Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ12: Management Scheme for the Display of Roadside Non-commercial Publicity Materials
Following is a question by the Dr Hon Kenneth Chan Ka-lok and a written reply by
the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Ko Wing-man, in the Legislative Council
today (April 16):
Question:
The Lands Department (LandsD) has been implementing the "Management Scheme for
the Display of Roadside Non-commercial Publicity Materials" (the Management
Scheme) since 2003 to manage the display of non-commercial publicity materials
on the roadside. Under the Management Scheme, LandsD allocates roadside
designated spots to members of this Council and members of District Councils (DC
members) for them to display non-commercial publicity materials, including
banners. LandsD conducts regular operations jointly with the Food and
Environmental Hygiene Department to remove publicity materials the display of
which is unauthorised or non-compliant with the implementation guidelines, and
decides whether to institute prosecutions against the persons concerned or
merely recover the removal expenses from them, having regard to the
circumstances of each case and the relevant law. Regarding the law enforcement
actions taken in respect of the display of roadside non-commercial publicity
materials and the number of the display spots concerned, will the Government
inform this Council:
(1) of the number of cases in which the publicity materials displayed on the
roadside by members of this Council or DC members were removed by the
authorities in each of the past three years, with a breakdown by the reason for
removal; the number of such cases in which members of this Council or DC members
were fined, as well as the total amount of the fines imposed;
(2) whether, according to the law enforcement procedures of LandsD, officers of
LandsD are required, when they notice that the publicity materials displayed on
the roadside by members of this Council or DC members have violated the
requirements of the Management Scheme or that the publicity materials concerned
have been damaged, to issue warnings and notices respectively to the members
concerned before taking removal actions; if they are, of the details; if not,
the justifications for that;
(3) whether the authorities will consider reviewing the law enforcement
procedures in respect of the display of roadside non-commercial publicity
materials; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(4) whether the authorities will consider amending the existing legislation
relating to the regulation of the display of roadside non-commercial publicity
materials and making available more roadside spots for members of this Council
or DC members to display publicity materials for more effective dissemination of
messages of public concern to members of the public; if they will, of the
details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
The Lands Department (LandsD) has implemented the Management Scheme for the
Display of Roadside Non-commercial Publicity Materials (Management Scheme) since
May 2003 to manage the display of non-commercial publicity materials (NCPMs) on
the roadside, and made revisions to the Implementation Guidelines of the
Management Scheme in August 2011. The NCPMs in question are usually displayed by
members of the Legislative Council (LegCo) and District Councils (DCs), DCs and
their committees, as well as non-profit-making organisations for the purpose of
promoting and publicising activities that are non-commercial in nature and of
interest to the public, and disseminating information that is of general
interest or use to the public.
For the purpose of implementing the Management Scheme, some officers in the
LandsD are authorised by the Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene (DFEH)
to give permission for the display of roadside NCPMs under section 104A(1)(b) of
the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Cap. 132). The Food and
Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) conducts joint operations with the
LandsD regularly, and removes those publicity materials that are verified by the
LandsD as being unauthorised or non-compliant with the Implementation Guidelines
under section 104C(1) of the above Ordinance and recover the removal costs from
the parties concerned.
My reply to the various parts of the question raised by the member is set out
below.
(1) In the past three years, the number of NCPMs that have been verified by the
LandsD as being unauthorised or non-compliant with the Implementation Guidelines
and removed by the FEHD during the joint operations (excluding those pertaining
to the general elections of the LegCo and DCs); the number of demand notes
issued in recovering the removal cost from the parties concerned; and the
removal costs recovered are as follows :
Year
2011 2012
2013
Number of NCPMs 5 768 2 294
4 051
removed
Number of demand 1 202 732
409
notes issued to recover
the removal cost
Removal costs
384,527 243,367 130,369
recovered ($)
As regards the reasons for the removal, they include cases where the concerned
NCPMs are displayed without permission or at locations other than the designated
spots, or are loosened and may impede pedestrian and vehicular movements. The
FEHD does not keep separate statistics on the number of NCPMs removed that
belong to the members of LegCo or DCs and the reasons for removing the NCPMs,
and the number of demand notes issued to the parties concerned to recover the
removal cost and the removal cost recovered.
(2) Under the existing Management Scheme of the LandsD, if the display of any
roadside NCPMs is identified by contractors of the LandsD to be unauthorised
under the Management Scheme, non-compliant with the Management Scheme
Implementation Guidelines (the Implementation Guidelines) and/or in breach of
the conditions imposed by the District Lands Officers (DLOs) in relation to the
permission for the display (including failure to securely fix the publicity
materials), the LandsD will refer the case to the FEHD for follow-up actions.
Under the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Cap. 132), the DFEH
may remove the unauthorised publicity materials without giving prior notice;
institute prosecutions against the person(s) concerned; and recover from them
the costs for removing the publicity materials.
(3) All along, the FEHD removes NCPMs that are unauthorised or non-compliant
with the Implementation Guidelines through joint operations with the LandsD.
During the operations, the LandsD is responsible for identifying and verifying
those NCPMs that are unauthorised or non-compliant with the Implementation
Guidelines. Removal actions will then be taken by the FEHD. The joint operations
have been operating effectively so far. The FEHD and the LandsD will continue to
take the concerned enforcement actions.
(4) The implementation of the Management Scheme is reviewed from time to time
and revised where necessary. For example, as mentioned above, the Management
Scheme was revised in 2011 to make the objectives and implementation guidelines
clearer etc. In relation to the roadside spots, in identifying the suitable
ones, the Distrcit Lands Offices will strive to strike a due balance between the
provision of adequate designated spots on the one hand and such factors as
traffic safety, amenity and local geographical environment on the other hand.
Given these considerations, the number and location of designated spots
available for users (including members of the LegCo and DCs) are accordingly
limited.
Ends/Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Issued at HKT 15:16
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