Press in October 1995
| Press October 14, 1995 | |
| Headline : | Urban estate staff empowered to arrest illegal hawkers |
| Content : |
The following is issued on behalf of the Housing Authority: Staff of the Housing Department's two Mobile Operation Units (MOUs) in the urban area have recently been given the statutory powers to arrest illegal hawkers and seize their goods in public housing estates. The powers were delegated by the Urban Council under the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance earlier this year to the Director of Housing who further delegated the powers last month to the MOU staff responsible for hawker control. "The delegation of powers will greatly strengthen hawker control and help improve environmental condition in the estates concerned," said a Housing Department spokesman. "Without such powers, estate management staff are often handicapped in their efforts against illegal hawking when persuasion and other enforcement actions fail," he noted. Similar powers have already been delegated by the Regional Council to the Housing Department for the estates in the New Territories. "Experience in our NT estates shows that the delegation of powers helps to make hawker control operations more effective," the spokesman said. "In 1993 and 1994, MOU staff made 217 and 527 arrests respectively in these operations in NT estates," he said. The powers of arrest and seizure in New Territories estates were delegated by the Regional Council in May 1987, he added. End/Saturday, October 14, 1995 NNNN |