Property owner fined over $150,000 for persistently not complying with removal order
A property owner was fined over $150,000 last week upon conviction at the Kowloon City Magistrates' Courts in September last year for persistently failing to comply with a removal order issued under the Buildings Ordinance (BO) (Cap. 123).
This case involved several unauthorised structures with a total area of about 760 square metres on the roof of an industrial building on Sheung Hei Street and Tai Yau Street, San Po Kong. As the unauthorised building works (UBWs) were carried out without prior approval and consent from the Buildings Department (BD), a removal order was served on the owner under section 24(1) of the BO.
Failing to comply with the removal order, the owner was prosecuted twice by the BD and was fined over $70,000 in total upon convictions by the court. As the owner persisted in not complying with the removal order, the BD instigated a third prosecution in 2023. The owner was convicted at the Kowloon City Magistrates' Courts on September 25, 2024, and the court adjourned the hearing and ordered the owner to report the status of the removal of the UBWs before handing down a sentence. On the adjourned hearing date of March 26, the owner reported to the court that the UBWs had been removed and eventually was fined $154,500 by the court, of which $124,500 was the fine for the number of days that the offence continued.
A spokesman for the BD said today (April 3), "UBWs may lead to serious consequences. Owners must comply with removal orders without delay. The BD will continue to take enforcement action and consider instigating prosecution against the owners again if they persist in not complying with removal orders to ensure building and public safety."
Failure to comply with a removal order without a reasonable excuse is a serious offence under the BO. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $200,000 and one year's imprisonment, and a further fine of $20,000 for each day that the offence continues.
Remarks by FS at media session (with photo/video)
The Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan; the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Christopher Hui, and the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Algernon Yau, together with the Chief Executive Officer of the Securities and Futures Commission, Ms Julia Leung, and the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Mr Eddie Yue, met the media this evening (April 7). Following are Mr Chan's remarks at the media session:
Reporter: What tools does the Government have to handle the situation of the market and will Hong Kong consider a national team investor equivalent to intervene? Should the markets keep dropping, what is the bottom line for the state of the market before countermeasures will be considered?
Financial Secretary: I think Julia has explained very clearly the situation in the Hong Kong stock market. Basically, the market has been functioning orderly. There are substantial selling but also buying interests. The spread between the two has been very tight, indicating that the buying power remains very strong.
Hong Kong is a free port, and we encourage capital and investors from different parts of the world to take part in our capital market. Over the years, we have been taking a number of measures to enhance the competitiveness and attractiveness of our capital market, no matter whether it is improving the listing regime, lowering the transaction costs, expanding the markets, attracting investors and capital from around the world, or offering new products such as the ETF (exchange-traded fund) listed on the Saudi stock exchange (and investing in the Hong Kong stock market). All in all, we will persistently and consistently push forward initiatives on various fronts. With an expanding market and more participants from different parts of the world, the liquidity and resilience of our market will be enhanced. The resilience of our market has been very strong. We do not think the current volatility in the market warrants the taking of any drastic measures.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the remarks.)
Remarks by FS at media session (with photo/video) Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
