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The Government today (March 24) gazetted the Fixed Penalty (Public Cleanliness and Obstruction) Ordinance　to introduce a fixed penalty system as an additional enforcement tool to tackle the problem of shop front extensions (SFEs). The Ordinance will take effect on September 24, 2016.
Under the Ordinance, the Government will be able to issue Fixed Penalty Notices on top of summonses under section 4A of the Summary Offences Ordinance (Cap. 228) for SFEs involving the offence of obstruction of public places. The fixed penalty level will be set at $1,500. The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department and the Hong Kong Police Force will be empowered to enforce the fixed penalty system.
"The Government hopes that the fixed penalty system would be an additional enforcement tool to tackle SFEs more efficiently and effectively, and could help address the deficiency of the existing summons system, i.e. the long lead time involved in the prosecution process and the light penalties that carry insufficient deterrence," a Government spokesman said.
The Legislative Council passed the Fixed Penalty (Public Cleanliness Offences) (Amendment) Bill 2015 on March 18, 2016. The previous Fixed Penalty (Public Cleanliness Offences) Ordinance will be retitled as the Fixed Penalty (Public Cleanliness and Obstruction) Ordinance.
"To allow sufficient time for publicising the fixed penalty system and for the trade and other stakeholders to make the necessary preparations, we will carry out public education and publicity work in the coming months," he added.
Ends/Thursday, March 24, 2016
Issued at HKT 11:16
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