Public Health and Municipal Services (Amendment) Bill 2024 gazetted
The Public Health and Municipal Services (Amendment) Bill 2024 was published in the Gazette today (November 22).
A spokesman for the Environment and Ecology Bureau said, "The Government is committed to enhancing the environmental hygiene of Hong Kong and resolving environmental hygiene problems that cause irritation to members of the public. Further to increasing fixed penalty levels for offences such as littering in October 2023, the Amendment Bill is now introduced to enhance enforcement efficiency and deterrent effect to effectively achieve sustainable improvements in environmental hygiene."
Situations such as water seepage in buildings and water dripping from air-conditioners cause nuisance to the neighbourhood. For effective handling, the source of the nuisance must first be ascertained, and the relevant owner or occupier should be urged to abate the nuisance within a reasonable time. To enable investigation officers to enter premises suspected of being the source of the nuisance as soon as possible, the Amendment Bill recommends making it an offence for failing to comply with a notice of intended entry without reasonable excuse, and extending the period allowed for entering premises for investigations from the current period between 7am and 7pm to between 7am and 10pm, accommodating contemporary lifestyle and work schedules of citizens. The Amendment Bill will also increase penalty levels for non-compliance with the Government's notices and/or court orders for abatement of nuisances within a specified period to better ensure that public health nuisances are abated expeditiously.
In addition, owners or occupiers of premises should maintain good hygiene on their premises. If no action is taken against vermin infestations in premises, the risk of disease transmission increases. For vermin problems occurring in common parts of buildings, the Amendment Bill recommends, with reference to relevant measures to prevent mosquito breeding, that a notice be served to the persons responsible for management of the building (e.g. owners' corporations and property management companies) to tackle vermin problems in common parts of buildings as soon as possible. This will prevent the problem from affecting other flats in the building.
The Amendment Bill also includes adjustments to the maximum penalties which the court may impose for offences related to vermin infestations, occupation of public places by miscellaneous articles causing obstruction to scavenging operation and illegal display or affixation of bills or posters to ensure sufficient deterrent effect. Relevant penalty levels have not been adjusted since 1996. Furthermore, the Amendment Bill recommends introducing a new provision on shopfront extension in the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Cap. 132). This will allow the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) to handle shopfront extension situations independently, including requiring shops to remove obstructing articles themselves, or allowing the department to remove obstructing articles when no owners have come forward, as well as stipulating the mechanism for disposing of removed articles. The amendments regarding shopfront extension aim to enhance enforcement efficiency and define the nature of the offence; they will neither change current enforcement standards for shopfront extension under the Summary Offences Ordinance (Cap. 228) nor adjust the penalty levels.
The spokesman said, "We propose that the relevant amendments take effect three months after gazettal following the passage of the Amendment Bill by the Legislative Council. During the three-month period, the FEHD will conduct extensive publicity for relevant sectors and the general public, so that all parties will understand the relevant amendments. We believe that the Amendment Bill will enable the Government to handle various environmental hygiene problems more effectively in the future, thereby resolving problems for citizens and building a more liveable environment."
The Amendment Bill will be introduced into the Legislative Council for its first reading and second reading on December 4.
Foreign domestic helper jailed for conspiracy to defraud and illegal work
A foreign domestic helper was convicted of conspiracy to defraud and working illegally in Hong Kong, and was sentenced to imprisonment on November 19 in the Sha Tin Magistrates' Court.
The Immigration Department's Foreign Domestic Helpers Special Investigation Section conducted an anti-illegal worker operation on August 22 at a restaurant in Wan Chai district. During the operation, a 26-year-old Indian woman was arrested while she was working as a dishwasher. Investigators found that the illegal worker was a foreign domestic helper and her contractual employer was the owner of an outsourced cleaning company who contracted the restaurant's dishwashing work.
Under caution, the arrested foreign domestic helper admitted to have worked as a kitchen dishwasher at the restaurant since January this year for the purpose of earning a monthly salary of HK$14,000. She also admitted to have conspired with her contractual employer to apply for a foreign domestic helper visa using a false contract in order to work illegally in Hong Kong, instead of performing domestic duties.
The arrested foreign domestic helper was charged at the Shatin Magistrates' Court on November 19 with conspiracy to defraud and taking employment while being a person who remains in Hong Kong without the authority of the Director of Immigration after having landed in Hong Kong unlawfully. She pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to a total of 18 months' imprisonment. Her contractual employer and the person-in-charge of the restaurant were also arrested, and the investigation is still ongoing.
An ImmD spokesman warned, "As stipulated in section 38AA of the Immigration Ordinance, an illegal immigrant, a person who is the subject of a removal order or a deportation order,an overstayeror a person who was refused permission to land is prohibited from taking any employment, whether paid or unpaid, or establishing or joining in any business. Offenders are liable upon conviction to a maximum fine of $50,000 and up to three years' imprisonment."
The spokesman reiterated that it is a serious offence to employ people who are not lawfully employable. Under the Immigration Ordinance, the maximum penalty for an employer employing a person who is not lawfully employable, i.e. an illegal immigrant, a person who is the subject of a removal order or a deportation order,an overstayeror a person who was refused permission to land, has been significantly increased from a fine of $350,000 and three years' imprisonment to a fine of $500,000 and ten years' imprisonment to reflect the gravity of such offences.The director, manager, secretary, partner, etc, of the company concerned may also bear criminal liability.The High Court has laid down sentencing guidelines that the employer of an illegal worker should be given an immediate custodial sentence.
According to the court sentencing, employers must take all practicable steps to determine whether a person is lawfully employable prior to employment. Apart from inspecting a prospective employee's identity card, the employer has the explicit duty to make enquiries regarding the person and ensure that the answers would not cast any reasonable doubt concerning the lawful employability of the person. The court will not accept failure to do so as a defence in proceedings. It is also an offence if an employer fails to inspect the job seeker's valid travel document if the job seeker does not have a Hong Kong permanent identity card. Offenders are liable upon conviction to a maximum fine of $150,000 and to imprisonment for one year. In that connection, the spokesman would like to remind all employers not to defy the law and employ illegal workers. The ImmD will continue to take resolute enforcement action to combat such offences.
The spokesman continued that conspiracy to defraud is a serious offence. Under the Crimes Ordinance, offenders are liable to prosecution and upon conviction, the maximum penalty is imprisonment for 14 years.
Under the existing mechanism, the ImmD will, as a standard procedure, conduct aninitial screening of vulnerable persons, including illegal workers, illegal immigrants, sex workers and foreign domestic helpers, who are arrested during any operation, with a view to ascertaining whether they are trafficking in persons (TIP) victims. When any TIP indicator is revealed in the initial screening, the officers will conduct a full debriefing and identification by using a standardised checklist to ascertain the presence of TIP elements, such as threats and coercion in the recruitment phase and the nature of exploitation. Identified TIP victims will be provided with various forms of support and assistance, including urgent intervention, medical services, counselling, shelter, temporary accommodation and other supporting services. The ImmD calls on TIP victims to report crimes to the relevant departments immediately.
