Replies to LegCo questions
LC Urgent Q5: Improvement options for hawker stalls
Following is a question by Hon Starry Lee under Rule 24(4) of the Rules of
Procedure and a reply by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, in the
Legislative Council today (December 7):
Question:
A fire resulting in the heaviest casualties since the reunification of Hong Kong
broke out at the hawker stalls at Fa Yuen Street in Mong Kok in the early hours
of last Wednesday, in which the fire rapidly spread and smoke engulfed two
adjacent tenement buildings, resulting in nine people killed and 34 injured.
Apart from the concern about the safety management of hawker stalls, quite a
number of residents also complained that when they escaped from the fire, the
staircases were piled up with too many miscellaneous items, thus blocking the
fire escapes, resulting in heavy casualties. In this connection, will the
Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it will consider conducting inspections of all old buildings with
potential safety hazards throughout the territory immediately; and with fire
safety as a priority consideration, requesting the Food and Environmental
Hygiene Department to provide immediate assistance in clearing the fire escapes
once they are found seriously blocked by miscellaneous items; and
(b) whether it will request hawker stalls at Fa Yuen Street to immediately adopt
the temporary arrangement of "no overnight storage of goods at stalls" until a
proposal acceptable to various parties is arrived at through discussion?
Reply:
President,
My reply to the various parts of the question is as follows:
(a) Old composite and residential buildings are regulated under the Fire Safety
(Buildings) Ordinance (Cap. 572) (the Ordinance). The Ordinance came into
operation in July 2007. It aims at upgrading the fire safety standards of about
12 000 composite and residential buildings completed before 1987 to present day
fire safety standards. Of the about 9 200 old composite buildings, the Fire
Services Department (FSD) and the Buildings Department (BD) have so far
conducted joint inspections for about 4 600 (i.e. 50%) of them. Fire safety
directions have been issued to owners or users of about 2 600 buildings,
requiring them to upgrade the fire safety standards of their buildings. If
obstructions to means of escape or potential fire hazards caused by structural
problems are identified during inspections, or if problems are found in the fire
service installations and equipment, the department(s) concerned would take
enforcement action. If there are articles causing obstructions to means of
escape which would lead to imminent and serious fire hazards, FSD could make
arrangement to remove those articles.
In addition, FSD has been arranging the Special Enforcement Unit to inspect old
buildings with higher fire risks to ensure their fire safety. FSD launched a
special inspection operation in districts with a high density of old buildings
last November. More than 200 buildings were inspected during the exercise and 47
prosecutions were taken against irregularities such as obstructions to means of
escape. Cases involving structural problems were referred to BD. Leaflets on
fire safety have also been distributed to the residents.
Owners and residents have to ensure that the fire escape passageways of their
buildings are free of obstruction and they are responsible for clearing any such
obstruction.
(b) The inter-departmental working group chaired by the Chief Secretary for
Administration is actively considering different options. Public safety,
particularly the safety of life and properties of people who live in the
vicinity of hawker bazaars, is our paramount consideration when examining these
options. We consider that it is the duty of stall operators to operate in
accordance with the licensing conditions. However, according to past experience
in stall management, reliance on the self-discipline of traders alone is not
sufficient. We need to step up enforcement with immediate effect in order to
prevent the recurrence of incidents similar to this fire. Naturally, the
long-term operating environment of stall operators should also be taken into
account.
In order to enhance public safety, we will actively consider various improvement
options, including the arrangements of "no overnight storage of commodities at
stalls" or "setting up stalls only during trading hours" and "removing the
commodities without dismantling the stalls at night". Since each option has its
own pros and cons, we must conduct careful studies to assess the risks involved
and discuss with the relevant stakeholders, including the stall operators and
the District Councils. We understand that the public expect an early
implementation of the improvement measures. FEHD and the departments concerned
are now conducting the studies at full speed and will strive to strike a balance
between reducing fire hazards and taking the stall operation into consideration.
Ends/Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Issued at HKT 20:23
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