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Following is a question by the Hon James To Kun-sun and a written reply by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (June 20):
Question:
It has been learnt that the let-out rates of some facilities of the Government, such as public markets and cooked food centres (CFCs), etc., have remained low for a long time. Starting from March 2009, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department has put up long standing vacant stalls in public markets for open auction at reduced upset prices (auction of long standing vacant stalls at concessionary prices) with a view to attracting commercial tenants to rent such stalls. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the respective numbers of public markets, built-in CFCs of public markets, cooked food markets (CFMs), temporary markets and other markets (e.g. jade markets, flower markets and kiosks, etc.) of the Government in each of the 18 District Council districts (18 districts) at present, and list the breakdown according to Annex 1;
(b) of the respective numbers of vacant stalls in each of the 18 districts at present, and the percentages of such numbers in the total numbers of stalls in such districts, and list the breakdown by public markets, built-in CFCs of public markets, CFMs, temporary markets and other markets in Annex 2;
(c) of the respective numbers of public markets, built-in CFCs of public markets, CFMs, temporary markets and other markets in each of the 18 districts which have been closed down totally, or some floors of which have been closed down, due to the large number of vacant stalls; for how long such markets or floors of the markets have been closed down; whether the uses of them have been changed; if so, of their uses at present and set out such information according to Annex 3;
(d) regarding the public markets, built-in CFCs of public markets, CFMs, temporary markets and other markets mentioned in (c) which are still closed down totally or some floors of which are still closed down at present, whether the authorities have considered changing their uses, or altering or redeveloping them (e.g. converting the public markets which trade wet and dry goods only into markets with built-in CFCs, or converting them into community facilities such as recreation and leisure facilities), so as to avoid leaving government properties idle for a long time; and
(e) of the effectiveness of the auction of long standing vacant stalls at concessionary prices conducted by the authorities since March 2009; the number of stalls put up for auction through such scheme (excluding the stalls re-possessed and put up for auction again), as well as the respective numbers and percentages of the stalls successfully let out, broken down by the items set out Annex 4?
Reply:
President,
The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) is committed to formulating and implementing various measures to enhance the business environment and competitiveness of the markets under its management. Measures taken over the years include the arrangement introduced in February 2009 to boost the occupancy rate of markets, under which the upset auction prices for stalls left vacant for six months and eight months or more have been lowered to 80% and 60% of the open market rental respectively. As at the end of April this year, more than 2 000 stalls were let out through this arrangement. FEHD has also taken the following measures to improve the occupancy rate of markets:
(i) merging small stalls into larger ones;
(ii) introducing light refreshment, bakery and service trade stalls;
(iii) letting out long-standing vacant stalls and stalls in poor locations for storage purposes;
(iv) letting out long-standing vacant stalls through short term tenancy;
(v) changing the use of vacant stalls or approving tenants' applications for changing the type of commodities permitted to be sold at the stalls;
(vi) carrying out regular maintenance and improvement works in public markets. The scope of works includes improvement to the drainage, ventilation, lighting and fire services installations, refurbishment of the wall, ceiling and floor tiles, and provision of barrier free access, etc; and
(vii) organising promotional activities in public markets, including festive celebration activities, cooking demonstrations, shopping reward activities, thematic exhibitions and workshops on diet and health care, publication of multi-language recipes and quarterly newsletters, etc.
Currently, the overall occupancy rate of FEHD's public market stalls stands at 88%.
My reply to the various parts of the question is as follows:
(a) The respective numbers of public markets, cooked food centres (CFCs) attached to public markets, cooked food markets (CFMs), temporary markets and other markets that are under FEHD's management in each district are set out in Annex 5.
(b) The respective statistics showing the number of vacant stalls in public markets, CFCs attached to public markets, CFMs, temporary markets and other markets in each district are given in Annex 6.
(c) Annex 7 gives the details of public markets, CFCs attached to public markets, CFMs, temporary markets and other markets which, in the past few years, have been closed down either wholly or in part (with some floors vacated) due to the large number of vacant stalls.
(d) The Government is considering, in accordance with the established procedures, the alternative uses that these vacant floors/buildings/sites may be put to.
(e) Since FEHD promulgated in March 2009 the scheme to put up long-standing vacant stalls for auction at concessionary upset prices, a total of 2 333 market stalls were put up for open auction under this arrangement and 2 091 of them were successfully let out as at the end of April this year. The overall let out rate reaches 90%. The detailed statistics for various districts are given in Annex 8.
Ends/Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Issued at HKT 17:17
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