A Hong Kong district councillor criticised for her links to the former owners’ committee of the fire-ravaged Wang Fuk Court has resigned from her advisory role for another housing estate in Tai Po, following the announcement of a petition. A notice from the incorporated owners of Plover Cove Garden, seen by the South China Morning…
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…
Government inspectors did not foresee engineering firms colluding to deceive authorities over the use of substandard renovation materials at a Hong Kong residential estate devastated in the city’s deadliest fire in decades, a public inquiry has heard. Andy Ku Siu-ping, a senior maintenance surveyor of the Housing Bureau’s Independent Checking Unit, on Wednesday blamed “systemic…
This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. All eyes are on the Housing Bureau’s Independent Checking Unit (ICU), whose officers are scheduled to testify before a judge-led panel on Wednesday about their role in Hong Kong’s Tai Po blaze. Senior maintenance…
An official tendering system designed to curb anti-competitive conduct is powerless to combat engineering firms colluding to manipulate Hong Kong’s lucrative building maintenance market, a public inquiry into the city’s deadliest fire in decades has heard. Testifying on the 21st day of an independent committee’s hearing, three Urban Renewal Authority (URA) officials said on Thursday…
An employee of the property management firm at Hong Kong’s inferno-ravaged Wang Fuk Court housing estate has admitted the company failed in its contractual obligations to identify and follow up on fire hazards, while none of its top management testified at an evidential hearing into the disaster. The eighth day of the hearing by the…
Staff at the property management company at Hong Kong’s inferno-ravaged Wang Fuk Court housing estate acted with disregard for legal requirements, taking such actions as deactivating the fire safety system despite knowing they needed a registered contractor to do so, an evidential hearing has been told. Victor Dawes, lead counsel for an independent committee investigating…
A property management worker at the housing estate ravaged by Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades was unaware that fire alarms had been deactivated after the hose reel system was shut down for water tank repairs, an evidentiary hearing has been told. On the sixth day of hearings by an independent committee investigating the November…
The provisional administrator of the housing estate ravaged by Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades will attend hearings of the independent committee “as necessary” to represent the “common interests” of the owners’ corporation, the city’s home affairs chief has said amid criticisms that displaced residents lack legal representation in the probe. Secretary for Home and…
Some residents of Tai Po’s Wang Fuk Court have urged an independent committee investigating Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades to identify and hold those responsible to account, as the judge leading the inquiry vows a fair and thorough probe. The committee’s first hearing began at 10am on Thursday with a minute of silence to…