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Five women and two men were fined $3,500 to $4,000 at the Kowloon City Magistrates' Courts today (January 8) 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 seven suspected unlicensed guesthouses in Woosung Street in Jordan, Nathan Road in Tsim Sha Tsui, To Kwa Wan Road in Kowloon City, as well as Portland Street, Shanghai Street and Argyle Street in Mong Kok, from March to July last 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 women and the men responsible for operating or managing these premises respectively were charged with contravening section 5(1) of the Ordinance.
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 fax (fax number: 2504 5805) using a report form downloaded from the website (www.hadla.gov.hk).
Ends/Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Issued at HKT 17:05
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