Month: January 2026

Buildings Department reminds industry to comply with new sampling and testing mechanism for scaffold nets       
     Following the promulgation of Practice Note for Registered Contractors 85 (PNRC 85) in December last year, which stipulates the new sampling testing mechanism for scaffold nets on external walls, the BD has been gradually receiving test reports and notifications of completion of scaffolding from registered contractors (including but not limited to registered contractors who procured scaffold nets through the Construction Industry Council’s collective bulk procurement). To help the industry further enhance its understanding of, and compliance with, the new mechanism, the BD held a seminar this afternoon at CIC-Zero Carbon Park in Kowloon Bay.
      
     A spokesman for the BD said, “About 650 contractors and subcontractors of the scaffolding industry participate in the seminar in person and online. The BD takes this opportunity to brief the industry again about the new arrangements detailed in PNRC 85 and reminds the industry to strictly adhere to the testing and installation requirements set out therein. These include taking samples of scaffold nets and obtaining test reports meeting the recognised fire retardant performance standards prior to the installation of scaffold nets for carrying out of relevant works on existing buildings.” 
      
     The BD reiterated that it will vigilantly enforce the mechanism and has already launched inspections and site audits. If contractors have installed the scaffold nets without complying with the testing requirements set out in PNRC 85, or if the test results of on-site samples collected by the BD fail to meet the recognised fire retardant performance standards, the BD will order immediate cessation of works and removal of non-compliant scaffold nets under the Buildings Ordinance (BO). Reinstallation of the scaffold nets will only be permitted when test reports meeting the recognised fire retardant performance standards in accordance with PNRC 85 have been obtained. Moreover, the BD will follow up on non-compliance cases seriously, including taking appropriate punitive action.
      
     During the seminar, the BD also reminded the industry that when carrying out building repair works, it is essential to observe and comply with the fire safety measures required by the BD and other relevant departments, such as the Fire Services Department and the Labour Department. These include maintaining fire barriers in good condition, storing combustible materials properly to avoid accumulation, and ensuring that combustible materials (such as foam boards) are not installed on external walls or windows, as these may lead to the spread of fire. Alternative measures for ensuring adequate standard of fire safety should be provided if any means of escape or fire barriers (including fire doors or fixed lights on escape staircases and protected lobbies) have to be temporarily removed/blocked.
      
     “To ensure that construction methods do not pose fire safety risks to residents or the public, the BD has launched a special inspection operation of buildings undergoing major repairs since late last year. The inspections focus on whether fire barriers (including fire doors and fixed lights) have been removed; and whether combustible materials (such as foam boards) have been used to cover windows. As at yesterday (January 27), the BD had inspected 322 buildings and found that 13 of them had failed to comply with the relevant fire safety measures. The BD had informed the relevant registered building professionals and contractors on the spot and issued them with warning letters requiring rectification in seven days. Among them, two cases had failed to make rectification by the deadline, and two cease works orders had been issued. Depending on the situation, the BD may also consider instigating prosecution and/or disciplinary action under the BO, or referring the cases to the relevant law enforcement department for appropriate action,” the spokesman continued.
Issued at HKT 21:54

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Hong Kong Customs seizes suspected smuggled silver worth about $6.1 million       
     Based on risk assessment, Customs yesterday intercepted an outbound private car at the Heung Yuen Wai Boundary Control Point. Upon inspection, the batch of suspected smuggled silver was found concealed inside multiple food cans placed in the boot of the vehicle, mingled with other ordinary foodstuffs.
      
     After an investigation, Customs arrested a 46-year-old male driver and a 40-year-old male passenger suspected to be connected with the case. They were charged with one count of attempting to export unmanifested cargo and will appear at the Fanling Magistrates’ Courts tomorrow (January 29).
      
     Customs will continue to combat cross-boundary smuggling activities with firm enforcement action based on risk assessment and intelligence analysis.
      
     Smuggling is a serious offence. Under the Import and Export Ordinance, any person found guilty of importing or exporting unmanifested cargo is liable to a maximum fine of $2 million and imprisonment for seven years upon conviction.
      
     Members of the public may report any suspected smuggling activities to Customs’ 24-hour hotline 182 8080 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hkIssued at HKT 21:40

LCQ10: Supporting teachers and students affected by Wang Fuk Court fire in Tai Po 
Question:
 
     It is learnt that among residents affected by the fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, quite a number of them are students and academic staff members. On supporting the affected teachers and students, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) of the current number of students and academic staff members who have been identified and registered as persons affected by the aforesaid fire incident, with a breakdown by (i) school type, (ii) students (by grade level), and (iii) academic staff members;
 
(2) whether it will provide long-term psychological counselling and emotional support services for disaster-affected teachers and students, instead of providing one-off support measures; if so, how long the follow-up period is expected to be; if not, how the authorities will help them recover from the trauma;
 
(3) among the disaster-affected families, of the number of students with special educational needs; whether it will consider providing schools with additional resources and targeted support measures, such as by arranging professional support staff or providing learning guidance, so as to prevent the learning progress of these students from being affected;
 
(4) given that the school premises of Tai Po Baptist Public School (TPBPS) have to be closed temporarily due to the fire incident, during which TPBPS students have to attend classes by grade level at the school premises of the other two primary schools, of the measures put in place by the authorities to support TPBPS in coping with the increase in administrative manpower and workload as a result of the separation of school premises; and
 
(5) as it is learnt that many disaster-affected families have been arranged to stay in temporary accommodation such as transitional housing in other districts, resulting in children of such families having to travel a long distance to attend schools in other districts, whether the authorities will consider providing transport services by school bus or disbursing additional travel allowances to them; whether a special mechanism will be established to allow parents from these families to apply for in-year admissions for their children and have them received education in the areas of residence according to their wishes?
 
Reply:
 
President,
 
     After the fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, the Education Bureau (EDB) had immediately contacted the school heads associations in Tai Po and the schools near Wang Fuk Court, and sent educational psychologists and officers of the Tai Po District School Development Section to the temporary shelters in Tai Po to offer appropriate support to the affected students. The EDB has also been maintaining contact with schools in the Tai Po District and closely monitoring the situation of their teachers and students so as to provide assistance as necessary.
 
     In consultation with relevant government departments, our consolidated reply to the questions raised by the Hon Ken Wong is as follows:
 
(1) to (3) According to the information provided by the schools to the EDB, there are more than 370 kindergarten, primary and secondary students in total living at Wang Fuk Court. The EDB does not have relevant figures on the number of school staff living at Wang Fuk Court and the number of students with special educational needs (SEN) of the affected families of the fire incident. Regarding post-secondary institutions, over 80 students and more than 50 staff in total have been affected.
 
     After the incident, the EDB has formed the Tai Po District School Crisis Management Team to maintain close contact with the school heads associations and schools in the district and to provide them with necessary assistance and support services on a continual basis. To support the affected schools to cope with the incident, the EDB has promptly disbursed $100,000 to each primary and secondary school (including special schools) and $50,000 to each kindergarten in the Tai Po District under the Special Incident Assistance Grant. Schools may flexibly deploy the grant to provide students, school staff and parents with appropriate assistance, which includes providing psychological counselling services and purchasing learning-related items for the affected students.
 
     Apart from providing subsidies to the affected schools, the EDB has made available to kindergartens, primary and secondary schools across the territory a crisis management resource kit tailored for the fire incident, the contents of which include counselling suggestions for schools and parents, special class period materials, and Questions & Answers for reference, enabling school personnel and parents to assist students in coping with the incident as soon as possible. In addition, the EDB has specifically prepared counselling suggestions for students with autism and related needs who are directly or indirectly affected by the fire incident. In particular, resources for students with SEN are accompanied by narration to help them understand the contents more easily. Since trauma may have a longer-term impact on students, the EDB has prepared trauma-informed resources to assist schools and parents in understanding how students are affected by the traumatic experience, and to advise on suitable ways of supporting students who have experienced trauma, with a view to enhancing their sense of security and resilience and thus facilitating their recovery. We have also consolidated information on community support services tailored for the fire incident. All of these resources are available on the EDB’s “School Crisis Management” webpage. Meanwhile, the EDB has contacted the counsellors of the “Teachers’ Helpline” (Tel: 8100 3361) to step up telephone counselling and support for the affected teachers and principals.
 
     To provide targeted support for the most-affected schools, the EDB has mobilised its school-based professional support staff and educational psychologists to form dedicated support teams, one for each of those schools, to maintain close contact with the schools and provide them with immediate, on-site and targeted support services, having regard to the specific circumstances and needs of each school. Such services include assisting schools in resuming operations during the transition, making learning and teaching adaptation arrangements, and providing emotional support for teachers and students. The teams will continue to assess the impact of the incident on students and teachers, with a view to providing appropriate professional support and making referral arrangements.
 
     Moreover, the EDB organised 12 online seminars on psychological support for special incidents between November and December 2025 for territory-wide participation. Various speakers including psychiatrists, educational/clinical psychologists and university professors were invited to share their professional insights at the seminars, in a bid to help the school personnel and parents understand the post-trauma physiological and psychological responses commonly found among students and their emotional needs, and learn some coping and support strategies. Professionals of schools (including school-based educational psychologists, school social workers and student guidance personnel) will closely monitor the learning, social and emotional needs of their students and provide appropriate assistance and support in a timely manner. The EDB will also maintain close liaison with schools to ensure that the affected students (including those with SEN) are provided with appropriate long-term emotional support. 
 
     As for post-secondary institutions, they took the initiative to contact the affected students and staff on the day of the fire and actively provided support, including flexible study and work arrangements, psychological counselling services and emergency accommodation. The salient points are as follows:
 
(1) Establishment of communication channels: Affected students and staff who need assistance may directly contact the respective student affairs offices or the human resources offices of their institutions;

(2) Psychological counselling services: As the incident may bring emotional distress, post-secondary institutions have maintained emotional support service hotlines and arranged for counsellors of their student affairs offices to provide the affected students and staff with psychological counselling and support. Those in need were arranged to meet with counsellors or referred to specialist services for follow-up; 
     In terms of resources, the University Grants Committee (UGC)-funded universities may flexibly deploy the recurrent grants which have been disbursed in the form of block grants to support students in need. Moreover, the UGC has been supporting the universities to promote mental health and positive education as well as strengthen various student support services for students, including psychological counselling and mental health support. As for assisting students with SEN or a history of mental health issues, the UGC has further allocated additional resources to the UGC-funded universities in the 2025-2028 triennium by providing an additional $90 million under the Special Grant to Enhance the Support for Students with SEN for universities to improve the educational experience of students with SEN, enhance staff training and promote an inclusive campus, thereby benefitting all students with SEN. Meanwhile, institutions have rendered assistance to the affected students by, among others, offering special examination arrangements or deadline extensions for assignment submissions. All post-secondary institutions will continue to follow up on the situation of the affected teachers and students regularly, and keep reviewing feasible options to provide more support at different levels.
 
(4) As the school premises of the Tai Po Baptist Public School (TPBPS) will remain closed for a certain period due to the fire at Wang Fuk Court, the EDB has been maintaining close communication with the TPBPS and providing continuous support. In order to facilitate early resumption of the normal teaching routine of the TPBPS, the EDB has co-ordinated with schools in the district to deploy available classrooms and resources are promptly devoted to completing the modification works. These efforts have enabled the TPBPS to resume face-to-face classes by grade level at the school premises of the Tai Po Government Primary School and the NTWJWA Christian Remembrance of Grace Primary School respectively as a transitional measure from December 15, 2025, until the end of the current school year. The EDB has set up a dedicated working group and reserved $5 million to provide additional resources for supporting the operation of the aforementioned three schools during the transition period, as well as to offer appropriate learning and teaching support for teachers and students.
 
     To enable all students of the TPBPS to continue their studies in a stable and sustainable learning environment as early as possible and to further safeguard students’ well-being, following active discussions between the EDB and relevant government departments, the school premises of the former Church of Christ in China Kei Ching Primary School (originally planned to be converted into an integrated social service complex) will be allocated to the TPBPS for use as its school premises starting from the 2026/27 school year, allowing all classes to resume normal teaching and learning activities at a single school site. The EDB is pressing ahead with the renovation works of the school premises, which will be delivered in accordance with standards applicable to new school premises upon scheduled completion in the summer of 2026. The EDB will continue to maintain close communication with the TPBPS on matters related to the school premises.
 
(5) The Transport Department (TD) has been steering public transport operators to strengthen services by deploying additional vehicles and manpower to support residents affected by the fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, who have been admitted into transitional housing in various districts. The public transport arrangements for various transitional housing projects to date are set out below: