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A man was fined $4,000 at Tsuen Wan Magistrates' Courts today (October 12) for operating an unlicensed bedspace apartment (BSA) in Tsuen Wan.
The court heard that officers from the Office of the Licensing Authority (OLA), Home Affairs Department (HAD) conducted an inspection of a suspected unlicenced BSA in Sam Pei Square, Tseun Wan, in March this year. The investigation team found seven partitioned rooms containing 22 bedspaces in the premises. Several lodgers at the scene alleged renting the bedspaces on a daily or monthly basis.
The man, who was the principal tenant of the premises, admitted that the premises had been sub-let and operated as a BSA without a valid certificate of exemption or a valid licence for five to six months. He was subsequently charged for contravening Sections 5 (1) of the Bedspace Apartment Ordinance.
An HAD spokesman said it was a criminal offence to operate or manage an unlicensed bedspace apartment.
He stressed that illegal bedspace apartments would not be tolerated and enforcement action would continue to be taken against them to ensure the safety of lodgers of these establishments.
He also urged people to report unlicensed bedspace apartments to the OLA on 2881 7498.
Ends/Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Issued at HKT 17:40
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