HEALTH
Weekly prosecution of repeated offenders has led to a drastic reduction in the number of unlicensed food premises.
The processing time for licence applications fell markedly after the setting up of an inter-departmental application vetting panel to give initial comments on the suitability of the restaurant applicant's premises and to provide an opportunity for applicants to seek instant advice.
To further encourage applicants to speed up compliance with the licensing pre- requisites, both municipal councils have been issuing 'provisional licences' once major structural work and fitting-out have been completed and fundamental health, structural and fire safety requirements met. This allows an applicant to start operating his business without having to wait for a full licence.
Markets
The municipal councils manage public markets in their respective areas. The Urban Council operated 61 retail markets in the urban area in 1996. In these markets 10 188 stalls offered commodities ranging from fresh food to household items.
The RSD administered 45 markets in the New Territories and outlying islands, providing a total of 5 289 market stalls and 406 cooked food stalls. As its first air- conditioned public market in Shek Wu Hui was very well received, the department plans to provide air-conditioning in all future markets and cooked food centres. Where economically viable and technically feasible, existing facilities will also be air- conditioned. Cleaning services for 19 markets were contracted out at year-end.
Old and outdated markets have gradually been replaced and the UC managed 20 multi-purpose complexes during the year. These complexes house on the lower floors new markets and cooked food centres which are built to meet not only hawker re- siting commitments, but consumer demand. Markets and cooked food centres will, as far as practicable, be air-conditioned to improve the trading environment.
Three new markets were opened during the year: Hung Hom Market in April, Smithfield Market in June and Wong Nai Chung Market in July. A scheme for contracting-out cleansing operations was implemented in 49 markets at the year-end: 24 on Hong Kong Island and 25 in Kowloon.
Hawkers
The two municipal councils maintain control over on-street hawkers. The licensing of street hawkers in the urban area is the responsibility of the Urban Council. At the end of the year, there were 9 200 licensed hawkers in the urban area - 800 fewer than in 1995.
The decrease was mainly due to a policy of not issuing or allowing succession of itinerant hawker licences. In addition, the completion of the new Hung Hom Market, Smithfield Market, Wong Nai Chung Market and Hip Wo Street Temporary Market in 1996 made it possible to re-site 326 licensed hawkers formerly trading in the vicinity, which helped to achieve an overall improvement to the environment of the area surrounding the market.
During the year, the hawker control teams in the urban area, comprising 1 943 civilian staff trained in law enforcement, secured 90 030 court convictions for hawking offences by both licensed and unlicensed hawkers.
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