As Hong Kong marks the 29th anniversary of its return to Chinese rule on July 1, the South China Morning Post talks to the city’s senior officials about the administration’s achievements so far and what may lie ahead.
Hong Kong will step up building renovation inspections and consider spot checks following lessons from the deadly Wang Fuk Court blaze, the housing minister has said in her first remarks addressing accountability for the disaster.
In an exclusive interview with the South China Morning Post, Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho Wing-yin said the tragedy at the subsidised housing estate left a profound impact on all involved departments, and highlighted the need to strengthen oversight.
“If contractors of such [poor] quality are operating in the private market, we must significantly heighten our vigilance when monitoring private projects,” she said, adding that authorities could consider adopting more unannounced inspections.
Ho said that while subsidised public housing estates typically hired contractors in the private market, those approved for public rental housing renovations usually met government standards, based on past experience.
Looking ahead, she said authorities could introduce a computerised system to randomly select subsidised projects for inspection. Officials could also conduct “blind audits”, where inspectors do not know in advance which areas they will examine.