The committee of Wang Fuk Court’s property owners’ corporation will convene for the first time on Wednesday, three weeks after a fatal building fire last month.
The meeting will address issues including the condition of the fire alarm system prior to the fire, insurance claims, and financial accounts of the property owners’ corporation, according to a meeting agenda dated Wednesday.
The deadly blaze, which started on November 26, engulfed seven of the residential blocks in Tai Po, killing at least 160 people and displacing thousands of residents.
As investigations are ongoing, questions remain over how Hong Kong’s systems of fire prevention have failed.
Residents told local media Ming Pao that in the year preceding the fire, they had made multiple complaints to different government departments, raising safety concerns about the use of flammable scaffolding nets and foam boards taped over their windows. But the government took no effective action, they said.
Preliminary investigations have since found that scaffolding nets and foam boards contributed to the rapid spread of the fire.
The Wang Fuk Court owners’ corporation committee will seek to terminate its contract with the construction company in charge of the renovation, Prestige Construction & Engineering Co, and the supervising consultancy firm, Will Power Architects, according to the meeting agenda.
The companies’ directors and several other employees were among 15 people arrested by police and the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) for alleged manslaughter and corruption in the days after the fire.
The consultancy firm announced to all its clients last week that it would cease operations.
Neither Prestige nor Will Power responded to HKFP’s requests for comment.
The decisions and roles of the Wang Fuk Court owners’ corporation have come under scrutiny as residents alleged that the previous committee had improperly awarded the HK$330 million renovation contract to the construction firm.
Residents rallied successfully to vote out the previous committee to cancel the contract with Prestige shortly after it was signed. However, the new committee did not proceed with the cancellation due to legal and cost repercussions.
Following the fire, local media found that the consultancy firm, which was supposed to act as an independent adviser, omitted substantial safety and labour violations in the construction company’s track record during the tendering process.
Deputy Chief Secretary Warner Cheuk announced on Wednesday that owners of Wang Fuk Court flats affected by the fatal fire would receive a one-off payment of HK$100,000 from the government’s Support Fund for Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po.
