Deadly Tai Po fire revealed ‘unacceptable systemic failings’, inquiry hears

Contractors for a renovation project at the site of Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades got away with covering up the use of substandard material because of systemic defects in government supervision, a public inquiry into the blaze that claimed 168 lives has heard.In the first of a series of evidential hearings, a judge-led independent committee was told on Thursday that six “human factors” led to the almost complete failure of fire safety measures at Tai Po’s Wang Fuk Court before seven of its eight residential blocks were engulfed in a 43-hour inferno that broke out on November 26 last year.The committee’s leading senior counsel, Victor Dawes, noted in his opening speech that the Labour Department, the Fire Services Department and the Housing Bureau’s Independent Checking Unit (ICU) all denied it was their responsibility to ensure the building materials used in the HK$336 million project met required fireproof standards.When residents’ repeated complaints forced authorities to conduct inspections, the contractor, having been tipped off in advance, partially replaced substandard combustible protective nets used at the site with fire-retardant ones.“Why would such a major fire happen in Hong Kong, known as an advanced city and for its world-class infrastructure, and why hadn’t the government and contractors been notified of the series of failures and mistakes?” Dawes said.“This fire has revealed unacceptable systemic failings that cannot be overlooked.”Victor Dawes (left) says the failings “cannot be overlooked”.. Photo: Elson Li