Correctional officers stopped a person in custody from assaulting another person in custody and a staff member at Lo Wu Correctional Institution today (December 9).
      
     At 8.40am today, a 32-year-old female person in custody attacked a 43-year-old female person in custody in a workshop. Officers at the scene immediately stopped the assailant and called for reinforcement. In the meantime, the assailant suddenly became emotional and attacked a correctional officer. Officers at the scene immediately ordered the assailant to stop and applied OC foam to subdue her after repeated warnings were ignored.
      
     During the incident, the victim sustained an injury to her head, while the officer being attacked sustained an injury to her ear. The assailant sustained injuries to her head and hand. They did not need to be sent to a public hospital after examination and treatment by the institution Medical Officer.
      
     The case has been reported to the Police for investigation.
      
     The two persons in custody were sentenced to undergo drug treatment at the institution for the offence of theft and possession of a dangerous drug in June and December 2024, respectively.

     The effective exchange rate index for the Hong Kong dollar on Monday, December 9, 2024 is 106.7 (up 0.1 against last Saturday's index).

     â€‹The effective exchange rate index for the Hong Kong dollar on Saturday, December 7, 2024 was 106.6 (up 0.2 against last Friday's index).
 

     In response to the Japanese Government's plan to discharge nuclear-contaminated water at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Station, the Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene issued a Food Safety Order which prohibits all aquatic products, sea salt and seaweeds originating from the 10 metropolis/prefectures, namely Tokyo, Fukushima, Ibaraki, Miyagi, Chiba, Gunma, Tochigi, Niigata, Nagano and Saitama, from being imported into and supplied in Hong Kong.
 
     For other Japanese aquatic products, sea salt and seaweeds that are not prohibited from being imported into Hong Kong, the Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department will conduct comprehensive radiological tests to verify that the radiation levels of these products do not exceed the guideline levels before they are allowed to be supplied in the market.
 
     As the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water is unprecedented and will continue for 30 years or more, the Government will closely monitor and step up the testing arrangements. Should anomalies be detected, the Government does not preclude further tightening the scope of the import ban.
 
     From noon on December 6 to noon today (December 9), the CFS conducted tests on the radiological levels of 299 food samples imported from Japan, which were of the "aquatic and related products, seaweeds and sea salt" category, in the past three days (including last Saturday and Sunday). No sample was found to have exceeded the safety limit. Details can be found on the CFS's thematic website titled "Control Measures on Foods Imported from Japan" (www.cfs.gov.hk/english/programme/programme_rafs/programme_rafs_fc_01_30_Nuclear_Event_and_Food_Safety.html).
 
     In parallel, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) has also tested 150 samples of local catch for radiological levels. All the samples passed the tests. Details can be found on the AFCD's website (www.afcd.gov.hk/english/fisheries/Radiological_testing/Radiological_Test.html).
 
     The Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) has also enhanced the environmental monitoring of the local waters. No anomaly has been detected so far. For details, please refer to the HKO's website
(www.hko.gov.hk/en/radiation/monitoring/seawater.html).
 
     From August 24, 2023, to noon today, the CFS and the AFCD have conducted tests on the radiological levels of 104 232 samples of food imported from Japan (including 67 316 samples of aquatic and related products, seaweeds and sea salt) and 23 566 samples of local catch respectively. All the samples passed the tests.

     Members of the public are invited to visit an exhibition on the Employment Ordinance and the Minimum Wage Ordinance organised by the Labour Department in Tung Chung on December 10 and 11 (Tuesday and Wednesday).
 
     The exhibition will feature the main provisions of the Employment Ordinance and the Minimum Wage Ordinance, good human resource management measures, as well as employment rights and benefits for foreign domestic helpers. Related publications and souvenirs will be distributed, and promotional videos will be shown.
 
     The exhibition will be held at Sales Venue A & B, 1/F, Fu Tung Plaza, 6 Fu Tung Street, Tung Chung, New Territories, from 11am to 6pm. Admission is free.

     The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) announced today (December 9) that 159 market stalls in 31 public markets that were not taken at open auctions held earlier will be available to the public for renting at their upset prices from December 16 to 18 on a trial first-come, first-served basis.

     The rent of the 159 stalls will be set at the upset price of the most recent open auction. In open auctions, the upset prices for the stalls will be initially fixed at 80 per cent of the open market rent (OMR) if the stalls have been vacant for over six months, and at 60 per cent of the OMR if the vacancy has been over eight months.

     The retail commodities allowed for sale in these stalls cover frozen meat, fresh meat, fish, fruits, vegetables, ready-to-eat food, food-related dry goods and wet goods, non-food related dry goods and wet goods. The tenancy agreement is a three-year fixed term starting from February 1, 2025, with no right of renewal upon expiry. The monthly rent of the stalls varies depending on their sizes, locations, vacancy periods and the reduced upset prices from the last open auction of the individual stalls. Relevant information is available on the FEHD website.

     Members of the public who are interested in renting a market stall should approach the following FEHD offices, as appropriate, to apply in person from 9.30am to 12.30pm or 2.30pm to 4.30pm during the abovementioned renting period:

     A spokesman for the FEHD said, "Applicants for the market stalls must be at least 18 years old and ordinarily reside in Hong Kong. To allow more people to select stalls and increase customer choices by enhancing the diversity in terms of the variety of stalls, there will be a restriction on the number of stalls that can be rented in the same market by a single tenant. Any person who is currently a stall tenant is allowed to select one stall in the same market. The existing tenants under the new three-year fixed term tenancy scheme (i.e. those persons who became stall tenants through the market open auctions after August 2022) are allowed to select a stall in the same market, but must vacate and return the current stall to the FEHD before the effective date of commencement of the new tenancy agreement. The terms and conditions of renting market stalls on a first-come, first-served basis have been uploaded to the FEHD website, detailing qualifications of the applicants."

     Details of renting public market stalls on a first-come, first-served basis have been uploaded to the FEHD website (www.fehd.gov.hk/english/pleasant_environment/tidy_market/FCFS/index.html). Interested applicants may visit the department website or contact the respective District Environmental Hygiene Office.