**********************************************************
The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) drew the selection priority of 31 342 eligible applicants in a computer ballot today (September 11) for the allocation of new niches at Wo Hop Shek Kiu Tau Road Columbarium (WHSKTRC) and Diamond Hill Columbarium (DHC). Applicants will be invited in batches from September 22 to select niches according to their selection priority determined by the computer ballot.
An FEHD spokesman said that 125 large niches and 23 844 standard niches in WHSKTRC and 505 standard niches in DHC are available for selection in Phase III, which is also the last phase, of the allocation exercise for this batch of new niches.
During the one-month application period ending on July 24, 15 984 eligible applications were received after verification. Together with the 15 358 unsuccessful applications from Phase II automatically brought forward to Phase III, there are a total of 31 342 eligible applications, 335 of which are for large niches and 31 007 for standard niches. The department held an open computer ballot today with the whole process videotaped.
As from today, the ballot results will be displayed at the FEHD's Hong Kong Cemeteries and Crematoria (C&C) Office and Kowloon C&C Office, and uploaded to the department's webpage (www.fehd.gov.hk) for public inspection. Notification will also be sent to applicants by SMS or email if they provided their mobile phone numbers or email addresses in their application forms.
Applicants can also make use of the Instant Voice Response System at 2304 8906 and follow the instructions to check the ballot results starting from tomorrow.
The spokesman said that starting from September 22, invitation letters would be sent out according to the selection priority drawn to invite applicants to complete the selection procedure according to the designated date and time at the FEHD's Kowloon C&C Office. The whole allocation exercise is expected to be completed by the end of 2015.
The FEHD completed the construction of more than 45 000 new niches in 2012. Apart from the some 1 500 new standard niches at DHC, the remaining niches are located at WHSKTRC. The FEHD commenced allocation in three phases starting from September 2012. Phase I and Phase II were completed in May 2013 and May 2014 respectively, with 20 697 niches successfully allocated.
Information on the FEHD's C&C Offices is as follows:
Hong Kong C&C Office
Address: 1J, Wong Nai Chung Road, Happy Valley, Hong Kong
Tel: 2570 4318
Fax: 2591 1879
Kowloon C&C Office
Address: Upper Ground Floor, 6 Cheong Hang Road, Hung Hom, Kowloon
Tel: 2365 5321
Fax: 2176 4963
Ends/Thursday, September 11, 2014
Issued at HKT 18:54
NNNN
