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The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) today (March 27) announced that owners of the illegal graves on the slope north of the Diamond Hill Urn Cemetery must remove the human remains in these graves on or before June 5 this year. Otherwise, they will be removed by the Administration without further notification.
A spokesman for the FEHD said, "Notices have been posted at the above location requesting concerned persons to remove the human remains interred in the illegal graves since September 2011. So far, about half of the illegal graves have been removed by the concerned descendants. Since sufficient handling time has been given to those involved, the FEHD has fixed the deadline for removal of the illegal graves on June 5, 2013."
After the deadline and upon obtaining the consent of the Secretary for Home Affairs, the spokesman said, the FEHD will, in conjunction with the Lands Department, remove the human remains and/or urns or other containers containing human remains in the graves. All the human remains removed by the Administration will be transported to the Sandy Ridge Cemetery. If the human remains are not claimed after six years, they will be cremated with the ashes deposited in the communal grave at the Sandy Ridge Cemetery.
The spokesman reminded members of the public concerned that they must apply for an exhumation permit before removing the human remains on their own. After exhumation, they may consider applying for burial of the remains at an urn grave of the Wo Hop Shek Cemetery. Should they choose to cremate the remains, they may consider scattering the ashes at designated Hong Kong waters and Gardens of Remembrance, or applying for allocation of new or re-used public niches.
Application for the second phase allocation of new public niches at Wo Hop Shek Kiu Tau Road Columbarium and Diamond Hill Columbarium will be expected to start in mid-2013.
Enquiries by those concerned can be made on 2365 5321.
Ends/Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Issued at HKT 15:31
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