Officials speak out about government's assistance to victims of Tai Po fire

發佈日期: 2026-01-13 21:19

TVB News

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It has been about a month and a half since the Wang Fuk Court fire tragedy in Tai Po, and the government has been trying to help the victims in various ways.

Secretary for Home & Youth Affairs Alice Mak and Secretary for Labour & Welfare Chris Sun spoke on TVB's Straight Talk programme about some of the issues facing the victims and what the government is doing to assist them.

In order to help the victims of the deadly fire in Wang Fuk Court, the government has successfully contacted residents of all but two of Wang Fuk Court's 1,984 units, while setting up a "one household-one social worker" arrangement to help the families.

Speaking in TVB News' Straight Talk programme, Secretary for Labour & Welfare Chris Sun said the biggest challenge is with the people.

He said: "This is what we learned from our social workers on site, as they recount what happened in the initial days. So there's a lot of counseling going on. Some who are shocked by the fire. They might not be able to express themselves. So there's a very strong sense of grief."

"So with our social workers, and as well as a lot of volunteers, they're trying to not just provide for the resources, but there's a lot of care and love going on. So to make sure that they feel attached, they feel that they are part of us, and we are there to help them, to provide to them, to give them a hug and cry together, to help them go through the whole very, very painful process, but this is necessary."

Secretary for Home & Youth Affairs Alice Mak said the government has been helping the victims to find homes - for the short-, medium- and long-term.

Mak said: "After the temporary accommodation, the residents will look for medium-term accommodation. So we have transitional housing and other housing offered by the Housing Bureau and also the Housing Society. And apart from that, the rental allowance scheme, we launched this scheme to hope that residents can make use of these rental allowances to find a suitable place for their medium-term accommodation."

Mak urged the community not to take advantage of the tragedy and charge higher rents.

She said: "We heard from the residents that after the introducing of the rental allowance, when they try to rent a place in Tai Po, they find the rent level is increasing. So that is why we urge the community to work together to help and support those affected residents in the Wang Fuk Court by providing reasonable rental places at reasonable prices."

For long-term accommodation, Mak said Deputy Financial Secretary Michael Wong is leading a task force to explore various proposals.