Hong Kong Customs seizes live lizards of suspected scheduled endangered species
Hong Kong Customs yesterday (December 9) seized 34 suspected scheduled endangered live lizards with an estimated market value of about $20,400 at Hong Kong International Airport.
Through risk assessment, Customs officers yesterday inspected an air consignment declared to contain courier material imported from Indonesia. Upon inspection, the suspected scheduled endangered live lizards were found concealed inside a hidden compartment of a wooden box.
The case was handed over to the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department for follow-up action.
Under the Protection of Endangered Species of Animals and Plants Ordinance (Cap. 586), any person importing, exporting or possessing specimens of endangered species not in accordance with the Ordinance commits an offence and will be liable to a maximum fine of $10 million and imprisonment for 10 years upon conviction with the specimens forfeited.
Members of the public may report any suspected smuggling activities to Customs' 24-hour hotline 182 8080 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk) or online form (eform.cefs.gov.hk/form/ced002).
Hong Kong Customs seizes live lizards of suspected scheduled endangered species Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
Hong Kong Customs seizes live lizards of suspected scheduled endangered species Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
Remarks by DCS at media session (with video)
The Deputy Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Cheuk Wing-hing, together with the Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, Miss Alice Mak, met the media today (December 10) on the Support Fund for Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po. Following are Mr Cheuk’s remarks:
Reporter: Does the Government intend to redevelop the Tai Po site, and how will authorities settle the affected residents in the long run? And how much, in number terms, from the fund will be needed to do so? And as of today, how much is left in the $3.4 billion fund, and how can the fund’s transparency be assured? And how is the progress on forming the independent committee? The government mentioned it was looking for a judge a few days ago. So when will the committee start working and investigating? Can you tell us the timeline? Thank you.
Deputy Chief Secretary for Administration: I try to respond to your questions, not particularly in the order you asked those questions. I think the forming of the independent committee is being very vigorously pursued. And I think at the appropriate juncture, the Government will make the announcement.
As regards how much is left in in our Support Fund (Support Fund for Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po) for helping the persons affected by the fire, I just mentioned that so far, our commitment is about $460 million. So we have about $2.8 billion left in the Support Fund. And what's your first and second question?
Reporter: The intention of the Tai Po site. Will it be redeveloped as considered?
Deputy Chief Secretary for Administration: I also did mention that the Chief Executive has asked the Deputy Financial Secretary to look into the long-term housing and accommodation needs of the victims of this fire. So I think there are obviously many possibilities, and there are different options, many factors to consider, and I think the ultimate use of the fire site will depend on what are the propositions that we come up with. So it has to await that side of the work to be complete.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the remarks.)
Source: AI-found images
