More than 240 Wang Fuk Court homeowners petition administrator to hold meeting

More than 240 owners representing over 12 per cent of households at Hong Kong’s fire-ravaged Wang Fuk Court petitioned the government-appointed administrator in late April to hold an extraordinary general meeting, saying they might seek legal action if the request was ignored.

The owners said in a statement on Tuesday that they would consider applying to the Lands Tribunal if Hop On Management Company failed to hold the meeting within 45 days in accordance with the Building Management Ordinance.

“We request the administrator to convene a meeting, with government representatives invited and media coverage allowed, at a venue with a capacity of over 1,000 on a Saturday or Sunday,” it said.

“The petition has listed owners’ information and signatures as required by the law and is legally valid. It involves 247 owners, accounting for 12.45 per cent of all units in the estate, which far exceeds the legal threshold of at least 5 per cent. The administrator has no reasonable grounds to refuse or delay the meeting.”

According to the ordinance, the chairman of the management committee must convene a general meeting of the owners’ corporation at the written request of not less than 5 per cent of the owners within 14 days, and hold the extraordinary general meeting within 45 days.

The proposed agenda in the petition includes having the administrator report on the estate’s finances, the progress of insurance claims and the handling of contracts with contractor Prestige Construction and Engineering and consultant Will Power Architects Company.

The owners also wanted to discuss and pass resolutions that would include demanding that the government allow residents to make multiple trips back home to retrieve their belongings, returning the remaining balance of the renovation fund to the owners and publicly disclosing the full inspection reports of all eight buildings within a week of the meeting.