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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
by the Resettlement Management Select Committee, and it has been agreed that, if the tenants concerned continue to ignore warnings to clear corridors and lobbies from obstructions, their tenancies may have to be terminated.
MR. WU—Again, Mr. Chairman, I must stress that a solution to the situation would be persistent and effective measures carried out by Resettlement Staff on the spot as exemplified by the Housing Authority's Staff in the management of Low-Cost Housing. May I again have the assurance that the Resettlement staff would be reminded of their responsibility and told to get on with the job.
MR. HU—I think, Mr. Wu, that we did discuss this problem at the last Resettlement Management Committee meeting, and we said that if Resettlement staff want to use the cancellation of tenancies in the last resort, we would support it. I think we also supported the Resettlement staff in principle if they wanted to carry out their duties, and we also supported generally that these corridors should be cleared because it constitutes a fire hazard. I think there were three or four principles which were circulated among the members of the Resettlement Management Select Committee to try to carry out the points which Mr. Wu has in mind.
(14) MR. PETER P. K. NG asked the following question:-
(a) Can the Chairman give statistics concerning unlicensed restaurants (general and light refreshment), food factories, bakeries, fresh provision shops, siu-mei and lo-mei shops and laundries, which are now in operation in the Urban area of Hong Kong and Kowloon?
(b) Of all those unlicensed premises, how many are considered totally unsuitable and will therefore never be licensable?
(c) How many would be licensed but have not complied with requirements of the Urban Council?
(d) Of all the unlicensed premises in (c) above, can you advise us of the average length of time they have operated unlicensed?
(e) What measures have the Department taken to reduce or to eliminate all the unlicensed premises?
(f) In view of the fact that under normal circumstances, the unlicensed premises owner is being prosecuted only a few times a year, and the penalty imposed by the Court are very light, could consideration be given to request the Court to impose daily fines whilst the proprietor continues to operate unlicensed?
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
MR. KENNETH T. C. LO, CHAIRMAN OF THE FOOD AND FOOD PREMISES SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows:-
This question concerns unlicensed premises. It is an important issue, and I am obliged to Mr. NG for raising the matter.
The numbers of unlicensed concerns in the Urban area are:—
Restaurants (general) 231 Restaurants (light refreshments) 66 Food factories 243 Bakeries 46 Fresh provision shops 69 Siu mei and Lo mei shops 14 Laundries 29Of all the above, 445 are considered to be totally unsuitable for licensing and will, therefore, never be granted a licence. The remaining 253 have premises which are suitable, but will not be granted a licence until they have met the Council's requirements, which I must stress are designed to protect public health.
The length of time that the 253 premises, which are suitable for licensing subject to meeting requirements, have operated averages out at about six months.
The only action that the Department can take against proprietors of unlicensed premises is through the Courts. Members of the Food and Food Premises Select Committee have always been concerned about the number of unlicensed premises, but realize that these premises will continue to exist unless stronger measures are adopted to force them to meet the Council's requirements or to close their operation. I agree with Mr. NG that unlicensed restaurants only appear to be prosecuted a few times a year, and the penalties imposed by the Courts are apparently insufficient to deter the proprietors of these concerns from continuing. The imposition of daily fines, which are provided for in our Ordinance, has already been tried but has proved cumbersome, time-consuming in that it requires daily inspection by the inspectorate, and difficult to implement. I would not, however, rule this suggestion out at this stage but, as Mr. NG is aware, the Food and Food Premises Select Committee recently considered the procedure for taking action against unlicensed premises. A revised procedure was agreed, which will require the Prosecuting Officer to apply to the
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