Once the private columbarium is "cleaned", the government must prepare with both hands

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Written by: Commentary Editing Room

2020-10-28 07:00

Last update date: 2020-10-28 07:00

During the Double Ninth Festival under the epidemic, the number of worshippers in various districts was less than in previous years. What remains unchanged is the shortage of public columbarium. The ashes of thousands of ancestors can only be stored in the Changsheng store, government crematorium or private funeral home. Niche.

At present, it takes too long to process applications for privately-owned niches, and the completion of new public niches is too slow. Even though the ancestors cannot "live in peace", the prices of legal private niches are staggeringly higher.

It is a good thing for the relevant licensing committee to expedite the approval and prevent private niches from delaying their applications. However, in the unlikely event that the niches are not licensed and closed, the government must still have a back-up plan to deal with it.

The columbarium chaos was a riot about ten years ago. After pressure from various parties, the government consulted the public in 2010 on measures such as "niches in a small area", regulation of the private market, and promotion of green funerals.

Subsequently, the "Private Columbarium Ordinance" came into effect in mid-2017. Niches must be licensed before they can sell or lease new niches. Those who are not licensed can apply for an exemption or temporary exemption from legal liability to continue operating, but they cannot sell or New rental niches.

The government immediately set up a licensing committee to regulate the operation and management of the columbarium.

Speed ​​up license approval without delay

There are a total of more than 20,000 niches in Tsang Tsui Columbarium in Tuen Mun and Wong Nai Chung Road Columbarium in Wan Chai.

(Profile picture)

The society originally thought that the private market would gradually return to the right track after the law was passed. However, after three years, the statistics showed that the reform was as fast as a turtle.

The Licensing Committee received a total of 144 private columbarium applications for a total of 166 venues, including licenses, exemptions and exemptions, but so far only six licenses have been granted, another three applications have been approved in principle, and 22 niches have been rejected For field applications, the approval rate is only 20%, covering only about 30,000 niches.

The operators of the niches believe that the application process involves many administrative procedures, and it has to go through the Lands Department, the Buildings Department, the Fire Department, the Food and Environmental Protection Department, and the Environmental Protection Department. new rule.

However, considering that there are still many sporadic cases approved, the official request should not be an "impossible task."

At the same time, Ye Guoqian, the vice chairman of the licensing committee, said that the committee will expedite the processing of applications, such as rejecting cases that did not submit documents and attending public meetings, and promised to review all accumulated cases in the next two years.

This should help urge applicants to complete the procedures, and can prevent some shady niches from continuing to operate illegally by delaying applications, or even expecting that the government will relax license restrictions when reviewing the Regulations in the future.

Set aside preparations for the closure of niches

The FEHD stated that it will build more than 163,000 columbarium niches in the Tsang Tsui Columbarium in Tuen Mun. In the first phase, more than 20,000 niches will be allocated for application.

(Data Picture / Photo by Yu Junliang)

Of course, if an application is rejected in the future, the private niche involved will have to close down, and countless ashes may be discarded at any time. The government needs to make preparations for the "underwriting" responsibility first: First, speed up the implementation of new public niches The second is to arrange more temporary storage places for ashes.

Take, for example, the plan of "districts with niches." In the past few years, the authorities have only planned 13 projects and 590,000 new niches in nine districts.

However, at present, nearly 100,000 niches in the three projects in Siu Ho Wan and Kwai Chung have not yet been completed. It can be seen that this figure is quite "promising".

On the other hand, the number of deaths in Hong Kong has gradually increased, reaching a peak of 48,700 last year. Last month there were more than 30,000 cases of waiting for reuse of public niches. This figure does not include waiting for private niches or other funeral methods. Case.

If the government wants to reserve public niches for the placement of the aforementioned ashes, the actual quantity available for allotment in the future is actually not as large as imagined.

However, it must be pointed out that if public niches can be completed step by step, the more pressure will be placed on the private sector.

This will not only prevent the price of private niches from rising again and again, but also reduce the chance of turning the ashes of their ancestors into bargaining chips for niches.

In addition, once the private sector does not need to apply for qualifications to close the business, the ashes of the deceased will be easier to find a place of resettlement in the future.

Therefore, the government must try its best to find more suitable land to build public niches.

In the short term, in order to cope with the tide of "cleaning up" once the niche closes, the government should also begin to allocate existing idle land and buildings to temporarily store ashes.

Compared with the longevity store or the temporary storage facilities of the crematorium, vacant school buildings on government land that have no long-term use are a choice that complies with laws and regulations and respects the ancestors.

As long as the school is simply renovated, the government stipulates that the place is smoke-free and will not be occupied for a long time. With the arrangement of transportation during the festival, it is hoped that future generations and residents near the school can accept the suggestion.

Under the shadow of shortage of niches and violations of niches, the deceased cannot rest in peace, future generations have suffered all the toss, and the residents in the area have experienced nuisances for many years. The government should eliminate Shen Lun as soon as possible.

Now that the licensing committee can speed up the examination and approval process, it will help determine the fate of the niche as soon as possible, and future generations can also buy a legal private niche with peace of mind. The government must also formulate a comprehensive backup plan for the rejection of the niche application to approve the license for the committee. Eliminate worries about the future, and avoid the people's worries about the whereabouts of the ashes of their ancestors.

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