Author Archives: hksar gov

     A Government spokesman said today (May 13) that the first chartered flight to take Hong Kong residents stranded in India home is tentatively scheduled to depart New Delhi for Hong Kong on May 17 at the earliest.
 
     The first chartered flight will first assist Hong Kong residents who are now located in New Delhi, the capital of India, and those in its surrounding areas with special needs such as people with illness, pregnant women and children, as well as family members travelling with them.
 
     Over the past few days, the Immigration Department (ImmD) has individually contacted assistance seekers who meet the above circumstances in order to confirm their wishes to take the chartered flight, and to obtain their personal particulars for applying for travel permission from the local government. As the ImmD is still contacting the assistance seekers concerned, the final number of passengers to be carried by the chartered flight is yet to be confirmed, though it is expected to be over 200. The cost for taking the chartered flight is estimated to be around HK$8,000 per person at most, and will be borne by the users. The final cost is subject to the total number of passengers.
 
     Upon arrival in Hong Kong, the returnees taking the chartered flight will proceed to the Department of Health’s Temporary Specimen Collection Centre at AsiaWorld-Expo for compulsory COVID-19 testing. After their deep throat saliva samples are collected, the returnees will be transferred to the quarantine centre at Chun Yeung Estate, Fo Tan, for a 14-day compulsory quarantine period.
 
    The chartered flight is tentatively planned to depart New Delhi for Hong Kong on May 17 at the earliest. However, the exact date and time of departure are still subject to the approval time of and the facilitation provided by the local government, land traffic situations and relevant permissions received by airlines. The relevant applications are being processed by the relevant Indian authorities.
 
     In view of the COVID-19 pandemic situation, the Indian Government has banned all international flight movements since late March. Since last month, the ImmD has received requests for assistance in return arrangements from Hong Kong residents stranded there, including the lists of assistance requests referred to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government by chambers of commerce and non-governmental organisations which are concerned about the affected people, as well as by Legislative Councillors.
 
     After receiving requests for assistance, the Security Bureau and the ImmD have been liaising with the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in the HKSAR and the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Republic of India to understand the local situation and take follow-up action, and to provide relevant information as well as appropriate suggestions and practicable assistance to the assistance seekers.
 
     The HKSAR Government has also been liaising with the Consulate General of India in Hong Kong, and contacting several airlines to explore the arrangement of flights for the return of the stranded Hong Kong residents. 

     As at May 10, the ImmD had successfully contacted about 3 500 Hong Kong residents stranded in India, gaining a preliminary grasp of their personal particulars and whereabouts. They are currently scattered in different locations in India.
      
     Considering the current restrictions on land and air traffic across India such that all travel must be approved by the relevant authorities, and having regard to the quarantine arrangement for the returnees and the capacities of relevant facilities, the HKSAR Government would arrange flights to assist in the return of the Hong Kong residents subject to the circumstances.
 
     The spokesman said the Government understands that there are still many Hong Kong residents stranded in different areas of India. The Government will continue to liaise with them closely and assist them in returning to Hong Kong in an orderly manner in batches subject to the circumstances. The Government will contact them as soon as further information is available.
  read more

     A Government spokesman said today (May 13) that the vetting work of the Retail Sector Subsidy Scheme under the first round of the Anti-epidemic Fund has been nearly completed. Among about 93 000 applications received, the Government has already notified about 66 000 applicants of vetting results. About $3.5 billion in subsidies has been approved so far for eligible retailers, involving some 44 000 successful applications.
 
     The Government is now processing some 27 000 remaining applications. Among them, about 10 000 applicants are required to submit further information or documents, such as correct bank account information and supporting documents showing the relevant shop’s address, for determining whether they are eligible for the Scheme.
 
     The spokesman urged applicants who received email asking for submission of supplementary information or documents to submit the required information or documents as soon as possible to avoid delays in vetting the applications.
 
     As of today, over 22 000 applications are considered unsuccessful under the Scheme, as they cannot meet the eligibility criteria. The majority of unsuccessful cases involve businesses that are not retail, such as import and export, as well as commercial services and agency services, while some other unsuccessful cases involve duplicate applications for identical premises. The relevant applicants are being informed of their application results and reasons for rejection via SMS and email. 
 
     Depending on the final vetting results of the outstanding applications, the Government anticipates that more than 60 000 applications will eventually be approved. The number of anticipated successful cases is broadly in line with the number of establishments in the retail sector as estimated by the Census and Statistics Department.
 
     For enquiries on vetting results, applicants may call the telephone hotline (1836 111) during office hours (Monday to Friday from 9am to 6pm, except public holidays) or email enquiry@retailsubsidy.hk. read more

     The Department of Health (DH) today (May 13) endorsed a licensed drug wholesaler, Hind Wing Co Ltd (Hind Wing), to recall one batch (batch number: 1709191/2) of Tepadina Powder for Infusion 100mg (Hong Kong Registration Number: HK-6… read more

     The Lands Department announced today (May 13) that the Government had rejected all four tenders received for the purchase of New Kowloon Inland Lot No. 6615 at Kai Tak Area 2A Site 4, Site 5(B) and Site 10, Kai Tak, Kowloon (the Site), after the tender closed on May 8, for the reason that the tendered premiums did not meet the Government’s reserve price for the Site.

     The disposal of sites in the Government’s Land Sale Programme in the open market follows an established mechanism. The Government will not sell a site if no bid reaches the reserve price as assessed by the Government’s professional valuers. This is to ensure that the Government gets a fair and reasonable return in the interest of protecting public revenue. The reserve price is set on the day of tender closure so that the latest market conditions will be taken into account.

     The tenderers in alphabetical order, with the name of the parent company provided by the tenderers in brackets, were:
 
(1) Asset Capital Limited (Sun Hung Kai Properties Limited);
(2) Boundless Investments Limited (K&K Property Holdings Limited);
(3) Treasure King Investment Limited (CK Asset Holdings Limited); and
(4) Win Oasis Limited (Lifestyle International Holdings Limited and Sino Land Company Limited).

     The Government will not speculate on the reasons accounting for the bids placed by tenderers. Bids put forward depend on a myriad of factors, such as the attractiveness of the site to individual tenderers, as well as how individual tenderers consider the market conditions, their respective corporate positions and development strategies.

     It is the Government’s policy objective to provide a steady and sustained land supply to the market to cater for the community’s demand for housing and commercial sites. This objective will not be affected by the results of an individual tender exercise or current economic situation. The Government will consider the disposal arrangements for the Site at an appropriate time.

     New Kowloon Inland Lot No. 6615 has a site area of about 19,788 square metres and is designated for non-industrial (excluding private residential, godown and petrol filling station) purposes. The minimum gross floor area and the maximum gross floor area are 64,679 sq m and 107,797 sq m respectively. Both include the gross floor area of Government Accommodation, being two sets of residential care home for the elderly cum day care unit for the elderly, one parents/relatives resource centre and one residential child care centre, to be constructed by the purchaser.

     For background information, over the last eight financial years up to May 13 this year, the Government mounted over 180 tender exercises for Government’s land sales of which seven had to be cancelled due to the bids falling below the reserve prices. Other than the Site, the six other cancelled tender exercises involved two commercial sites at Kai Tak (tendered respectively in late 2019 and early 2019), a residential site on the Peak (tendered in late 2018) and residential sites in Yuen Long (tendered in early 2016), Tsing Yi (tendered in late 2015) and Pak Shek Kok (tendered in early 2014). Three sites in Yuen Long, Tsing Yi and Pak Shek Kok were subsequently successfully re-tendered and sold. read more

     Three women were fined from $4,000 to $6,000 at the Kowloon City Magistrates’ Courts today (May 13) for contravening the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation Ordinance.

     The courts heard that in August and October last year, officers of the Office of the Licensing Authority (OLA), the Home Affairs Department, inspected three suspected unlicensed guesthouses on Ma Tau Wai Road in Hung Hom and Yu Chau Street and Nam Cheong Street in Sham Shui Po. During the inspections, the OLA officers posed as lodgers and successfully rented rooms or “capsule-like accommodation” in these guesthouses on a daily basis.

     According to the OLA’s records, these guesthouses did not possess licences under the Ordinance on the days of inspection. The women responsible for managing the premises were charged with contravening section 5(1) of the Ordinance.

     A department spokesman stressed that operating or managing an unlicensed guesthouse is a criminal offence and can lead to a criminal record. Upon conviction, the offender is liable to a maximum fine of $200,000 and two years’ imprisonment.
            
     The spokesman appealed to anyone with information about suspected unlicensed guesthouses to report it to the OLA through the hotline (Tel: 2881 7498), by email (hadlaenq@had.gov.hk), by fax (2504 5805) using the report form downloaded from the OLA website (www.hadla.gov.hk), or through the mobile application “Hong Kong Licensed Hotels and Guesthouses”. read more