‘Suspicious’ voting procedures at Hong Kong’s Wang Fuk Court estate, resident says

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing.An independent committee analysing the circumstances behind an inferno in Hong Kong that killed 168 people is holding the fifth session of its evidential hearing on Monday, with the company responsible for Wang Fuk Court’s fire safety systems to testify.Another seven residents are among the witnesses who will give their testimony, including Yip Ka-kui, whose wife died in the fire after alerting neighbours to escape.The first resident to testify on Monday said flat owners’ were often blocked from votes on major issues, with suspicious ballots “coming from nowhere” dropped into boxes as management staff counted the votes.Victory Fire Engineering’s director and several of its electrical workers will also testify, alongside the subcontractors responsible for the estate’s fire safety systems.The deactivation of the fire alarm system was one of the six “human factors” that led to the near-total failure of the safety measures at Wang Fuk Court, the committee’s lead counsel, Victor Dawes, said during his two-day opening statement.Victor Dawes SC, the independent committee’s lead counsel (left), arrives at City Gallery in Central on the fifth day of the Wang Fuk Court fire hearings. Photo: Jelly TseThe lawyer of the city’s competition watchdog revealed in the hearing that at least two bid-rigging syndicates were “potentially linked” to the HK$336 million (US$43 million) renovation bid for the residential complex.Follow our live updates on the fifth day of the hearing. coverage: