Sensors proposed as an urgent interim solution as safety subsidy scheme improvements delay blamed on divided owners’ corporations
Observers have called for old Hong Kong buildings applying for fire safety subsidies to install smoke sensors as a temporary measure, following a deadly blaze in a building with substandard facilities.
Their calls came on Monday after the death of a tenant in a subdivided flat during a blaze at the Mido Apartments building on King’s Road in North Point on Saturday. Firefighters found a “badly burnt” electrical meter in his home.
Lawmaker Edward Leung Hei, from the Hong Kong Island East constituency, said that, to his understanding, the building’s fire doors, windows and fire-resistant panels were all substandard.
He explained that the building had applied for the Fire Safety Improvement Works Subsidy Scheme, which offers a subsidy of up to 60 per cent of the cost for fire safety improvements and consultancy fees.
