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A woman was fined $3,000 at the Kowloon City Magistrates' Courts today (September 5) for operating an unlicensed bedspace apartment in Mong Kok.
The court heard that officers of the Office of the Licensing Authority (OLA), Home Affairs Department, inspected a suspected unlicensed bedspace apartment on Shantung Street, Mong Kok, and found that the premises did not possess a valid certificate of exemption or a licence on the day of inspection. The female operator 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 report any illegal bedspace apartment operations 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, September 5, 2012
Issued at HKT 17:15
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