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number of tickets. Therefore, in future we will consider adopting a phased approach so that only a certain number of tickets for 7 or 8 performances will be put on sale at one time. We may only sell 40,000 tickets which are the maximum numbers that the URBTIX can handle at any one time. The chaos created recently were partly due to the fact that all the 25 performances tickets were put on sale at the same time. In order to minimise future recurrences we will adopt a phased approach in future.
THE HON. FREDERICK K. K. FUNG (in Cantonese):—I would like to ask two questions.
The first one is on fake tickets. I would like to ask Mr. CHAN whether the Police have received any complaints relating to fake tickets or has any one approached them for assistance? Have the Police detected any syndicates which were engaged in producing fake tickets?
Also regarding paragraph 5, there are four long term measures to be taken. Can he give us an estimated period as to when these measures can be put in place?
MR. CHAN KWOK-MING (in Cantonese): -Concerning fake tickets, the Police have arrested some people. The method of making fake tickets was very simple. They just duplicated a genuine ticket and put the duplicated tickets for sale. About 1000 fake tickets are estimated to be on circulation. The Police have arrested the leader and the syndicates seemed to have been annihilated. As for the four measures to be taken to solve the problem in the long term, we can do some of them in a short period of time such as the upgrading of the security coding and the improvement of the paper for tickets. We have asked the contractor to use a better quality paper for tickets. These can be done in a short time.
THE HON. LI WAH-MING (in Cantonese):—I have got two questions as well.
We have now put a ceiling of 49% on consignment tickets. The problem of fake tickets is related to the fact that people purchased tickets from other than our URBTIX outlets. Will considerations be given to preventing the occurrence of fake tickets by further lowering the 49% ceiling?
Secondly, concerning the staff of URBTIX, will there be strict monitoring of the staff of the URBTIX outlets?
MR. CHAN KWOK-MING (in Cantonese): On the ethic side, I think there is no problem on the part of our staff, but the Tom Lee Piano Company admitted that one of their staff had sold tickets unofficially. At the earliest opportunity, we had held a meeting with them with a view to preventing this malpractice from recurring again. I do not think our staff at the URBTIX outlets have been involved in illegal sale of tickets.
Secondly, about the ceiling of 49%, that is the maximum number of tickets that are sold. Not more than 49% will be consigned. The Entertainment Select Committee will consider the arrangement on a case by case basis.
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3. MR. YIM KWOK-ON asked the following question (in Cantonese):-In Mong Kok district, the problem of unlicensed cooked food hawkers operating at night has been very serious. By occupying the pavement, they have also caused obstruction as well as environmental hygiene problems. So, I would like to ask:
(i) How can the Council prevent this problem from deteriorating and control the situation?
(ii) Have there been any prosecutions against unlicensed cooked food hawkers in the past 3 months? If yes, how many?
MR. IP KWOK-CHUNG, CHAIRMAN OF THE MARKETS AND STREET TRADERS SELECT COMMITTEE replied as follows (in Cantonese):--Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. YIM's question concerns the control and prosecution of unlicensed mobile cooked food hawkers operating at night in Mong Kok district, and the question can be divided into two parts.
The first part of the question concerns Council's means of controlling unlicensed cooked food hawkers and measures that can be introduced to prevent this problem from deteriorating. Mong Kok is an extremely busy district in the heart of Kowloon.
Every afternoon and evening, there are a total of 5 GDT squads deployed in Mong Kok to regulate and control the activities of both licensed and illegal hawkers. Particular attention is paid to potential blackspot areas for illegal cooked food hawkers in side streets such as Portland Street, Tung Choi Street, Shan Tung Street and Nelson Street where nearby commercial and entertainment activities extend to late night and even early morning hours. In general, effective control is maintained on a daily basis until the late evening hours.
However, after midnight, enforcement action against illegal cooked food hawking becomes increasingly prone to potentially violent confrontation with operators. In order to avoid exposing GDT staff to unnecessary risk of physical injury, operations after 11.00 p.m. are normally mounted and conducted only when these can be supported by police.
The Department regularly organises joint operations with the police in Mong Kok to tackle the illegal hawking problem after normal GDT shift hours, according to the ground situation and subject to available resources. In fact, given the police priorities, the Department has recently managed to intensify joint operations with the police. On average, such operations have been increased from 3 occasions to the present 6 operations each month.
The second part of the question enquires about whether and how many prosecutions of unlicensed cooked food hawkers operating at night have been effected in the past 3 months. I can tell Mr. YIM that over the past 3 months, 18 late night joint operations with the Police were carried out. These operations resulted in a total of 66 arrests of illegal cooked food hawkers in Mong Kok District.
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