Tai Po fire: public accountability needed to honour those who died

While celebrating the Chung Yeung Festival, we are reminded of the harvest, family reunions and the need to pay our respects to those who have departed. Spooky season is upon us, too, and Halloween is about more than just trick-or-treating. It also reminds us of the autumn harvests and those who have recently passed.

The victims of the Tai Po fire – the city’s worst disaster in recent memory – are very much on our minds. The 168 lives lost and the homes ravaged as buildings burned for more than 44 hours last November shook Hong Kong to its core. The city showed a sense of community we haven’t seen in a long time.

We also learned just how far our systems have fallen short in protecting Hongkongers’ lives and property. Even in the early days after the blaze, questions were raised over how the overlapping systems designed to avert disasters like the Wang Fuk Court inferno had failed.

Much has been said about what role the use of non-fire-retardant materials in the renovation of the buildings played in this tragedy. The regulatory systems meant to ensure that renovation works of this scale meet safety standards failed the residents of Wang Fuk Court and the people of Hong Kong.

In addition, it has emerged that the fire alarm system did not function as it should have. While arrests have been made in the disaster’s aftermath, there is much more to uncover after widespread systemic failures that span construction, property management and government oversight came to light.

Beyond the substandard materials used and the disabled fire alarms, there are the regulatory loopholes and the long-standing issues of bid-rigging and industry corruption. These problems have long been known, but they keep returning to haunt us after being swept under the carpet.

Smoking is now banned at construction sites, extinguishing one factor behind the fire. That was the easy part, though. Inspections and enforcing regulations are the challenge, not just setting rules. Blaming a burning cigarette butt distracts from the reality that it shouldn’t have burned the netting put up around the building, that residents should have had a greater chance to escape, and so much more.

The only way to honour those who lost their lives and the families affected by this man-made disaster is to make sure the truth is laid bare and that lessons – however unpleasant – are learned.

As we anticipate the independent committee’s report, the government must bear in mind that the people of Hong Kong have not forgotten. We have not forgotten Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s pledge to get to the bottom of the fire and hold people accountable for failures that were paid for by a massive loss of life.

The government has already established a task force under the Public Service Commission – an independent statutory body that advises on civil service appointments and promotions – to conduct an internal investigation into the fire and pursue accountability. Once the report is received, it will get to work – at least in theory.

Meanwhile, the submission of the independent committee’s report was delayed by a month, given the sheer amount of documents it had to review. It was always going to take time for the origins of problems to be identified, and responding to the committee’s findings would be a lot to ask of a government hosting a high-profile event such as this week’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation finance ministers’ meeting.

03:56

Preparing for a ‘long battle’: Tai Po fire widow seeks answers while rebuilding her life

Bad news doesn’t arrive at convenient times, however. The closer we get to the anniversary of the Tai Po blaze, the harder the government must work to regain public trust.

It was distressing to hear Secretary for the Civil Service Ingrid Yeung Ho Poi-yan say recently that the government might not make the commission’s investigation report fully public over privacy and confidentiality concerns. Surely redactions, if done properly, could address those concerns.

The public has a right to know what went wrong. If the government insists on using privacy concerns to hide the findings under layers of bureaucratic procedures, its commitment to accountability will be called into question.

It is already clear the Tai Po disaster stemmed primarily from human factors. The inquiry’s lead counsel Victor Dawes pointed to a “litany of failures” that included an unclear division of responsibility among government departments.

Layers of overlapping red tape and bureaucratic procedures contributed to the tragedy. Responding with more impenetrable processes will not inspire confidence in the government. We must honour those who died with the solemn promise to ensure a tragedy of this kind never happens again.