Hawkers lost everything in blaze
Mong Kok stall owners who were allowed back yesterday to sift through the wreckage of their businesses, torched in a suspected arson attack on Monday, said they would be able to salvage almost nothing.
Wong Pui-ching, chairman of the Fa Yuen Street Hawker Association, said they faced a bitter Christmas.
'These two months are usually the best time of the year, when Christmas is near. The owners have stocked up their stalls to prepare for this busy season. Now they have nothing left,' he said.
Many said the fire had cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars that was not covered by insurance.
About 80 stalls and shops were damaged in the fire, and five people needed hospital treatment. The area will remain closed until the Buildings Departments has removed all dangerous structures.
Brenda Cheng of the Federation of Hongkong Kowloon New Territories Hawker Association said the stall owners would need at least a month to rebuild and restock.
Chu Kit-han, whose stall collapsed in the blaze, said the most important thing was to reopen. 'It will be a tough Christmas. My kids are jobless so my family depends a lot on the stall.' She estimated the reconstruction would cost her up to HK$40,000 and hoped to be back in business in 10 days.
Ho Ka-yin had spent HK$100,000 to stock up with clothes a few days before the fire. 'The area is always filled with tourists in these two months,' she said. 'If we cannot do business in the festive season, we will have nothing left.'
A new hawker trolley will cost her HK$6,000 and a new electricity meter more then HK$4,000. 'It is difficult for us to stock up again [with goods from the mainland], especially when the yuan is high now.'
Another stall owner retrieved a box of blackened coins from the debris of his stall, saying he might try washing them. He estimated that he lost HK$100,000.
At a meeting of the Yau Tsim Mong District Council yesterday, some councillors questioned the fire services' tackling of the blaze.
Representatives from the Fire Services Department said there were enough firemen at the scene to control the blaze, and that the public's perception that they were slow was due to the size of the affected area.
