CE apologises as Wang Fuk Court fire report blames contractors

Chief Executive John Lee has released the full independent committee report on the Wang Fuk Court fire that claimed 168 lives on Thursday and outlined follow-up actions.

The report has concluded that the main renovation contractor and engineering consultant must bear full accountability.

It also named four government departments, citing multiple loopholes in their regulatory responsibilities over the fire risks of the project.

Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho is also stepping down.

Chief Executive John Lee led relevant officials with a bow and a public apology for the Wang Fuk Court fire.

First of all, the fire claimed 168 lives including one heroic firefighter who is carrying out rescue operations. 1,984 households were affected.

The fire brought sadness and misery to us, as the leader of the government, I am deeply saddened.

On behalf of the SAR government, I apologise to members of the public as well as to the residents affected.

The government releases the report submitted by the independent committee on the Wang Fuk Court fire, which spans two volumes totalling 1,013 pages.

One chapter of the report specifically criticises main renovation contractor Prestige Construction & Engineering Co Limited, saying it bears full responsibility for the project, while Will Power Architects Company Limited served as independent supervisor.

Both companies bear full responsibility for the construction work and oversight and evidence reveal widespread negligence, according to the report.

Prestige committed multiple wrongdoings, including buying non-fire-retardant scaffolding nets, creating unauthorised stairwell openings, leaving combustible waste uncleared, installing flammable foam window covers and failing to stop workers from smoking.

Will Power never intervened.

The committee concludes these factors caused the fire, and that most of it involved human error.

The report also named four government departments, stating there was a widespread lack of risk awareness across these departments.

Among them, the Buildings Department and the Housing Bureau's Independent Checking Unit, or the ICU, had six major shortcomings.

They include over-relying on professional integrity in their their design supervision system, poorly overseeing temporary construction materials on building exteriors and failing to investigate complaints about foam boards and net flame-retardancy.

The ICU also failed to fulfil duties by missing access openings and failed to contact the registered inspector.

The Fire Services Department was cited for poorly regulating contractors improper shutdowns of fire installations and structural flaws in its shutdown notification system.

Its on-site risk assessments were also inadequate, with loopholes in processing annual inspection certificates.

As for the Labour Department, it was cited for failing to address site smoking, along with safety issues involving foam boards, scaffolding nets and unauthorised access openings.