Hong Kong’s leader has pledged to overhaul the city’s building maintenance regime and improve emergency response as part of the government’s response to last year’s fatal Tai Po fire, while authorities study criminalising bid-rigging and plan to submit a proposal later this year. The measures were outlined in Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s policy address…
Hong Kong’s Buildings Department has filed 259 charges against two companies and four individuals over major renovation works at the inferno-ravaged Wang Fuk Court, after investigations found non-fire-retardant materials were used and safety obligations were not met. The department said on Wednesday that the charges included allegedly permitting or authorising the use of substandard materials…
Hong Kong authorities have arrested 50 people, including some with alleged triad backgrounds, in a crackdown on bid-rigging activities involving 27 housing estates and buildings and about HK$500 million (US$64.1 million) in contracts. The ICAC said the suspects included the alleged mastermind and core members of a syndicate behind bid-rigging activities for the repair and…
Hong Kong’s development minister has vowed to tighten monitoring of contractors and explore harsher penalties for industry misconduct following criticisms that the government’s reliance on their self-supervision was partly to blame for the deadly Tai Po blaze. But Bernadette Linn Hon-ho also defended the current regulatory system, stressing that violations were penalised. “The monitoring system…
An independent committee examining the causes of Hong Kong’s deadly Wang Fuk Court blaze will delay submitting its final report to late October, a month later than expected, citing the need for more time to review documents, the South China Morning Post has learned. A source confirmed to the SCMP on Saturday that the judge-led…
Some residents displaced by Hong Kong’s deadliest inferno in decades have called for merging the Housing Bureau’s Independent Checking Unit (ICU) with the Buildings Department, after a public inquiry revealed regulatory failures linked to communication problems between the two arms with similar functions. In recommendations submitted to the independent committee investigating the Wang Fuk Court…
An independent inquiry into Hong Kong’s deadly Tai Po fire has concluded after examining more than 1 million files and hearing from 80 witnesses across 30 public sessions, uncovering the causes of the blaze that killed 168 people. The panel, chaired by Justice David Lok Kai-hong, wrapped up its hearings on Friday after proceedings that…
An administrative “honour system” that relied on Hong Kong’s private sector to regulate itself created oversight loopholes and left obvious fire hazards at the Wang Fuk Court housing estate unchecked before last year’s inferno, legal counsel for an independent committee investigating the disaster has said. In the final session of 30 days of public hearings,…
As Hong Kong marks the 29th anniversary of its return to Chinese rule on July 1, the South China Morning Post talks to the city’s senior officials about the administration’s achievements so far and what may lie ahead. Hong Kong will step up building renovation inspections and consider spot checks following lessons from the deadly…
A veteran Hong Kong barrister ordered to demolish alleged illegal structures on his home has lodged a judicial challenge after building authorities refused to consider a constitutional argument he raised earlier. Senior counsel Alan Hoo’s lawyers applied to the High Court for a judicial review over the extent of jurisdiction of the Appeal Tribunal (Buildings…