• 11/11/2024

Hong Kong to step up enforcement against unlicensed street vendors in Sham Shui Po over Lunar New Year

Hong Kong Free Press

Authorities to step up enforcement against unauthorised street hawkers over Lunar New Year

Authorities will step up enforcement actions against unauthorised street hawkers in Sham Shui Po over the Lunar New Year holiday, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) has told a District Council meeting.

In a document submitted to the Sham Shui Po District Council on Friday, the department said it would implement patrols and clearance operations on main roads and at hawker blackspots, with increased deployments and extended duty hours, InMedia reported.

A roadside chestnut and sweet potato hawker in Hong Kong. Photo: GovHK.
A roadside chestnut and sweet potato hawker in Hong Kong. Photo: GovHK.

The Lunar New Year holiday will run from February 10 to 14.

The department made 25 unauthorised hawking prosecutions between December 1 and January 15, according to the document.

The FEHD listed blackspots on Kweilin Street, Ki Lung Street, Pei Ho Street, Tai Nan Street, Cheung Sha Wan Road, Apliu Street, Nam Cheong Street, Yen Chow Street, Yu Chau Street, Lai Chi Kok Road, Hai Tan Street, Fuk Wah Street, Fuk Wing Street and Berwick Street, InMedia reported.

The department said officers would adopt specific, more relaxed enforcement strategies for elderly or disabled hawkers, employing a “warning first, then enforcement” mechanism, whereby prosecution would be carried out if verbal warnings were ineffective.

FEHD officers’ confiscation of a licensed 90-year-old street hawker last March drew criticism after videos of the incident circulated widely online. It was reported that she had left her cart with a relative while using the bathroom.

People eat at street food stalls along Temple Street, in Hong Kong, on December 22, 2023. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.
People eat at street food stalls along Temple Street, in Hong Kong, on December 22, 2023. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.

The FEHD would also conduct publicity and education campaigns at different locations to advise and warn shops and vendors not to place goods on sidewalks or sell them without a licence, it said in its submission.

The department said that it would hang banners and distribute leaflets in different languages at hawker black spots, as it did last year, to advise the public against unlicensed hawking and purchasing goods from unlicensed hawkers.

Sham Shui Po District Councillor Nicole Lau said this Lunar New Year would be the first since the city’s return to “normalcy,” and that she supported the enhanced hawker patrols.

She added that Lunar New Year festivities would come amid a citywide “vibes” campaign featuring lights displays and night markets.

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https://hongkongfp.com/2024/01/26/hong-kong-to-step-up-enforcement-against-unlicensed-street-vendors-in-sham-shui-po-over-lunar-new-year/