HK$1,500 government fine on Hong Kong ‘cardboard granny’ waived after appeal and petition from scavengers concern group
Food and Environmental Hygiene Department says it will no longer prosecute woman, 63, for putting bag of rubbish on ground in July
An elderly cardboard scavenger who was fined HK$1,500 (US$191) for setting down a bag of rubbish on a Hong Kong street last month had the littering penalty waived after a concern group appealed to the authorities.
The Waste Picker Platform said the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) on Monday told Chen Kung-lan, 63, that it would no longer prosecute her.
Almost 1,600 people and groups signed an online petition the group launched after Chen’s plight surfaced.
At a press briefing held by the group on Wednesday, Chen said: “I am very happy and thankful to the public for the support in helping me to achieve justice.”
Chen said she had been collecting cardboard on the streets in North Point on July 23. She said she temporarily unloaded a bag of rubbish from her trolley to the ground because the trolley was in danger of tipping over. Two officers from the department turned up and told her she had violated the law by littering.
