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Following is a question by the Hon James To and a written reply by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (May 20):
Question:
Some members of the public have relayed to me that given the current chaotic management of the hawker permitted areas (HPAs) at Tung Choi Street (commonly known as Women's Street) in Mongkok, Bowring Street in Jordan and Fa Yuen Street in Prince Edward, they are worried that the re-issuing of Fixed-Pitch Hawker Licences by the Government will lead to deterioration of the hawker management problem. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) given that in reply to my written question in June last year, the Government indicated that it had reached a consensus with the hawker association of Women's Street on the improvement of the business environment of that HPA, what improvements have been made to the current business environment of that HPA;
(b) of the respective numbers of complaints involving the above three HPAs received by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department in each of the past three years, with a breakdown of the number of each HPA by the category to which the complaints belong (such as noise nuisance, obstruction to public passage, operating beyond the permitted business hours, unauthorised expansion of business areas, illegal letting of pitches and impact on environmental hygiene, etc.); the number of cases among them which had been found substantiated, as well as the penalties imposed on the pitch licensees concerned;
(c) as I have received complaints about salespersons illegally occupying pitches in HPAs for conducting sales activities, whether the Government has looked into the aforesaid situation; whether the Government has prosecuted such persons; if it has, of the number of prosecutions instituted in the past three years; and
(d) of the progress of the current review of re-issuing Fixed-Pitch Hawker Licences and the latest situation of developing operational guidelines on various practical arrangements; what new measures the Government has in place (such as introducing a demerit point system) to solve the HPA management problem?
Reply:
President,
(a) The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) and the representatives of the hawkers' associations of the Tung Choi Street Hawker Permitted Area (HPA) (or commonly known as Women's Street) maintain regular communication and have reached the following consensus in respect of the operation of hawker stalls:
(1) the operation of hawker stalls should not pose fire hazard nor obstruct emergency vehicular access;
(2) the operation of hawker stalls should not cause environmental hygiene nuisance, obstruct air circulation nor cause serious blockage of natural light;
(3) hawkers should allow adequate space for pedestrian access, so as to avoid affecting the business environment of the stalls and shops in the vicinity; and
(4) the design of the hawker stalls should be standardised as much as possible, so as to improve the overall streetscape of "Women's Street".
Through concerted efforts, the overall business environment of "Women's Street" has been improved. The hawker stalls do not obstruct emergency vehicular access. Moreover, the hawker representatives have come to an agreement on the standardised design of the hawker stalls.
(b)&(c) The information on the complaints received by the FEHD concerning the fixed hawker pitches at Tung Choi Street, Fa Yuen Street and Bowring Street as well as the prosecutions (including statutory penalties) taken in the past three years are set out at Annex I and Annex II respectively. The fine imposed by the court ranged from $100 to $1,500.
Besides, the FEHD has not received in the same period complaints about salespersons illegally occupying pitches in the Tung Choi Street, Fa Yuen Street and Bowring Street HPAs for conducting sales activities; nor has this kind of irregularities been found in these HPAs. The FEHD will continue to closely monitor the operation of the fixed hawker pitches. If illegal occupation of vacant hawker stalls or activities of unlicensed hawkers are found during inspections, the FEHD will take law enforcement actions and initiate prosecutions. The figures of the relevant prosecutions are at Annex II.
(d) The Food and Health Bureau and the FEHD have completed the review on hawker licensing policy and the recommendations therein were endorsed by the Legislative Council Panel on Food Safety and Environmental Hygiene in April this year. For fixed-pitch hawkers, provided that the current number of fixed pitches remains unchanged, the Administration will allow fixed-pitch hawkers to expand into adjacent vacant pitches to enlarge their operating areas while paying the relevant fees. The remaining vacant pitches will be made available for application and selection by balloting by anyone interested in the hawking trade and a fixed-pitch hawker licence will be issued to them for trading in these vacant pitches. The FEHD is now drawing up guidelines for re-issuing new fixed-pitch hawker licences. It is expected that fixed-pitch hawker licensees will be invited in July this year to submit applications for merging with adjacent vacant pitches. Upon completion of this phase, the FEHD will then invite members of the public to apply for new fixed-pitch hawker licences for trading in the remaining vacant pitches.
The FEHD will deploy law enforcement officers for regular inspections at HPAs and hawker bazaars, so as to check if the business is carried out in person by the licensees and whether the stalls cause any obstruction to passage. Appropriate enforcement actions will be taken against the offenders in accordance with the relevant legislation or hawker licensing requirements. As the operation of hawker stalls is different from that of licensed restaurants in general, the Administration has no intention at this stage to introduce a demerit points system similar to the one for food premises to regulate fixed-pitch hawkers.
Ends/Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Issued at HKT 12:04
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