The cooked food hawker market has been eliminated in recent years. Following the clearance of the temporary cooked food market in Soy Street, another cooked food hawker market in Yau Ma Tei Reclamation Street, which has a history of nearly half a century, was planned by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department on the grounds of the high vacancy rate. In the fourth quarter of 2022, the cooked food market will be permanently closed to free up land for other land uses. The affected hawkers can return their hawker licenses to receive ex-gratia payments or move to other cooked food stalls under the FEHD to continue their operations.
Completed in 1976, originally set up 12 hawker stalls
The cooked food market in question is located at the Reclamation Street cooked food hawker market at Nos. 35 to 39 Reclamation Street. It was completed in 1976 and occupies an area of approximately 225 square meters. The stall was moved to the upper site with a total of 8 cooked food stalls. In 1981, the cooked food market was expanded to relocate other cooked food stalls on Wusong Street and Nanjing Street. After the expansion of the market in 1983, the area The area was increased to 350 square meters, with a total of 12 cooked food hawker stalls. Later, one of the vacant stalls was deleted due to the establishment of barrier-free passages.
According to a document from the Yau Tsim Mong District Council Food, Environmental Hygiene and Works Committee, as of the end of November this year, there were 11 cooked food hawker stalls in the listed market, but only 4 licensed hawkers were still open, and the vacancy rate reached 64%.
The FEHD pointed out that in view of the continued management and operation of the cooked food hawker market, regardless of the cost of the venue and the cost of personnel regulation, it is recommended to close the cooked food market permanently.
As for the current four licensed hawkers, the FEHD will not renew the contract after the license expires in mid-2022 in accordance with the provisions of Article 125 of the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance of Hong Kong Laws (Chapter 132), but will continue as needed Temporary hawker licences are issued to affected hawkers on a monthly basis and continue to operate until the cooked food hawker market is closed.
The FEHD stated that it would discuss departure arrangements with the affected licensed cooked food hawkers, including a proposal for them to surrender their hawker licenses for ex-gratia payments.
The FEHD will also consider allowing them to relocate to other cooked food hawker markets or vacant cooked food stalls in cooked food markets under the FEHD to continue operations, and provide a lump-sum relocation allowance.
FEHD intends to vacate land for other uses
The FEHD stated that it has been paying attention to the operation of its premises, including the cooked food hawker market, and is comprehensively reviewing the use and development potential of existing premises to formulate appropriate development plans to maximize the use of the land, benefit the public, and promote regional development. Policy goals.
With population changes, new developments or redevelopment plans, and competition from other nearby restaurants, the public cooked food market has gradually lost its appeal. Some venues are sparsely populated and have a high vacancy rate. Therefore, closing the cooked food hawker market can free up precious land resources. For proper use, it is currently planned to permanently close the newly reclaimed street cooked food hawker market, and the land will be vacated for other uses.
The news of the closure of the Reclamation Street cooked food hawker market has been circulating for a long time. The female hawker who has been operating there for more than 30 years said that the government has insisted on the temporary land occupied by the market. It originally established transitional measures and refused to install air-conditioners for the market. As a result, the place was hot in summer and cold in winter, and after the hawker passed away, the hawker's license became invalid, and the stall was vacant.
In addition to the newly reclaimed street cooked food hawker market, the temporary cooked food market on Soy Street in Mong Kok was taken back and demolished by the government in 2006. The district council had proposed the construction of multi-purpose community halls and activity rooms, but the government opposed it and is currently used as Open-air parking lot use.
As for the other two temporary cooked food hawker markets on Haiphong Road and Wu Song Street temporary cooked food hawker markets in Yau Tsim District, the two venues were reopened in October last year and March this year respectively after the renovation project was completed.
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