Tai Po fire: District councillor involved in Wang Fuk Court renovation controversy resigns

A pro-establishment local councillor embroiled in a controversy over proxy votes for renovations at the fire-hit Wang Fuk Court has resigned, official statements show.

Peggy Wong has stepped down from the Tai Po District Council for health reasons, a government statement published on Saturday stated.

The local politician was a consultant for the committee that approved the renovation project that Wang Fuk Court was undergoing when the deadly blaze broke out last November.

The estate’s buildings were covered in protective materials that were suspected to have been flammable, exacerbating the fire’s spread.

The inferno killed 168 people and displaced thousands, becoming one of Hong Kong’s deadliest fires in history.

The tragedy prompted an independent inquiry that concluded in July. Dozens of witnesses testified in the process, including the estate’s residents and representatives of the construction firms involved.

Officers from the government’s Fire Services Department, the Labour Department, the Buildings Department and the Home Affairs Department also addressed the inquiry.

During the inquiry hearings, residents testified that Wong, a member of the pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), had amassed proxy votes from residents and interfered with meetings about renovation matters.

See also: ‘Not good enough’: Key points from gov’t departments’ testimony at Tai Po fire inquiry

Last month, media reported that Wong’s team had collected proxy votes in the name of deceased residents.

Wong has been absent from district council meetings since mid-August, officially due to health reasons.

A veteran politician, Wong served on the Tai Po District Council from 2000 to 2019, when she lost her seat amid a pro-democracy landslide victory during the elections that year.

She was re-elected in 2023 during the first district council elections held after authorities overhauled the electoral system to ensure only those deemed “patriotic” could run for office.

Along with her resignation from the Tai Po District Council, Wong also stepped down as a member of the Tai Po South Area Committee, as well as captain of the Tai Po Kwong Fuk and Plover Cove sub-district Care Team, the government said.

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Hillary Leung is a journalist at Hong Kong Free Press, where she reports on local politics and social issues, and assists with editing. Since joining in late 2021, she has covered the Covid-19 pandemic, political court cases including the 47 democrats national security trial, and challenges faced by minority communities.

Born and raised in Hong Kong, Hillary completed her undergraduate degree in journalism and sociology at the University of Hong Kong. She worked at TIME Magazine in 2019, where she wrote about Asia and overnight US news before turning her focus to the protests that began that summer. At Coconuts Hong Kong, she covered general news and wrote features, including about a Black Lives Matter march that drew controversy amid the local pro-democracy movement and two sisters who were born to a domestic worker and lived undocumented for 30 years in Hong Kong.