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Three charities have been issued Public Subscription Permits to hold flag sales from 7am to 12.30pm today (December 23). They are, on Hong Kong Island, Pentecostal Holiness Church Shaukiwan Assembly Limited Gilead Social Service Centre; in Kowloon, Richmond Fellowship of Hong Kong; and in the New Territories, The Parents’ Association of Pre-school Handicapped Children, a spokesman for the Social Welfare Department (SWD) said.
Arrangements have been made with the charities to help people to distinguish among the three flag-selling activities.
Information on the three flag-selling organisations on December 23 is as follows:
| Region | Name of organisation | Colour of collection bag | Colour of flag |
| Hong Kong Island | Pentecostal Holiness Church Shaukiwan Assembly Limited Gilead Social Service Centre | Purple | Beige |
| Kowloon | Richmond Fellowship of Hong Kong | Beige | Light yellow |
| New Territories | The Parents’ Association of Pre-school Handicapped Children | Red | Blue |
A spokesman for the Transport Department (TD) today (December 22) responded to media enquiries on the incident of errors for toll charging at Western Harbour Crossing after the toll service provider wrongly applied the old toll table in the morning on December 18. The time-varying tolls was implemented successfully at 5am on December 17 and has been operating normally since then. On December 18, the toll service provider found that there was an error in the toll table from 10.02am onwards, and corrected the tolls according to the correct time-varying toll table at 11.04am. On that day, the TD immediately requested the toll service provider to make refunds, conduct a serious investigation and immediately plug the loophole of the error, as well as propose improvement measures to the workflow and system operation in future.
According to the preliminary information provided by the toll service provider on that day, the incident did not involve a system problem but a human factor and it was suspected that someone tampered with the system. In order to ascertain whether the anomalous tampering was intentional, the Police therefore proactively launched an investigation.
The investigation revealed that the incident was caused by negligence of the staff of the toll service provider. Firstly, the staff responsible for the system did not clear an old command immediately when updating the toll tables for the implementation of the time-varying tolls. At 10.02am on December 18, another staff member responsible for the operation, mistakenly approved the old command with others when performing daily operational approvals, resulting in the replacement of the time-varying toll table by the old one and charged wrong tolls. According to the Police’s investigation, the incident did not involve any criminal element.
TD has summoned the management of the toll service provider on December 20 to express strong dissatisfaction with the incident. As instructed by TD, the service provider also took immediate measures to step up monitoring of the proper functioning of the system to prevent intervention to the system, including internal human error intervention or external malicious intervention, and took internal disciplinary actions, including issuing written warnings to the staff concerned and terminating the duties of the supervisory staff. Also, the TD will arrange for an independent audit to review the system operation procedures of the toll service provider, and has already added in the key procedures of the system operation the requirement of obtaining the TD’s authorisation for double authentication, so as to ensure that similar incidents will not recur.
The TD has also received the report from the toll service provider and is reviewing the contents of the investigation report in detail. The TD will request the toll service provider to make further improvements. read more
A Government spokesman said today (December 22) that, to combat unauthorised building works (UBWs) and unlawful occupation of government land of houses along the seafront of Redhill Peninsula, the Buildings Department (BD) and the Lands Department (LandsD) completed last month (November) inspection of all houses along the seafront and has been issuing removal orders and notices requiring cessation of occupation of government land to relevant owners based on inspection findings. The departments will also consider prosecution action against the offenders after examining the evidence and seeking legal advice. In addition, the two departments commenced the joint operation at Beaulieu Peninsula in Tuen Mun this month on suspected irregularities of houses along the seafront or near the slope.
“The BD and the LandsD commenced a large-scale joint operation on September 22 to focus inspections on the remaining 85 houses (i.e. houses along the seafront other than the four houses at the landslide location which were inspected earlier) along the seafront of Redhill Peninsula in accordance with the risk-based enforcement approach, and successfully entered all 85 houses for inspection and collection of evidence. At this stage, it is found that 29 of the houses involved both UBWs and unlawful occupation of government land, 40 involved UBWs, and one involved unlawful occupation of government land. No UBWs or unlawful occupation of government land were found for the remaining 15 houses. As the situation of UBWs in some of the houses requires further inspection and collection of evidence, the final number of houses involving UBWs is subject to further verification. The BD and the LandsD have been issuing removal orders under the Buildings Ordinance or notices pursuant to the Land (Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance respectively to require the relevant owners to remove the UBWs in private premises and land and require the relevant persons to demolish the structures on government land and cease occupation of the land,” the spokesman said.
For cases impacting on the slope or building structure, the owners must appoint registered building professionals to submit remedial proposals (including an assessment on the impact of the relevant UBWs on the overall slope and building structure) and building plans to the BD, and reinstate the affected parts of the buildings by registered contractors in accordance with the approved plans after obtaining the department’s approval and consent. The relevant reinstatement works should be commenced within 90 days and completed within 150 days from the date of issuance of the order. For UBWs not involving the above circumstances, the owner must appoint registered building professionals and/or registered contractors to carry out the removal of UBWs in accordance with the simplified requirements and procedures of the Minor Works Control System and commence the works within 30 days and complete them within 60 days from the date of issuance of the order. The BD will also deliver the orders to the Land Registry for registration against the relevant property titles (commonly known as “imposing an encumbrance on the register”).
For cases of unlawful occupation of government land, the relevant persons must submit a proposal for the demolition of structures on government land for approval by LandsD within 30 days from the date of the notice issued by the department and ensure that the works will not affect the safety and stability of the slope. The deadline for completion of demolition works will depend on the scale of the demolition works but should not exceed 150 days from the date of issuance of the relevant notice.
The BD will instigate prosecution against owners who fail to comply with the removal orders without reasonable excuse. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $200,000 and one-year imprisonment, and a further fine of $20,000 for each day that the offence continues. As for non-compliance with the LandsD’s notice to demolish the structures on the government land or persons who continue to occupy government land in contravention with the notice without reasonable excuse, the LandsD will instigate prosecution against the persons concerned. If convicted on the first occasion, the maximum penalty is a fine of $500,000 and imprisonment of six months, and a further fine of $50,000 for each day that the offence continues; on each subsequent occasion of conviction, the maximum penalty is a fine of $1,000,000 and imprisonment of six months, and a further fine of $100,000 for each day that the offence continues. The owners must bear the costs of removing the UBWs and the structures occupying government land on their own.
Apart from issuing removal orders and notices requiring cessation of occupation of government land, the BD and the LandsD are continuing with their investigations of cases involving UBWs and unlawful occupation of government land, including the irregularities of the four houses at the earlier landslide location. If there is sufficient evidence, further prosecution action against the persons (including owners, professionals and contractors participating in the construction works of the UBWs) involved in the above cases of irregularities will be considered after seeking legal advice. Investigations of these cases are in progress. In addition, the Government is continuing with the investigation of causes of the earlier landslide. If it is found that UBWs or unlawful occupation of government land in individual houses were related to the landslide, the Government will seek to recover the cost of emergency repair works and related costs incurred in the earlier upgrading of slopes from the relevant persons.
The Redhill Peninsula incident has revealed that UBWs or unlawful occupation of government land in houses along the seafront could pose safety hazards and risks to surrounding slopes. In line with the risk-based enforcement approach, the two departments commenced another joint operation this month, targeting houses along the seafront or near the slope on Beaulieu Peninsula in Tuen Mun. In the past, the BD has issued removal orders to individual houses in the estate and prosecuted those owners who failed to comply with the orders. However, as there are still other houses on Beaulieu Peninsula involving UBWs, unauthorised site formation works and unlawful occupation of government land as shown in the aerial photos, the BD and the LandsD decided to target the houses along the seafront or near the slope in the estate and commence the joint operation. read more
A Eurasian wigeon collected earlier from the Hong Kong Wetland Park and receiving treatment at the Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden (KFBG) was suspected to be positive for the H5 avian influenza (AI) virus based on preliminary testing, a spokesman for the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) said today (December 22). Further confirmatory tests are being conducted.
The Eurasian wigeon was humanely dispatched and AFCD staff have collected the carcass for further testings. AFCD staff also conducted an inspection of the KFBG bird collection and collected faecal samples from other birds at a higher infection risk kept at the KFBG for testings. No abnormalities were noted at this stage.
The spokesman noted that the KFBG has stepped up cleaning and disinfection. For the sake of prudence, all birds at a higher infection risk will be quarantined for 21 days and subject to further testings. The AFCD will closely monitor the situation.
One chicken farm is within 3 kilometres of where the bird was kept. The AFCD has informed the chicken farm concerned and no abnormal mortality or symptoms of avian influenza among the chicken flocks have been found so far. The AFCD will remind poultry farmers to strengthen precautionary and biosecurity measures against AI. Pet bird shop owners and licence holders of bird exhibitions will also be reminded to implement proper precautions against AI.
The spokesman said that the department will closely monitor poultry farms and the wholesale market to ensure that proper precautions against AI have been taken. The department will continue its wild bird monitoring and surveillance.
“People should avoid personal contact with wild birds and live poultry and their droppings. They should clean their hands thoroughly after coming into contact with them. The public can call 1823 for AFCD’s follow-up if they come across birds suspected to be sick or dead, including the carcasses of wild birds and poultry,” the spokesman said.
The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) will continue to be vigilant over live poultry stalls. It will also remind stall operators to maintain good hygiene.
The Department of Health will keep up its health education to remind the public to maintain strict personal and environmental hygiene to prevent AI.
The AFCD, the FEHD, the Customs and Excise Department and the Police will strive to deter the illegal importation of poultry and birds into Hong Kong to minimise the risk of AI outbreaks caused by imported poultry and birds that have not gone through inspection and quarantine.
All relevant government departments will continue to be highly vigilant and strictly enforce preventive measures against AI. Health advice about preventing AI is available on the “Avian Influenza Health Advice” page at www.afcd.gov.hk. read more