Stalls for Che Kung Festival Fair and Fong Ma Po New Year Fair at Lam Tsuen in Tai Po to be auctioned
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The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) announced today (November 18) that public auctions for stalls at the 2022 Che Kung Festival (CKF) Fair and the Fong Ma Po (FMP) New Year Fair at Lam Tsuen in Tai Po, will be held on November 30 (Tuesday) and December 8 (Wednesday) respectively.
A spokesman for the FEHD said the annual CKF Fair will be held for 18 consecutive days from January 29 to February 15, 2022, at Chui Tin Street Soccer Pitch in Sha Tin. A total of 40 dry goods stalls and two wet goods stalls will be put up for auction. Meanwhile, the FMP Fair will be held for 15 consecutive days from February 1 to 15, 2022. A total of 10 dry goods stalls will be put up for auction. No wet goods stalls will be provided at the venue.
He added, "The Government will implement a series of infection prevention and control measures at the CKF Fair and the FMP Fair as detailed at the Annex. Amongst other measures, a stall licensee and his/her staff deployed to work at the stall must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and must have undergone a polymerase chain reaction based nucleic acid test for COVID-19 at their own cost within 48 hours before the commencement of the fairs. Combined nasal and throat swab samples collected by professionals shall be used as specimens for the test. A stall licensee and his/her staff must keep the vaccination records and the SMS notifications containing the negative test results as proof and make such records and SMS notifications available for FEHD staff's checking before and throughout the fairs."
If a stall licensee and his/her staff deployed to work at the stall are unfit to receive COVID-19 vaccination for health reasons, they must make a declaration with the support of a medical certificate and undergo the aforementioned test at their own cost within 48 hours before the commencement of the fairs. These persons must keep the declaration form, medical certificate and SMS notification containing the negative test result for FEHD staff's checking before and throughout the fairs. Moreover, the stall licensees are required to provide hand sanitisers at the stalls, to carry out regular cleaning and disinfection of their stalls, as well as to provide a list of staff and their contact information for tracing of confirmed cases.
"Depending on the development of the epidemic situation of COVID-19, the anti-epidemic measures at the CKF Fair and the FMP Fair may be subject to change. The Government may also adjust the scale and business hours of the fairs, tighten the admission requirements for members of the public or even cancel the event. Interested parties should fully consider all these factors before participating in the auctions," the spokesman added.
The upset prices of the stalls of the 2022 CKF Fair and the FMP Fair remain frozen at half of those in 2019. The upset bidding prices for the dry goods stalls and wet goods stalls of the CKF Fair are $2,310 and $550 respectively, while the upset bidding price for the dry goods stalls of the FMP Fair is $650.
The public auction for CKF Fair stalls will begin at 9.30am on November 30 at the Assembly Hall at 2/F, Lai Chi Kok Government Offices, 19 Lai Wan Road, Lai Chi Kok, Kowloon. Dry goods stalls will be auctioned first, followed by wet goods stalls. The auction for FMP Fair stalls will begin at 9.30am on December 8 at the Assembly Hall at G/F, Tai Wo Neighbourhood Community Centre, Tai Wo Estate, Tai Po.
Bidders for stalls of the CKF Fair and the FMP Fair must be at least 18 years old and ordinarily reside in Hong Kong. Persons entering the auction venues are required to comply with the measures for the prevention of COVID-19 to be implemented at the auction venues, which include body temperature screening to be conducted before entering the venues and masks to be worn at all times while inside the venues. On the auction day, except for exempted persons, all persons are required to scan the "LeaveHomeSafe" venue QR code using the "LeaveHomeSafe" mobile application on their phones before entering the auction venues. Exempted persons are required to complete a form to register their name, the first four digits or letters of their identification document, their contact number and the date and time of their visit. They are also required to present relevant identification documents for verification by the on-site staff.
Anyone can bid for more than one stall. A bidder must pay the bid price and register in person with his or her own name as the licensee of the stall immediately after successfully bidding for a stall. The bidder is also required to sign at once a licence agreement with the FEHD, or he/she will forfeit the rights to operate the stall.
For the conservation of the Wish-Making Trees, stall operators of the FMP Fair will not be allowed to sell placards tied to any heavy object (including fruit). The licence agreements of those who fail to comply with the requirement will be terminated.
The fair sites will be made available to the licensees two days in advance of the CKF Fair (from January 27 to 28, 2022) and three days in advance of the FMP Fair (from January 29 to 31, 2022) respectively for the setting up of stalls. The Government may without cause postpone the commencement date and shorten the duration of the licensed period (including the duration for setting up stalls and the business period of the fairs), or suspend or cancel the fairs wholly or in part. The bidding price (licence fee) paid will be refunded to the affected stall licensee on a pro-rata basis without interest. The licensee and his/her employees or agents must vacate the licenced area no later than the time specified by the Government verbally (by way of press release, public announcement or other similar communications) or in writing.
Stall licensees of the CKF Fair and the FMP Fair must completely remove the stall structure and all paraphernalia, together with all refuse, debris and unsold commodities (whether damaged or otherwise) from the licensed area before 10pm and 6pm respectively on February 15, 2022. Stall licensees should not destroy, damage or abandon any unsold commodities at or in the vicinity of the stall.
The FEHD reminded stall licensees that the stalls are solely for the purpose of selling and promoting the sale of the permitted commodities, and no other activities are allowed in the licensed area. If the FEHD considers that any activity conducted by the licensee to publicise, promote, display, show or sell any permitted commodities in the venues is unlawful, immoral or incompatible with the object of the fairs, the FEHD is entitled to direct the licensee to stop conducting such activity and the licensee must immediately comply with such direction.
Successful bidders shall comply with all the stipulations and provisions as set out in the licence agreement. Otherwise, the department is entitled to terminate the agreement and the licensee shall immediately vacate the stall.
For more information about the auctions for stalls of the CKF Fair and the FMP Fair, please call the FEHD's Sha Tin District Environmental Hygiene Office at 2634 0134 and the Tai Po District Environmental Hygiene Office at 3183 9162 or 2657 1137 respectively. Details are also available on the FEHD website at www.fehd.gov.hk.
Ends/Thursday, November 18, 2021
Issued at HKT 19:27
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