By Kevin Lau
The catastrophic fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po claimed over 100 precious lives and left thousands of residents homeless overnight, marking one of the most severe urban disasters since Hong Kong's return to the motherland. Amid profound grief across the city, the public has focused not only on the cause of the blaze and accountability but also on whether the government can respond swiftly, coordinately, and responsibly across emergency relief, recovery, and reform. Over the past two weeks, the HKSAR Government has mobilized a comprehensive response, from top-level coordination to specialized departmental actions, addressing both the immediate needs of affected residents and laying the groundwork for systemic improvements.
At the overarching coordination level, the government established the "Support Fund for Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po" the day after the fire on 27th November to help residents rebuild their homes. On 3rd December, an independent committee chaired by a judge was announced to comprehensively review the fire's causes and related systemic issues, providing concrete recommendations for reform. Emergency living allowances of HK$100,000 were disbursed to each affected household starting 27th November, followed by HK$200,000 condolence payments and HK$50,000 funeral grants per deceased on 28th November, balancing short-term financial aid with emotional support. These measures underscore the administration's commitment to tackling both human suffering and institutional shortcomings simultaneously.
In social welfare and healthcare, the Social Welfare Department launched a "One Social Worker per Household" program, assigning dedicated social workers to each affected family for ongoing contact, emotional support, welfare referrals, school transitions, and long-term life planning. The Health Bureau announced full medical fee waivers for impacted residents and set up temporary medical stations at shelters, offering basic treatment and psychological counseling to mitigate long-term health repercussions.
The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department played a key role in aftermath services, providing free urn placement and related assistance, along with HK$50,000 in funeral aid per deceased family to ease burdens during profound mourning. The Inland Revenue Department offered tax relief, waiving outstanding balances for 2024/2025 and prepayments for 2025/2026, while covering rates and government rent for uninhabitable fire-damaged units. The Water Supplies Department exempted water and sewage charges from July to November, alleviating daily living expenses for affected families.
For accommodation, the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau arranged temporary stays for about 1,241 residents in coordinated youth hostels, camps, or hotel rooms, while the Housing Bureau placed 1,235 in transitional housing or Hong Kong Housing Society units. This multi-pronged approach minimizes family separations and prolonged sheltering, buying time for longer-term reconstruction.
Frontline rescue efforts saw the Fire Services Department deploy over 2,300 personnel, 391 fire engines, and 185 ambulances. Tragically, 1 firefighter was killed and 12 injured, exemplifying selfless heroism. Post-blaze, the department conducted temporary reinforcements on 13 units at Wang Fuk Court to ensure structural safety for investigations and repairs. The police mobilized over 1,000 officers for order maintenance, rescue assistance, evacuation coordination, and traffic management, deploying a 68-member Disaster Victim Identification Unit for rigorous identity verification.
On accountability, police arrested 15 individuals from various engineering firms on manslaughter suspicions—starting with three from a construction company on 27th November—and 6 registered fire installation contractor staff on 3rd December for fraud. The Independent Commission Against Corruption detained 11 linked to engineering consultants, contractors, and middlemen, probing graft, bid-rigging, and collusion. This Police-ICAC joint task force ensures thorough scrutiny of professional lapses and criminal conduct.
To safeguard citywide building safety, the Development Bureau issued an emergency directive on 3rd December requiring all public, private, and government buildings undergoing major repairs with scaffolding nets to remove nets and halt external works within 3 days. The Architectural Services Department inspected 18 government projects with sample testing; the Buildings Department sampled from about 400 private buildings with nets for ongoing tests. The Labour Department surveyed 239 sites, issuing 130 written warnings, 60 improvement notices, and 17 prosecutions for serious violations.
This response represents a whole-of-government "stress test": from urgent rescues and cash aid to housing, medical and social interventions, tax/water relief, funeral support, criminal probes, anti-corruption drives, and territory-wide safety sweeps across multiple levels. Yet it highlights areas for improvement, such as building maintenance, material standards, and fire oversight vulnerabilities. Future progress hinges on the independent committee's in-depth review and the new Legislative Council's scrutiny to transform emergency mobilization into enduring institutional resilience.
For the public, real trust comes back not just from the number of beds and aid given, but also from strict accountability, systemic fixes, clear timelines, and strong systems. The Wang Fuk Court fire is a painful collective trauma but also a catalyst for reflecting on and fortifying public safety. With continued interdepartmental unity under societal oversight, Hong Kong can channel this tragedy into reform momentum, emerging safer and more resilient.
（The author is the founding convenor of the Hong Kong Global Youth Professional Advocacy Action, a specialist in radiology, a Master of Public Health of the University of Hong Kong, and an adviser of the Our Hong Kong Foundation.）
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