Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ8: Stall traders and shop operators affected by Fa Yuen Street fire
Following is a question by the Dr Hon Priscilla Leung and a written reply by the
Acting Secretary for Food and Health, Professor Gabriel Leung, in the
Legislative Council today (January 12):
Question:
In the early morning of December 6, 2010, an arson attack occurred at Fa Yuen
Street in Mong Kok, causing a Number 3 alarm fire, in which 50 hawker stalls
were burnt down and some neighboring shops and residents living upstairs were
affected. The fire has caused serious damages to neighbouring buildings and
ground floor shops. Owners of open-air stalls have lost all their properties and
goods, and their businesses have been seriously affected. The affected stall
owners, flat owners, tenants, residents and owners' corporations (OCs), etc.
have to face heavy financial burden after the fire as they need to repair their
residential units and shops urgently. Some fire victims have indicated that as
most residents and stall owners in the district are elderly persons, the
grassroots or traders running small businesses, they have considerable
difficulties in paying for the huge expenses in repairing and re-establishing
their businesses within a short time. In this connection, will the Government
inform this Council:
(a) what financial support or assistance have been provided by the authorities
to the affected stall owners and tenants of ground floor shops since the
outbreak of fire at Fa Yuen Street; and given that traders have no money to
purchase goods for sale again and owners have no money to repair their homes,
whether the authorities will provide subsidies or interest-free loans to them;
(b) whether the authorities will request the Urban Renewal Authority or the Hong
Kong Housing Society to, under the Operation Building Bright and the Building
Management and Maintenance Scheme, etc., provide express vetting service as a
matter of urgency to buildings (with or without OCs) suffering serious damages
in this fire, so that OCs and flat owners of these buildings will receive
subsidies to repair all damaged public areas and private residential areas of
the buildings as soon as possible;
(c) whether the authorities will consider asking the Community Care Fund
Steering Committee, which is chaired by the Chief Secretary for Administration,
to examine allocating funds raised from the business sector to provide emergency
assistance to the fire victims, in case the current assistance schemes cannot
offer help to these victims; and
(d) given that there are comments that this fire has highlighted the problems of
fire safety, management and security arising from the concentration of a large
number of open-air hawker stalls on the same street, whether the authorities
will learn from this lesson and take effective measures to enhance the fire
safety of streets with a large number of open-air hawker stalls in various
districts in Hong Kong, so as to prevent recurrence of fire?
Reply:
President,
A No. 3 alarm fire broke out at some hawker stalls in the Fa Yuen Street Hawker
Permitted Area near Nullah Road at around 5 o'clock in the morning of December
6, 2010. A total of 66 hawker stalls and more than 30 street shops were
affected, among which 49 hawker stalls were seriously damaged by fire. The
residents of several buildings in the vicinity needed to be evacuated. The
Government cared about the condition of the victims. It took immediate action
after the fire with the relevant organisations (including a charitable
organisation and the electricity company) and communicated with the hawker
associations concerned and the stall traders and shop operators affected, with a
view to making concerted efforts to facilitate reconstruction and provide
various assistance. Our reply to the four parts of the question is as follows:
(a) Our first priority has been to assist the stall traders and shop operators
affected to resume business as soon as possible, and to help the residents
affected to resume their normal living. The assistance provided includes the
following:
(i) Emergency Aid: The Yau Tsim Mong District Office (YTMDO) set up an
inter-departmental help desk at the scene immediately after the fire to assist
those victims in urgent need of cash, including stall traders, shop operators
and residents, to apply for assistance under the General Chinese Charities Fund
administered by the Home Affairs Department. The YTMDO arranged for disbursement
of grants on the same day. In parallel, the Social Welfare Department also
liaised with the Lok Sin Tong Benevolent Society, Kowloon, which also provided
emergency relief grants to victims in need. Besides, the YTMDO opened the Henry
G Leong Yau Ma Tei Community Centre on the same day to provide temporary shelter
for the residents in need;
(ii) Clearance of the fire site: The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD)
immediately arranged additional manpower and vehicles to assist stall owners and
shop operators to clean up their stalls and goods damaged by the fire. The
Highways Department also re-surfaced the street promptly to enable stall traders
to undertake reconstruction work as soon as possible;
(iii) Electricity supply and electrical installations: The Electrical and
Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) contacted the China Light & Power Company
Limited (CLP), the Hong Kong and Kowloon Electrical Engineering and Appliances
Trade Workers Union and the Hong Kong Electrical Contractors' Association. With
their assistance, electricity supply was resumed and electrical installations
were reinstalled for the stall traders; and
(iv) Cash flow: If the affected shop operators encounter cash flow problems,
they may consider joining the SME Loan Guarantee Scheme administered by the
Trade and Industry Department to apply for loans from the participating lending
institutions for acquiring business installations and equipment or meeting
working capital needs.
The stall traders and shop operators have largely resumed all their business by
now and those residents seeking temporary shelter have also returned to their
homes by the end of last year.
(b) The Hong Kong Housing Society (HKHS) has been providing assistance to the
building owners. After the incident, the HKHS and the YTMDO have liaised with
the affected owners incorporations and visited the affected owners and
residents. Also, the HKHS has attended the briefing session organised by the
YTMDO to introduce and explain the HKHS's "Building Management and Maintenance
Scheme" (the scheme includes the "Building Maintenance Incentive Scheme" and the
"Home Renovation Loan Scheme") and the "Building Maintenance Grant Scheme for
Elderly Owners". According to information, out of the nine buildings affected,
six satisfy the requirements for application under the "Building Maintenance
Incentive Scheme" and/or the "Home Renovation Loan Scheme". Of these, four have
already applied for or been included in the "Operation Building Bright". One of
these buildings has received the "approval-in-principal" letter while the
applications of the remaining three buildings are being processed by the
relevant departments. The HKHS will try to meet the residents' requests as far
as possible and will expedite the processing of the residents' applications for
subsidies and loans. In addition, the owners can also consider applying for the
Buildings Department's "Building Safety Loan Scheme" for financial support.
(c) The Steering Committee on the Community Care Fund will take into account the
views and demands from various quarters when mapping out the target
beneficiaries and assistance programmes, having regard to the existing
assistance and services already provided by the Government or other charitable
funds.
(d) In respect of the fire safety and management problems arising from the
concentration of stall structures (commonly known as "Pai Dong") in the Fa Yuen
Street Hawker Permitted Area, the FEHD contacted the Fire Services Department (FSD)
and the EMSD immediately after the fire to discuss practicable ways of
enhancement. The enhancement proposals include: ensuring sufficient space in the
carriageway for fire appliances and firemen; reserving sufficient space between
hawker stalls to facilitate evacuation of residents of buildings in the
vicinity; reserving proper separation space between hawker stalls which are not
joined together so as to prevent the spread of fire; ensuring that the stalls
are erected with fire-resisting materials; and requiring that the electricity
supply for lighting should be obtained from legal and independent sources, etc.
Concerning the above proposals, the FEHD, together with the FSD and the EMSD,
has discussed the implementation details with the Federation of Hong Kong,
Kowloon and New Territories Hawker Associations, the Fa Yuen Street Hawker
Association and all licensed hawkers in the Fa Yuen Street Hawker Permitted
Area. When formulating the details, the FEHD's principle is to strive to meet
the operational needs of the traders as far as possible without compromising the
fire safety principle.
After a consensus has been reached with the trade associations and stall traders
concerned, the enhancement proposals have started to be implemented in phases.
The FEHD also calls for self-discipline on the part of the stall traders. Strict
enforcement actions will surely be taken against traders who are found to have
violated the proposed enhancement arrangements, in order to prevent the
unauthorised obstruction of access.
As for other hawker permitted areas with a large number of open-air hawker
stalls in the street, the FEHD will continue to communicate with the FSD and
liaise with the stall traders. Having regard to the specific circumstances of
different locations, appropriate stall specifications and the relevant
requirements would be worked out, with a view to enhancing fire safety through
the licensing mechanism and the enforcement action.
Ends/Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Issued at HKT 13:06
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