Government Task Forces Mobilize Support and Relief Efforts After Wang Fuk Court Fire in Tai Po

Government announces updates on follow-up work on Tai Po fire

The three task forces set up by the Government for the fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po - the Task Force on Investigation and Regulation, the Task Force on Emergency Support and Fund-Raising, and the Task Force on Emergency Accommodation Arrangements - are making full efforts to follow up on the support, relief, and investigation work related to the incident. Details are as follows:

Financial and welfare support

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For the Support Fund for Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, established by the Government, donations received have reached $2.5 billion as of noon today (December 4). In addition to the start-up capital of $300 million from the Government, the fund's total has now reached around $2.8 billion. The fund will be used to assist residents in rebuilding their homes and providing long-term and sustained support.

The Government earlier announced that the Support Fund will provide families of each deceased victim with a token of solidarity of $200,000, as well as $50,000 to cover funeral costs. As of today, a total of 67 cases have been processed, and disbursements are under way. In addition, the Government announced that the Support Fund will provide a living allowance of $50,000 to each affected household. As of today, 674 cases have been processed, and disbursements are ongoing. The Government today further announced that the living allowance is increased from $50,000 to $100,000.

In addition, the Government has so far disbursed an emergency subsidy of $10,000 to 1 929 households.

Social workers from the Social Welfare Department (SWD) have been in contact with more than 1 700 affected households so far to register them for the "one social worker per household" follow-up service. SWD staff also paid a visit to the affected residents staying in transitional housing units in Yuen Long today, and distributed Octopus cards with a face value of $2,000 to facilitate their daily travels and address their imminent needs. The SWD will maintain liaison with the affected households to provide all necessary assistance while fully supporting the relief work of the Government. Those not yet in touch with the SWD are advised to leave their contact information by calling 182 183 as soon as possible.

To further strengthen support for those affected by the Tai Po fire, under the directive of the Financial Secretary’s co-ordination meeting with the financial regulators, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the Hong Kong Association of Banks today met again with 28 retail banks (including digital banks) and introduced additional measures to continue assisting those affected with a compassionate approach and flexible arrangements. For more details, please refer to the HKMA's press release.

Accommodation support

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As of this morning, a total of 1 241 residents have been accommodated, through the co-ordination of the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau, in youth hostels, camps, or hotel rooms. Another 2 235 residents have moved into transitional housing units provided by the Housing Bureau or units from the Hong Kong Housing Society. Moreover, the Tai Po District Office continues to operate a temporary shelter at Tai Po Community Centre, which remains open to residents in need. The other temporary shelter at Tung Cheong Street Community Hall will remain in operation until the existing users have relocated to arranged emergency accommodations.

The Transport Department (TD) has been steering public transport operators to strengthen services of franchised buses, green minibuses and residents' services by deploying additional vehicles and manpower to support residents affected by the fire who have been admitted into transitional housing in various districts, allowing them to connect with other services to commute between different districts. The TD will continue to maintain close liaison with operating organisations of the transitional housing projects concerned and public transport operators to cater for residents' commuting needs.

Relief supplies and donations

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The supplies donation online platform (www.taipodonation.hk), established by the Government and the information technology sector, continues to operate, facilitating the registration of supplies donations from organisations and the public. The Government has so far received over 1 300 registrations, of which approximately 30 per cent were submitted by organisations, whereas the others were contributed by the public. The various registered donation items include food and beverages, clothing, daily necessities, beddings, and electrical appliances. The Government is actively assessing residents’ actual needs through the relevant policy bureau, Government departments, and service organisations for the matching of donated supplies in order to distribute appropriate items to places in need in phases. The matching and distribution of supplies will continue.

Handling of reported missing persons

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The Police have completed searches inside all seven buildings. Today, around 300 officers from the Disaster Victim Identification Unit conducted searches around the buildings and near the collapsed scaffolding, which had been confirmed as safe. No human remains were found, and the number of the deceased remains at 159. The officers also handed over suspected human remains found earlier to forensic pathologists for further testing. The Police will continue to follow up on the reported missing persons, aiming to confirm their status and the number of casualties as soon as possible.

Investigations

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The Inter-departmental Fire Investigation Task Force, led by the Fire Services Department and joined by the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department, investigated the oil gas pipeline on the exterior wall at the initially confirmed fire location and found no damage to the pipeline.

Regulation and inspection work

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The Housing Bureau has arranged emergency maintenance contractors to help the Police start clearing away miscellaneous items at the surroundings of the buildings starting today. At the same time, further support works have commenced in the small number of units which may be subject to more damage.

The Independent Checking Unit of the Housing Bureau visited the four Home Ownership Scheme courts, namely Sui Wo Court in Sha Tin, Ching Lai Court in Sham Shui Po, Yee Kok Court in Sham Shui Po, and On Kay Court in Kwun Tong, as well as Fung Wah Estate in Chai Wan under the Tenants Purchase Scheme to oversee the work and progress on the removal of protective nets carried out by the registered contractors. The Housing Department has also completed the removal of the protective nets in 15 public housing estates today.

Following the Development Bureau’s announcement yesterday (December 3) that any scaffold nets installed on external walls of all public and private buildings, as well as government buildings undergoing major repair works, must be immediately removed, and the works at the external walls must cease, the Buildings Department (BD) and relevant government departments have issued orders to contractors today, requiring them to complete the removal on or before this Saturday (December 6). Before and after the removal of scaffold nets, the contractors must ensure that there are no materials or loose items on the scaffolding, and that the scaffolding is safely secured to ensure public safety. Some contractors have commenced the removal and for individual cases that require more handling time, the contractor should notify the relevant department in advance, which will assess whether there are reasonable grounds for discretionary arrangements.

The BD aims to issue a new code of practice next week, requiring all scaffold net materials to be sampled on-site. The scaffold nets can only be installed after being certified by designated laboratories as compliant with relevant requirements.

Moreover, relevant departments inspected existing buildings undergoing major external wall maintenance earlier and took samples for testing from buildings with scaffold nets installed. The BD has taken samples from 400 private buildings with scaffold nets installed and sent them for testing in batches. The Architectural Services Department has also inspected all 18 of its public works building projects and collected samples for testing.

The Labour Department (LD) continues to inspect fire protection facilities and the fire emergency preparedness of building maintenance work sites with large-scale scaffolding to ensure the occupational safety of workers. As of 4pm today, the LD has inspected 239 construction sites, issued a total of 130 written warnings and 61 improvement notices, and taken out 17 prosecutions.

Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, Photo by Bastille Post

Re-launch of Reporting Scheme for Unauthorised Building Works in New Territories Exempted Houses

Following the direction of earlier proposals, the Buildings Department (BD) announced today (April 1) the re-launch of the Reporting Scheme for Unauthorised Building Works (UBWs) in New Territories Exempted Houses (NTEHs). The reporting period will last for one year from April 1, 2026 to March 31, 2027.

"In view of the history and unique circumstances of the NTEHs (commonly known as village houses), the Government launched a one-off administrative reporting scheme in 2012 as a special arrangement. Under the scheme, owners could report to the BD about UBWs that were erected before June 28, 2011, posed lower risks or constituted less serious contravention of the law. The reporting period ended in December 2012. The Development Bureau (DEVB) put forward proposals to amend the Buildings Ordinance in December 2024, which included rationalising the policy for handling UBWs. The DEVB also pointed out that in response to the views of villagers and Legislative Council members that the reporting period was too short, the Government prepared to re-launch the Reporting Scheme to allow owners who at that time did not report their UBWs to do so," a spokesman for the BD said.

Relevant stakeholders and Legislative Council members generally considered the above proposals practical and feasible, and they welcomed the proposals. The DEVB and the BD have also consulted Heung Yee Kuk on the relevant implementation arrangements.

The re-launched Reporting Scheme will maintain the original criteria, including:

(1) The types of UBWs that can be reported and their erection dates are the same as the original Reporting Scheme, meaning that only UBWs erected before June 28, 2011, posed lower risks or constituted less serious contravention of the law and were not the First Round Targets (Note) are eligible. Examples include signboards projecting from the external walls of village houses; enclosed rooftop structures with a coverage of not more than 50 per cent of the roofed-over area of the main building.

(2) Same as the original Reporting Scheme, owners are required to conduct safety inspections on the reported UBWs every five years.

"The BD will not require the immediate removal of the reported UBWs unless their structures become obviously dangerous. Regarding UBWs in village houses, the BD is prioritising the handling of First Round Targets. If any relevant UBWs remain not reported after the application deadline of March 31, 2027, the BD will, after dealing with the First Round Targets, take priority enforcement action against the non-reported UBWs. The BD will formulate enforcement strategy for the reported UBWs at a later stage in accordance with the risks and the actual situation," the spokesman added.

To enhance the efficiency of processing applications, reports must be submitted via the electronic platform on the BD's website by technically competent persons or registered professional engineers appointed by owners. In accordance with the user-pays principle, an administrative fee of $600 is payable for each application. Upon successful reports, owners must also pay the relevant administrative fee when conducting safety inspections of the reported UBWs every five years.

Details of the re-launched Reporting Scheme are available on the BD's website at https://www.bd.gov.hk/en/safety-inspection/ubw/UBW-in-new-territories-exempted-houses/index_relaunch_reporting_scheme.html; Villagers who wish to report can call 2626 1616 for enquiry. The BD will also use different channels such as distributing leaflets and posters to Rural Committees to enable villagers to know more about the re-launch of the Reporting Scheme.

Owners who had successfully participated in the Reporting Scheme in 2012 are not required to submit reports again. However, they must continue to comply with the requirements of the original Reporting Scheme, including conducting safety inspections of the reported UBWs every five years, submitting safety certificates and paying administrative fees to the BD.

Note: The First Round Targets refer to UBWs with higher potential risks and more serious nature, such as village houses of four storeys or more, and enclosed rooftop structures covering more than 50 per cent of the roofed-over area.

Source: AI-found images