Event: SCMP

Homeowners of the only block spared in the deadly Wang Fuk Court blaze in Tai Po will be included in the Hong Kong government’s resettlement plan after three-quarters indicated a preference to sell their flats to authorities, the South China Morning Post has learned.Wang Chi House, the only one of the estate’s eight blocks left unscathed by the November 26 fire that killed 168 people and displaced nearly 5,000, was originally excluded from the government’s long-term resettlement proposals unveiled in February.Deputy Financial Secretary Michael Wong Wai-lun said at the time that authorities would consider acquiring flats in Wang Chi House if owners could reach a “high degree of consensus.”A source told the SCMP on Tuesday that the government decided to include the block in the plan after resident feedback showed that 75 per cent of homeowners indicated a preliminary preference to join the buy-back scheme.Under the original proposal, the government would spend about HK$6.8 billion (US$870 million) to buy back homes damaged in the deadly Tai Po fire from flat owners, offering HK$8,000 or HK$10,500 per square foot as part of a long-term resettlement plan involving HK$4 billion in public funds.Residents could opt for a cash buyout or a “flat-for-flat” arrangement, allowing them to exchange their homes for new subsidised flats at 10 designated projects under the Housing Authority or the Housing Society through a special sales exercise.

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing.An independent committee investigating Hong Kong’s deadly Wang Fuk Court fire will scrutinise the roles of building and home affairs authorities on the 20th day of evidential hearings.Four witnesses from the Buildings Department and the Home Affairs Department are scheduled to give evidence before the judge-led panel on Monday.The inferno broke out on November 26 last year when the eight-block housing estate in Tai Po was undergoing renovations. The disaster claimed 168 lives and displaced nearly 5,000 residents.Among the witnesses is Eunice Chan Hau-man, who was Tai Po district officer at the time of the blaze. Chan was moved to another post shortly after she was widely criticised for her choice of attire at the funeral of firefighter Ho Wai-ho, who died in the blaze.The South China Morning Post earlier reported that there had been multiple complaints about Chan’s abrasive management approach and reluctance to consider community feedback, among others.On the previous day of the hearing, Director of Fire Services Andy Yeung Yan-kin reversed his subordinates’ accounts that fire hazards involving construction materials or processes did not fall under his department’s purview, saying it had a role in regulating such matters.He agreed with committee lead counsel Victor Dawes that an issue might fall within the jurisdiction of more than one government department, and that it would be insufficient for the department to simply refer complaints to one another; instead, they should work more closely.Dawes identified the use of combustible polyfoam boards to cover windows of flats, the adoption of allegedly non-fire-retardant scaffolding mesh, and workers’ smoking habits as “human factors” that contributed to the blaze’s heavy toll.The committee previously heard that residents had complained about such fire risks to the…

The reserves of Hong Kong’s largest international school group have more than tripled to HK$3.75 billion (US$480.8 million) in over a decade, even as it taps different income sources to offset shrinking government subsidies, the South China Morning Post has found by reviewing the organisation’s annual reports.The English Schools Foundation (ESF) also said in its annual report for the 2024-25 academic year that it expected increased competition for students and it would modernise its marketing strategies to attract the children of talent and investors settling in the city.The report showed that its net assets, which matched its reserves, reached a record HK$3.75 billion, surpassing Lingnan University’s HK$2.65 billion and the Education University of Hong Kong’s HK$2.04 billion for their 2024-25 financial year ending last June.The SCMP review of the ESF’s financial reports found that its reserves were more than three times the HK$1.18 billion recorded in 2012-13 and had grown continually for more than 10 years.The reserves came from the group’s operational surplus, which comprised tuition fee income and capital funds from nomination rights.In a reply to the SCMP, an ESF spokesman said: “We have to accumulate financial reserves that will allow us to renew, refresh and rebuild our schools when they require it. The overwhelming majority of our reserves are ring-fenced for this purpose.”