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A man and a woman were fined $2,500 and $8,100 respectively at the Kowloon City Magistrates' Courts today (December 12) for contravening the Clubs (Safety of Premises) Ordinance.
The courts heard that officers from the Office of the Licensing Authority (OLA) of the Home Affairs Department inspected two clubs on Ashley Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, in August last year and May this year.
In the first case, OLA officers found that the club did not possess a valid certificate of exemption or a certificate of compliance (CoC) on the day of inspection. Therefore, the male manager was charged with contravening section 4(1) of the Ordinance.
In the second case, OLA officers inspected a club operating with a CoC and found that, apart from serving non-members, the club had a layout that deviated from the registered drawing, and the number of people at the club during the inspection exceeded the maximum allowable capacity as stipulated in the CoC. Furthermore, the club staff failed to show the CoC and the membership registers upon OLA officers' request. Conditions 2, 3, 6, 19 and 20 of the CoC were breached.
The woman, being the CoC holder, was charged with contravening section 21(2) of the Ordinance.
A spokesman for the department reminded all CoC holders to comply with the conditions as stipulated therein. Enforcement action will continue to be taken against illegal club operations.
Ends/Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Issued at HKT 17:41
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