Behind the unlicensed barbecue site, there are laws not to be used and ownership confusion

The Mei Foo Kau Wah Keng Barbecue Site has been operating without a license for many years, causing a lot of noise and air pollution to nearby residents.

After extensive media reports recently, different government departments jointly launched law enforcement actions, arresting two persons in charge and 15 employees of the barbecue site, and ticketing 82 customers for violating the "Prevention and Control of Diseases (Prohibition of Group Gathering) Regulations" However, in the past year, FEHD officers have filed a total of 42 prosecutions against the department, and even some arrested persons have been sentenced to imprisonment by the court. However, even this still cannot deter the barbecue area involved. The place continues to operate.

Articles 31 and 35 of the Food Business Regulation stipulate that anyone operating a food business without a license issued by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department is an offence. The maximum penalty is a fine of $50,000 and six months' imprisonment, plus a daily fine of $900 .

Article 12 of the Land (Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance stipulates that the authorities can instruct public officials to take over and demolish illegal structures on the land, and the Lands Department has also confirmed the existence of such illegal structures on the barbecue site.

In addition, due to the display of the QR code "Travel with peace of mind" at the barbecue site, the person in charge and the staff were suspected of fraud at the same time. Once convicted, they can be sentenced to up to 14 years in prison in accordance with Article 16A of the Theft Ordinance.

Police officers investigated at the Kau Wah Keng Barbecue Site.

(Picture source: Ji Yu Ji Yu)

The power of closing the site and resuming land exists but not

However, in order to prevent unlicensed restaurants from continuing to operate, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department actually has the power to further close the relevant premises directly.

Section 128B of the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance requires the Department to apply to the court for a closure order for unlicensed premises one week after the posting of a conspicuous notice. Section 128C also requires the Department to “have reasonable grounds to believe... The premises may be closed immediately when the use of the premises or any activity carried out in the premises constitutes an immediate health hazard."

However, judging from the current known information and the contents of the announcements near the barbecue site, the FEHD probably has not yet initiated the relevant procedures.

In addition, the authorities also have a more stringent option to reclaim the title to the land where there are structures in violation of the contract.

Article 4 of the “Government Land Rights (Re-entry and Vesting Remedy) Ordinance” stipulates that whenever the land violates the contract “so that it is necessary for the government to enforce the right of re-entry on the relevant land or tenement”, public officials can use The re-entry of the memorial fully recovers the relevant title, "as if the government lease of the land or tenement unit had terminated."

Similarly, from the fact that the Lands Department just continued to post notices ordering the removal of illegal structures recently, it seems that the government has not considered regaining land titles.

The land ownership involved must be clarified

And there is a more noteworthy problem is that the land ownership of the barbecue place itself is quite confusing.

According to the information submitted by the government department to the Kwai Tsing District Council in May last year, the land in question originally belonged to the "ancestral hall" of "Zeng Hua Hanzu". Since 1979, part of the land was resold to "Cornhill Enterprises Limited", but The relevant transaction has not been approved by the Home Affairs Bureau, and the two new managers appointed by "Zeng Hua Hanzu" after 2014 have not completed the application process. As a result, whether the current land title belongs to "Zeng Hua Hanzu" or a private company. Unknown.

Moreover, since the barbecue site started operating in 2003 at the latest, it is possible to meet the 12-year time limit for "adverse occupation" of private land under the Limitation Ordinance, which naturally further adds to the complexity of the problem.

"Cornhill Enterprises Limited" once sent a lawyer's letter to the barbecue site requesting the other party to stop occupying the land and move away, and claimed that it had owned the land in question since 1964, and then filed a petition with the High Court to request the court to order the barbecue site to be responsible. People removed their belongings, returned the land and made compensation, but the result was not successful. The main reason is probably the confusion of land titles.

Large and small banners are posted around the two barbecue sites on Jiuhuajing, which can be seen every ten meters. Many people walk by and are curious to take pictures.

(Photo by Liao Yanxiong)

In any case, this incident reflects the inability of the government to effectively manage the Jiuhua Trail BBQ Site and the lot involved.

The reason for this situation is not only because government departments are resolutely reluctant to use closed spaces or regain ownership and other more deterrent measures, but also because the authorities ignore the longer-standing problem of land ownership chaos. Failure to deal with the property rights disputes between traditional ancestral halls and private companies has created loopholes that allow others to take advantage of the emptiness and use the land for profit.

So in the final analysis, it is the curse that the government has planted itself for years of laziness.

The illegal construction of village houses should not neglect the arbitrage, which has been rampant for a long time, and the laziness in land administration is also a problem. Members condemned the government for laziness in administration.