The Leisure and Cultural Services Department announced today (February 18) that Yau Ma Tei Public Library (YMTPL) has been reprovisioned at Block A, G/F & 1-3/F, 251 Shanghai Street, and will be open tomorrow (February 19). The old YMTPL, located at G/F & M/F, 250 Shanghai Street, has already ceased operation.

     The floor area of the reprovisoned YMTPL has been expanded from about 1 580 square metres to some 2 300 sq m, and YMTPL is provided with up-to-date facilities and services such as a Computer and Information Centre and a Multimedia Library, offering residents more diversified library services and a pleasant reading environment.

     In view of the latest situation of COVID-19, YMTPL will open the Adult Library and the Children's Library, offering lending and returning of library materials and collection of reserved items, while other facilities will remain closed. Special opening hours, an admission quota and other precautionary measures will be implemented. Please visit www.hkpl.gov.hk/en/index.html for details.
 
     For enquiries, please call 2928 6055.

        

     An employer was prosecuted by the Labour Department (LD) under the Employment Ordinance (EO) for failing to pay employees' wages. The employer pleaded guilty earlier at Tuen Mun Magistrates' Courts and was sentenced to 100 hours' community service order today (February 18).  
 
     The employer failed to pay two employees' wages totalling around $106,000 within seven days after the termination of employment as required by the EO.
 
     "The ruling helps disseminate a strong message to all employers that they have to pay employees' wages within the statutory time limit stipulated in the EO," a spokesman for the LD said.
 
     "The LD will not tolerate these offences and will spare no effort in enforcing the law and safeguarding employees' statutory rights," the spokesman added.

     The overall Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) caseload in January showed a rise of 177 cases, representing an increase of 0.1 per cent compared with that of December 2020, according to the latest CSSA caseload statistics released by the Social Welfare Department today (February 18).
           
     The total CSSA caseload at the end of January stood at 225 072 (see attached table), with a total of 318 742 recipients.
           
     Analysed by case nature, low-earnings cases registered a month-to-month decrease of 1.2 per cent to 2 491 cases. Old age cases were down by 0.3 per cent to 130 310 cases.
           
     Unemployment cases continued to increase, rising by 1.3 per cent on a monthly basis to 19 766 cases. The figure represented an increase of about 57.0 per cent in comparison with that of January 2020. On a month-to-month basis, the number of applications of unemployment cases decreased by 11.2 per cent to 928 cases in January 2021, representing an increase of about 93.7 per cent from 479 cases in January 2020.
           
     Ill-health cases rose by 0.5 per cent to 26 186 cases. Permanent disability cases increased by 0.3 per cent to 17 435 cases. Single parent cases increased by 0.1 per cent to 24 790 cases.

Police will adopt Rapid Oral Fluid Test (ROFT) as a preliminary on-site test on persons who are suspected of drug driving starting from February 19, 2021 to enhance the efficiency of anti-drug driving enforcement and road safety.

The ROFT instrument “DrugWipe®6S” to be adopted by the Police can detect whether a driver’s oral fluid contains specified illicit drugs, namely heroin, ketamine, MDMA, cannabis, cocaine and methamphetamine. A small amount of oral fluid will be collected from the driver and the analysis result can be obtained in about eight to 10 minutes. Failing the test, the driver will be required to provide blood and/or urine samples for laboratory testing to determine whether the driver is driving after taking drugs.

Under the Road Traffic Ordinance, driving under the influence of drugs or refusing to perform a ROFT is a criminal offence. Offenders will be liable to a maximum fine of $25,000, three years’ imprisonment and disqualification from driving upon conviction.

     A 75-year-old man was fined $3,000 by the Fanling Magistrates' Courts today (February 18) for violating the Compulsory Quarantine of Certain Persons Arriving at Hong Kong Regulation (Cap. 599C) (the Regulation).

     The man was earlier issued a compulsory quarantine order stating that he must conduct quarantine at home for 14 days. Before the expiry of the quarantine order, he left the place of quarantine on July 13, 2020, without reasonable excuse nor permission given by an authorised officer. He was charged with contravening sections 8(4) and 8(5) of the Regulation and was fined $3,000 by the Fanling Magistrates' Courts today.

     Pursuant to the Regulation, starting from February 8, 2020, all persons who have stayed in the Mainland, Macao or Taiwan in the 14 days preceding arrival in Hong Kong, regardless of their nationality or travel documents, will be subject to compulsory quarantine for 14 days. Moreover, pursuant to the Compulsory Quarantine of Persons Arriving at Hong Kong from Foreign Places Regulation (Cap. 599E), starting from December 25, 2020, all persons arriving in Hong Kong (either via the airport or land boundary control points) who have stayed in places outside China on the day of arrival in Hong Kong or during the 21 days before that day have to undergo compulsory quarantine for 21 days in designated quarantine hotels. Breaching a quarantine order is a criminal offence and offenders are subject to a maximum fine of $25,000 and imprisonment for six months.

     A spokesman for the Department of Health said the sentence sends a clear message to the community that breaching a compulsory quarantine order is a criminal offence that the Government will not tolerate, and solemnly reminded the public to comply with the Regulation. As of today, a total of 110 persons have been convicted by the courts for breaching compulsory quarantine orders and have received sentences including immediate imprisonment for up to 14 weeks or a fine of up to $15,000. The spokesman reiterated that resolute actions will be taken against anyone who has breached the relevant regulations.