Hong Kong lawmakers call for greater scrutiny of flat owners’ proxies

Hong Kong lawmakers have called for greater scrutiny of flat owners’ proxies attending meetings on building management affairs in response to the government’s proposed legal amendments to combat bid-rigging following the deadly Tai Po blaze last year.During a Legislative Council panel meeting on Monday, Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Alice Mak Mei-kuen said the government was open to advice on its initial proposed amendments to the Building Management Ordinance, including capping the number of proxies a person could hold.But lawmaker Chris Ip Ngo-tung said such a restriction on proxy holders might make it difficult to convene a meeting as a bid-rigging syndicate could easily find more people to seek authorisation and owners might only endorse people they trust.“The key point is not about the number [of proxies one can hold] but the authenticity of the proxy instruments,” he said.Ip suggested appointing a third party to verify the documents and monitoring the proxy submission process, such as by installing surveillance cameras, so the people involved could be traced.Mak said such monitoring would be subject to a housing estate’s resources, but a building’s property management company, which is responsible for helping owners and has their information, could serve as the third party.