A man and a woman were fined $15,000 each by the Kowloon City Magistrates' Courts today (April 3) for contravening the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation Ordinance.
      
     The courts heard that in June and July last year, officers of the Office of the Licensing Authority (OLA), the Home Affairs Department, inspected two suspected unlicensed guesthouses on Tung Choi Street and Shanghai Street in Mong Kok. During the inspections, the OLA officers posed as lodgers and successfully rented rooms in these guesthouses on an hourly or 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".

     Following is a question by the Hon Kwok Wai-keung and a written reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Dr Law Chi-kwong, in the Legislative Council today (April 3):
 
Question:
 
     Regarding the manpower situation of the elderly service sector, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) whether it knows the respective numbers of care workers and health workers currently employed by (i) subvented residential care homes for the elderly (RCHEs) and (ii) private RCHEs in Hong Kong; 

(2) of the number of workers imported in each of the past two years by the elderly service sector under the Supplementary Labour Scheme, and the current (i) median monthly wage and (ii) average weekly working hours of such kind of workers; 

(3) whether it knows the numbers of (a) certificate courses on care workers training and (b) certificate courses on health workers training organised respectively by the Employees Retraining Board and the Vocational Training Council in the past two years, and set out the following information on such courses: (i) title, (ii) the type to which the course belonged, (iii) the professional field to which the course belonged (e.g. health care and residential care), (iv) mode of study, (v) duration of training, (vi) originally estimated and actual numbers of enrolled trainees, (vii) number of graduates, and (viii) percentage of trainees employed by the elderly service sector upon graduation; and 

(4) given that the Social Welfare Department (SWD) has implemented the Navigation Scheme for Young Persons in Care Services since July 2015 to encourage young persons to join the elderly service sector, of (i) the quota take-up and dropout rates of the Scheme so far, and (ii) among the participants in each intake of the Scheme, the number of those who have completed the two-year part-time course under the Scheme; whether SWD will review and improve the remuneration package of the participants to increase the attractiveness of the Scheme?

Reply:
 
President,
 
     My reply to the Member's question is as follows:
 
(1) The Social Welfare Department (SWD) has not conducted any systematic statistical analysis on the information requested, and is therefore not able to provide it. 

(2) In 2017 and 2018, employers of the elderly care service sector were approved to import 1 510 and 1 409 care workers respectively in respect of their applications under the Supplementary Labour Scheme (SLS). According to the requirements under SLS, employers should pay wages to imported workers at a level no less than the relevant median monthly wage as compiled by the Census and Statistics Department for SLS. The median monthly wage currently applicable to the imported care workers is $13,000 (nine hours of work (excluding meal break) per working day). The Labour Department has no information on the average weekly working hours of imported care workers. 

(3) Information on vocational education and training courses relating to the elderly service sector (including certificates in care worker, certificates in health worker and relevant courses) organised by the Employees Retraining Board and the Vocational Training Council in the past two years is at Annex. 

(4) SWD launched the Navigation Scheme for Young Persons in Care Services (the Navigation Scheme) in July 2015, providing a total of 1 000 training places in phases starting from 2015-16 to encourage young people to join the elderly and rehabilitation care services. As at end-December 2018, a total of 1 018 trainees had been recruited by service operators of the Navigation Scheme in phases. Amongst them, 314 trainees had graduated, 287 were still participating in the scheme, while 417 had left. In 2019-20, service operators will continue to recruit trainees having regard to their respective programme arrangements. It is expected that an additional 200 training places will be provided. 

     The Government will continue to provide a total of 1 200 training places under the Navigation Scheme in the five years starting from 2020-21, and will enhance the existing scheme with a view to attracting more young people to enroll and further encouraging them to join the elderly and rehabilitation care services. Enhanced measures include enlarging the age range of trainees, reducing the weekly working hours of the trainees to enable them to cope with the work of the course more effectively, and increasing the salary of the trainees, etc, so as to attract more young people to join the social welfare care sector.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
 
     The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), as representative of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government (HKSAR Government), announces today (April 3) that a tender of 3-year Government Bonds (Bonds) through the re-opening of existing 5-year Government Bond issue 05GB2205 under the Institutional Bond Issuance Programme will be held on Wednesday (April 10), for settlement on Thursday (April 11).
 
     An additional amount of HK$4.0 billion of the outstanding 5-year Bonds (issue no. 05GB2205) will be on offer. The Bonds will mature on May 18, 2022 and will carry interest at the rate of 1.16 per cent per annum payable semi-annually in arrears. The Indicative Pricings of the Bonds on April 3, 2019 is 98.80 with an annualised yield of 1.562 per cent.
 
     Under the Institutional Bond Issuance Programme, tender is open only to Recognized Dealers which are appointed as Primary Dealers. Anyone wishing to apply for the Bonds on offer can do so through any of the Primary Dealers on the current published list, which can be obtained from the Government Bond Programme's website at www.hkgb.gov.hk. Each tender must be for an amount of HK$50,000 or integral multiples thereof.
 
     Tender results will be published on the HKMA's website, the Government Bond Programme's website, the Reuters screen (HKGBINDEX), and Bloomberg (GBHK <GO>) not later than 3pm on the tender day.

HKSAR Government Institutional Bond Issuance Programme tender informatiom
—————————————————————————————–
Tender information of re-opening of 5-year Government Bonds under the Institutional Bond Issuance Programme:
 

 
Price/Yield Table of the re-opening Government Bonds at tender for reference* only:
 

 
 
*Disclaimer
The information provided here is for reference only. Although extreme care has been taken to ensure that the information provided is accurate and up-to-date, the HKMA does not warrant that all, or any part of, the information provided is accurate in all respects. You are encouraged to conduct your own enquiries to verify any particular piece of information provided on it. The HKMA shall not be liable for any loss or damage suffered as a result of any use or reliance on any of the information provided here.

     The Correctional Services Department (CSD) today (April 3) launched an operation at Stanley Prison to combat illicit activities by persons in custody.

     Recently, the management of Stanley Prison received intelligence that some persons in custody planned to organise illicit activities and incited fellow persons in custody to act against the management. Earlier, correctional officers encountered verbal provocation by some persons in custody when investigating a fighting incident inside a dining hall.

     Following assessment and detailed planning, the CSD deployed a regional response team, officers of the Security Section and a dog unit this morning to reinforce Stanley Prison to combat illicit activities and conduct a search on target locations and persons. During the operation, seven persons in custody who were suspected of inciting fellow persons in custody to engage in collective illicit activities or were in possession of unauthorised articles were removed from association for investigation. The atmosphere at Stanley Prison is currently stable. The CSD will continue to closely monitor developments and the activities of persons in custody concerned.

     In order to assist persons in custody to rehabilitate in a safe and orderly environment, the CSD spares no effort in combating illicit activities of all kinds in its institutions.

     Stanley Prison is a maximum security prison for the detention of male adult persons in custody including those who committed serious offences.

     A spokesman for the Department of Health (DH) today (April 3) said that the DH anticipates that the measles outbreak at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) will last for a period of time, hence the control measures at the airport including vaccination and blood test services will remain available. The arrangements for these services will be adjusted taking into consideration the latest situation.
 
     Regarding the measles vaccination service, in view of the tight supply of measles vaccines around the globe currently, the DH has to reserve vaccines for people who are most in need and arrange vaccinations for those who do not have sufficient immunity against measles in a more effective and timely manner. Vaccination for eligible airport staff at the airport vaccination station will continue to be provided to the following target groups:

(1) Born in or after 1967, and have not received two doses of measles vaccination, and have not been infected with measles before, and with evidence of living with infants under 1-year-old or living with pregnant women; or

(2) Have laboratory evidence of testing not positive against measles antibody (IgG).

     Details of evidence are as follows:

(a) Supporting documents for living with infants under 1-year-old: for example birth certificate, discharge summary or vaccination card of the infant
(b) Supporting documents for living with pregnant women: for example, positive pregnancy tests or antenatal follow-up cards of the pregnant women
(c) Supporting documents for laboratory evidence: for example blood results from the DH's measles serology test or any laboratory within the past 12 months
 
     From this Friday to next Friday (April 5 to 12), the vaccination quota for the measles vaccination station at the airport remains at 500 doses daily. After reviewing the latest situation, the DH will operate the vaccination station at Level 5, Terminal 2 of the HKIA only, starting this Friday.

     The venue and operation hours of the airport vaccination station are as follows:
     

 
     As for the blood test service, the DH will continue with the provision of a measles serology test service for airport staff to identify those who need the measles vaccination. From next Monday to Friday (April 8 to 12), the DH will provide blood test service daily to around 100 airport staff who were born in or after 1967, with priority to be given to staff belonging to target group (1). The blood test service will be suspended from this Friday to Sunday (April 5 to 7). The DH will notify the participants individually of the serology results.
 
     The venue and operation hours of the airport blood test station are as follows: