Hong Kong’s government reiterates it is upholding the principles of fairness and impartiality in relocating the Yen Chow Street Temporary Hawker Bazaar to ensure proper use of public funds and resources.  
The government says it will continue to communicate with the stakeholders and explain to them the relevant arrangements.
A spokesman for the Food and Health Bureau says that in taking forward the relocation of the bazaar, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) held six on-site surveys. Eventually, 33 persons were confirmed to be working without a licence in the bazaar. Subsequently, 17 other persons claimed they had been running cloth trading in the bazaar independently for a long period.
“Although they claim to have been operating in the market without a licence, they were not present during any of the FEHD surveys. The department still ran questionnaire surveys to verify their claimed ‘operator status’.They were invited to provide information such as business registration, tax information, operation period and mode, as well as sources of their goods.”  
No evidence
However, after an investigation the FEHD confirmed there was no credible information or evidence to prove the 17 claims. This means the department cannot treat them like the other 33 registered unlicensed operators.”  
The spokesman says the information reveals that most of them are assistants, relatives or friends of the licensed operators or registered unlicensed operators, some being spouses, children or in-laws. The relocation exercise will not affect their current employment or working relationship as they can continue their work after the relevant licensed operators or registered unlicensed operators have been relocated.  
“If they want to start a business, they can choose to participate in the open bidding exercise for a tenancy agreement of other fabric stalls at Tung Chau Market.”
However, after being notified of the verification results, some of the 17 claimants said they had extra information. The FEHD has invited them to provide this on or before October 11.
Meanwhile, the spokesman has warned that any deception could be considered fraud, rendering the offender and cohorts liable on conviction to a maximum penalty of imprisonment for 14 years.  
The government notified the stall owners in August last year that the bazaar would be closed down so the site could be used for providing subsidised housing.