A former member of the Wang Fuk Court Owners' Corporation management committee testified on Monday that safety warnings were issued frequently during the estate’s major renovation works but were ignored, and that owners' corporations are ill-equipped to handle largescale projects and deal with consultants and contractors.

Monday's hearing was the 15th in the inquiry, held by a judge-led independent committee, into the Nov 26 Tai Po fire that killed 168 — one of Hong Kong's deadliest. Testifying at the hearing was Kong Cheung-fat, who lived in Wang Yan House and served as a member of the estate’s management committee of the owners' corporation for two terms, from May to September 2024 and from September to January 2026.

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Kong testified that fire hazards emerged frequently during the renovation. He said he had repeatedly asked Will Power Architects Co Ltd — the engineering consultant responsible for the project — about the flame retardancy of the netting, and had been informed that no problems had been found after inspection; however, no certificate was produced to support this claim.

In September 2025, Kong began lodging complaints to 1823, an official platform that receives requests and complaints about government services. The Independent Checking Unit (ICU) of the Housing Bureau then visited the estate in late October but said they found no major issues, only minor problems such as holes in the netting, and did not address fire safety concerns, Kong said.

Kong said that around that time, debris also fell from a height at the estate, but fortunately this was during non-peak hours, so no one was injured. He complained to the ICU again about the netting. On Nov 24, the ICU replied that it would follow up again — but the fire broke out soon after.

He said he had made many safety complaints and had expected the authorities to initiate follow-up actions. Had they acted sooner, this fire “could have been absolutely avoided”, Kong said.

He also noted that under the current system, owners' corporations may not be capable of handling such largescale renovation projects, or of dealing with consultants and contractors, who "often belong to the same clique”.

Kong said before his tenures in the old and new committees, he had tried to run for every committee term before but had repeatedly failed. And when he was finally able to join the committee, he found himself "isolated", unable to access relevant documents or attend work-hour project meetings.

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He also said that vote manipulation has long been a problem. He cited the poll held by the old management committee in January 2024 to vote on the appointment of Prestige Construction and Engineering as the contractor, noting that 200 on-site votes became over 500 counted votes. Illegitimate proxy votes are a "big problem", he said.

He asked to check the votes but was denied by the property manager, ISS EastPoint Properties Ltd. He described the company's work in verifying signatures and confirming proxy authorizations as "unacceptably” sloppy.

He told the hearing that after the new committee took office, he proposed phasing the renovation work at a project meeting, but the contractor — Prestige Construction and Engineering — rejected this, citing issues such as the need for an insurance extension, cost hikes, material price fluctuations and worker turnover.

Contact the writer at amberwu@chinadailyhk.com