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Two men and a woman were fined $3,000 to $4,000 at the Kowloon City Magistrates' Courts today (August 28) for contravening the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation Ordinance.
The courts heard that officers of the Office of the Licensing Authority (OLA), Home Affairs Department, inspected two suspected unlicensed guesthouses in Tung Choi Street in Mong Kok and Tai Nan Street in Sham Shui Po in February this year. OLA officers posed as lodgers and successfully rented rooms in these guesthouses on a daily basis.
According to the OLA's records, these guesthouses did not possess valid certificates of exemption or licences under the Ordinance on the days of inspection. Therefore, the woman and the man responsible for managing and operating the premises respectively were charged with contravening section 5(1) of the Ordinance.
Furthermore, OLA officers inspected a licensed guesthouse on Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, in the same month. They posed as lodgers and successfully rented a room in an unlicensed guesthouse on another floor on a daily basis. The man, being the licence holder of the licensed guesthouse, was charged with contravening sections 21(3)(b) and 21(4) of the Ordinance for operating a guesthouse in a premises other than the one indicated in the licence and failing to show OLA officers the guesthouse licence for inspection.
A department spokesman stressed that operating or managing an unlicensed guesthouse is a criminal offence and will lead to a criminal record. Upon conviction, the offender is liable to a maximum fine of $200,000 and two years' imprisonment.
He appealed to the public to report suspected illegal guesthouses to the OLA through the OLA hotline (2881 7498), by email (hadlaenq@had.gov.hk) or by fax (fax number: 2504 5805) using the report form downloaded from the website (www.hadla.gov.hk).
Ends/Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Issued at HKT 17:15
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