The owners' corporation at Wang Fuk Court had pushed to replace polystyrene boards and scaffold nets used during the fire-ravaged estate's renovation works, an independent committee probing the deadly blaze heard on Friday.

Tony Tsui, chairman of the management committee of the incorporated owners at the time of the tragedy, said the main contractor, Prestige Construction and Engineering, had rejected a request to use hollow boards to cover windows instead of the polystyrene panels.

He told the inquiry the owners' corporation searched online for foam boards with better fire-retardant properties, and eventually persuaded Prestige to switch to an improved material.

The hearing previously heard that Tsui had told the contractor to show residents a video demonstrating the boards' fire-retardant properties and said it "should not be so sloppy".

Explaining his exchange with Prestige, Tsui said he had asked the contractor to test the foam boards by showing the material would stop burning on its own after being lit on fire.

Asked about comments suggesting the owners' corporation had not done enough to stop the use of foam boards, Tsui said the group had tried its best and that there was no way to stop the contractor from using the material under existing regulations.

He also said Prestige was asked to replace scaffold nets that "fell apart at a touch", but such efforts were in vain.

On the issue of workers smoking, Tsui said the owners' corporation had pressured the contractor to address repeated complaints before the blaze, including by withholding payments, but the situation did not improve.

Also during the inquiry, the independent committee's lead counsel, Victor Dawes, presented testimony from district councillor Peggy Wong.

Wong admitted collecting proxy votes at two general meetings of Wang Fuk Court, including one gathering in September 2024 to overturn the former owners' corporation.

She stressed that, in her written submission, she had not offered anything in exchange or received any benefits when she collected the proxies from residents.



Edited by Tony Sabine