The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) did not have any role in the tendering or hiring of a project consultant and registered inspector for Wang Fuk Court, an independent committee probing last November’s deadly inferno at the estate heard on Thursday.

Case manager Matthew Chan, the first URA official to testify, told the inquiry that he had been following up on the tendering for renovation works at the Tai Po estate since June 2019.

He explained that the authority’s role was limited to hosting the tender advertisement on its website and consolidating a summary table once the management committee received bids.

However, Chan testified that the URA would not offer opinions on the tender evaluation criteria, to remain neutral.

The committee’s lead counsel, Victor Dawes, suggested that bid-rigging often involves manipulating evaluation criteria and described the authority’s passive stance as a "major loophole."

Dawes also pointed out a significant "discrepancy" in the bids for the project consultant role at Wang Fuk Court.

The prices ranged from over HK$2 million down to just HK$45,000.

Chan noted that some management committees consider price as the sole selection factor.

He called the price gap a "normal industry practice" where less experienced firms underbid to gain a foothold in the market.

Dawes also said that Hau Wa-kin, the director of the project's main contractor Prestige Construction and Engineering, was related to at least five companies that submitted bids for construction works at Wang Fuk Court.

Questioned whether the URA was aware of these connections, Chan said the authority had relied on reports provided by the project consultant, adding that the authority did not conduct its own scrutiny.

A director at the URA, Peter Wong, also testified and conceded that the authority is currently unable to take any action if a project consultant and contractors collude to carry out unnecessary works.

But he stressed that a strengthened Smart Tender system will be launched later this year, featuring a new background check mechanism to assist management committees in evaluating tenders.

Wong added that under the updated system, the URA will take a more active role by conducting its own tender evaluations and then picking the three best bids for residents to choose from.




Edited by Thomas McAlinden