Property Owner fined over $60,000 for failing to comply with removal order
A property owner was fined $61,000 for failing to comply with a removal order issued under the Buildings Ordinance (Cap 123)(BO) at Kwun Tong Magistrates' Courts last week.
The order involved an illegal extension for domestic use on the flat roof of a building at Battery Street, Yau Ma Tei in Kowloon. The size of the unauthorised building works (UBWs) was around 58 square metres and almost doubled the size of the flat concerned. The UBWs were erected without prior approval from the Buildings Department (BD), contravening section 14(1) of the BO. A removal order was then served on the owner of the flat under section 24(1) of the BO.
As the owner failed to remove the UBWs upon the expiry of the removal order, he was prosecuted by the BD. The owner was convicted and heavily fined over $60,000 in Kwun Tong Magistrates' Courts on February 20.
Pursuant to section 40(1BA) of the BO, any person who, without reasonable excuse, fails to comply with an order served on him under section 24(1) of the BO, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of $200,000 and to imprisonment for one year, as well as a further fine of $20,000 for each day that the offence has continued.
Ends/Friday, March 2, 2018