Some 4,000 public locations still need cleaning, says top HK official

Deputy Chief Secretary for Administration Warner Cheuk Wing-hing said a citywide cleaning operation has identified some 400 hygiene black spots, while another 4,000 locations are still in need of further cleaning.

Speaking to RTHK, the top official said authorities must act fast to clean up hygiene blackspots, as progress is being made with more people telling him that the streets in the city are much cleaner.

Cheuk said one focus has been on parts of the town frequented by so-called parallel traders, who buy goods in Hong Kong to resell across the border.

"And honestly speaking, we did not wish to see anyone provoking conflicts between Hong Kong and the mainland through such issues. So we conducted intensive supervision work at several locations from when the border opened last February up until the end of the Mid-Autumn Festival and the Golden Week holidays where we saw the situation had improved,” he said.

Meanwhile, he said shops are now following the rules since the authorities’ move of increasing fines for illegal shopfront extensions to HK$6,000 in October last year.