An independent committee investigating Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades has found “key clues” pointing to systemic loopholes that it called “unacceptable”.
At the committee’s first meeting, lasting 1½ hours on Thursday, senior counsel Victor Dawes said the body had received extensive information from relevant parties.
The leading barrister added that this had given the committee a “considerable understanding” of the fire at the Wang Fuk Court housing estate in Tai Po.
“The evidence appears to show that there is a series of systemic problems that should not be neglected and are unacceptable,” he said.
“Such evidence will be disclosed to the public in subsequent hearings.”
He also called for parties involved to supply information “without reservation”, but stopped short of giving further details about the loopholes.
Some residents of the housing estate urged the committee to get to the bottom of the tragedy, identify those responsible and hold them accountable.
The hearing began at 10am with a minute’s silence to mourn the victims of the fire that claimed 168 lives and displaced nearly 5,000 residents when it swept through seven of Wang Fuk Court’s eight residential buildings last November.
Judge David Lok Kai-hong, who chaired the meeting, then gave an overview of the committee’s work leading up to the session.
He noted that other legal proceedings, including criminal and civil cases and a coroner’s inquiry, were under way, saying the committee’s work should minimise its impact on such processes.
“In other words, we do not wish for the committee’s work to affect any defendant’s right to a fair trial, or allow anyone to evade the legal responsibilities they should bear,” he said.
The session, held at the City Gallery in Central, focused on arrangements for the coming hearings, as well as outlining the probe’s road map.
The blaze broke out during major renovations in which flammable materials, including polystyrene foam boards and protective scaffolding nets, were in use.
Attendees included legal representatives for the committee, the government, the Urban Renewal Authority, Wang Fuk Court’s property manager, ISS EastPoint, and Wong Hap-yin, a director of Will Power Architects, which had been the consultant for the estate’s renovation project at the time of the tragedy.
Representatives from the Competition Commission, the Independent Commission Against Corruption and the Department of Justice were also present.
The estate’s newly appointed provisional administrator, Hop On Management, was not listed in the seating plan.
During the hearing, Lok gave directions on the proceedings ahead, including identifying individuals or organisations and their legal representatives intending to attend, determining the language to be used, setting out procedures for submitting witness statements and documents, and addressing other relevant matters.
Describing completion of the probe within nine months as “a challenge”, Lok said that subsequent hearings would begin at 10am on March 19, potentially spanning several days.
Dawes noted that since the committee had already obtained some evidence, applications to submit overlapping information might not be approved.
Legal representatives may also apply to deliver oral opening and closing statements during the hearings, which will be uploaded to the committee’s website.
Senior counsel Jenkin Suen, representing the government, said authorities attached great importance to the probe and would fully cooperate with the committee.
About 400 people, including some Wang Fuk Court residents, joined the meeting either in person or via a live stream.
Caroline Chu, a resident of the estate’s Wang Cheong House, said she wished to be told of the progress of investigations into the fire and the resettlement arrangements.
“What good would it do if I knew the truth?” she asked. “We have been saying their bid had problems, but they were still awarded the contract. What could I do about that?”
Another woman, surnamed Tang, said she hoped residents would be able to get “justice” from the probe.
“There are so many residents at Wang Fuk Court. I hope justice can be served,” Tang said.
A resident surnamed Chan said she hoped the probe would identify the government departments and officials responsible for the disaster. But she said she was pessimistic about the inquiry.
“I do not find it particularly useful. I will go and have a look nonetheless, but what we really want most is to get a home,” Chan said.
The hearing was livestreamed at the Central Library in Causeway Bay with nearly 300 seats reserved for Wang Fuk Court residents although only one-third were taken.
Among them was Ice Hon, 40, who attended the hearing on behalf of her father, the owner of a flat in Wang Sun House.
“I do not have much expectation. I just came to hear what they have to say. After all, I care about this a lot; it was my home,” she said.
The clerk said the hearings would just be a “show”, adding that she was not hopeful the inquiry would hold anyone accountable.
She said she worried the residents would not get the answers they deserved, ending up like the relatives of the 39 victims who died in the 2012 Lamma ferry collision.
She was referring to a coroner’s inquest into one of the city’s deadliest maritime disasters, which delivered its verdict last month. The victims’ relatives, who had fought a years-long legal battle to secure the inquest, were furious that the court’s findings failed to give them conclusive answers about the cause of the tragedy and who should be held responsible.
The committee on the Tai Po fire was established by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu in early December to investigate the cause of the blaze and recommend “systemic reforms”.
The hearings, expected to run until May, will examine the causes of the fire, the safety and equipment standards at Wang Fuk Court and possible systemic issues in large-scale building maintenance and renovation projects across the city, before making recommendations to improve existing legislation. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
