Construction firms have started removing scaffold netting across Hong Kong to meet a three-day government deadline, after suspected false safety certificates for mesh were found at two building sites in the wake of the deadly Tai Po fire that claimed at least 159 lives.
The mesh, commonly draped over bamboo scaffolding erected at buildings under construction or renovation, came under heavy scrutiny after authorities found that contractors had installed cheaper, non-fire-resistant netting alongside approved materials to deceive inspectors at Wang Fuk Court, accelerating the spread of the fire last week.
The government on Wednesday ordered the removal of all 200 scaffolding nets across the city after a Shandong-based manufacturer was alleged to have falsified safety certificates for materials used in housing renovation projects at Fung Wah Estate in Chai Wan and Fortress Garden in Fortress Hill.
On Thursday morning, workers were seen removing scaffolding mesh at a Kim Shin Lane development in Cheung Sha Wan, as well as at other buildings under renovation.
At Federal Mansion on Castle Peak Road, the green mesh was removed and “no smoking” signs were attached to the bamboo scaffolding.
A 72-year-old resident surnamed Cheung, who has lived there since 1983, said the renovation had cost about HK$60,000 (US$7,700) per household, which she felt was “unavoidable”.
“I feel more at ease to have the mesh removed, given what happened in Tai Po. I think the government is at least doing something about it, even if it’s a week late,” she said.
At Fung Wah Estate in Chai Wan, which is under police investigation, a notice was put up telling residents that the scaffolding nets and toe boards would be removed from Thursday to “allay public concerns” – but no actual removal work was seen by noon.
Lau Chiu, 79, who lives in the estate, said he felt safer after learning that all the scaffolding nets would be removed by Saturday.
He had paid about HK$65,000 for the renovation, which began in July and was now set to be delayed.
“The renovation is quite noisy and affects our daily life, but after the Tai Po fire, things just have to move slowly. There’s nothing else we can do,” he said.
Another resident, a 67-year-old surnamed Po, who has lived in the estate’s Hiu Fung House for 32 years, said she remained “really worried”.
“After what happened in the Tai Po fire, I feel scared. Life is the most important thing,” she said.
Scaffolding mesh also remained at Tai On Building in Sai Wan Ho on Thursday morning.
Residents there said they were concerned about potential fire risks following the Tai Po blaze, adding that the removal of the nets as required by the government would help eliminate the hazards.
Tong Yuk-wah, 84, who has lived in the building for about 20 years, said workers began removing some of the mesh after the Tai Po fire, but left the job unfinished.
The retiree, who lives alone, said she wanted the whole scaffolding structure removed as soon as possible to eliminate fire risks.
“I’m frightened by what happened in Tai Po,” she said, adding that she would not mind paying more for renovations if better quality materials were used.
Jenny Cheung, in her sixties, who has lived in the same building for about 30 years, said the renovation work cost each household more than HK$50,000 in total, and she had already paid about HK$20,000.
She said removing the mesh would make her family feel safer despite the delays it was expected to cause in the renovation.
“I have had this concern about scaffolding since the Tai Po fire,” she said. “Personal safety is the top priority after all.”
At Lai Wan Building, also in Sai Wan Ho, the mesh covering the bamboo scaffolding had been taken down soon after the fire broke out in Wang Fuk Court.
A 73-year-old retiree surnamed Cheung, who has lived in the building for about 20 years, said he was glad the mesh was removed right after the Tai Po blaze to address residents’ worries.
“I feel safer living here without the mesh,” he said, adding that he did not mind if the removal caused delays in the renovation work.
Speaking on a radio show earlier in the day, industry representatives said the decision to remove scaffolding nets was necessary to reassure residents that their safety was being considered, while the move was unlikely to hinder the progress of most projects.
Lawrence Ng San-wa, permanent honorary president of the Hong Kong Construction Sub‑Contractors Association, said the need to offer assurance to residents outweighed the cost of removing the mesh.
He added that the government’s new guidelines, set to be released next week and requiring on-site sampling and testing of netting by certified laboratories, would also alleviate residents’ concerns.
However, Ng said that the new procedures could create challenges in terms of storage and speed of construction work.
He added that authorities could further improve the process by requiring mesh manufacturers to provide test reports upon delivery of their products, to reduce the burden on the local industry.
“Nowadays, for many cases in mainland China, quality assurance tests are only done once on products, and safety certificates are not necessarily relevant for every batch of them,” he said.
“We may consider asking the manufacturers to cooperate by doing tests on every delivery, so that we can leave most of the tasks to the factory side.
“When the products arrive in Hong Kong, we can be more assured, and the number of tests to be done locally and the time taken for them will be reduced.”
Chau Sze-kit, president of the Hong Kong Construction Industry Employees General Union, agreed that removing scaffolding mesh across the city was appropriate, and praised the government’s “decisive” response to residents’ concerns.
While confident of construction companies’ capacity to handle the task within three days, Chau pointed out that the move could affect workers’ earnings.
“We need three days to remove the netting and wait for another week for test reports. During these 10 days ... [non-scaffolding] workers might be left jobless and the testing time might be extended,” he said.
“We are concerned that this may have an impact on their ability to make a living.”
Security minister Chris Tang Ping-keung said on Wednesday that police had launched criminal investigations into renovation projects at Fung Wah Estate in Chai Wan and Fortress Garden in Fortress Hill.
Both estates were found to be using scaffolding mesh obtained from the same Shandong manufacturer as the one used at Wang Fuk Court.
Contractors claimed the safety report for the mesh used at Fung Wah Estate had come from a testing centre in Beijing, while the one for Fortress Garden was conducted by a lab in Binzhou, Shandong.
But the centre denied issuing it, while the contact number of the Binzhou lab turned out to be invalid. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
