Press Releases
Consumers reminded to protect their own interests when purchasing niches from private columbaria
The Under Secretary for Food and Health, Professor Sophia Chan, today
(May 22) reminded consumers to protect their own interests when
purchasing niches from private columbaria.
During a meeting with the Alliance for the Concern over Columbarium
Policy today, Professor Chan reiterated that the Government is forging
ahead with the drafting of the Private Columbaria Bill which seeks to
implement a licensing scheme for private columbaria. "Prior to the
implementation of the licensing scheme," Professor Chan said, "members
of the public should exercise care when purchasing niches from private
columbaria."
She said, "In a paper put before the Legislative Council (LegCo) in
December last year, the Government raised for discussion a proposal to
exempt 'long-existing' private columbaria from the licensing scheme.
Thereafter, messages started circulating in the market claiming that
certain private columbaria would be exempted. The Government has
already clarified at that stage that we have not defined what
constitutes a 'long-existing' private columbarium, such as what the
cut-off date should be. Furthermore, it remains to be seen as to
whether the proposal itself would gain wide public acceptance and the
endorsement of LegCo. Therefore, it is premature at this juncture to
conclude that a certain private columbarium would definitely be
exempted in future. Any claims to that effect must be treated with
caution.
"Pending the introduction of the new legislation on the regulation of
private columbaria, various government departments would continue to
carry out inspections to and take regulatory actions against private
columbaria according to relevant existing laws. Consumers are well
advised to pay attention to the consumer tips published by the Food
and Health Bureau (www.fhb.gov.hk)
in order to protect their own interests. If there is doubt or
uncertainty when purchasing private niches, consumers should consider
seeking advice from professionals and refrain from making any purchase
rashly."
On the increase of the supply of public niches, Professor Chan noted
that the Government has been promoting the district-based columbarium
development scheme and identified 24 potential sites across the 18
districts for columbarium development. Among these 24 sites,
construction of 1 540 new niches in the Diamond Hill Columbarium was
completed in early 2012 while construction of 1 000 niches in the
Cheung Chau Cemetery will be completed by late 2013. As regards the
other sites, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD)
consulted the respective District Councils (DCs) in 2012 on the
construction of 44 000 niches at Wo Hop Shek, 110 000 niches at Tsang
Tsui, 20 000 niches at Tsing Tsuen Road and 200 000 niches at Sandy
Ridge Cemetery. Construction works in Wo Hop Shek, Tsang Tsui and
Tsing Tsuen Road are scheduled to start in 2015. The Government has
obtained funding support from the Finance Committee of LegCo in
February 2013 for the site formation and associated infrastructural
works at Sandy Ridge Cemetery, and follow-up actions on the site
investigations and detailed design are now under way. The columbarium
development at Sandy Ridge Cemetery is expected to start in 2019
(after site formation). The Administration is conducting feasibility
studies on the remaining sites and will consult the relevant DCs
before the sites are confirmed for columbarium development. Subject to
the support of DCs and LegCo for the projects under planning, together
with the supply of the Chinese Permanent Cemeteries, it is estimated
that over 120 000 new niches (including the 43 000 new niches in Kiu
Tau Road, Wo Hop Shek, completed in July 2012) will be made available
between 2012 and 2016, and the supply of new niches will cumulatively
increase to hundreds of thousands in the medium to long run (i.e. 2017
to 2031).
While the Government is making every effort to increase columbarium
facilities, Professor Chan added that the Government has been taking
steps to foster a change in mindset and culture by encouraging
community acceptance of more sustainable forms of "green burial",
which include scattering human ashes at Gardens of Remembrance (GoRs)
and at sea. The FEHD will continue to promote scattering of human
ashes at sea and at GoRs by improving its facilities and services and
stepping up its promotion efforts.
Ends/Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Issued at HKT 20:12
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