Housing chief Winnie Ho resigns, government admits ‘decades of failure’ led to Tai Po fire

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The Hong Kong government is set to release what is expected to be a deeply scathing report by an independent committee probing the city’s deadliest blaze in decades, with Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu holding a press conference alongside top officials to outline the administration’s consequent actions and systemic reforms.

Sources said that at least one senior official would take the rap for the tragedy as part of a set of “bold, comprehensive and far-reaching reforms” to be announced on Thursday afternoon.

The report, released 11 months after the Wang Fuk Court fire in Tai Po claimed 168 lives, is expected to assign blame to the main contractor for renovations at the housing estate, the project consultant and an inspector for their alleged roles in the tragedy. It is also expected to single out four government departments for accountability.

According to earlier reports, the judge-led committee is expected to say that the Housing Bureau’s Independent Checking Unit should bear the greatest responsibility among the four for a lack of oversight of the renovation work at Wang Fuk Court. The other three government bodies criticised in the report were the Fire Services Department, the Buildings Department and the Labour Department.

The government is also expected to introduce legislation to criminalise bid-rigging, as well as reform how engineering and renovation contractors are supervised. A high-level steering committee led by the chief secretary will be established to track the progress of reforms.