On the second day of enforcement for the new $1,500 littering fine, many people yesterday were still unaware of some of the minor violations.
'There are still a small number of people who haven't got rid of their bad habits,' said Food and Environmental Hygiene Department spokesman Robert Yip Wai-keung. 'So we have to continue to do a lot of education through radio announcements and public posters.'
Minor violations include spitting in rubbish bins, throwing litter in the ashtrays on top of waste baskets and spitting in the gutter.
As of 4pm yesterday, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department had issued 96 tickets, compared with 102 tickets the day before. Of the 96 violations, 72 were for littering, 23 for spitting and one for dog fouling.
Nine enforcement officers had to call the police for help yesterday after offenders refused to co-operate, Mr Yip said. While the number of tickets issued remains high, one officer said she found people were following the rules.
Tang Pui-king is the busiest female enforcement officer in the department, handing out an average of one ticket per day last year. But she said she had yet to hand out one ticket since the new fines were imposed on Thursday.
