The government has intensified its efforts to crack down on street blocking work in recent years. However, the Office of the Ombudsman examined four black spots of street blocking. Among them, in the area of Shun Ning Road and Yi Kuk Street in Sham Shui Po, it was found that the FEHD inspected an average of 4 hours a day from 2018 to 2021. times, and an average of only 0.1 prosecutions and 0.3 fixed penalty notices issued per day, it is considered that law enforcement is insufficient.
On the contrary, Mongkok Flower Market, another black spot, has less inspections but more enforcement. The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department is urged to strengthen inspections and strengthen deterrence.
According to the Commissioner’s Office, FEHD’s law enforcement cases using the “fixed penalty clause” accounted for 80% of the total cases, among which repeat offenders were the main cases, with each repeat offender breaking the law an average of 7.5 times. Zong only fined about 1,000 yuan on average. He believed that the deterrent effect was insufficient. He suggested that the penalty should be increased and the introduction of progressive fines should be studied.
Regarding the government’s claim that progressive fines are not feasible, the Commissioner cited that the Bureau of Environment and Ecology plans to submit the proposal to the Panel in the middle of this year and include the proposal of introducing a progressive fine mechanism into the feasibility study.
▼On February 9, the police, FEHD, Immigration Department and MTR cracked down on parallel imports and blocked the streets in Sheung Shui▼
+2
In mid-August last year, the government launched a three-month plan to crack down on 600 sanitary black spots, and dealing with street obstruction is one of the items. It plans to double the fine to 6,000 yuan by the middle of this year. However, the problem of street obstruction by shops continues.
The Office of the Ombudsman has taken the initiative to investigate the government's crackdown on street blocking, and today released its investigation report.
Black spots in Sham Shui Po issue only 0.3 fines per day
The Commissioner's Office inspected four black spots of street obstruction. Among them, in the area of Shun Ning Road and Yee Kuk Street in Sham Shui Po, it was found that the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department conducted an average of 4 inspections per day from 2018 to 2021, and an average of only 0.1 prosecutions per day, and issued 0.3 fixed penalty notices.
The data shows that the number of inspections by FEHD personnel is frequent, but the number of enforcement actions is not high, which should reflect that the violations in this area are not serious.
However, the number of complaints in this area in 2021 is more than twice that of 2018.
During the inspection by the Commissioner’s Office, a large amount of goods and sundries were also found blocking the streets, and the environmental sanitation was also poor. This shows that the FEHD’s inspections seem to have failed to fully exert its due regulatory effectiveness, and the law enforcement efforts have not been able to effectively curb violations.
The Office of the Ombudsman investigates the black spots of street obstruction in Sham Shui Po, the figures of prosecutions and fines from FEHD.
(The Ombudsman file)
There are many complaints about street blockage at Fa Hui, but few inspections
The Commissioner’s Office also found that the number of inspections by the FEHD from 2018 to 2021 was significantly lower than that of Shun Ning Road, Sham Shui Po in streets where the problem of street obstruction is more serious and the number of prosecutions is higher, such as another “black spot of street obstruction” in the Mong Kok Fa Hui area. and the area around Yi Kuo Street, but the number of complaints and law enforcement has soared in recent years, especially the number of law enforcement in 2021 is much higher than that of Shun Ning Road and Yi Kuo Street.
During the inspections by the Commissioner’s staff, they also found violations of varying degrees. Therefore, it is believed that the situation observed by the staff of the FEHD during their inspections should be similar to that of the Commissioner’s Office, so that the number of inspections is low and the number of enforcement actions is high. This reflects the need for the FEHD to strengthen its control The inspection work of this black spot is to further enhance the deterrent effect of enforcement actions.
In addition, 80% of the cases in which the FEHD invoked the "fixed penalty provision" for law enforcement accounted for 80% of the total cases, and the majority were repeat offenders.
The Commissioner's Office also pointed out that there were 13,208 repeat offenders, but only 1,760 repeat offenders, that is, each repeat offender averaged 7.5 violations.
The Commissioner’s Office also pointed out that the fines for street blocking shops prosecuted under the “Street Obstruction Clause” are only about 1,000 yuan per case, which is lower than the fine of 1,500 yuan under the “Fixed Penalty Clause”. deterrent effect.
+2
The number of actions coordinated by the District Civil Affairs Offices varies. The Office promotes coordination
With regard to inter-departmental joint operations in recent years, the PCPD found that the district civil affairs offices under the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau will coordinate actions according to actual needs, but the practices of different civil affairs offices, as well as the number of coordinated joint operations, are quite different.
Among them, some District District Offices have coordinated more than 100 joint operations in the past few years, while some District Offices have not coordinated any operations during this period, including Wan Chai, Kowloon City and North District.
In addition, there are also cases showing that even though the Civil Affairs Office tried to coordinate cross-departmental joint operations, the situation was stalemate because the Office was unable to quickly resolve disputes over administrative powers and responsibilities among departments.
Ombudsman Chiu Wai-hsien criticized that disputes between departments involve "how much to do, which one to do first, and how to plan joint actions." He believes that the Civil Affairs Department should coordinate. If there are still disputes, they can be submitted to the local steering committee for resolution, and local administrative supervision The committee should also actively consider the establishment of a permanent central mechanism to regularly review completed cross-departmental cases that take a long time to deal with in various regions, to explore whether there are systemic problems involved, and to make necessary improvements.
+2
Facilitate the introduction of a progressive fixed penalty mechanism
The PCPD believes that when the FEHD invokes the "street obstruction clause" to prosecute a serious violation of the law, it should state the seriousness of the problem to the court and suggest a heavier penalty to enhance the deterrent effect. Furthermore, the environment and The Bureau of Ecology and the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department should comprehensively review the penalties in the current law, including increasing the maximum penalty and the fixed penalty amount of the ticket control clause, and actively researching the introduction of a progressive penalty mechanism in the "fixed penalty clause" to increase the illegal cost of street blocking. Fight repeat and persistent offenders more effectively.
Regarding the government’s claim that progressive fines are not feasible, the Commissioner’s Office cited that the Bureau of Environment and Ecology plans to submit the proposal to the Panel in the middle of this year and include the proposal to introduce a progressive fine mechanism into the feasibility study, including assessing whether the introduction of the relevant mechanism will increase the number of frontline law enforcement officers and Opportunities for citizens to dispute, whether it is cost-effective to develop a real-time database and system to support relevant mechanisms and the interests of the society as a whole, and whether it is more appropriate to introduce relevant mechanisms in ticket control provisions, etc.
The Commissioner’s Office also stated that it understands the problems considered by the government, but emphasizes that the current penalties cannot deter persistent or serious street blockers. It is believed that progressive fines can address related problems.
The Office of the Ombudsman announced the results of the government's active investigation into street blocking regulations.
(Government Information Service)
Food and Environmental Hygiene Department: Fully accept the recommendations of the Commissioner's Office
The FEHD responded by saying that it fully accepted the recommendations of the Office of the Ombudsman. Among them, the Environment and Ecology Bureau has launched a legal review related to cracking down on street blocking by shops, and has completed public consultation on increasing the fixed penalty amount for street blocking by shops and the maximum penalty for ticketing. To give full consideration to The Ombudsman's other legislative amendment proposals in the legislative review.
In addition, in July last year, the "Regional Matters Coordination Working Group" led by the Deputy Secretary for Administration focused on combating street obstruction by shops. In October of the same year, more than 500 joint law enforcement actions were taken in various districts, with satisfactory results. Received positive reviews from people in the area.
Nearly 40% of the illegal construction of village houses did not comply with the demolition order. The Ombudsman revealed the case of the Buildings Department. The service order was used for 8 years for shops to block the streets for 3 years and received more than 200 complaints. The Office of the Ombudsman took the second active investigation. 10,000 complaints hit record high Ombudsman's Office proactively investigates vehicle abandonment of government land and reviews authorities' prosecution strategy