive immediate responses, can confusion be eliminated and consensus reached. The management of the estate will also become more transparent and credible,” the Chinese-language petition letter read.

Echoing earlier comments by Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Alice Mak, Hop On said it was making preparations for a “briefing session” in early May.

The management firm said that the session would not clash with investigation hearings into the deadly fire or with dates for residents to collect their belongings from the decimated estate.

Mak said on Sunday that the government-appointed management firm would need time to process some 800,000 documents from residents that were previously handled by the owners’ board at the estate.

She also said that Hop On was still dealing with the issue of service contracts signed by the previous owners’ board that had been terminated early.