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A woman convicted of contravening the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation Ordinance was fined $5,000 at the Kowloon City Magistrates' Court today (April 11).
The court heard that officers of the Home Affairs Department's Office of the Licensing Authority (OLA), inspected premises on Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, in September last year. Some daily rental guests were found in the unit which was divided into nine compartments for rental purpose.
The woman was the responsible person of the guesthouse and she admitted that the premises was for daily rental to overseas travellers. She was subsequently charged with managing a guesthouse without a certificate of exemption or a license as required under Section 5(2) of the ordinance.
A department spokesman stressed that it was a criminal offence to operate or manage an unlicensed guesthouse. He urged people to report unlicensed guesthouses to the OLA at 2881 7498.
Ends/Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Issued at HKT 15:30
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