The report said Prestige Construction & Engineering Co., the project’s main contractor and consultant Will Power Architects Co., “economized on many aspects.”
“There is no doubt that they are the main responsible for the outbreak of inferno and the high number of deaths in this tragic incident,” the statement said.
The two companies, along with seven individuals, were criminally indicted in June on 25 counts, including involuntary manslaughter, money laundering and tax evasion.
The report also takes a broader view of Hong Kong’s building maintenance and renovation sector, citing a “corrupt ecosystem” long characterized by practices such as bid-rigging, which it recommends should be criminalized.
Additionally, the report criticizes the government for regulatory failures and a “lax enforcement attitude” at the residential complex, where residents had repeatedly raised safety concerns.
“The Committee finds that no government department has taken meaningful ownership of various fire safety issues and that complaints about fire risks have fallen into a vacuum,” the report said.
Lee said Thursday that the Bureau of Housing, the Department of Buildings, the Fire Department and the Department of Labor all bear some responsibility for the fire and that the four agencies will be investigated for three months.
John Burns, professor emeritus of politics and public administration at the University of Hong Kong, said it was “very significant” that Lee apologized.
“We’ve gone years without any chief executive talking about political accountability, as if it doesn’t exist,” he told NBC News in an interview.
“Today the chief executive is talking directly about this and talking about a system of political accountability,” Burns said. “This is a positive step.”
He added that it was “inevitable” that an official like Ho would resign, “otherwise the credibility of the government itself would have been even more seriously damaged.”
Gn world
