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A company was fined $13,000 at the Eastern Magistrates' Courts today (January 15) for contravening the Clubs (Safety of Premises) Ordinance.
The courts heard that officers from the Office of the Licensing Authority (OLA) of the Home Affairs Department inspected a club on D'Aguilar Street, Central, which had been operating with a certificate of compliance (CoC), in June last year. During the investigation, OLA officers posed as customers and patronised the club for food without being asked to show their membership status or being invited to join the club as members. OLA officers also found that the actual layout of the club had deviated from the registered drawing and the number of people at the club during the inspection exceeded the maximum allowable capacity as stipulated in the CoC. Furthermore, the club staff failed to show the membership registers upon OLA officers' request. Conditions 3, 6, 19 and 20 of the CoC were breached.
The company, being the CoC holder, was charged with contravening section 21(2) of the Ordinance.
A spokesman for the department reminded all the CoC holders to comply with the conditions as stipulated therein. Enforcement action would continue to be taken against illegal club operations.
Ends/Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Issued at HKT 17:52
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