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A woman was fined $20,000 at Kowloon City Magistrates' Courts today (June 24) for managing a guesthouse in Mong Kok without a valid certificate of exemption or a licence.
The court heard that in February this year, officers of the Office of the Licensing Authority (OLA), Home Affairs Department, inspected a suspected unlicensed guesthouse in Dundas Street, Mong Kok. Before proceeding to the premises, OLA officers found signboards of the guesthouse affixed to an external wall, the common area of the building and the public pavement outside the building. OLA officers then entered the premises, and a female manager of the guesthouse admitted that nine rooms with accommodation facilities were for rental on a daily or hourly basis. Officers also met guests who had rented two of the rooms on a daily basis.
According to the OLA's records, the guesthouse did not possess a valid certificate of exemption or a licence under the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation Ordinance on the day of inspection. The woman was charged with contravening section 5(1) of the Hotel & Guesthouse Accommodation Ordinance.
A department spokesman stressed that it was a criminal offence to operate or manage an unlicensed guesthouse and enforcement action would continue to be taken against illegal guesthouse operations to ensure the safety of lodgers. He appealed to the public to report unlicensed guesthouses to the OLA at 2881 7498.
Ends/Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Issued at HKT 16:01
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