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Two women were convicted and fined $9,000 and $8,000 respectively at the Kowloon City Magistrates' Court today (November 16) for managing an unlicensed guesthouse in Mong Kok.
The court heard that officers of the Office of the Licensing Authority (OLA) of the Home Affairs Department inspected a suspected unlicensed guesthouse in Dundas Street, Mong Kok, in March this year. An OLA officer posed as a lodger and rented a room in the guesthouse on a daily basis. Subsequently two women admitted they were responsible for managing the guesthouse.
According to the OLA's record, the guesthouse did not possess a valid certificate of exemption or a licence under the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation Ordinance on the day of inspection. The two women were charged with contravening Section 5(1) of the Ordinance.
A department spokesman stressed that it was a criminal offence to operate or manage an unlicensed guesthouse and enforcement action would continue to be taken against illegal guesthouse operations to ensure the safety of lodgers. He appealed to the public to report any illegal guesthouse operations to the OLA's hotline(2881 7498), by e-mail (hadlaenq@had.gov.hk) or by fax (2504 5805) using the report form downloaded from the OLA¡¦s website (www.hadla.gov.hk).
Ends/Monday, November 16, 2009
Issued at HKT 17:50
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