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Five women were each fined $2,500 at the Kowloon City Magistrates' Courts today (November 14) for contravening the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation Ordinance.
The courts heard that officers of the Office of the Licensing Authority (OLA), Home Affairs Department, inspected five suspected unlicensed guesthouses on Portland Street and Sai Yee Street in Mong Kok, Nathan Road in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kweilin Street in Sham Shui Po and Lok Shan Road in Kowloon City from March to May this year. OLA officers posed as lodgers and successfully rented rooms in the five guesthouses on a daily basis.
According to the OLA's records, the five guesthouses did not possess valid certificates of exemption or licences under the Ordinance on the days of inspection. Therefore the five women responsible for managing the above premises were charged with contravening Section 5(1) of the Ordinance.
A department spokesman stressed that it is a criminal offence to operate or manage an unlicensed guesthouse. Any person who is convicted of operating or managing an unlicensed guesthouse is liable to imprisonment. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a $200,000 fine and imprisonment for two years.
He appealed to the public to report suspected illegal guesthouses to the OLA through the OLA hotline (2881 7498), by email (hadlaenq@had.gov.hk) or by fax (fax number: 2504 5805) using the report form downloaded from the website (www.hadla.gov.hk).
Ends/Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Issued at HKT 17:35
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