Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ12: Policy on funeral matters
Following is a question by the Hon Leung Kwok-hung and a written
reply by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, in the
Legislative Council today (May 25):
Question:
I have received complaints from quite a number of members of the
public and groups about the problems they encountered when they arranged
for the cremation and burial of their deceased family members according to
the various applications and waiting arrangements prescribed by the Food
and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD), including application for
cremation permits, requesting to use eco-coffins, scattering cremated
human ashes in Gardens of Remembrance (GoRs) and waiting for niches. In
addition, they pointed out that they were unable to secure mourning halls
in funeral parlours to pay respect to the deceased as all the mourning
halls had been fully booked. In this connection, will the Government
inform this Council:
(a) as such members of the public pointed out that there are "queuing
gangs" queuing up almost 24 hours a day on behalf of undertakers to book
the cremation services of crematoria under FEHD, making it impossible for
the underprivileged people to book those services, whether FEHD will
immediately provide telephone or on-line registration for booking
cremation sessions of its crematoria to replace the current practice of
alloting a maximum of five chips to each person on a
first-come-first-served basis, so as to eliminate and combat "queuing
gangs"; if it will, of the implementation timeframe; if not, the reasons
for that;
(b) as the information from FEHD reveals that there are at present 10
non-governmental organisations (NGOs) or charities in Hong Kong providing
burial support services specifically for poor people relying on the burial
grant from the Social Welfare Department and even the elders who do not
have any relative, whether the Government will consider afresh allowing
such NGOs or charities to directly use the cremation services of the
Government without having to arrange such services via licensed
undertakers, as well as issuing undertaker's licences to such NGOs or
charities; if it will, of the implementation timeframe; if not, the
reasons for that;
(c) of the respective numbers of cases using eco-coffins, applications for
cremation services and scattering cremated human ashes in GoRs, and
registrations on the waitlist for public niches in each of the past five
years (to be listed in the table in Annex 1);
(d) as FEHD indicated at the meeting of this Council's Panel on Food
Safety and Environmental Hygiene on October 15, 2010 that about 100,000
new niches would be available in the next three years, of the number of
additional niches to be supplied in each of these three years and their
locations;
(e) of the expiry dates of the licences/operation rights of the existing
seven licensed funeral parlours in Hong Kong; as it has been reported that
the Government holds the ownership of one of those funeral parlours and
had granted its operation right through tendering, whether the Government
will call an open tender again for the operation right by publishing on
its web site or through advertisements upon the expiry of the existing
operation right of that funeral parlour; and
(f) whether it knows the respective numbers of large and small mourning
halls in each licensed funeral parlour at present; as the mourning halls
in funeral parlours are often fully booked due to the ageing population,
whether it has any plan to increase the number of funeral parlours in the
next three years to meet the service demand; if it has, of the details,
including the districts in which lands will be allocated for constructing
funeral parlours and the implementation timeframe; if not, the reasons for
that?
Reply:
President,
In respect of funeral matters, it is the Government's policy to
promote cremation and to provide efficient and dignified cremation
service. We are also committed to promoting more environmentally-friendly
and sustainable means of disposal of the dead. The Food and Environmental
Hygiene Department (FEHD) is empowered to regulate undertakers of burials
under the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Cap.132). Any
person interested in operating in the trade of undertaking duties
connected with burials must apply for a licence from the Director of Food
and Environmental Hygiene and comply with the statutory requirements on
handling human cadavers and maintaining records. Besides, the Government
will review the provision of cemeteries, columbaria and crematoria
facilities from time to time in order to ensure that burial facilities and
amenities can keep abreast of the times. To meet the future demand, the
Government will strive to identify suitable sites for building more burial
facilities with appropriate design. My reply to the six parts of the
question is as follows:
(a) At present, applicants for cremation services are required to produce
the original documentary proof (e.g. certificate of registration of death,
cremation permit, etc.) for verification by FEHD before booking a
cremation session. Applicants can either make the application in person
or authorise licensed undertakers of burials to act on their
behalf. Since a vast majority of members of the public choose to entrust
licensed undertakers of burials to arrange one-stop after-death services
for the deceased, FEHD has, after discussion with the representatives of
the funeral trade, implemented a new arrangement for booking cremation
service starting from 2003. Under the arrangement, a person waiting for
booking cremation service will be allocated a maximum of five "chips",
provided that they can produce the aforesaid original documents as the
evidence of an equal number of authorisations for booking cremation
service.
The above arrangement was made in the light of the community's
mainstream practice of entrusting undertakers of burials to arrange
after-death services for the deceased, with a view to striking a balance
among the needs of various parties. Irrespective of whether applications
for booking cremation service were made through undertakers of burials or
by the applicants in person, FEHD will offer a cremation session within
the following 15 days from the day an application is made in accordance
with the performance pledge. FEHD will review this arrangement as and
when necessary.
(b) Under the existing legislation, burial matters must be handled by
licensed undertakers of burials. Any person (including non-governmental
organisations (NGOs) or charitable organisations) interested in operating
in the trade of undertaking duties connected with burials can apply for a
licence from FEHD. There are at present 101 licensed undertakers of
burials, with social welfare organisations included.
(c) The respective numbers of cases using eco-coffins, applications for
cremation service and scattering of cremated human ashes in gardens of
remembrance (GoRs) as well as registrations on the waiting list for public
niches in each of the past five years are shown in Annex 2.
(d) The Government is now constructing a new public columbarium at Kiu Tau
Road, Wo Hop Shek to provide about 41 000 niches and a GoR. The
facilities are expected to be completed for public use in mid-2012. In
addition to public niches, the Board of Management of the Chinese
Permanent Cemeteries expects to provide about 50 000 niches in the coming
three years. Private cemeteries managed by Catholic, Protestant, Buddhist
and other religious bodies also plan to build more niches. Besides, to
increase the supply of public niches, the Government has been actively
exploring further the feasibility of building additional columbarium
facilities in existing cemeteries, and has also been promoting the
district-based columbarium development scheme. So far, the Government has
identified 24 potential sites in 18 districts across the
territory. Relevant technical feasibility studies are being conducted to
assess whether these sites would be suitable for columbarium
development. The relevant District Councils will be consulted before
sites are confirmed for development.
(e) According to the existing legislation, anyone interested in carrying
on the business of a funeral parlour should first obtain a funeral parlour
licence issued by FEHD, which is to be renewed every year. At present,
there are seven licensed funeral parlours in Hong Kong, one on the Hong
Kong Island, one in the New Territories, and the other five in
Kowloon. Except for the Sai Sing Funeral Parlour located at Hunghom,
Kowloon, which operates under a contract awarded by the Government through
open tender, the other six funeral parlours are owned and operated by
private companies or NGOs. The contract signed between the Government and
Sai Sing Funeral Parlour stipulated that the contractor should provide
low-cost basic funeral services to people in need as recognised by the
Social Welfare Department or other relevant agencies (such as
Comprehensive Social Security Assistance recipients). The current
contract of the Sai Sing Funeral Parlour will expire on February 29,
2012. The Government will then conduct open tender again for the
operation right of the funeral parlour.
(f) The mode of operation of each funeral parlour varies, so does the size
of the mourning halls they provide. The number of mourning halls in the
seven licensed funeral parlours in Hong Kong is set out below:
Name of funeral parlour No of mourning halls
Hong Kong Funeral Home 19
Po Fook Memorial Hall 21
Kowloon Funeral Parlour 17
Universal Funeral Parlour 26
Diamond Hill Funeral Parlour 13
International Funeral Parlour 21
Sai Sing Funeral Parlour 21
At present, the average utilisation rate of the seven funeral
parlours is 70%. Operating a funeral parlour is a business decision. FEHD
will continue to keep in view the utilisation of the funeral parlours, and
handle applications for funeral parlour licence according to the
established licensing procedures.
Ends/Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Issued at HKT 16:10
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