Final Wang Fuk Court's public hearing

The senior counsel representing the Independent Committee at the Wang Fuk Court's public hearing says residents were failed by professionals with a callous disregard for fire safety.

The final public hearing resumes at Central City Gallery. Victor Dawes, the senior counsel representing the Independent Committee, starts his closing address by thanking everyone who has assisted the investigation.

Referring to the fire as "preventable but not prevented" and "foreseeable but not foreseen," Dawes points out that contractors and consultants for the Wang Fuk Court renovation project bear the primary responsibility for the tragedy. He says the professionals completely ignored fire safety and failed the Wang Fuk Court residents.

On scaffolding mesh, the barrister says Prestige deliberately concealed the use of non-fire-retardant nets even though it was fully aware of the issue with the material. Dawes states that the contractor deceived the Independent Checking Unit, or ICU, and the Labour Department by presenting them with a false certificate of the mesh.

On the shutdown of fire alarm systems, Dawes says Victory Fire, Wang Fuk Court's fire service installation contractor, stayed silent after discovering the master power switches in the fire service pump rooms had been turned off. He says that if Victory Fire had at least notified the Fire Services Department about the situation, the alarms could have worked on the day of the tragedy.

Dawes also states that the government carries a partial responsibility for the fire because the disaster has revealed longstanding issues that authorities had never detected. Noting that the government has implemented some improvement measures, he highlights several systematic weaknesses among the official bureaus.

One is that the ICU failed to conduct on-site inspections at Wang Fuk Court throughout the renovation period. Dawes says the unit ran a complaint-only inspection -- officers would visit Wang Fuk Court when receiving complaints. He questions how the unit could exercise regulatory functions when operating with such a passive system. Dawes says another grave failure of the ICU was that it did not detect worker access openings in backstairs and a breach of fire safety, despite the clear photographic evidence.

The closing submission also provides some recommendations for the government to consider, including an immediate ban on access openings and on the storage of flammable temporary materials above ground levels.

To conclude, Dawes says the best way to pay respect to victims is to learn from the lessons of the tragedy. He says this will prevent any other community in Hong Kong from enduring the same.