Full speed on fire-safety law amendments, vows Lee

The city's fire safety law will be amended at full speed, imposing stricter penalties and granting authorities the power to proactively implement fire safety measures, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said.

The move comes in response to a recent tragic fire at New Lucky House in Jordan, which claimed the lives of five people and injured 40.

Lee, speaking before the weekly Executive Council meeting, said the government's commitment to expediting enforcement actions to address delays in improving fire installations or making structural changes. "We will try to shorten the duration of time that will be taken for actual action against those who have not complied," Lee said.

"We will also set priorities on prosecution. For those which have been posing quite immediate fire hazard or structural hazard, then of course, they will be put in priority.

"In some incidents, we will actually move in to do the work quickly and then we will have the responsible people shoulder the cost and also add penalties."

To facilitate the necessary improvements, the government intends to propose amendments to the Fire Safety (Buildings) Ordinance. These amendments will grant authorities the authority to carry out required enhancements to fire safety installations in cases where delays have been excessive.

Moreover, the government plans to raise the penalties for non-compliance with authorities' directives as a deterrent.

Lee expressed his determination to expedite the process, saying, "The Security Bureau will speed up work on this issue, and I have requested them to shorten the time needed for draft submission by two to three months.

"I believe the government will submit the proposals to Legco within this year."

However, he also said that building maintenance and ensuring fire safety is primarily the responsibility of the owners.

Lee urged individuals to recognize the importance of maintaining buildings in a satisfactory condition to reduce fire hazards and ensure overall safety.

Lee also said that exploiting improvement works for personal gain is unacceptable.

In response, Kowloon Central lawmaker Kitson Yang Wing-kit welcomed the government's decision to accelerate the amendment of the fire safety law and expressed hope for the completion of the legislation by the third quarter of this year.

Meanwhile, the Development Bureau informed lawmakers that nearly 940 residential and mixed-use buildings in Hong Kong are over seven decades old, with a significant concentration in Kowloon City.

The Buildings Department has already intervened in over 1,600 buildings, conducting inspections and repairs.

Also, as of last year, about 2,900 buildings have benefited from the Operation Building Bright 2.0 scheme, which provides subsidies to homeowners to assist them in complying with mandatory building inspections.

The Urban Renewal Authority will begin reviewing a new round of applications to the scheme next month, following its closure in September last year.