End of the road for barbecue rental stalls on Shek O Beach? Hong Kong government orders operators to vacate land
Move sparks calls for a compromise as businesses which date back to the 1920s are popular with beachgoers
After decades of providing beachgoers with rental barbecue facilities, tables and chairs, the sun may have set on these vendors on Hong Kong’s Shek O Beach as they face an order to vacate government-owned land.
The stalls currently occupy a strip on the eastern side of the beach and all of them were closed when the Post visited on Thursday.
Tables and chairs were tucked away under a canopy. Sources said the shelter was built by stall operators.
According to a letter issued by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department that the Post obtained, operators of the stalls were asked to remove their property and vacate four days earlier on Monday.
The letter, which was issued in late January, stated that operators could face a fine of HK$500,000 (US$63,900) and six months in jail if they failed to comply and continued occupying government land.
“If the occupancy does not stop in accordance with the notice, the department can take over any property or structure on the land,” the letter read.
In a 2012 report, the Audit Commission slammed the Lands Department for failing to take effective action against unauthorised occupation of government land.
