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A man was fined $10,000 today (April 19) at Kowloon City Magistrates' Courts for contravening Section 6(a) of the Bedspace Apartments Ordinance.
The court heard that officers of the Office of the Licensing Authority (OLA), Home Affairs Department (HAD) issued a warning letter to the owner of the premises in November 2002 informing him to apply for a licence or to stop operating the bedspace apartment in Pei Ho Street, Sham Shui Po.
Officers of the OLA inspected the premises again in April 2003 and found that there were eight cubicles providing a total of 26 bedspaces, 15 of which were being rented out or intended to be rented out without a certificate of exemption or a licence. One of the lodgers at the scene admitted renting the bedspace on a monthly basis.
The man was subsequently charged under the Bedspace Apartments Ordinance for being the owner of the premises. Neither of the conditions specified in Section 5(2) of the Bedspace Apartments Ordinance had to his knowledge been satisfied.
An HAD spokesman stressed that it was a criminal offence to operate or manage an unlicensed bedspace apartment.
The spokesman reiterated that unlicensed bedspace apartments would not be tolerated and enforcement action would be taken against them to ensure the safety of lodgers.
He appealed to the public to report illegal bedspace apartments to the OLA on 2881 7498.
Ends/Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Issued at HKT 16:57
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