The main contractor of major-renovation works being carried out at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po at the time of the estate's devastating fire in November had asked subcontractors to create openings at fire-escape stairwells, with one of the witnesses telling the inquiry committee investigating the inferno that it was a common practice.

Last month, the independent committee's senior counsel, Victor Dawes, had told the hearing that the openings – created through the removal of window fittings – were where smoke billowed into the stairwells and the innermost parts of the estate's residential blocks.

Two subcontractors who worked on the estate confirmed that main contractor Prestige Construction and Engineering had asked them to remove fittings on the windows of every fifth floor on stairwells, to enable workers and materials to go in and out.

One of the subcontractors, Ng Pui-kwan, said such a practice was common but that he didn't know its effects on evacuation efforts in the event of a fire breaking out.

He told the hearing that other projects had also used foam boards on windows of flats to protect them from damage as a result of maintenance work on outer walls but that the practice was not widespread.

Ng said he had spent "a few minutes" on safety courses before work commenced on outer walls, but that he had forgotten what they were about.

The other subcontractor, Zhang Minghai, said Prestige initially gave them aluminium composite panels for use as a temporary fitting for those open stairwell windows, but that the panels broke and so they were eventually told to use wooden boards instead.

He testified that workers didn't remove the foam boards after drilling works were completed because they were told by another subcontractor not to.

A resident of Wang Chi House, Tai Chi-man, who told the hearing he works in engineering, said he had filed many complaints about the renovation works, such as Prestige blocking the windows and removing air-conditioners for a year.

A resident of Wang Cheong House, Lee Kwok-hung, told the hearing that many aspects of the project's work weren't in accordance with what the contract had stipulated.

For example, there should have been a temporary covered walkway made of steel but that workers ended up using bamboo instead.

He also testified that he had asked for the work to be conducted in phases but that Prestige turned down the request and conducted work on all eight Wang Fuk blocks virtually simultaneously.


Edited by Edmond Fong