Hong Kong politician Peggy Wong files police report amid Tai Po fire scrutiny

A district councillor under public scrutiny amid Hong Kong’s deadliest blaze in decades has said she will personally file reports with both police and the corruption watchdog to request an investigation.\nPeggy Wong Pik-kiu, a directly elected district councillor from the Tai Po South constituency, announced her decision via social media on Monday, highlighting the blaze at Wang Fuk Court was not a natural disaster but a man-made tragedy, and the result of years of disregard for safety.\n“The victims, both deceased and injured, have paid with their lives to sound a warning bell for all Hong Kong citizens. I will not let their sacrifice be in vain,” she said.\nThe No 5 fire alarm blaze, the highest level in Hong Kong, broke out on Wednesday afternoon and struck seven of the eight buildings in the complex, claiming at least 146 deaths and 79 injured as of Sunday.\nWong served as a consultant to the complex’s incorporated owners last year, when the body passed a resolution in January last year to choose Prestige Construction & Engineering Company as the contractor for the complex’s renovation and accepted its HK$330 million quotation.\nWhen the blaze started, the complex was undergoing the renovation project that started in July last year, and was surrounded by bamboo scaffolding and protective green mesh nets, which might have accelerated the spread of the flames.\nThree people – two directors and a consultant of the contractor behind the renovations – were arrested for manslaughter on Thursday morning.\nBut the owners’ corporation, to which Wong served as a consultant, had disbanded in September last year due to the dissatisfaction of flat owners. She then had no role in the estate’s current incorporated owners.\nWong said in the post that she would personally file a report to the police, requesting an immediate investigation into whether the current incorporated owners committed misconduct in public office and concealed safety risks, among other serious offences.\nShe would also file a report to the Independent Commission Against Corruption to launch an investigation into potential corruption and misconduct within the current incorporated owners, which might have led to fire safety equipment remaining in disrepair and neglect for many years.\n“I will pursue this matter to the end and will not tolerate any wrongdoing,” she said.\nIn her earlier response to the media, Wong said the major renovation works had been independently negotiated between the new incorporated owners, the consulting firm, and the contractor.\nShe added that few complaints were received during the maintenance phase of the estate, and that she had never received information requiring in-depth study and discussion since the district council constituency where Wang Fuk Court was located was not under her purview.\nOn Sunday, Wong’s party, the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), urged the public to refrain from spreading unsubstantiated allegations about Wong.\nA party spokesman said that there had been slanderous comments, smears and rumours online against the DAB following the deadly fire at the estate.\n“If any DAB member, including Wong Pik-kiu, was found to have engaged in illegal activities in the investigation, we will not tolerate it and will support strict handling in accordance with the laws,” the spokesman said.\nThe DAB said Wong was currently not able to take interviews.\n