The government-appointed administrator of Hong Kong’s fire-ravaged Wang Fuk Court has sought to delay an owners’ meeting, prompting calls from residents to hold it before the end of June to address concerns ahead of a decision on whether to sell their flats. The move by Hop On Management Company came after more than 240 owners,…
Residents of the only block left largely unscathed in Hong Kong’s Tai Po fire have brought large suitcases, trolleys and cardboard boxes as they return home for a second time to collect their belongings. Homeowners on Wednesday also said they felt they had played a passive role and still had many questions about the government’s…
Wang Fuk Court’s administrator has revealed that HK$180 million (US$22.9 million) has been paid to parties involved in the estate’s renovation project, with the remaining HK$127 million to be refunded to owners displaced by one of Hong Kong’s deadliest fires in decades. The details were disclosed during a Zoom meeting on Tuesday, one of two…
Cigarette butts will be considered “strong evidence” of a possible breach under a proposed construction site smoking ban, Hong Kong’s labour chief has said, even as he sought to reassure contractors that preventive measures could shield them from the maximum HK$400,000 (US$51,070) fine. Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-Han revealed further details about…
For Hong Kong-based artist Apple Tong Wing-yin, Wang Fuk Court has always been more than a home address. It was a library of her life’s work. Tong, a prominent deaf illustrator and graphic designer who communicates through what she calls her “silent language” of art, kept the many canvases that spoke for her inside her…
Multiple residents of Hong Kong’s fire-ravaged Wang Fuk Court have reported problems with registering for an online meeting hosted by the estate’s administrator, with the firm saying it has stepped up arrangements to enhance cybersecurity. A resident received an SMS from Hop On Management Company, the estate’s administrator, on Sunday saying he had not completed…
The Hong Kong Bar Association has proposed criminalising bid-rigging by introducing a “double-track” approach to the Competition Ordinance, describing it as a quick fix to increase deterrence and encourage more whistle-blowers to expose industry malpractice following the city’s deadliest fire in decades. Under the current civil regime established in 2015, the ordinance only punishes individuals…
Stories filled with tragic bravery, outrage at heedless officials and horror as loved ones perished were among those shared by 24 residents of the fire-ravaged Wang Fuk Court estate, as they testified at a public hearing investigating Hong Kong’s deadliest blaze in decades. Over multiple sessions that began on March 19, some told the presiding…
The “mechanical mindset” of Hong Kong building authorities has come under scrutiny at a hearing into the city’s deadliest fire in decades, with a former inspection director conceding his team had “blindly” followed outdated guidelines when deciding not to conduct on-site audits of renovation works at the housing estate ravaged in the blaze. Rudolf Lau…
This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. The deputy director of the Home Affairs Department and the former head of the Housing Bureau’s Independent Checking Unit (ICU) are the latest Hong Kong officials to testify at a public hearing on Friday…