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…
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…
The owners’ corporation of a Hong Kong housing complex devastated in the city’s deadliest fire in decades failed to convince renovation workers to use fire-resistant materials due to the absence of statutory requirements, a public inquiry heard. Tony Tsui Moon-come, chairman of the management committee of the incorporated owners of Wang Fuk Court at the…