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the same way as traffic enforcement by the issue of multiplepenalty tickets to similar offenders. Owners must be given aclear and unambiguous message that UBW will not be tolerated andif they^ still choose to transgress in this area, they will beappropriately penalized financially until the UBW are removed.It is understood that this may involve extensive consultation,substantial legislative amendments and other administrativeconsiderations. Nevertheless, it is felt that the feasibilityof adopting an equitable penalty scheme should be evaluated.Consideration could be given to imposing fixed penalty finesappropriately set according to the seriousness and incidence ofpersistence and/or repetition of the breach (es) against the moreserious breach (es) in addition to existing enforcement measures.For minor breach (es) in existing NTEHs, the same measures ascurrently applicable to new NTEHs could be adopted,5.6 Another effective determent may be the registration ofthe advisory letter against 'the property title at the LR. At themoment, DLO/Yuen Long is the only DLO that exercise suchregistration. The registration of the advisory letter and theLetter of Compliance after rectification with LR comes with a fee(normally about two hundred dollars) to be borne by Government.It is evident that when an owner wants to dispose of his propertywhich had been registered, he is more likely to purge the breachon his own accord so that the sale will not be jeopardized. ThisOffice feels that this practice should be exercised throughoutall DLOs. Arguably, the registration will have little effect ifthe owner has no intention of selling his property in theimmediate future but given the volatile property market in HongKong, such encumbrances on future transactions will make theaverage owners think twice and take voluntary action to removethe UBW.5.7 This Office notes that most DLOs are provided with oneLease Enforcement Team as detailed in Chapter 4. DLO/Yuen Longhas two teams but they have to oversee a total of 130 scatteredvillages, DLO/Islands may have four teams on paper but theircurrent total strength is only four-and-a-half, including allranks and they have to cover four islands, viz. Lamma, PengChau, Cheung Chau and Lantau. It is worth mentioning again thatthe Lease Enforcement work on UBW in NTEH is only part of theteams' daily work as they have to also deal with UBW in multistoreybuildings and misuse of buildings. Other DLOs are notmuch better off in staffing resources. Considering the size andnumber of villages in each district and the extent of the UBWproblem, the overall resources for lease enforcement actionsdoes appear to be totally inadequate.5.8 The need to resolve cases and take enforcement actionsquickly and decisively are obvious. Long unsettled cases^aredemoralising as the sense of accomplishment diminishes with time.Furthermore, slow progress means that cases may be handled bydifferent case officers due to staff changes. Continuity is lost- 25 -•