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SCMP Reporter

A road linking the Tseung Kwan O Chinese Permanent Cemetery to Lam Tin is preferred to a footpath from Tiu Keng Leng  MTR station to ease trafficon the Ching Ming Festival, district councillors have said.
About 10 Sai Kung district councillors urged the government to start work on  a road between Lam Tin and the cemetery -  planned by the Civil Engineering and Development Department - as soon as possible so that grave sweepers could reach it by car. The government has yet to announce when construction  will  start.
The councillors marched from Yau Tong's bus station towards the cemetery yesterday, but were stopped mid-way by police fearing they would block the way for grave sweepers.
They said the footpath proposed by the management board of the Chinese Permanent Cemeteries would not help the flow of grave sweepers.
'It would take about 45 minutes to walk the new path from Tiu Keng Leng MTR station to the cemetery, so it would simply divert the problem from Yau Tong to Tiu Keng Leng,' district councillor Chapman Chan Kai-wai said.
The Tseung Kwan O cemetery is the biggest in the city and is notoriously tough for people to climb to.
During the Ching Ming Festival, the road passing the cemetery is closed to vehicles as  visitors swarm up to the tombs. It takes 30 to 45 minutes to climb the stairs to the cemetery from Yau Tong MTR station.
The government has approved the HK$80 million footpath, which will take the form of a leisurely trail with rest shelters and other ancillary facilities. Construction is due to start in the second half of this year and be finished in late 2010. It will be paid for by the cemetery.
Mr Chan said: 'It would be wiser for the board to spend the HK$80 million on providing shuttle bus services [from Yau Tong station] than on building the footpath.'
One tomb sweeper, Daisy Wong, who had walked about 45 minutes from Yau Tong station, said she hoped to be able to reach the cemetery by car. 'I carried paper offerings, meat, fruit and flowers all the way,' Ms Wong said. 'Of course, it would be much better if I could drive in.'
Another sweeper, Judy Leung, said she doubted the viability of the road. 'Even if there is another road, it might be blocked on Ching Ming Festival,' she said. 'I don't think it would be of much use.'
Wat Ki-on, chairman of the Fire Services  and Ambulancemen's Union,  said ambulancemen complained three years ago about the traffic conditions at the cemetery, but arrangements should have improved recently. He said an ambulance might be driven slowly during the road blocks, but the injured could be transferred to hospital on time.



Councillors march over delayed road to Tseung Kwan O cemetery