49
Pedestrian passageway obstruction
The following is a question by the Hon Tik Chi-yuen and a written reply by the Secretary for Housing, Mr Dominic Wong, in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):
Question:
At present, quite a number of shop operators in shopping arcades and markets of public housing estates place their goods on pedestrian passage ways causing obstruction to pedestrians. This situation has not improved over the years. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council what specific measures the Housing Department will put in place to tackle the problem?
Answer:
Mr President,
The Housing Department now manages about 15,000 commercial premises in 151 public housing estates. The estate staff and Mobile Operations Teams regularly take enforcement action against shop front obstruction.
The first step is for Housing Department staff to try to persuade offending commercial tenants to remove obstructions to common areas and, where necessary, to issue oral or written warnings. When this fails to achieve the desired results, the Department is authorised (under section 24(1)(d) of the Housing Ordinance) to seize the concerned goods. Serious offences are prosecuted under section 4A of the Summary Offences Ordinance. Upon conviction, offending tenants are subject to a maximum fine of $5,000 or imprisonment for three months. In 1994-95, the following action was taken against shop front obstructions -
70,972 6,748
1,771
warnings seizures of goods prosecutions
The Housing Department may also exercise the contractual right to terminate the tenancy, or not to renew the tenancy, of a persistent offender. In the last 12 months, five tenancies have been terminated for this reason.
Apart from punitive measures, the Housing Department is also working to improve the design of commercial premises in order to provide adequate space to meet the operational needs of different trades. In this way, the problem of encroachment on to common areas for displays of goods for sale will be reduced.
End/Wednesday, April 19, 1995