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A woman was fined $3,000 at the Kowloon City Magistrates' Courts today (August 10) for managing an unlicensed bedspace apartment in Mong Kok.
The court heard that in June this year, officers of the Office of the Licensing Authority (OLA), Home Affairs Department, inspected a suspected unlicensed bedspace apartment in Tung Choi Street, Mong Kok. An OLA officer posed as a lodger and successfully rented a bedspace inside the bedspace apartment on a daily basis.
According to the OLA's records, the bedspace apartment did not possess a valid certificate of exemption or a licence on the day of inspection. The female manager of the bedspace apartment was charged with contravening Section 5(1) of the Bedspace Apartment Ordinance.
A department spokesman stressed that it is a criminal offence to operate or manage an unlicensed bedspace apartment and enforcement action will continue to be taken against unlicensed bedspace apartments to ensure the safety of lodgers.
He appealed to the public to dial the OLA hotline (2881 7498), send email (hadlaenq@had.gov.hk) or download a report form from the website www.hadla.gov.hk to report any illegal bedspace apartment operations to the OLA.
Ends/Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Issued at HKT 17:46
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