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Following is a question by the Hon Christopher Chung and a written reply by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Ko Wing-man, in the Legislative Council today (November 14):
Question:
I have recently received requests for assistance from quite a number of licensed fixed pitch hawkers in Hong Kong East. These hawkers allege that individual members of the Hawker Control Teams (HCT) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) not only have very poor attitude during law enforcement, but they also take actions with inconsistent standards, targeting their actions at some hawkers while letting other hawkers get away. As a result, conflicts between the hawkers and HCT members happen from time to time. When there are such conflicts, the hawkers involved often have no way to seek redress of their grievances due to the lack of a third party as the witness. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of complaints received by the authorities in the past three years about HCT members being alleged of corruption, the number of cases among these complaints which had been referred to the Independent Commission Against Corruption for follow-up, and the number of convictions;
(b) whether the Environmental Hygiene Branch of FEHD has a mechanism in place to monitor HCT members' law enforcement actions (such as deploying plain-clothed management staff to secretly monitor if individual hawkers have been targeted at) so as to ensure that HCT members take law enforcement actions impartially;
(c) whether FEHD has provided regular training for HCT members to ensure their service quality and good attitude;
(d) as FEHD indicated earlier in a document on the outcome of a public consultation that it had exercised flexibility to allow hawkers to display their goods outside the approved stall areas during business hours, whether the authorities had instituted prosecutions against any hawkers for placing their goods outside the boundaries of their pitches last year; if so, of the number of hawkers prosecuted; and
(e) whether FEHD will improve its hawker management policy to enhance the business environment of hawkers of open-air stalls?
Reply:
President,
The Hawker Control Teams (HCTs) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) are enforcement teams mainly responsible for controlling on-street hawking activities. Their duties include managing hawking activities of licensed hawkers and taking enforcement action against illegal hawking.
As civil servants, all HCT members are bound to observe the requirements stipulated in the Civil Service Code and uphold such core values as commitment to the rule of law, honesty and integrity, objectivity and impartiality, etc. when discharging their duties. The FEHD's Operational Manual for Hawker Control also contains instructions setting out clearly the discipline training that HCT members must receive as well as the regulations and procedures that all HCT members are required to comply with. Cases of disciplinary offences committed by HCT members will be handled by FEHD in accordance with the Civil Service Regulations and the department's established procedures.
My reply to the various parts of the question is as follows:
(a) Over the past three years (2009 to 2011), FEHD has received a total of 30 corruption complaints against HTC members. All cases have been referred to the Independent Commission Against Corruption for investigation. No prosecution has been instituted for corruption.
(b) FEHD has put in place an internal monitoring system to guard against breaches of disciplinary rules or improper behaviour on the part of HCT staff when performing their duties. It is clearly stated under the system how hawker control staff at different levels should monitor the work of HCT members under their supervision, including the number of on-site supervision and inspections that should be carried out. Upon receipt of relevant complaints, FEHD's Quality Assurance Section (QAS) will conduct follow-up investigation in an independent, objective and fair manner. Where necessary, the QAS will deploy plainclothes officers to observe the performance of front-line staff.
(c) According to FEHD's instructions on hawker control, front-line enforcement staff should always serve the community with a positive attitude and be courteous at all times. FEHD attaches great importance to the conduct and service quality of its front-line enforcement staff and provides them with comprehensive training to ensure that they carry out their duties with professional knowledge and proper attitude. In this connection, FEHD regularly organises a full series of relevant training for hawker control staff at different levels, including workshops on customer service and complaint handling, workshops on personal effectiveness, seminars on diversity management (equal opportunities) and talks on integrity (probity and ethics), etc. Besides, FEHD also invites different service organisations and experts on a regular basis to share their experience so as to further enhance the service consciousness of hawker control staff at all levels.
(d) There are currently some 6 300 fixed hawker pitches in Hong Kong. From October 1, 2011 to September 30, 2012, FEHD instituted a total of 4 545 prosecutions against licensed fixed-pitch hawkers for causing obstruction by placing their goods outside the approved stall boundaries, with 1 838 prosecutions instituted in the second half of the period concerned (i.e. from April 1 to September 30, 2012).
(e) It is the Government's established hawker management policy to strike a proper balance between allowing legal hawking activities and providing a reasonable business environment on the one hand, and maintaining environmental hygiene, ensuring public safety and protecting the public from nuisances on the other hand.
To establish a partnering relationship with various stakeholders, FEHD has set up Hawker Management Consultative Committees (HMCCs) in all hawker areas. Members of HMCCs include representatives of licensed hawkers, members of the respective District Councils and District Fire Safety Committees. HMCCs provide a platform for two-way communication and for FEHD district staff and HMCC members to discuss day-to-day management and regulatory and safety issues, as well as to encourage self-discipline and good practices among hawkers.
Ends/Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Issued at HKT 12:06
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