​The ventilation system of Harbour Café, a restaurant on Yen Chow Street in Sham Shui Po, caused noise nuisance in early morning which affected nearby residents. The responsible person of the restaurant was fined $7,500 at Kwun Tong Magistrates' Courts today (December 13) for contravening the Noise Control Ordinance (NCO).
A spokesman for the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) said that the department received a complaint in March this year from a resident against the excessive noise emanating from Harbour Café. The investigation and assessment conducted by EPD enforcement officers confirmed that the noise generated by the restaurant's ventilation system at night-time exceeded the statutory limit and a noise abatement notice (NAN) was issued to the restaurant requesting that mitigation measures to be taken. EPD staff made a follow up inspection at the restaurant in July and found that the noise generated from its ventilation system in early morning (before 7am) still reached 63 decibels (dB) and exceeded the statutory limit by 8dB. The department subsequently prosecuted the responsible person of the restaurant in accordance with the law.
The spokesman reminded all operators of food premises to carry out regular inspection and maintenance of ventilation systems installed at their premises. They should hire a professional contractor to replace the parts and install noise abatement equipment for their ventilation systems to ensure their normal operation and avoid generating excessive noise which caused noise nuisance to nearby residents.
According to the NCO, anyone failing to comply with any requirement of a NAN commits an offence. First-time offenders are liable to a maximum fine of $100,000. A maximum fine of $200,000 may be imposed on second or subsequent convictions.
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