Police today (April 16) appealed to the public for information on a girl who went missing in Kowloon City.

     Lovejot Kaur, aged 14, went missing after she was last seen in a playground on Ha Heung Road on March 29 evening. Her family made a report to Police on the next day (March 30).

     She is about 1.6 metres tall, 45 kilograms in weight and of thin build. She has a round face with black complexion and long black hair. She was last seen wearing a black jacket, black and white shirt, blue jeans and white sports shoes.

     Anyone who knows the whereabouts of the missing girl or may have seen her is urged to contact the Regional Missing Person Unit of Kowloon West on 3661 8036 or 9020 6542 or email to rmpu-kw-2@police.gov.hk, or contact any police station.

  

     Police today (April 16) appealed to the public for information on a man who went missing in Kwun Tong.

     Cheng Chi-wai, aged 71, went missing after he was last seen in Tsui Ping (North) Estate on April 14 afternoon. His family made a report to Police on the same day.

     He is about 1.7 metres tall, 68 kilograms in weight and of medium build. He has a round face with yellow complexion and short white hair. He was last seen wearing a grey sweater, a grey down vest, grey trousers, dark-coloured sports shoes and carrying a blue rucksack.

     Anyone who knows the whereabouts of the missing man or may have seen him is urged to contact the Regional Missing Person Unit of Kowloon East on 3661 0321 or 9886 0060 or email to rmpu-ke-2@police.gov.hk, or contact any police station.

  

     The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) today (April 16) urged public not to consume a batch of bottled soda water imported from Thailand which was suspected to contain bromate. The trade should also stop using or selling the product concerned immediately if they possess it.

     Product details are as follows:

Product name: Soda Water
Brand: Chang
Place of origin: Thailand
Manufacturer: Cosmos Brewery (Thailand) Co Ltd
Importer: Best Spirits Co Ltd
Volume: 325 millilitres per bottle
Best before date: January 23, 2021

     "The CFS, through its Food Incident Surveillance System, noted a notice issued by the Macau authorities concerned that the abovementioned soda water product re-exported from Hong Kong contained bromate at a level exceeding the safety standard of Macau and its sale had to be stopped," a CFS spokesman said.

     The CFS immediately contacted major local importers and retailers for follow-up. Preliminary investigations revealed that an importer, Best Spirits Co Ltd, had imported 2 800 cartons of the affected batch of the product, with some 100 cartons re-exported to Macau, and the remaining distributed in Hong Kong. The importer concerned has initiated a recall of the affected batch of product according to CFS' instructions. Members of the public may call the importer's hotline 2378 2563 or 2378 2561 during office hours for enquiries about the recall. The CFS is tracing the distribution of the product.

     "Bromate is the ionic form of bromic acid in aqueous solution. The bromate in drinking water is formed during ozonation process of water. If a large amount of bromate is consumed, people may experience gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. It may also affect the kidney and nervous system in severe cases. Although there is evidence suggesting that bromate can cause cancer in animals, there is not yet sufficient data confirming that it can cause cancer in humans." the spokesman added.

     According to Section 54 of the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Cap 132), all food for sale in Hong Kong, locally produced or imported, should be fit for human consumption. An offender is subject to a maximum fine of $50,000 and imprisonment for six months upon conviction.

     The CFS will alert the trade, continue to follow up on the incident and take appropriate action. Investigation is ongoing.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
 
     HKMC Insurance Limited (HKMCI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation Limited, announces that, the Special 100% Loan Guarantee under the SME Financing Guarantee Scheme (SFGS) will start receiving applications from April 20, 2020 (Monday). 
 
     The Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, said, "I announced the introduction of the Special 100% Loan Guarantee in the 2020-21 Budget, with the objective of easing the cash flow problems of enterprises adversely affected by the COVID-19. In light of the prolonged impact of the COVID-19 on the economy, the second round of the Anti-epidemic Fund further enhances the Special 100% Loan Guarantee, thereby benefitting more enterprises. We believe the launch of the Loan Guarantee will be a timely response to the pressing needs of many enterprises."

     HKMCI welcomes all lenders under the SFGS to participate in the Special 100% Loan Guarantee and the following lenders will receive applications: Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited, Bank of Communications (Hong Kong) Limited, Chong Hing Bank Limited, DBS Bank (Hong Kong) Limited, Hang Seng Bank Limited, Nanyang Commercial Bank, Limited, OCBC Wing Hang Bank Limited, Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited, The Bank of East Asia, Limited and The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited. Besides, some other lenders have indicated their interest in joining. 
 
     The Special 100% Loan Guarantee is applicable to all sectors. The loans will be fully guaranteed by the Government. Eligible enterprises should have been operating for at least three months as at end-December 2019, and have suffered at least a 30 per cent decline in sales turnover in any month since February 2020 compared with the monthly average of any quarter in 2019. An interest rate of the Prime Rate minus 2.5 per cent per annum (i.e. current interest rate at 2.75 per cent) will be charged. All guarantee fee will be waived. The maximum amount of the loan per enterprise is the total amount of employee wages and rents for six months (Note 1), or HK$2 million, whichever is lower. Enterprises may also apply for an optional principal moratorium for the first six months, so as to alleviate instant burden on repayment. (Subject to approval of funding by the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council, the maximum loan amount per enterprise will be increased to HK$4 million, and the principal moratorium arrangement will be extended to the first 12 months.)
 
     For public enquiries, please call the SFGS Hotline at 2536 0392.

Note 1: If an enterprise does not have either employee(s) or rented office(s), the calculation can be replaced by half of the maximum monthly net income in 2019.

     Western Police District will conduct a traffic enforcement operation against nighttime illegal parking in Western and Southern District of Hong Kong Island from tomorrow (April 17) to April 30.

     Police found that recently some drivers have parked their vehicles at non-designated parking places overnight, imposing serious impact on road safety and causing obstruction and inconvenience to nearby residents. With the use of e-Ticketing, Western Police District will strengthen enforcement actions to ensure road safety and smooth traffic flow.

     Stringent enforcement action will be taken during the operation. The Police will issue fixed penalty tickets to drivers who park their vehicles illegally, particularly those involve causing blockage of emergency vehicular accesses, double parking and parking on pavements.

     The Police will issue multiple tickets and take summons action against drivers who have contravened illegal parking regulations, obstructed traffic flow or caused danger to other road users. Illegally parked vehicles will also be towed away at once if necessary.