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A man was jailed for two months and fined $20,000 at Kowloon City Magistrates' Court today (November 2) for operating an unlicensed guesthouse and contravening the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation Ordinance.
The court heard that officers of the Office of the Licensing Authority (OLA) of Home Affairs Department went to the first floor of Haiphong Mansion in Haiphong Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, on July 6 to inspect a suspected unlicensed guesthouse. The owner of the premises admitted that a room in the premises was let out on July 4 for a week to a Mainland tourist. The tourist died in a No 3 alarm fire which occurred at the building on July 6.
According to OLA's record, the premises did not have a certificate of exemption or a licence as required under Section 5(2) of the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation Ordinance. Therefore, the man, as owner of the premises and operator of the unlicensed guesthouse, was charged with contravening Section 5(1) of the Ordinance.
In view of the court's decision, OLA had refused to renew the licence of a guesthouse located on the second floor of Haiphong Mansion, which was operated by the defendant, in accordance with Section 10 of the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation Ordinance.
A department spokesman stressed that it was a criminal offence to operate or manage an unlicensed guesthouses and enforcement action would continue to be taken against them to ensure the safety of lodgers.
He appealed to the public to dial the OLA hotline (2881 7498), send e-mail (hadlaenq@had.gov.hk) or download report form from the website www.hadla.gov.hk, to report any suspected unlicensed guesthouses to the OLA.
Ends/Monday, November 2, 2009
Issued at HKT 19:10
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