A man and a woman were fined $8,000 and $12,000 at the Kowloon City Magistrates' Courts today (June 26) for contravening the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation Ordinance.

     The courts heard that in December last year, officers of the Office of the Licensing Authority (OLA), the Home Affairs Department, inspected two suspected unlicensed guesthouses on Portland Street in Mong Kok and Nam Cheong Street in Sham Shui Po. During the inspections, the OLA officers posed as lodgers and successfully rented rooms in these guesthouses on a daily basis.

     According to the OLA's records, these guesthouses did not possess licences under the Ordinance on the days of inspection. The man and woman responsible for managing the premises were charged with contravening section 5(1) of the Ordinance.

     A department spokesman stressed that operating or managing an unlicensed guesthouse is a criminal offence and will lead to a criminal record. Upon conviction, the offender is liable to a maximum fine of $200,000 and two years' imprisonment.

     The spokesman appealed to anyone with information about suspected unlicensed guesthouses to report it to the OLA through the hotline (Tel: 2881 7498), by email (hadlaenq@had.gov.hk), by fax (2504 5805) using the report form downloaded from the OLA website (www.hadla.gov.hk), or through the mobile application "Hong Kong Licensed Hotels and Guesthouses".

     The Lands Department announced today (June 26) that the tender for a site, New Kowloon Inland Lot No. 6553 at Kai Tak Area 4C Site 1, Kai Tak, Kowloon, has been awarded to the highest tenderer, Fame Well Creation Limited (parent company: China Resources Land Limited and Poly Property Group Co., Limited), on a 50-year land grant at a premium of $12,916,000,000.

     The tenderers, other than the successful tenderer, in alphabetical order, with the name of the parent company where provided by the tenderer in brackets, were:
 

 
     New Kowloon Inland Lot No. 6553 has a site area of about 9 481 square metres and is designated for non-industrial (excluding office, godown, hotel and petrol filling station) purposes. The minimum gross floor area is 39 821 sq m and the maximum gross floor area that may be attained is 66 367 sq m.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

　　Regarding an earlier announcement on patients confirmed to be Carbapenemase-Producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE) carriers in a male medical ward, the spokesperson for Queen Elizabeth Hospital gave the following update today (June 26):
 
　　One more 75-year-old patient in the ward has been confirmed to be a CPE carrier through active screening without clinical symptoms. The patient is being treated under isolation with stable condition.
 
　　The hospital will continue to closely monitor the situation and adopt the enhanced infection control measures in the ward. The case has been reported to the Hospital Authority Head Office and the Centre for Health Protection for necessary follow-up.
 

     Police are investigating a fatal traffic accident in Chai Wan on June 20 afternoon in which a 60-year-old woman died.

     At about 4.20pm that day, a motorcycle driven by a 28-year-old man was travelling along Shek O Road towards Chai Wan. When approaching near Mount Collinson, it reportedly knocked down the woman who was crossing the road.

     Sustaining head injuries, the woman was rushed to Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital in unconscious state and was certified dead at 3am on the following day (June 21).

     Investigation by the Special Investigation Team of Traffic, Hong Kong Island is underway.

     Anyone who witnessed the accident or has any information to offer is urged to contact the investigating officers at 3660 6800.
     

     The director of Rich China Industries Holdings Limited was prosecuted by the Labour Department (LD) for defaulting on the sums awarded by the Labour Tribunal (LT) as required by the Employment Ordinance (EO). The director pleaded guilty earlier at Kwun Tong Magistrates' Courts and also paid the awarded sums totalling $3.6 million to six employees. The director was sentenced today (June 26) to 60 hours' community service order. 

     The company failed to pay six employees the Labour Tribunal awarded sums of about $3.6 million in total within 14 days after the dates set out by the terms of the LT awards in accordance with the EO. The director concerned was prosecuted and convicted for his consent, connivance or neglect in the above offences.

     "The ruling helps disseminate a strong message to all directors and responsible officers of bodies corporate that they have personal liability to ensure payment of the awarded sums according to the terms of the awards of the LT or the Minor Employment Claims Adjudication Board. The LD will not tolerate these offences and will continue to make dedicated efforts in enforcing the EO and safeguarding employees' statutory rights," a LD spokesman said.