Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ10: Hawker control policy
Following is a question by the Hon Wong Kwok-hing and a written reply by the
Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today
(May 18):
Question:
It has been reported that the public was earlier concern about the incident in
which a 72-year-old hawker, who had been selling charcoal-roasted egg waffles
for 30 years, was prosecuted repeatedly by the Hawker Control Team of the Food
and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) within a short period of time. The
incident has once again sparked discussions in the community about the hawker
management policy. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) among the unlicensed hawkers prosecuted by FEHD in the past three years, the
number of those who were prosecuted for selling cooked foods; the number of
those who were prosecuted more than once by the Hawker Control Team of FEHD, and
the respective numbers of unlicensed hawkers who were prosecuted repeatedly
within one month, two weeks and one week;
(b) as it has been reported that there are public views that, in addition to
issuing new Fixed-Pitch Hawker Licences to allow applicants to operate the
existing vacant fixed hawker pitches as agreed in 2009, the Government should
issue more new hawker licences to enable the grassroots to engage in small
businesses and stand on their own feet, whether the authorities will consider
such suggestions and give small business operators opportunities to earn a
living; and
(c) as it has been reported that there are public views that allowing hawkers to
operate within legally prescribed times and locations may enable the grassroots
to make a living and may also boost economic activities in the community,
especially in new towns such as Tung Chung and Tin Shui Wai, etc. where street
economic activities are totally non-existent, and that setting up hawker bazaars
or markets there may not only make up for the aforesaid shortcomings but may
also develop these areas into tourist attractions of Hong Kong with special
characteristics, whether the authorities will make reference to the experience
of the Mainland and the neighbouring regions (e.g. Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia
and Thailand, etc.) and consider designating new legal hawker areas in certain
districts as hawker bazaars and night markets with special characteristics,
etc., to allow members of the public (e.g. the elderly people and people who
sell goods with traditional characteristics) to apply for operating small
business there, so as to boost the local culture and community economy; if they
will, whether the authorities have any preliminary idea; if not, of the reasons
for that?
Reply:
President,
The Government's policy on hawker control is to regulate the hawking activities
of licensed hawkers and take enforcement action against illegal hawking, so as
to safeguard food safety and environmental hygiene. If the hawking activity does
not involve the selling of prohibited or restricted food or cooked food and is
not conducted in major thoroughfares or areas of high pedestrian flow, officers
of Hawker Control Teams (HCTs) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department
(FEHD) will give warning first before taking enforcement action and prosecution
action will be taken only if the verbal warning is not heeded. Furthermore, if
elderly or disabled hawkers are involved, HCT officers will exercise their
powers in a reasonable manner in light of the actual circumstances. However,
under the overarching objective of safeguarding food safety and public health,
HCTs will still take immediate enforcement action against unlicensed hawkers
selling prohibited or restricted food or cooked food. It is necessary for hawker
control measures to achieve a proper balance between protection of public health
and flexibility in enforcement action. Reply to the various parts of the
question is as follows:
(a) In the three years from 2008 to 2010, there were a total of 17 919 convicted
cases of unlicensed hawking, with 687 of them involving selling cooked food
without a licence. Some 2 900 persons were prosecuted twice or more. FEHD does
not have statistics on the time gap between prosecutions involving repeat
offenders.
(b) and (c) In response to the call in the community for re-issuing hawker
licences, the Food and Health Bureau and FEHD conducted a comprehensive review
on hawker licensing policy between 2008 and 2009. During the review, we
consulted the Legislative Council Panel on Food Safety and Environmental Hygiene
(the Panel), the 18 District Councils (DCs), over 20 hawker associations and
other relevant stakeholders. While some of them supported re-issuing hawker
licences, certain DCs and stakeholders held opposing views. Their main concerns
were that hawking activities would cause environmental hygiene and noise
nuisances as well as obstruction to public passageways and hazard to pedestrian
safety, which were not consistent with the prevailing public expectations
regarding food safety and environmental hygiene.
After striking a balance between different views and obtaining the Panel's
support, FEHD has already implemented a whole host of new measures on hawker
licensing in response to different views in the community on hawking activities,
including the aspirations for preservation of local heritage. Such measures
include re-issuing itinerant hawker licences to the so-called "small ice-cream
vendors" and fixed-pitch hawker licences; as well as relaxing succession and
transfer arrangements for "Dai Pai Tong" licences. As at April 2011, FEHD has
issued a total of 54 new licences to "small ice-cream vendors" and 233 new
fixed-pitch hawker licences. Besides, FEHD has hitherto received ten
applications for transferring "Dai Pai Tong" licences in Central to the
licensees' offspring and five of them have been approved.
As for the suggestion put forward by some members of the public of setting up
open-air bazaars with local characteristics at suitable sites, the conclusion of
the review on hawker licensing policy is that FEHD stands ready to provide, in
collaboration with the relevant departments, appropriate assistance to the
proponents if they have identified suitable sites with support of the local DCs
and have satisfied the requirements on food safety and environmental hygiene. In
addition, as advised by the Home Affairs Department, it has all along been
rendering support to DCs in organising activities to promote local
characteristics and attractions, including the introduction and promotion of
hawker bazaars with unique characteristics through different channels.
Ends/Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Issued at HKT 12:42
NNNN