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.' Under proposed licensing laws, existing operators could apply for a temporary licence for up to 30 months during which they could upgrade themselves to meet licensing conditions. That means that illegal operators will in theory have up to five to six years to carry on their business from now unless they are immediately held responsible for planning and land lease breaches. Chow said officials could not at present do anything to stop operators from taking on new business. A Lands Department official said the department was still seeking legal advice on how to legally settle land lease disputes - centred on what constitutes a definition of human remains - with operators. But no timetable had been set. Operators who failed to meet conditions would be shut down and the government would not pay for things such as relocating urns, Chow said. Officials have shortlisted 12 sites in seven districts that could become public columbariums, and initial responses from local politicians seem to be positive. But there are no estimates of how many niches they might provide. 'Increasing supply is the key to putting things back on track,' Chow said. 'If we can provide the land and boost supply, the private sector will shrink accordingly.' No new public niches will become available until 2012 when 41,000 will be created in Wo Ho Shek cemetery and 50,000 will be built by charity and religious groups. Officials estimate about 49,200 people will be cremated annually till 2029. Officials also proposed local residents will get priority to secure niches in their districts. Officials have blamed the current shortage of niches on opposition to the provision of about 240,000 niches in the past five years in various districts. Tuen Mun district councillor Chan Wan-sang said he would not object to a new columbarium near the Lung Kwu Tan power plant, as it was less disturbing than a crematorium, a proposal the government had withdrawn after residents' protests. Leung Chi-shing, a councillor in Kwai Tsing district, also said he would support the plan to build a columbarium at the old site of an incinerator, where few people live. But Lau Wai-lun, a councillor in Sha Tin, had reservations about such a facility at Shek Mun as the site was only about a 15-minute walk from a public housing estate. The government should consult residents first, he said. Space problem 12 potential sites have been identified to meet future demand for cremation and urn niches 1 standard niche space can store two urns 8 public columbariums now provide 167,932 niches, all of which have been allotted 300 re-used public niches available every year for people on a waiting list, but waiting period is often two years Of the 328,000 niches at 14 private columbariums, 35,400* have not been allotted *urn spaces managed by Catholic, Protestant, Buddhist and other religious bodies Plans for 240,000 niches shelved after residents' objections to development of columbariums Number of cremations within all burials 1975: 7,300 2009: 36,500 Demand in the next 20 years, projections show there will be an annual average of: 52,600 deaths; 49,200 cremations Existing sites 1 Cape Collinson 2 Diamond Hill 3 Fu Shan 4 Kwai Chung 5 Wo Hop Shek 6 Cheung Chau 7 Lamma Island 8 Ping Chau Potential sites 1 Cape Collinson Rd, Chai Wan 2 Wong Tai Sin extension 3 Shek Mun, Sha Tin 4 Fu Shan extension, Sha Tin 5 Wo Hop Shek 6 Sandy Ridge Cemetery 7 Black Point, Tuen Mun 8 Kwai Yu St, Kwai Tsing 9 Kwai Tai Rd, Kwai Tsing 10 Tsing Tsuen Rd, Kwai Tsing 11 Cheung Chau Cemetery extension 12 Lai Chi Yuen extension, Mui Wo SOURCE: FOOD AND ENVIRONMENTAL HYGIENE DEPARTMENT PUBLIC CONSULTATION REVIEW
