Pick up pace on building public columbariums, Ombudsman tells Hong Kong officials
Report says government falling far short as just 2,540 new spots available yet 220,000 cremations expected in city over next few years
The Ombudsman has criticised the Hong Kong government for its slowness in providing more public columbarium facilities as it wraps up a direct investigation of the issue.
She said the bureau had announced that 24 potential sites across the city’s 18 districts had been identified for columbarium development in 2010 and 2011.
But the Ombudsman found that only two of the developments had been finished, providing just 2,540 niches and falling “far short of” public expectations. The office called the bureau’s response “utterly inadequate” given the 220,000 cremations expected to take place in the city over the next few years.
The inadequacy meant those who could not afford a private columbarium niche would struggle to find a public one, the Ombudsman said.
