Government announces updates on follow-up work on Tai Po fire
The Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, announced today (December 12) that the Government has established an Independent Committee in relation to the fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po to examine the causes of the incident and related issues to prevent similar tragedies in the future. Mr Justice David Lok has been appointed as the Chairman. The Independent Committee will formally commence operation in late December, with a view to completing its work within nine months of commencing operations.
Meanwhile, 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 – continue to make 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 are about $3.3 billion as of noon today. With the start-up capital of $300 million from the Government, the fund's total has now reached around $3.6 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 a living allowance from the Support Fund will be provided to each affected household, and the amount has been increased from $50,000 to $100,000. As of today, 1 838 cases have been processed. In addition, the Government 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 128 cases have been processed. The allowance will be disbursed in phases.
Social workers from the Social Welfare Department (SWD) have been in contact with more than 1 980 affected households, and more than 4 900 residents have been registered for the "one social worker per household" follow-up service. The SWD will maintain liaison with the affected households to provide all necessary assistance while fully supporting the relief work of the Government.
Accommodation support
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As of this morning, a total of 1 451 residents have been accommodated, through the co-ordination of the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau, in youth hostels, camps, or hotel rooms. Another 3 059 residents are currently living in transitional housing units provided by the Housing Bureau or units from the Hong Kong Housing Society (HKHS).
In consideration of the extremely urgent situation of the residents affected by the fire incident, a special arrangement of a full rent exemption has been made earlier by the Housing Bureau to provide accommodation support to those affected residents moving into transitional housing or HKHS projects. In other words, if needed, the affected residents can stay for a longer period of time. The Government will continue to support the affected residents in terms of accommodation, and the residents in need do not have to worry about the relevant rental expenses or the duration of stay. In addition, with the generous community support and donations, all the currently available units in transitional housing and HKHS projects are equipped with furniture and appliances such as bed frames, mattresses, induction cookers and water heaters, etc, enabling the residents to settle in comfortably. At the same time, a number of organisations have proactively stationed their staff in some projects to provide residents in need with various forms of support, including free medical and legal consultation services. The Government is committed to assisting the affected residents, supporting their accommodation needs to the fullest, and standing together with them.
Relief supplies and donations
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The supplies donation online platform, 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 1 800 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, bedding, 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 in phases to places in need. So far, about 19 600 donation items covering various categories have been distributed to different places. The matching and distribution of supplies will continue.
Regulation and inspection work
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Upon liaison with the Police, the Housing Department has started to remove the burnt scaffolding on the external walls of Wang Cheong House, Wang Tai House and Wang Sun House today. At the same time, the Independent Checking Unit of the Housing Bureau has completed strengthening works, including concrete grouting and erecting temporary props, in a small number of units that may be subject to more serious damage.
The Development Bureau (DEVB) announced yesterday a new mechanism for sampling and testing scaffold nets for external walls in Hong Kong. The Buildings Department is preparing for the issuance of a new practice note to registered contractors and will meet with the industry next week. The DEVB is moving ahead in full steam the supporting arrangements to ensure that there are sufficient designated laboratories and a suitable site for off-site sampling work.
The Labour Department (LD) completed a two-week special enforcement operation today, targeting building maintenance work sites with large-scale scaffolding erected. The LD inspected a total of 467 construction sites, with 249 written warnings and 112 improvement notices issued as well as 25 prosecutions initiated. The LD will continue to focus on inspecting the improvement progress of construction sites with violations detected and work sites where scaffold nets have been removed from the external walls of buildings.
Source: AI-found images
