Hong Kong’s security minister has revealed that authorities are reviewing fire safety laws to expand enforcement powers and toughen penalties as part of a broader crackdown on illegal fuel sales in the city amid surging global oil prices.
Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung said on Wednesday the government’s review included possible penalty increases, expanding enforcement powers for the Fire Services Department to make arrests and seize vehicles, and an examination of the legal liability of those who purchase illegal fuel.
“In view of the increasingly serious risks that illicit fuelling activities pose to public safety, the government is actively reviewing relevant fire safety legislation with a view to comprehensively strengthening the regulatory regime,” Tang said in a reply to lawmaker Jody Kwok Fu-yung’s inquiry.
Law enforcement agencies have ramped up raids on illegal diesel and petrol stations in the city in recent months, with a source previously telling the South China Morning Post that such operations had increased amid the surging price of oil.
Fuel prices have risen sharply since the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran on February 28, prompting Tehran to close the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s busiest oil shipping passageways.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose by more than 60 per cent and as high as nearly US$117 a barrel last month, while standard petrol prices in the city climbed to between HK$19.13 and HK$25.23 (US$2.44 and US$2.87) on March 30, up from HK$15.43 to HK$22.03 on February 28.
The Fire Services Department, which enforces fire safety laws at illicit fuel stations, had conducted 349 inspections and raids in the first two months of this year, seizing 193,217 litres of fuel and initiating 73 prosecutions.
The Customs and Excise Department, which targets the sale of untaxed petrol, has seized 16,339 litres of illicit fuel over the same period, seizing 12 vehicles and prosecuting three people.
