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Following is a question by the Hon Lau Wong-fat and an oral reply by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (March 8):
Question:
Will the Government inform this Council of the justifications for its plan to provide crematorium and columbarium facilities in Tuen Mun where a number of waste disposal operations are already taking place, and whether, in drawing up the plan, the authorities have considered the possibility that such a plan might further aggravate the environment of the district and upset local residents?
Reply:
Madam President,
The number of cremations has been rising steadily in the last 30 years. There has been a shortage of Government niches and the cremators are operating at almost full capacity. In 2005, out of the total number of deaths of around 38 600 in Hong Kong, 33 000 (i.e. 86%) dead bodies were cremated, of which 88% could only be undertaken within 11 to 15 days of application. The Government provides a total of 138 000 niches but all were sold out last year. About 11 000 new niches will be made available later this year. Only several tens of thousands of vacant niches are still available in the private columbaria and columbaria under the management of the Chinese Permanent Cemeteries. These can hardly meet public demand.
As the number of deaths will continue to rise due to the increasing population, the Government considers it necessary to increase and improve public crematorium and columbarium (C&C) facilities so as to meet the rising public demand.
The Government understands that some members of the public may not favour the presence of these facilities in their neighbourhood. Every effort is being made to construct new facilities at or adjacent to the existing C&C sites as far as practicable. For instance, we plan to provide about 150 000 additional niches and to replace existing cremators over the next ten years in the environs of Cape Collinson, Diamond Hill and Kwai Chung Columbaria as well as in Wo Hop Shek Cemetery. However, these expansion plans will not be able to fully meet the longer-term demand from the public. There is a practical need for the Government to develop new C&C facilities in other locations. At present, the only site suitable for the development of large-scale C&C facilities in Hong Kong is the 22-hectare Government land in Tuen Mun Area 46 which has already been reserved on the Tuen Mun Outline Zoning Plan for 'Crematorium, Columbarium and Funeral Services Centre' uses. It is an ideal site as it is far away from major residential developments and is direct accessible by land transport.
We understand that members of the public in general may have the following special concerns over the construction of new C&C facilities:
* Environmental pollution caused by the operation of the C&C.
* Traffic flow and crowd control problems generated by the large number of grave sweepers during the Ching Ming and Chung Yeung Festivals.
* Possible psychological effect on nearby residents arising from the presence and visual impact of the C&C.
There are ways and means to address such concerns. In recent years when the Government reprovisioned the cremators, new technologies have been employed to enhance the handling capacity as well as to improve control on air emission. All the reprovisioned/new crematorium facilities have to meet the standard limits set by the Environmental Protection Department regarding solid discharge and gas emission. New columbaria will be installed with exhaust treatment facilities to properly collect and purify the smoke and ash from the burning of incense and joss paper to prevent air pollution. We also plan to prohibit the burning of joss paper and joss sticks in some of the new columbaria. In terms of the visual impact and layout of the buildings, efforts will be made in the building design to take full advantage of the landscape in blending the facilities with the surroundings, with the use of plants or trees as barriers to minimize any psychological effects that may be caused.
The Government will consult the Tuen Mun District Council in the near future to identify their concerns and seek its views on the proposed construction of C&C facilities in Tuen Mun. Detailed studies regarding transport facilities/supporting services, crowd control, environmental impact, etc will then be conducted by relevant government departments. We will further consult the District Council on individual items of the proposed plan and decide on the next step forward when we have the detailed information, including ways on how to address the potential problems.
Ends/Wednesday, March 8, 2006
Issued at HKT 12:47
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