The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) today (April 1) announced the appointments to the New Energy Transport Fund Steering Committee (Steering Committee) for a new two-year term starting today.  … read more
The Immigration Department (ImmD) mounted territory-wide anti-illegal worker operations codenamed “Twilight” from March 29 to yesterday (March 31). A total of eight suspected illegal workers and four suspected employers were arrested.
During the “Twilight” operations, ImmD Task Force officers raided 25 target locations including a car park, manicure shops, a massage parlour, offices, residential buildings, a retail shop, vegetable stalls and a warehouse. The suspected illegal workers comprised three men and five women, aged 27 to 63. Among them, two women were holders of recognisance forms, which prohibit them from taking any employment. Meanwhile, a man and three women, aged 34 to 53, were suspected of employing the illegal workers.
“Any person who contravenes a condition of stay in force in respect of him shall be guilty of an offence. Also, visitors are not allowed to take employment in Hong Kong, whether paid or unpaid, without the permission of the Director of Immigration. Offenders are liable to prosecution and upon conviction face a maximum fine of $50,000 and up to two years’ imprisonment. Aiders and abettors are also liable to prosecution and penalties,” an ImmD spokesman said.
The spokesman warned that, as stipulated in section 38AA of the Immigration Ordinance, illegal immigrants or people who are the subject of a removal order or a deportation order are prohibited from taking any employment, whether paid or unpaid, or establishing or joining in any business. Offenders are liable upon conviction to a maximum fine of $50,000 and up to three years’ imprisonment. The Court of Appeal has issued a guideline ruling that a sentence of 15 months’ imprisonment should be applied in such cases.
The spokesman reiterated that it is a serious offence to employ people who are not lawfully employable. The maximum penalty is imprisonment for three years and a fine of $350,000. The High Court has laid down sentencing guidelines that the employer of an illegal worker should be given an immediate custodial sentence. According to the court sentencing, employers must take all practicable steps to determine whether a person is lawfully employable prior to employment. Apart from inspecting a prospective employee’s identity card, the employer has the explicit duty to make enquiries regarding the person and ensure that the answers would not cast any reasonable doubt concerning the lawful employability of the person. The court will not accept failure to do so as a defence in proceedings. It is also an offence if an employer fails to inspect the job seeker’s valid travel document if the job seeker does not have a Hong Kong permanent identity card. The maximum penalty for failing to inspect such a document is imprisonment for one year and a fine of $150,000.
Under the existing mechanism, the ImmD will, as a standard procedure, conduct initial screening of vulnerable persons, including illegal workers, illegal immigrants, sex workers and foreign domestic helpers, who are arrested during any operation with a view to ascertaining whether they are trafficking in persons (TIP) victims. When any TIP indicator is revealed in the initial screening, the officers will conduct a full debriefing and identification by using a standardised checklist to ascertain the presence of TIP elements, such as threats and coercion in the recruitment phase and the nature of exploitation. Identified TIP victims will be provided with various forms of support and assistance, including urgent intervention, medical services, counselling, shelter, temporary accommodation and other supporting services. The ImmD calls on TIP victims to report crimes to the relevant departments.
The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) released the 2020 Beach Water Quality Report today (April 1). The report indicates that all gazetted beaches in Hong Kong complied with the bacteriological Water Quality Objective (WQO) for bathing waters in that year, with 24 beaches ranked as “Good” and the remaining 17 ranked as “Fair” in water quality, with none ranked as “Poor” or “Very Poor”.
An EPD spokesman said, “The beaches of Hong Kong have maintained 100 per cent full compliance with the WQO for 11 consecutive years since 2010.
“The sustained improvement in beach water quality is the result of years of efforts to implement pollution control and environmental improvement measures, including the enforcement of the Water Pollution Control Ordinance, implementation of the Livestock Waste Control Scheme and Harbour Area Treatment Scheme, and extension of sewerage to the beach hinterland according to Sewerage Master Plans.
“The EPD will maintain close monitoring and reporting the water quality of all bathing beaches to safeguard the health of beach goers and provide scientific data for supporting the formulation of water quality improvement policy,” the spokesman added.
The 2020 Beach Water Quality Report can be found at the EPD’s website (www.epd.gov.hk/epd/beach).
Police will implement special traffic arrangements in various districts to facilitate grave sweepers, and to ensure smooth vehicular traffic movements and pedestrian safety during Ching Ming Festival. To prevent the spread of C… read more
The Government received a total of 2 925 requests for information under the Code on Access to Information in the third quarter of 2020, a spokesman for the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau said today (April 1).
The total number of requests received since the introduction of the Code in March 1995 and up to the end of September 2020 amounted to 86 127. Of these, 4 882 requests were subsequently withdrawn by the requestors and 4 366 requests covered cases in which the bureaux/departments concerned did not hold the requested information or cannot confirm or deny the existence of information. As at September 30, 2020, 399 requests were still being processed by bureaux/departments.
Among the 76 480 requests which covered information held by bureaux/departments and which the bureaux/departments had responded to, 73 995 requests (96.8 per cent) were met, either in full (71 948 requests) or in part (2 047 requests), and 2 485 requests (3.2 per cent) were refused.
Any member of the public who is dissatisfied with the response of a bureau/department under the Code may request that the matter be reviewed. He or she may also lodge a complaint with the Ombudsman.
In the third quarter of 2020, the Ombudsman received 28 complaints relating to requests for information. In this quarter, the Ombudsman concluded 29 complaints, among which three were substantiated, five were partially substantiated, five were unsubstantiated, eight were settled after inquiries by the Ombudsman, and eight were not pursued by the Ombudsman or were outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction. As at September 30, 2020, the Ombudsman’s investigations on 48 complaints were ongoing.
“The Code has provided an effective framework for the public to seek access to information held by the Government,” the spokesman said. read more