Evidence insufficient to link district councillor Peggy Wong to Wang Fuk Court bid-rigging, inquiry report says

Evidence presented to an independent committee investigating last year’s deadly Wang Fuk Court fire has shown insufficient proof that a local politician was involved in bid-rigging at the Tai Po housing estate, the inquiry’s final report has concluded.

The report, submitted to the government last week ahead of a Thursday press conference where Chief Executive John Lee announced housing chief Winnie Ho’s resignation, details evidence on former District Councillor Peggy Wong given by residents over the course of public hearings held earlier this year.

“There has been sustained public discussion since the fire” about Wong’s role in the lead-up to the tragedy that killed 168 and left thousands homeless, the report said.

See also: District councillor involved in Wang Fuk Court renovation controversy resigns

“Much of the commentary has centred on her presence at owners’ meetings” as well as her “perceived influence” over the owners’ board that chose a HK$300 million renovation plan that became central to the investigation into the fatal fire.

That owners’ board, which served until it was overturned in September 2024, was also responsible for choosing the firms that oversaw the renovation works: contractor Prestige Construction & Engineering and project consultant Will Power Architects.

Residents’ testimonies at the public hearings pointed to Wong soliciting proxy votes from residents to vote against a motion to replace the owners’ board that chose the two firms and the renovation plan.

According to the report, she assisted in collecting a quarter of the 520 proxy votes at a December 2021 meeting where Will Power was appointed, and 20 per cent of the 756 proxy votes at the September 2024 meeting where the board was ousted.

Wong ‘sharpened’ controversy

The report recalled testimony given by Tony Tsui, who served as chair of the new owners’ board from September 2024 until it was dissolved by a court in January 2026 and replaced by a government-appointed firm.

Tsui provided an audio recording of Wong speaking with residents shortly before the September 2024 meeting where the old board was ousted, in which she urged residents to vote against the motion.

In the recording, she said that replacing the board would lead to delays and the potential forfeiture of 20 per cent of their subsidies for the renovation works. But the Urban Renewal Authority, which manages the subsidies, has no such policy, according to a director at the authority.

“The intense dispute and controversy” over the selection of the renovation firms was “sharpened” by the extent of Wong’s involvement, the report said.

“Though it is arguable that District Councillors should assist homeowners in the management of building affairs and may adopt a particular stance in discharging such duties, concerns arose when the consultant and contractor eventually selected at the owners’ meetings subsequently proved problematic,” it said.

“Nevertheless, as pointed out by the legal team, the evidence presented to the Committee does not suggest” that Wong was “personally involved in any kind of bid-rigging or anti-competitive conduct.”

“If there was any secret wrongdoing on their part, the same would have to be investigated by the Law Enforcement Agencies,” the report said. There are currently no criminal investigations or prosecutions underway against Wong.

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James Lee is a reporter at Hong Kong Free Press with an interest in culture and social issues. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English and a minor in Journalism from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where he witnessed the institution’s transformation over the course of the 2019 extradition bill protests and after the passing of the Beijing-imposed security law.

Since joining HKFP in 2023, he has covered local politics, the city’s housing crisis, as well as landmark court cases including the 47 democrats national security trial. He was previously a reporter at The Standard where he interviewed pro-establishment heavyweights and extensively covered the Covid-19 pandemic and Hong Kong’s political overhauls under the national security law.