The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) announced today (June 9) that in order to put vacant stalls in public markets into more effective use and to provide job opportunities for the grassroots, an open auction for a total of 304 vacant stalls in 36 public markets will be held from June 21 (Monday).
 
     The retail commodities allowed for sale in these stalls cover non-food related dry or wet goods and food related dry or wet goods, etc. The tenancy agreement is a one-year fixed term from July this year, with no right of renewal upon expiry of the tenancy agreement. Depending on the size and location of individual stalls, the upset price of the monthly rent of the stalls ranges from $520 to $13,500. Tenants can enjoy a reduction of the monthly rental by 75 per cent from July to September this year.
 
     A spokesman for the FEHD said, "Bidders for the market stalls must be at least 18 years old and ordinarily reside in Hong Kong. To allow more people to bid for the stalls and increase customer choices by enhancing the diversity in terms of variety of stalls, there will be a limit on the number of stalls to be rented by a single tenant. No person who is renting a stall under the one-year short term tenancy scheme is allowed to rent more than one stall of a one-year short term tenancy in the same market. Also, any person who is currently a stall tenant is not allowed to bid in the first round of auction for any stalls in the same market, but will only be allowed to bid on one stall in the second round of auction."
 
     The open auction for public market stalls in the New Territories East, the New Territories West, Hong Kong Island/Islands and Kowloon will be held at the Assembly Hall, 2/F of the Lai Chi Kok Government Offices, 19 Lai Wan Road, Lai Chi Kok, Kowloon, from June 21 to 25 correspondingly. To reduce the risk of transmission of COVID-19, persons entering the auction venue are required to pay attention to and comply with the preventive measures implemented at the auction venue, including temperature checks before admission and mask wearing at all times. Meanwhile, the maximum capacity of the auction venue is 200 persons. The FEHD will issue same-day entry tickets 30 minutes prior to the commencement of each session of the auctions. Persons entering the auction venue are required to present a valid entry ticket. Subject to the ground situation, the FEHD may advance or postpone the time of issuing entry tickets.
 
     Details of the auction of public market stalls will be uploaded to the FEHD website (www.fehd.gov.hk). Bidders interested in the auction may visit the department's website or contact the respective District Environmental Hygiene Office.

Ends/Wednesday, June 9, 2021
Issued at HKT 11:15

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