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A company was fined $20,000 and a woman fined $5,000 in Kowloon City Magistrates' Court today (February 3) for contravening the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation Ordinance.
The court heard that in August last year, officers of the Office of the Licensing Authority (OLA), Home Affairs Department, inspected a suspected unlicensed guesthouse in Dundas Street, Mong Kok. An OLA officer posed as a lodger and rented a room inside the guesthouse. The female manager later admitted that three rooms on the premises were for rental.
In another inspection conducted last November, OLA officers went to a suspected unlicensed guesthouse in Tung Choi Street, Mong Kok. Investigators found nine rooms with accommodation facilities inside the premises and met two patrons who admitted renting rooms.
According to OLA's records, the two guesthouses did not possess a valid certificate of exemption or a licence under the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation Ordinance on the day of inspection. The defendants were charged with contravening section 5(1) of the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation 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 dial the OLA hotline (2881 7498), send email (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/Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Issued at HKT 17:30
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