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A company was convicted and fined $4,000 today (May 17) at the Fanling Magistrates' Courts for contravening the Clubs (Safety of Premises) Ordinance.
The court heard that officers of the Licensing Authority of Home Affairs Department conducted a decoy operation last December against a club on Luen Chit Street, Fanling, for breach of the Certificate of Compliance (CoC) special conditions.
The officers, posing as customers, patronised the club for food and drink without being asked to show their membership status or invited to join the club as members. The manager of the club later admitted that he had no knowledge of the club keeping a membership register.
The company, holder of the CoC, was in contravention of the special conditions of the CoC - serving members of the public in the club premises and failing to submit the required documentation within the stipulated timeframe. The holder of the CoC was subsequently charged under section 21(2) of the ordinance.
Under the Ordinance, a "club" means any corporation which provides services for its members and has a clubhouse of which only its members and their accompanied guests have the right of use. If a club which serves food and drink also entertains non-members (as opposed to a controlled number of members and their accompanied guests only), the premises concerned should be subject to regulations which are applicable to general food businesses.
The department will continue to take strict enforcement action against those businesses which disguise themselves as clubs and other non-compliance cases to ensure safety of the public.
Ends/Thursday, May 17, 2007
Issued at HKT 17:45
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