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Following is a question by the Hon Lau Wong-fat and a written reply by the Secretary for the Environment and Food, Mrs Lily Yam, at the Legislative Council meeting today (November 14).

Question:

Regarding the scope of services of street cleaning service contractors under the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD), will the Government inform this Council:

(a) when the FEHD started to instruct these contractors to remove bills or posters displayed, without permission, at telephone booths and bus stops, including ancilliary advertising light boxes;

(b) whether the FEHD has charged the organisations owning the bus stops and telephone booths concerned and related parties for the above services; if not, of the reasons for that; and

(c) whether the FEHD will offer the service of removing bills or posters to owners or tenants of private buildings in the same manner?

Answer:

(a) According to Sections 104 and 104A to 104D of the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Cap. 132), unauthorised display of bills or posters in public areas constitutes an offence. For the display of bills or posters on private property, permission has to be sought from the owners, and the bills or posters displayed have to be in clean and tidy condition, otherwise the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD), in exercising the powers conferred by the above Ordinance, can remove such bills or posters and recover costs from the parties displaying the bills or posters and the persons whose goods, trade, business or other concerns are given publicity by the bills or posters.

To improve the cityscape of Hong Kong, FEHD has stepped up removal of illegal display of bills and posters. Starting from November this year, dedicated contractors have been appointed to remove illegal bills and posters, and the scope of service has also been extended to cover some private areas as well as facilities such as telephone booths and bus stops, etc. In addition to providing direct removal services, FEHD will also strengthen enforcement by prosecuting parties who have illegally displayed bills and posters, including the persons given publicity by the bills or posters concerned, with a view to achieving a deterrent effect.

(b) FEHD can, in the exercise of powers conferred by the Ordinance as set out in part (a) of this reply, remove bills or posters from private property for which prior permission for such display has not been sought from the owners. Depending on the situation, costs will also be recovered from the parties displaying those bills or posters and the persons given publicity by the bills or posters when taking prosecution action against their illegal display. As such, FEHD does not charge the organizations and owners of facilities concerned to avoid double charging.

(c) FEHD will give priority to addressing black spots for illegal bills and posters in public area and on private property. For private property, FEHD will liaise with the owners of buildings and request them to cooperate in keeping the buildings clean and tidy and remove the illegal bills and posters. For conspicuous private buildings next to busy thoroughfares, FEHD will, bearing in mind the operational situation and after consulting the owners, carry out enforcement actions against illegal display of bills and posters in order to keep the cityscape clean.

End/Wednesday, November 14, 2001

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