Press Releases
Government handles relocation of Yen Chow Street Temporary Hawker Bazaar in fair and impartial manner
In response to media enquiries on the protest the unlicensed
operators of Yen Chow Street Temporary Hawker Bazaar plan to
stage tomorrow, a spokesman for the Food and Health Bureau
(FHB) today (October 13) said:
"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.
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.
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
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