Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ1: Cremation of bodies
Following is a question by the Hon Mrs Selina Chow and a reply by the Secretary
for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today
(February 23):
Question:
It has been reported that the current six government crematoria in Hong Kong
with 30 cremators for handling up to 144 bodies per day cannot cope with the
public demand for cremating their deceased relatives and friends. In this
connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the shortest, longest and average waiting time for cremating bodies at
present;
(b) of the details of the existing booking mechanism for cremation of bodies;
whether there are criteria for setting priority; and whether the public could,
according to their own needs, apply to the authorities for priority for
cremating their deceased relatives and friends; and
(c) whether the current utilisation of the above cremators had exceeded their
capacity; if so, of the measures taken by the authorities to relieve the
workload?
Reply:
Madam President,
It is the Government's policy to encourage the public to make use of our
cremation services as far as possible in view of the scarcity of land resources
for the provision of land burials. There are at present six government
crematoria which could provide a total cremation capacity of about 34,000
cremation sessions for 2005. The designed capacity should therefore be
sufficient to meet the projected cremation demand of 32,000 cremation sessions
for 2005. To cope with the anticipated increase in demand for cremation service
in the next decade, measures have been taken and plans are in place to expand
and upgrade our cremation facilities.
(a) In 2004, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) handled a
total of 31, 332 applications for cremation service. All cremations were carried
out within 15 days from the day following the date of application. Given that
the waiting time for cremation service depends on a number of factors including
the availability of cremation sessions, the number of applications at the time
and the preference of the applicants for specific dates and sessions, it is
difficult to provide information on the average waiting time. Notwithstanding
this, according to FEHD's statistics in 2004, the shortest waiting time was 1
day, the longest waiting time was 15 days and most of the cremation services
were carried out within 11 to 15 days.
(b) The procedures for the booking of cremation service provided by FEHD are as
follows:
1. The applicant should complete the "Application for Private Cremation Form"
and supply relevant supporting documents (e.g. death certificate). He/she can
book in person an unallocated normal cremation session in any government
crematorium within 15 days from the day following the date of application.
2. Should the applicant wish to authorize the representative of a licensed
undertaker/funeral agent to book a cremation session on his/her behalf, he/she
and the representative have to sign and stamp the chop of the licensed
undertaker/funeral agent on an authorisation form in the presence of staff in an
FEHD cremation booking office.
3. Booking of cremation sessions is normally processed on a
first-come-first-served basis.
4. If there are special reasons for urgent cremation, such as the next of kin
who returns to Hong Kong for the funeral has to leave before a certain date, the
applicant should provide supporting documents (e.g. a departure air ticket of
the next of kin). FEHD is prepared to exercise discretion on individual cases.
(c) The FEHD cremators are all utilised according to their design without
exceeding the designed capacity. As a long-term measure to cope with the
increase in demand for cremation service, FEHD has been gradually replacing old
cremators with more efficient ones to make available more cremation sessions.
The replacement of cremators at the Kwai Chung Crematorium and Fu Shan
Crematorium was completed in March 2003 and October 2004 respectively. The
current replacement works at the Diamond Hill Crematorium are expected to
complete by mid-2006. In addition, planning for increasing and upgrading the
cremation facilities at other crematoria is underway.
Ends/Wednesday, February 23, 2005
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