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HONG KONG PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL
Mr. Ronnie Wong Man-chiu (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, I do not intend to answer Mr. Lat's question but I believe that the issues arising from this question will be examined as well in our review.
(5) MR. CHAN KWOK-LEUNG asked (in Cantonese):—'As regards the conditions of environmental and food hygiene in fresh provision shops, I have the following questions:
(a) How many licensed fresh provision shops are there in the Council area? In respect of grading according to their hygiene conditions, what are their distribution figures in each grade? In the past year, how many prosecutions were taken out by the Council against the fresh provision shops that violated the law?
(b) Some fresh provision shops place fresh meat on the floor and hang offal outside the shops. Does this violate the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance or the bylaws concerned? Is it an offence if sewage or water for storing fish leaks out from a shop?
(c) Do fresh provision shops need the Council's approval for selling poultry, vegetables and live fish? If yes, what are the criteria for approval by the Council?
(d) Some fresh provision shops rent a small place at the shop-front to fishmongers and greengrocers to avoid being prosecuted by members of the Hawker Control Teams. What is the Council policy in respect of such a situation which is similar to both "extension of the shop area" and "illegal hawking"? Does the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance or its bylaws empower the Council's Health Inspectors or Hawker Control Officers to prosecute such hawkers and fresh provision shops?'
MR. JOSEPH CHAN YUEK-SUT, Chairman OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH SELECT COMMITTEE, replied (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, Mr. CHAN's four-part question concerns the control of environmental and food hygiene in fresh provision shops.
On the first part of the question, there are 1,447 licensed fresh provision shops in the Provisional Urban Council area as at 30.9.97. Under the Selective Inspection System, there are 604 premises classified under Category A, 784 premises and 59 premises under Category B and C respectively. In the past twelve months, 537 prosecutions were taken out against these premises for violation of the law.
On the second part of the question, placing fresh meat on the floor is in breach of Bylaw 10(a) of the Food Business (Urban Council) Bylaws, Cap. 132, as it involves risk of contamination.
Likewise, hanging of offal outside shop constitutes an unauthorized shop extension and is in contravention of both Bylaw 35C of the Food Business