Hong Kong mini-storage operators complied with only 5 per cent of fire hazard notices issued, Legco finds

Fire Services Department will create 24 new posts to deal with relevant safety issues in such areas

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The fourth-alarm blaze in Ngau Tau Kok last year sparked calls for fire safety enforcement in industrial blocks. Photo: Felix Wong

Published: 9:30am, 30 Mar 2017Updated: 9:33am, 30 Mar 2017

Out of 2,548 fire hazard notices issued by authorities to mini-storage operators till February, only 117 – less than 5 per cent – were complied with, according to a Legislative Council finance committee paper.

The revelation came about nine months after a fourth-alarm fire swept through an industrial building in Ngau Tau Kok, Kowloon, burning over a four-day period and claiming the lives of two firemen.

The blaze called into question the safety of the city’s factory blocks, prompting a government crackdown. Individuals or firms in factory buildings have increasingly engaged in non-industrial activities that are often unlicensed or fail to meet fire safety regulations.

Departments will continue their work on stepping up enforcement efforts. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

But in a reply to a question by lawmaker Kenneth Lau Ip-keung released on Wednesday, Joshua Law Chi-kong, Permanent Secretary for Security, stated that while the Fire Services Department had completed inspection of all 885 mini-storage outlets across the city and issued 2,548 Fire Hazard Abatement Notices to 453 units, only 117 of such notices had been complied with by the end of February.

It was also revealed that the Buildings Department had completed inspection of 836 mini-storage outlets and issued 976 orders – comprising 488 removal orders, 487 repair orders and one discontinuation order – to 455 units.

But only 11 orders – five removal orders, five repair orders and one discontinuation order – were complied with.