Periscope

Control of street promotion urged to cut nuisance

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Calls for plugging loopholes

There are at least five government departments which oversee street management problems. The police, FEHD, Transport Department, Lands Department and Home Affairs Department would take complaints about promotion activities at public places. The police and FEHD can also carry out enforcement action in accordance with relevant laws.

A spokeswoman for the FEHD said since street promotion activities did not involve transactions of tangible goods, they were not categorised as unlicensed hawking. But she said FEHD officers would take appropriate actions if street promoters caused obstruction and ignored verbal warnings.
Under the Summary Offences Ordinance, anyone who causes an obstruction in a public place would be liable to a fine of $5,000 or three-month jail.

Lawmaker James To Kun-sun said the inadequate coverage of the law meant
service-selling activities with no transaction of tangible goods on the street were not directly regulated. Street promoters selling services usually only hand out leaflets to pedestrians and ask them to complete the registration via the internet.

Mr To said this type of street promotions had created an “unfair competition” among businesses because while street promoters could make use of public areas for free to approach customers, the nearby shop owners had to pay rent for their stores.

The lawmaker, who is also an elected member of the Yau Tsim Mong District Council, said designated pedestrian areas like Sai Yeung Choi Street South in Mong Kok and Great George Street in Causeway Bay where street promotion activities were often found, were not intended for any commercial activities.“The government should consider regulating this kind of business activities on the ground of unfair competition. This can be a negligence of the government (if it fails to do so),” Mr To said.

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Hawker control officers carry out regular inspections and give verbal warnings to street promoters.