With the Mid-Autumn Festival around the corner, the Housing Department (HD) reminds tenants to handle candles with care. Both the flames and melted wax can pose a risk of injury. It is also important not to boil wax in public areas of public housing estates so as to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival in a safe and joyful manner.
Boiling wax is a misdeed that will cause responsible households to be allotted penalty points without warning under the Estate Management Marking Scheme (Marking Scheme) and be given a fine of $1,500 for littering.
An HD spokesman reminded today (September 26) the risks of boiling wax that may cause fires and severe burns. Therefore, parents should educate and stop their children from boiling wax to prevent accidents.
"Although wax boiling and littering caused by tenants celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival have abated in the past few years, we will continue to step up our patrolling this year. If minors refuse to stop the misdeeds despite verbal warnings from our patrol staff, we will turn to their parents. The household will be subject to an allotment of penalty points under the Marking Scheme. The tenancy will be terminated if 16 points or more have been allotted within two years," the spokesman stressed.
Apart from routine checks by estate offices, for three consecutive days from Thursday (September 28) to Saturday (September 30) staff from the HD's Regional Patrol Teams and Mobile Operations Unit will be deployed to patrol public rental housing (PRH) estates beyond midnight. Additional cleaning workers will also be deployed to clean up early in the morning following the festival day.
Messages urging tenants not to boil wax and to keep the estates clean have been publicized through posters, the Housing Channel and more.
The spokesman called for PRH tenants' support by reporting any misdeeds to estate offices or the Housing Authority Hotline on 2712 2712.
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