The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:

     Result of tenders of RMB Sovereign Bonds held on October 10, 2018:
 

     The Incorporated Owners of Hilltop Gardens was fined $40,000 at Kowloon City Magistrates' Courts today (October 10) for violation of the Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance. The prosecution was launched by the Labour Department.

     The case involved a fatal accident that occurred on August 9, 2017, in a residential estate in Ngau Chi Wan. While a worker was carrying out vegetation trimming work on a planter, he fell a distance of 3.7 metres to the floor below. He sustained severe injuries and passed away two days later.

     A man and a woman were fined $8,000 and $15,000 at the Kowloon City Magistrates' Courts today (October 10) for contravening the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation Ordinance.
      
     The courts heard that in November last year and March this year, officers of the Office of the Licensing Authority (OLA), the Home Affairs Department, inspected two suspected unlicensed guesthouses on Reclamation Street in Mong Kok and Tai Nan Street in Sham Shui Po. During the inspections, the OLA officers posed as lodgers and successfully rented rooms 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 man and woman 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 will 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".

     The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department today (October 10) announced that a sample of dry noodles with stir-fried egg and BBQ pork was found to contain an excessive amount of coagulase-positive staphylococci. The CFS is following up on the case.

     A CFS spokesman said, "Following up on a food complaint, the CFS took the above-mentioned sample from a restaurant in Wan Chai for testing. The result showed that the food sample contained coagulase-positive staphylococci at a level of 470 000 organisms per gram. Under the Microbiological Guidelines for Food, ready-to-eat food that contains coagulase-positive staphylococci at a level of more than 10 000 organisms per gram is considered unsatisfactory."

     The CFS has informed the restaurant concerned of the irregularity and instructed it to suspend the sale of the food concerned. The CFS has also provided health education on food safety and hygiene to the person-in-charge and staff of the restaurant, and requested it to review and improve the food production process and carry out thorough cleaning and disinfection.

     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.

     "Coagulase-positive staphylococci can produce enterotoxins that cause food poisoning. Common symptoms include nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain, often accompanied by diarrhoea," he added.

     The CFS will continue to follow up on the case and take appropriate action to safeguard food safety and public health.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:

Total subscription amount: RMB 500 million
Total placement amount: RMB 500 million
Issue price: Same as the successful tenders of the RMB Sovereign Bonds of the same tenor