Hong Kong's housing minister resigns after fire investigation finds inadequate oversight

HONG KONG — Hong Kong leader John Lee apologized Thursday and said his housing secretary resigned after an investigation into the city's deadliest fire in decades found inadequate regulatory oversight.

The massive fire that broke out last November engulfed seven buildings in an apartment complex in a northern suburban district, killing 168 people and displacing thousands of others.

Many former residents of Wang Fuk Court have spent nearly a year waiting to see how the government will address accountability for the disaster that claimed their loved ones and their homes, which were undergoing building maintenance work at the time.

At the opening of the news conference, Lee and seven other top officials bowed in apology. Lee said the death toll deeply saddened him.

"As the chief executive, I apologize to the disaster victims and the public, and commit to fulfilling my responsibilities to lead the government with full force in resolving problems," he said. "Comprehensive reforms will also be carried out. Similar incidents will never be allowed to happen again."

Lee said Housing Secretary Winnie Ho "should bear political responsibility," although no personal wrongdoing was found. He said Ho resigned Wednesday.

An independent committee found that the Housing Bureau's independent checking unit, the Buildings Department, the Fire Services Department and the Labor Department had deficiencies in their supervision work, Lee said. A three-month investigation will now determine whether government employees were derelict in their duties.

Lee also announced a series of measures, including criminalizing bid-rigging in building maintenance projects, overhauling the system for handling complaints, and establishing a cross-departmental data system to share information such as violation records. A new organization would also be set up to better support residents in building maintenance projects.

Behind the fire were substandard materials and deception

The committee's report said evidence indicated that a lit cigarette end likely caused the fire, which started on the flat roof between two apartments on the first floor of Wang Cheong House. The committee heard substantial evidence that construction workers had smoked on site, and several cigarette butts and some partially burned materials, such as cardboard boxes, were found on the flat roof.

Experts found that the use of foam boards, non-fire-retardant scaffolding nets and canvases contributed to the fire's spread, the report said.

Most of the deaths were caused by smoke inhalation. Some staircase windows were replaced with movable aluminum composite panels or wooden boards for workers' convenience, allowing smoke to infiltrate escape routes. Opaque foam boards covered the windows, blocking sightlines and delaying evacuation. The shutdown of the fire alarm system was also a factor in the heavy death toll.

The committee said evidence clearly demonstrated that Will Power Architects Company, the consultant for the maintenance project, and Prestige Construction & Engineering Co., the main contractor, cut corners.

"There is no doubt that they are the main culprits responsible for the occurrence of the inferno and the high fatalities in the tragic incident," the report said.

It said the evidence also revealed an array of registered contractors and building professionals who conducted no substantive work and were only asked to lend their names to "rubber-stamp" statutory forms in return for a fee. The private contractors and consultants had deceived the regulators, it said.

"Deception succeeded because the regulators' own practices enabled it," the report said. "The regulator's reliance on the good faith of the regulated parties left obvious fire hazards uninvestigated."

An agency under Ho's bureau is among those found with shortcomings

The committee found the Housing Bureau's independent checking unit and the Buildings Department, the two agencies primarily responsible for supervising the maintenance work at Wang Fuk Court, had failed in their supervisory duties.

But the checking unit should bear a greater share of responsibility, the committee said. Among its shortcomings were the lack of proper investigations into the use of the foam boards and the fire-retardant quality of the scaffolding nets despite multiple complaints, it said.

It added the agency notified consultants and contractors of site inspections in advance.

The report also noted many features indicating the presence of bid-rigging and other associated misconduct at Wang Fuk Court.

The committee's work is separate from criminal investigations. Police and anti-corruption authorities previously charged seven people and two companies, Will Power and Prestige, with offenses including manslaughter and conspiracy to defraud over the fire.

Authorities alleged that the two companies and some defendants conspired to defraud the apartment owners by concealing previous litigation records of the company later awarded the renovation project, a contract worth over $38 million.

Beijing praises the government's handling, but some residents are not satisfied

China's Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office said the Hong Kong government's handling fully demonstrated its sense of responsibility and its governing vision of putting people first and upholding the rule of law. Beijing's liaison office in Hong Kong also praised the government.

However, Phyllis Lo, who lost her mother in the fire, said she saw progress made but that justice had yet to be served. Lo said the criminal trial still has not begun, and it's not enough to see just one top official step down.

"She was not being sacked. She resigned herself," Lo said.

She added the officials' apology was late, though it was better than nothing.

Dorz Cheung, who was displaced by the fire, was angry, saying he felt the news conference focused mostly on the future.

He said if the government wanted residents to move on, it should first resolve some matters they were facing, including the tax issues in their purchase of new homes.

"The feeling is just like what a fellow resident said — the press conference only had three takeaways: 'Sorry. I'll do better, and it won't happen again.' 'A minister has stepped down.' 'What more do you want?'" he said.

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