OMM Newsroom
Hong Kong Housing Chief Winnie Ho resigned on Thursday after the government acknowledged that “decades of failure” had contributed to a deadly fire last year, Anadolu Agency reported.
An independent committee investigating the city’s deadliest blaze in decades blamed the main renovation contractor, the project consultant and an inspector for their alleged roles in the tragedy. It also held four government agencies accountable.
The fire killed 168 people in November, making it Hong Kong’s deadliest blaze in more than 70 years.
According to the committee’s report, non-fire-retardant scaffolding nets, foam boards and other flammable materials, as well as openings in escape staircases, helped the fire spread rapidly and contributed to the high death toll.
The report said the Housing Bureau’s Independent Checking Unit bore the greatest responsibility among the four agencies, having failed to adequately oversee renovation work at Wang Fuk Court. It also criticized the Fire Services Department, the Buildings Department and the Labor Department.
The government said it would introduce legislation to criminalize bid-rigging and reform the supervision of engineering and renovation contractors. A high-level steering committee led by the chief secretary will oversee implementation of the reforms.
Authorities also pledged to investigate about 50 civil servants over their administrative responsibilities.
