Developers' fine 'futile'

PUNISHMENT should be stepped up for people convicted of illegally resuming flats for redevelopment, United Democrat legislator James To Kun-sun said.

Mr To said the maximum penalty was now a $500,000 fine and although the Government had planned to increase the penalty to $1 million, a fine was not an effective deterrent.

He said some developers hired drug addicts or ''small potatoes'' in triads as ''front-line workers'' to intimidate the tenants.

''The fine doesn't mean anything to these front-line people because they don't have any money,'' he said.

The legislator said a jail sentence would be a better deterrent than a fine.

Mr To suggested a jail term of at least 12 months should be imposed on first-time offenders.