Hong Kong housing secretary resigns over deadly Tai Po fire

HONG KONG: Hong Kong's housing secretary Winnie Ho has resigned over a fire in Tai Po that killed 168 people in November last year. 

Hong Kong leader John Lee announced this on Thursday (Oct 29), as he apologised for the deadly blaze and promised extensive reforms to its building industry and regulatory system.

Lee was speaking shortly before he was due to release a lengthy report by the judge-led panel that is expected to detail a series of regulatory and supervisory failings in Hong Kong's building-renovation system.

Ho was the first official to resign over the inferno. 

Lee also said that four government bodies bore partial responsibility - the Housing Bureau’s Independent Checking Unit (ICU), the Buildings Department, the Fire Services Department and the Labour Department. 

An investigation, set to be completed within three months, will gather evidence on individual responsibility and determine whether relevant rules or the Civil Service Code have been breached, the South China Morning Post reported. 

The Public Service Commission will then recommend whether disciplinary action should be taken against responsible officers.

Meanwhile, the Housing Bureau’s ICU - deemed most at fault for the deadly blaze last November - will be axed. 

Deputy Financial Secretary Michael Wong, who is also acting secretary for housing, said at the press conference that a public housing control unit will be set up to replace the ICU. 

He added that the new unit will cover all public rental housing and subsidised sale housing, and operate based on each project to improve communication between stakeholders.

Separately, Secretary for Security Chris Tang announced the establishment of a new large-scale fire prevention region under the Fire Services Department to focus on drawing up contingency plans for high-risk scenarios.

According to the South China Morning Post, Tang said that authorities will also explore developing an app to alert residents on their mobile phones when a fire breaks out, among other measures. 

The blaze that ripped through seven 31-storey tower blocks at the Wang Fuk Court residential complex, which was undergoing renovation work in the northern Tai Po district, was the deadliest in the city since 1948. Thousands of residents were displaced after their homes became uninhabitable.