About eight per cent of homeowners at the fire-ravaged Wang Fuk Court in Hong Kong have yet to accept the government’s buy-back offer, which is set to expire at the end of this month. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said on Sunday that 91.9 per cent of owners had submitted acceptance letters, while 65.7 per…
An independent inquiry into Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades has released further details about the final moments of fallen firefighter Ho Wai-ho, who died in the line of duty while responding to the blaze at Wang Fuk Court last November. An interim report from an interdepartmental fire investigation task force was released by the…
Hong Kong homeowners could adopt technology-led preventive maintenance of older buildings to avoid costly large-scale renovation, with the upmarket Residence Bel-Air serving as a viable example that saved residents more than HK$1 billion (US$127.5 million). Allen Ha Wing-on, convenor of the Residence Bel-Air owners’ committee, said while the Wang Fuk Court tragedy was a wake-up…
Changing the smoking culture on the city’s construction sites will “take time”, Hong Kong’s labour commissioner has said as authorities completed 1,200 site inspections and issued 36 fixed-penalty notices in the first two weeks of a smoking ban at such locations. Commissioner for Labour Sam Hui Chark-shum said on Saturday that Labour Department officials also…
Hong Kong authorities have backtracked on plans to require hotels to provide fire escape hoods in guest rooms and other spaces after industry leaders expressed concerns, and have said they will only encourage the equipment’s usage at this stage. The Home Affairs Department said on Thursday evening that it would only encourage the supply of…
Two directors of a contractor linked to the deadly inferno at Hong Kong’s Wang Fuk Court have denied all allegations of bid-rigging, corruption and collusion with consultants, with one saying he was never told the housing estate’s fire safety system had any problems. A district councillor, Peggy Wong Pik-kiu, who has been criticised for her…
Hong Kong authorities should revamp their public inquiry hotline to better handle residents’ complaints by learning from Beijing’s model, lawmakers have told the chief executive at the first “rules-free and warm-hearted” closed-door dialogue session. While the current Legislative Council term marks the first since the 1997 handover not to hold any formal question and answer…
Hong Kong authorities issued 21 fixed-penalty notices to workers in the first six days of a citywide ban on smoking at construction sites, the labour commissioner has revealed, describing the situation as not ideal. Commissioner for Labour Sam Hui Chark-shum said on Saturday that about 530 construction sites had been inspected during the first six…
The administrator of the fire-hit Hong Kong estate is still settling contracts and gradually issuing refunds to owners after organising tens of thousands of documents, the city’s home affairs minister has said in response to residents’ concerns. Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Alice Mak Mei-kuen said on Saturday that Hop On Management Company, the…
Hong Kong’s competition watchdog has revised its tender clauses to require bidders make a statutory declaration they have not engaged in collusion on a project, as part of a wider move to criminalise bid-rigging following the city’s deadliest fire in decades. Senior Counsel Jat Sew-tong, chairman of the Competition Commission, also said on Thursday the…