Angry residents clashed with monks and nuns at the opening of a new Buddhist temple with a columbarium in Sha Tin yesterday. The residents suspect the facility is illegal.
About 50 residents from Mei Chung Court, 30 metres away from Puguangming Temple, blocked the gates when monks, nuns, guests and visitors tried to attend the ceremony. Police arrived to maintain order.
The protesters suspect the complex on the hill behind the housing estate is illegal as it is in a green belt and a residential zone.
Chan Yu-wah, a protester who lives in Mei Chung Court, said they wanted to stage a sit-in to attract the government's attention as officials had failed to give them a satisfactory reply. 'First, we suspect the urn niches are illegally run without government approval. Second, the facility and the religious rituals will bring noise and smoke and affect our lives,' Chan said.
Residents say the temple would put an end to the quiet, green environment around the estate.
The owners' corporation of Mei Chung Court has written to the Lands, Planning, and Food and Environmental Hygiene departments after discovering last week that the buildings, covered in canvas, turned out to be a columbarium.
Chan said the temple and the facility were converted from the buildings originally occupied by a Christian organisation. He said the Lands Department told residents there was only renovation work at the temple site and no urns were found.