Government refuses to reassess small-house policy despite fatal fire
Government rejects review of small-house policy after two boys died in their village home with fire engine blocked from reaching them
The government has rejected a call to reassess the small-house policy in the New Territories in light of the deaths of two children in a house fire last October when illegal structures blocked access for emergency services.
Paul Zimmerman of the NGO Designing Hong Kong and the dead children's father, Simon Watkiss, had asked for a review of the policy after the blaze. The government response came only this week - eight months after Zimmerman initially contacted officials.
Zimmerman, who is a Southern district councillor, said he was sickened by the deaths of brothers Elliot, eight, and Frankie, seven, in the fire, which he said could have been avoided if authorities had taken proper safety measures.
Fire engines could not reach the Watkiss' home because the walls of neighbouring houses encroached onto the road. Firefighters took about 20 minutes to reach the house, by which time the children had suffocated.
Watkiss is adamant that his sons, who were asleep when the blaze broke out, would have lived if emergency vehicles had gained proper access to the family's village home in Wing Hing Wai in Pat Heung.
He supported Zimmerman taking up the cause, and in a strongly worded letter the councillor challenged the government to re-evaluate the small-house policy. Zimmerman wrote that the deaths of the young boys, ongoing disturbances and pervasive unlawful occupation of government land in and around villages demonstrated that the administration of the policy should change urgently.