Hop On misses court deadline for meeting owners from blaze-hit Tai Po estate

The administrator of the Hong Kong estate devastated by a deadly fire last November has missed the deadline to hold a much-anticipated meeting with flat owners, but has promised to resolve various challenges and make new arrangements soon.

Hop On Management Company issued a notice about the delay to Wang Fuk Court residents on Saturday, the day the meeting was supposed to be held and the deadline upheld by the Lands Tribunal last week in line with the Building Management Ordinance.

The tribunal had dismissed Hop On’s request to postpone the extraordinary general meeting, ruling it lacked the authority to do so.

The ordinance stipulates that the chairman of the management committee must convene a general meeting within 14 days of a request made by no less than 5 per cent of homeowners and must hold the meeting within 45 days. The 14-day deadline expired on May 13.

On April 29, a total of 247 owners of Tai Po’s Wang Fuk Court, representing more than 12 per cent of its 1,984 households, petitioned Hop On to convene a meeting for displaced residents to follow up on its handling of issues arising from the inferno, which killed 168 people and displaced nearly 5,000 others.

Hop On said it had been preparing to convene the meeting under “unprecedented and exceptional circumstances”.

“At the same time, resources have been dedicated to carrying out and advancing various related tasks, with the aim of facilitating the meeting as soon as possible,” it said.