Government handles relocation of Yen Chow Street Temporary Hawker Bazaar in fair and impartial manner
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"The Government has all along been upholding the principles of fairness and impartiality in processing the relocation of the Yen Chow Street Temporary Hawker Bazaar, with a view to ensuring proper use of public fund and resources as well as serving long-term public interest. Rational allocation of public resources is based on the eligibility of the relevant person but not any bundled collective acts. Otherwise, the principles of fairness and impartiality will be violated.
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In handling issues involving public resources, the long-term public interest can only be protected by examining facts and evidence and vetting the eligibility of applicants in accordance with the principles of impartiality and fairness. While the Government has exercised discretion in dealing with the unlicensed operators of the bazaar, the pre-requisite must be their bona fide long-period independent operation at the bazaar.
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To verify the status of the operators of the bazaar, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) has conducted a number of on-site surveys, questionnaire surveys and verification. Those who claim that they have been operating cloth trading in the bazaar independently for a long period were invited to provide relevant information including business registration, tax information, operation period and mode, as well as sources of their goods. All the information were studied and verified rigorously by FEHD before coming up with the current verification results.
Among the 17 claimed unlicensed operators, some of them have submitted supplementary information to FEHD before the deadline. FEHD will study the relevant information as soon as possible to verify if there is any sufficient evidence to prove that they have been operating cloth trading in the bazaar independently for a long period. The Government will continue to maintain close communication with the unlicensed operators.
The Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Ko Wing-man, is in full grasp of the bazaar relocation issue and its progress, as well as the obstacles faced by frontline officers. He will continue to monitor and supervise FHB and FEHD to handle the relocation issue.
He reiterates that he would not influence FEHD in performing public duties in a fair manner according to the department’s established procedures because of unreasonable demands from others. It is also not appropriate for him to meet those who have put forward such demands.
He thanks FEHD colleagues for their hard work in the relocation exercise in the past few years."
Ends/Thursday, October 13, 2016
Issued at HKT 21:30
Issued at HKT 21:30
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