Police will implement special traffic arrangements this Sunday (December 23) to facilitate a public order event to be held on Hong Kong Island.

Road closure
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     The leftmost lane of Garden Road between No. 2 Queen’s Road Central and Lower Albert Road will be closed from about 9am until the crowd has dispersed and the traffic resumes normal.

     The following roads will be closed from about 12 noon until the crowd has dispersed and traffic resumes normal:

– Eastbound Lower Albert Road between Ice House Street and Garden Road;
– Upper Albert Road between Garden Road and Lower Albert Road;
– Bank Street.

     The following roads will be intermittently closed from 2pm until the crowd has dispersed and traffic resumes normal:

– Des voeux Road Central between Pedder Street and Queensway; and
– Queen Road Central between Pedder Street and Queensway.

Traffic diversions
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     If necessary, the following traffic diversions will be implemented from 12 noon until the crowd has dispersed and the traffic resumes normal:

– Traffic along eastbound Upper Albert Road cannot turn left to westbound Upper Albert Road; and
– Traffic along eastbound Lower Albert Road outside The Fringe Club must go straight to Ice House Street.

Suspension of parking spaces
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     The metered parking spaces on Upper Albert Road will be suspended from 9am to 5pm.

     The metered parking spaces at the slip road outside Lower Peak Tram Terminal will be suspended from 9am to 5pm, except motorcycle parking spaces and disabled parking spaces.

     Vehicles may not be permitted to access or leave car parks along the route during the road closure period.

     Actual implementation of the traffic arrangements will be made depending on traffic and crowd conditions in the area. Motorists are advised to exercise tolerance and patience and take heed of instructions of the Police on site.

The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:

     No open or closed meetings of the Legislative Council (LegCo) Committees will be held in the LegCo Complex during the week from December 24 to 28.

     The Office of the Communications Authority (OFCA) today (December 21) invites applications for the assignment of spectrum in the 26 GHz and 28 GHz bands for the provision of large scale fifth generation (5G) mobile services.

     This invitation follows the decisions of the Communications Authority and the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development on December 13, 2018 on the administrative assignment of 3 700 MHz of spectrum in the 26 GHz and 28 GHz bands, which can be used for the provision of large scale 5G mobile services starting in April 2019. Please refer to the joint statement for details of the decisions: www.coms-auth.hk/filemanager/statement/en/upload/480/joint_statement_st_052018.pdf.

     Detailed arrangements and relevant information for submission of applications are set out in the Guidelines for Submission of Applications for Assignment of Spectrum in the 26 GHz and 28 GHz Bands for Provision of Large Scale Public Mobile Services, which can be downloaded from: www.ofca.gov.hk/filemanager/ofca/en/content_1127/26_28_GHz_Guidelines.pdf;

     Interested parties should submit their applications to the OFCA by 5.30pm on January 25, 2019. Late submissions will not be accepted. The application form can be downloaded from: www.ofca.gov.hk/filemanager/ofca/en/content_1127/26_28_GHz_ApplicationForm.pdf.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
 
     The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) published today (December 21) statistics on SVF schemes issued by SVF licensees for the third quarter of 2018.
      
     The SVF scheme statistics (see Annex) include quarterly data on SVF schemes issued by the sixteen SVF licensees (Note 1).  The HKMA began to publish the SVF scheme statistics on a quarterly basis in March 2017 to enhance transparency of the SVF industry in Hong Kong.
      
     According to the quarterly statistics, the total number of SVF accounts in use (Note 2) was 54.10 million by the end of Q3/2018, representing a 4.4% increase from the previous quarter.  The total number of SVF transactions (Note 3) was around 1.5 billion for Q3/2018, or 0.9% higher than the previous quarter.  The total value of SVF transactions was HK$44.7 billion for Q3/2018, up 9.1% from the previous quarter.  Of the total transaction value, HK$22.3 billion was related to point-of-sale spending payment, HK$15.9 billion in online spending payment and HK$6.6 billion in P2P funds transfer.  The total float and SVF deposit (Note 4) was HK$9.5 billion for Q3/2018, 6.6% higher than the previous quarter.
      
     As compared with the end of Q3/2017, the total number of SVF accounts in use at the end of Q3/2018 was up by 20.6%, and the total float and SVF deposit was up by 26.8%.  The total number and value of SVF transactions during Q3/2018 were up by 6.9% and 29.7% respectively year-on-year. 
 
Note 1: The SVF scheme statistics are compiled from data on SVF schemes issued by the sixteen SVF licensees.  The SVF licensees, in alphabetical order, are 33 Financial Services Limited, Alipay Financial Services (HK) Limited, Autotoll Limited, Bank of Communications (Hong Kong) Limited, Dah Sing Bank, Limited, ePaylinks Technology Co., Limited, HKT Payment Limited, Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (The), K & R International Limited, Octopus Cards Limited, Optal Asia Limited, PayPal Hong Kong Limited, TNG (Asia) Limited, Transforex (Hong Kong) Investment Consulting Co., Limited, UniCard Solution Limited and WeChat Pay Hong Kong Limited.
Note 2: "Total number of SVF accounts in use" refers to the total number of SVF accounts that can be used as at the end of the reporting period.
Note 3: SVF transactions include point-of-sale spending payment, online spending payment and P2P funds transfer.
Note 4: The following terms follow their definitions in the Payment Systems and Stored Value Facilities Ordinance:
(i) "Float" means the stored value remaining on the facility but does not include any SVF deposit;
(ii) "SVF deposit" means a deposit placed with the licensee, or another person on behalf of the licensee, for enabling the facility to be used.

     A man was fined $2,000 at the Tuen Mun Magistrates' Courts today (December 21) for contravening the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation Ordinance.
      
     The courts heard that in March this year, officers of the Office of the Licensing Authority (OLA), the Home Affairs Department, inspected a licensed guesthouse on Hong Lok Road in Yuen Long. During the inspection, the OLA officers posed as lodgers and successfully rented a room in an unlicensed guesthouse in the same building on a daily basis.
      
     The man responsible for managing the premises was charged with contravening section 21(3)(b) of the Ordinance for managing a guesthouse in a premises other than the one indicated in the licence.
      
     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".