Eateries Appeal To Landlords As CE Rejects Rent Aid

The catering sector is asking landlords to cut rents after the government rejected calls to help restaurants with rent subsidies, as many establishments reel due to falling revenue due to the coronavirus situation.

Lawmaker Tommy Cheung, who represents the sector, said on Thursday that Chief Executive Carrie Lam has refused to help pay restaurant rents, but that she did agree to provide more assistance in a second round of anti-epidemic funding.

"We’re not greedy, basically I've always said help us with our rent and our salaries, but rent [Carrie Lam] already said 'I can't, I will not help out with rent, whatever I do I'm going to focus on keeping jobs'," he said.

Cheung, who is also an executive councillor, said that he has been asking landlords to reduce rents by as much as 50 percent for the next three months, saying that doing so would prevent the full closure of a lot of the city's eateries.

But he told RTHK that this also depends on the type of government support for the sector, and that government assistance must be enough to cover the salaries of all workers in the catering industry.

"So obviously if the government can help out with 100 percent of our salaries for the next three months, that will keep a lot of jobs."

"That’s why I say [to landlords] ‘please, now is the time to think about giving us more than 50 percent rent reductions for the next three months, or else we won’t survive,” he said.

"I don’t think I’m asking too much. If the landlords believe that we are partners and if they think that my constituents are carrying 200,000 jobs, by keeping us afloat, [they are] helping us survive."

"It also helps the 200,000 employees to still get paid, if not full pay at least part of the pay and get the family fed," he said.

Cheung acknowledged that some landlords have reduced rents by as much as 70 percent for the next few months.

The lawmaker also described the temporary closure of more entertainment venues – karaoke lounges, nightclubs, and mahjong premises – as "a bit rushed".

He told RTHK's Janice Wong that some of the establishments had to cancel all client bookings, and close their premises at short notice.

He also said that a lot of eateries that were left out of the first round of anti-epidemic funding were badly hit, especially after the authorities announced new social distancing measures.

The new measures state that restaurants must operate at half of their capacity, with no more four customers at each table, and that the distance between tables should not be less than 1.5 metres.