Residents of the seven blocks engulfed by the Wang Fuk Court inferno in November will be given the green light to return to their homes to collect their personal belongings by late April, according to Chief Executive John Lee.

Speaking before the weekly Executive Council meeting on Tuesday, Lee said he understood residents' strong desire to go back and have a look at the place they called home.

But the top concern for the administration, he said, was to ensure safety and orderliness.

Lee said he had urged the government task force working on the matter to announce details of the arrangements by this month.

"We want to ensure that this can be done early. The deputy chief secretary, Warner [Cheuk], is working hard on the plan so as to ensure that it will be done safely and orderly because a lot of units, having been burned very seriously, have structural problems, including ceiling, walls, beams. Some have no windows or doors and the floor is full of debris," he said.

"So we have to ensure that the number of people that will be allowed to go up and down the staircase, that will be done safely and orderly."

He added that the administration would also provide any extra support that families might need when returning to their flats, such as with those who were elderly and those who hoped to be able to retrieve personal belongings in quantity.

On long-term accommodation arrangements for residents displaced by the fire, Lee said the dedicated 100-strong engagement team had been visiting them over the past two weeks to lay out their options.

One of the options proposed by the government involves a HK$6.8 billion buyout plan for all flats in the seven blocks.

Lee said the government would give the residents ample time to consider their choices.

The cases handled so far by outreach officers had been "as expected", he said, noting that only a small number of them were more complicated and required revisits.

Lee also said the administration and all relevant government workers would "fully co-operate" with the investigation by the independent committee, which is set to begin its first round of eight evidentiary hearings on Thursday.



Edited by Thomas McAlinden