Renovation workers still smoked despite estate management’s complaints to contractor, Tai Po fire inquiry hears

Renovation workers at the fire-hit Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po continued to smoke despite the estate’s management repeatedly demanding that the project contractor address the issue, according to a property officer testifying at a public inquiry. Cheng Tsz-ying, a property officer from ISS EastPoint Properties, which managed the housing estate, appeared before an independent committee investigating the tragic blaze that killed 168 people.

Cheng testified that her company had no authority over the renovation workers hired by the project’s main contractor, Prestige Construction & Engineering. The committee’s lead lawyer, Victor Dawes, had previously stated that smoking was “most likely” the cause of the fire that erupted on November 26 and raged for 43 hours. Residents also reported seeing workers smoke and filed multiple complaints, but these efforts did not yield results.

Minutes from a project meeting in March 2025 revealed that both ISS and the Wang Fuk Court owners’ committee had raised the smoking issue with Prestige and given the company a month to improve matters, including by designating a designated smoking area. However, Cheng told the inquiry that improvements were minimal. She mentioned that other complaints related to the accumulation of rubbish and construction waste also failed to prompt significant changes.

Dawes questioned Cheng about the limited impact of ISS’s role in relaying residents’ complaints to Prestige. “I can only say we couldn’t control Prestige’s workers. We couldn’t fire them,” Cheng responded in Cantonese. She added that Prestige had promised to dismiss workers who smoked on the job, but she was unaware if the construction firm had actually enforced this policy.

The tragic fire at Wang Fuk Court has sparked a thorough investigation into the events leading up to the disaster. As the inquiry continues, it is becoming increasingly clear that communication and enforcement challenges between the estate management, contractors, and workers played a significant role in the tragedy. The public is left to wonder how such a preventable incident could have claimed so many lives, and whether stricter regulations or better oversight could have averted the disaster.