Hong Kong Housing Secretary Resigns After Deadly Fire

Hong Kong leader John Lee apologized Thursday and announced that Housing Secretary Winnie Ho has resigned following an investigation into the city’s deadliest fire in decades, which found inadequate regulatory oversight. Ho resigned Wednesday, with Lee stating she should bear political responsibility, though no personal wrongdoing was found.

The massive fire broke out in November, engulfing seven buildings in an apartment complex in a northern suburban district. The blaze killed 168 people and displaced thousands. Many former residents have spent nearly a year awaiting government accountability for the disaster.

An independent committee determined that the Housing Bureau’s independent checking unit failed in its duties supervising maintenance work on the buildings. The Buildings Department, the Fire Services Department, and the Labor Department also had shortcomings in their supervision of fire hazards at the apartment complex, Lee said.

A three-month investigation will be conducted into these four government agencies to determine if staff were derelict in their duties. Officials also proposed measures including the criminalization of bid rigging.

The committee's report indicated that a lit cigarette likely caused the fire, which started on the flat roof between two apartments. Evidence presented included cigarette butts and partially burnt materials found on the roof, and experts noted the use of foam boards, non-fire-retardant scaffolding nets, and canvases contributed to the fire's rapid spread. The report also cited the replacement of some staircase windows with movable panels for workers' convenience, which allowed smoke to infiltrate escape routes, and the shutdown of the fire alarm system as factors in the high death toll.

According to the report, Will Power Architects Company, the maintenance project consultant, and Prestige Construction & Engineering Co., the main contractor, cut corners. The report stated that these private contractors and consultants deceived regulators, whose own practices enabled this deception by relying on good faith without adequate investigation of obvious fire hazards.

The committee found that the Housing Bureau’s independent checking unit and the Buildings Department failed in their supervisory duties. Specific shortcomings included a lack of proper investigation into the use of foam boards and the fire-retardant quality of scaffolding nets, despite multiple complaints. The Independent Checking Unit was also criticized for pre-notifying contractors about site inspections.

This committee's work is separate from criminal investigations. Seven individuals and two companies, Will Power and Prestige, have been charged with offenses including manslaughter and conspiracy to defraud over the fire. Authorities allege the companies and some defendants conspired to defraud apartment owners by concealing previous litigation records of Prestige Construction & Engineering Co., which was awarded the renovation project contract valued at over $38 million.