A former head of the government’s housing inspection unit has said he was unaware his surveyors notified contractors ahead of inspections at Wang Fuk Court, the site of Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades.
Rudolf Lau, who headed the Housing Bureau’s Independent Control Unit (ICU) when the tragedy occurred, testified on Friday, the 24th day of hearings into the cause of the massive fire.
Just two days ago, Andy Ku, a senior ICU maintenance surveyor, said independent committee investigating the fire that the unit had notified the renovation consultant before site checks before the Tai Po flat burned down in November.
Victor Dawes, the committee’s chief adviser, had previously said that alerts from the inspection unit may have tipped off the construction firm and given it the opportunity to cover up wrongdoing.
Lau, who retired in February, was asked by Jason Yu, an adviser to the committee, on Friday whether he was aware of the advance notices, local media reported reported. Lau replied that he was “unaware” of the practice.
‘After the book’
Yu also grilled Lau about the ICU’s regulatory role, questioning the rationale for the unit’s oversight. Lau said the unit’s monitoring regime for minor works relied on contractors and consultants to self-regulate, as well as complaints from residents.
Yu challenged him, saying that unscrupulous individuals responsible for maintenance work would not self-report.
“Did the ICU leave the responsibility for inspection to the residents?” Yu asked, noting that the average resident would not have been able to spot irregularities such as illegally altered windows and fire escapes.
Lau admitted there were blind spots in the unit’s regulatory regime, but said it had reviewed its system since the Wang Fuk Court fire by conducting unannounced inspections.
The former head of the ICU was also questioned about an inspection request that the unit was not notified of until after the fire. Asked if the ICU was only operating “by the book,” blindly following Buildings Department (BD) protocols, Lau answered in the affirmative.
“The (BD) manual didn’t call for on-site safety inspections, so we didn’t do them,” he said.
Wrapping up Friday’s hearing, committee chairman David Lok said the government’s inter-departmental inquiry report will be published on the committee’s website by May 15. The next round of hearings will continue after mid-June, he added.
