Wet market operator sues Hong Kong’s Housing Authority over venue’s unsanitary conditions
Statutory body accused of turning blind eye to water leakage, sewage pipe blockage and foul odour at market at Kwai Chung Shopping Centre
Hong Kong’s Housing Authority is facing legal action from a wet market operator over the premises’ “unhygienic and extremely unpleasant environment” after the statutory body allegedly turned a blind eye to water leakage, sewage pipe blockage and foul odours at the location.
Goldrise Investment Limited applied to the High Court for an injunction preventing the authority from “causing or allowing” the numerous defects at the wet market at Kwai Chung Shopping Centre, which were said to have deterred visitors and caused serious disruption to vendors.
The company has been running the wet market since 2005 pursuant to various tenancy agreements with the authority, according to the writ seen by the Post on Thursday.
The authority manages 33 wet markets, 15 of which were under its direct supervision and the others operated by commercial operators such as the plaintiff.
The writ said the Kwai Chung wet market had long been plagued by persistent water seepage, leakage and flooding since 2017 due to a failure in air-conditioning units, as well as clogging and bursting of sewage and drainage pipes.
The operator claimed an authority representative duped it into extending its lease until October 31, 2026, by “fraudulently” claiming it would replace old drain pipes and sewers and reinstall air-conditioning systems.
