Operators of illegal columbariums are likely to enjoy a few more years of business free from the worry of regulations, because it will be several years before a licensing system comes into force.
The licensing scheme will be part of a new columbarium policy that aims to boost public niche supply by providing land in seven districts to meet demand, and administrative means such as annual fees for niches to increase niche circulation. However, a three-month public consultation must be held and licensing laws will take years to complete.
In the next few months the Development Bureau will issue two lists of private columbarium operators to help consumers identify trustworthy operators. The first will list operators who satisfy statutory planning requirements and land lease conditions and the other will detail those whose legality the bureau believes is in doubt.
Officials said the first would list about 30 operators although they said that inclusion on the list was not an absolute guarantee that operators would fulfil licensing conditions eventually to be spelt out by the Food and Health Bureau in new laws.
These will include regulations on planning and land-lease compliance, fire prevention, traffic and the environment, contribution to overall niche supply and consumer protection.
Dr York Chow Yat-ngok, secretary for food and health, said the licensing system, to be run by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, was complicated and it would take two to three years to work out details and amend the law.
'Legislation for the smoking ban also took three to four years to complete,' he said. 'While we don't want to drag things on for too long, it is also not healthy to rush things.'