Beijing approves removal of Winnie Ho as housing chief

The State Council has decided to remove Winnie Ho from the post of housing secretary of the Hong Kong government, Xinhua reported on Tuesday. It said the decision, made on Tuesday, was in accordance with the Basic Law and based on the suggestion of Chief Executive John Lee. That came after Lee said Ho had tendered her resignation on October 28 and indicated that she would shoulder political accountability for the Wang Fuk Court fire in Tai Po. A day after that, the government made public the investigation report by an independent committee into the deadly blaze and unveiled sweeping measures to prevent a recurrence. In a statement, Lee recounted Ho's career from the time that she joined the government in 1992, becoming director of architectural services in 2020 to being appointed as secretary for housing in 2022. Lee said Ho had been dedicated to implementing his directives, including constructing some 30,000 Light Public Housing units, shortening the composite waiting time for subsidised rental housing from 6.1 years to 4.8 years, effectively combating the abuse of public rental housing and enacting the Basic Housing Units Ordinance to eradicate substandard subdivided units. "As she officially leaves her post today, I wish her all the best in her...