Call to merge housing checking unit with Buildings Department after Tai Po fire

Some residents left homeless by Hong Kong’s deadliest inferno in decades have called for merging the Housing Bureau’s Independent Checking Unit (ICU) with the Buildings Department after a public inquiry revealed communication failures between them.

In recommendations submitted to the independent committee investigating the Wang Fuk Court fire, which were released on Saturday, legal representatives for nine residents said folding the ICU into the department would reduce regulatory overlap.

“Given the systemic defects and collaborative failures as revealed by the fire, we recommend that the work of the Independent Checking Unit be handed to the Buildings Department, to reduce redundancy and avoid any errors caused by delays in information flow,” they said.

The inferno that broke out at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po on November 26 last year killed 168 people and displaced nearly 5,000. The eight blocks were undergoing renovation at the time.

Following the disaster, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu ordered the establishment of the judge-led independent committee to investigate the cause of the fire. The panel conducted 30 sessions involving 80 witnesses starting in March.

The committee heard that the checking unit failed to carry out effective investigation and supervision of non-compliant materials despite repeated complaints from residents.