Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ14: Burial services
Following is a question by the Hon Leung Kwok-hung and a written reply by the
Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Ko Wing-man, in the Legislative Council today
(November 21):
Question:
I have received complaints from quite a number of members of the public and
groups saying that they have encountered many problems when dealing with
cremation and burial matters for the deceased, including applying to the Food
and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) for cremation permits, requesting
for using eco-coffins, scattering cremated human ashes in Gardens of Remembrance
(GoRs) and waiting for niches, etc. Moreover, they have also encountered the
problem of not being able to secure bookings of mourning halls in funeral
parlours as they were fully booked. On the other hand, it has been recently
reported in the press that the Grand Peace Funeral Parlour (GPFP), which was
just granted the right to operate the former Hung Hum Public Funeral Parlour (HHPFP)
by the Government this year, is having difficulties in its business. In this
connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) as some members of the public have pointed out that there are "queuing
gangs" representing different undertakers to queue up round-the-clock for
booking cremation sessions provided by FEHD, and that each person will be
allocated a maximum of five chips, making it impossible for the underprivileged
people to book cremation sessions, whether the authorities will formulate
measures to eradicate the activities of "queuing gangs"; if they will, of the
implementation time; if not, the reasons for that;
(b) of the amount of the burial grant currently provided to recipients of the
Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) Scheme; whether it has assessed
if the amount is adequate to cover the costs for holding a basic funeral or
religious service for the deceased in a funeral parlour; if the assessment is in
the affirmative, of a list of the names of those funeral parlours which charge
no more than this amount; if the assessment is in the negative, whether it will
adjust the amount of the burial grant;
(c) whether it will help all the 10 non-governmental organisations or charities
which provide burial support services in obtaining undertakers' licences, so
that they can specialise in providing "one-stop" and non-profit-making
undertaking services for the poor, and the elderly with no relatives and
friends, who rely on the burial grants from the Social Welfare Department; if it
will, of the launching time; if not, the reasons for that;
(d) whether FEHD can immediately take forward a plan to build no less than 50
000 additional niches every year in its eight columbaria, so as to alleviate the
current shortage of niches and meet the demand for niches that comes along with
an ageing population; if so, of the implementation time; if not, the reasons for
that;
(e) of the respective numbers of applications for cremation services, cases of
using eco-coffins, cases of scattering cremated human ashes in GoRs, and the
accumulated registrations on the waitlist for public niches last year and this
year so far (listing the numbers in Annex);
(f) facing an ageing population and in view of the constant shortfall in supply
of mourning halls in funeral parlours, whether the Government will consider
constructing new funeral parlours in the next three years; if so, when the works
will commence and in which districts it plans to build these new funeral
parlours; if not, of the reasons for that;
(g) given that the Government of the last term had identified 24 sites in 18
districts across the territory for conducting studies on columbarium
development, whether the Government of the current term will implement the plan;
if so, when the plan will be launched, and the number of niches to be provided
in each district; if not, how it will handle the numerous registrations on the
waitlist for public niches;
(h) given that it has been reported that GPFP, which was granted by tender in
April this year the right to operate HHPFP for a consideration of $13.95 million
in quarterly rental, has to secure loans due to poor management, what regulatory
measures the authorities have to ensure that the services to the public will not
be affected in case of sudden closure of GPFP; whether they have assessed if the
fee for the right to operate the facility is the reason for the difficulties in
GPFP's business; whether they know if there has been any significant change in
the shareholders of GPFP (e.g. shares sold to financial institutions, etc.)
since it signed the contract with the Government; and
(i) as some members of the public have complained that GPFP has breached its
contract with the Government by not providing low-cost basic funeral services to
people in need (such as CSSA recipients) as recognised by the Social Welfare
Department or other relevant agencies, how the Government will prevent the
recurrence of similar incidents, and what penalties it will impose on the
contractor for breaching the contract?
Reply:
President:
On funeral matters, it is the Government's policy to encourage cremation and to
provide the public with efficient and dignified cremation service. At the same
time, we are committed to promoting wider use of environmentally friendly and
sustainable means for the disposal of the dead. The Food and Environmental
Hygiene Department (FEHD) is empowered under the Public Health and Municipal
Services Ordinance (Cap. 132) to regulate business related to burials. Any
person interested in undertaking burial services must apply for a licence from
FEHD and comply with statutory requirements covering such matters as the
handling of human cadavers and maintaining records. To meet future demand, the
Government is striving to identify suitable sites for building more
funeral-related facilities with appropriate design. Besides, the Government will
review the provision of cemetery, columbarium and crematorium facilities from
time to time so as to keep the further development of our funeral-related
facilities and installations abreast of the times. My reply to the Hon Leung
Kwok-hung's question is as follows:
(a) At present, applicants for cremation services have to produce, for
verification by FEHD, the original copy of requisite documents (e.g. the
certificate of registration of death, cremation permit, etc.) before booking a
cremation session. Applicants may either apply in person or authorise licensed
undertakers of burials to act on their behalf. Since a vast majority of the
applicants choose to use the one-stop after-death service offered by licensed
undertakers of burials for the deceased, FEHD had, after discussion with the
representatives of the funeral trade, introduced since 2003 the arrangement
whereby a person waiting for booking cremation service may be allocated up to
five "chips", provided that they are able to produce the aforesaid original
documents as evidence of their having obtained an equal number of authorisations
for booking cremation service.
The above arrangement came about largely because the choice of entrusting
after-death services to undertakers of burials has become the mainstream
practice. Irrespective of whether applications for booking cremation service are
made through undertakers of burials or by the applicants in person, FEHD will
offer, in line with its performance pledge, a cremation session within 15 days
following the day on which an application is made. In addition, FEHD is making
preparations for implementing an on-line registration service for booking
cremation sessions. The service is expected to commence in the second quarter of
2013. By then, the public will have one more channel for booking cremation
sessions.
(b) For recipients of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) who have
passed away, their relatives may apply for a grant from the Social Welfare
Department (SWD) to meet burial-related expenses, such as charges for death
certificate and basic funeral services. The amount of the grant payable is
equivalent to either the actual outlay after deducting donations from others
(including condolence contributions) or the prescribed maximum level, whichever
is the less. The current maximum amount of this burial grant is $12,120, which
is pegged to the burial grant payable under the Emergency Relief Fund and is
adjusted annually in accordance with the movement of the Consumer Price Index
(A).
In accordance with the Agreement signed between the Government and the operator
of the Grand Peace Funeral Parlour, the operator is required to provide low-cost
funeral services to people in need (e.g. CSSA recipients) referred to the
funeral parlour by SWD or other relevant organisations at a service fee not
exceeding the maximum amount of the above burial grant (currently $12,120) for
each case. The fee may be adjusted over time, with the amount involved
determined by the Government. The fee should be sufficient to cover all the
outlay for the conduct of basic and holistic service necessary for the disposal
of a dead body, including but not limited to expenses for the transport of the
dead body from the hospital or mortuary to the funeral parlour, the procurement
of a coffin, the conduct of funeral ceremony at the funeral parlour, the
delivery of the dead body from the funeral parlour to the final disposal site,
and cremation. In addition to the Grand Peace Funeral Parlour, other licensed
funeral parlours, such as the International Funeral Parlour and Diamond Hill
Funeral Parlour, also provide basic funeral services for those in need (e.g.
CSSA recipients) at a fee not exceeding the maximum amount of the above burial
grant.
(c) Under the existing legislation, burial matters must be handled by licensed
undertakers of burials. Any person (including non-governmental organisations or
charitable organisations) interested in undertaking operations connected with
burials may apply for a licence from FEHD. After initial screening, FEHD will
circulate the application to departments concerned for comments, including the
Home Affairs Department, the Lands Department and the Planning Department. The
relevant District Office will also conduct local consultation. Among the present
104 licensed undertakers of burials, there are social welfare organisations.
According to its records, FEHD has not received any application for an
undertaker's licence from social welfare organisations in the past five years.
(d) Since early 2000, FEHD had started to study the feasibility of extensions to
the eight public columbaria under its management. The first extension project in
Cheung Chau Columbarium was completed in 2004, and others in Wo Hop Shek
Columbarium, Kwai Chung Columbarium, Cape Collinson Columbarium and Diamond Hill
Columbarium were subsequently completed in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2011
respectively. Besides, a new public columbarium and garden of remembrance (GoR)
under FEHD at Kiu Tau Road, Wo Hop Shek was completed in July 2012. About 43 000
niches are made available for allocation in phases.
FEHD will continue to review the feasibility of building additional niches in
public columbaria. However, the scale of extension works is often subject to
such constraints as space, transport infrastructure support and other factors
which include the views of nearby residents.
(e) The respective numbers of applications for cremation service, cases using
eco-coffins and the scattering of cremated human ashes in GoRs from 2011 to
September 30, 2012 are in Annex.
(f) At present, the average utilisation rate of the seven existing funeral
parlours in Hong Kong is around 70%. The International Funeral Parlour tops the
list with 86%. The running of a funeral parlour is a commercial undertaking. On
its part, FEHD will handle applications for funeral parlour licences according
to the established licensing procedures. To address the demand for such services
in the medium and long term, the Government plans to develop public funeral
facilities (including a funeral parlour with around 30 halls, a crematorium and
columbarium facilities) at the Sandy Ridge Cemetery, with a view to providing
the public with modern, all-inclusive funeral services at one location. The
project is expected to be completed by phases from 2022 onwards.
(g) The Government has identified 24 potential sites in all 18 districts across
the territory for developing columbarium facilities. Whether these sites could
eventually be used for developing columbarium facilities will depend on the
results of the technical feasibility studies or traffic impact assessments
(where applicable). Upon completion of the relevant studies, FEHD will consult
the relevant District Councils (DC) before going firm on developing the sites
for columbarium use.
Since May 2011, FEHD has been consulting the relevant DCs on individual sites.
With support from the relevant DCs, the extension project of Diamond Hill
Columbarium (providing 1 540 niches) was completed in April 2012, while the
extension project of Cheung Chau Columbarium (providing 990 niches) will
commence in early 2013 for completion by end 2013. As for the Wo Hop Shek
Cemetery extension in North District (providing about 44 000 niches); the site
at the Tsang Tsui ash lagoon in Tuen Mun (providing about 110 000 niches); the
site at Tsing Tsuen Road near the Tsuen Wan Chinese Permanent Cemetery in Kwai
Tsing District (providing about 20 000 niches), as well as the construction of
funeral parlour, crematorium and columbarium facilities at the undeveloped areas
within the Sandy Ridge Cemetery (providing about 200 000 niches) together with
relevant site formation and infrastructure works, the relevant DCs were
consulted between April and November this year. FEHD is forging ahead with the
technical feasibility studies related to the remaining sites to ascertain their
suitability, and will consult various DCs in due course. Subject to the support
of DCs and the Legislative Council, and taking into account the number of niches
to be supplied by the Chinese Permanent Cemeteries, it is estimated that the
Government will be able to provide about 120 000 new niches (including the 43
000 new niches in Kiu Tau Road, Wo Hop Shek completed in July 2012) between 2012
and 2016, and that the supply of new niches will cumulatively increase to
hundreds of thousands in the medium and long term (i.e. between 2017 and 2031).
(h) On the basis of the professional assessment and advice furnished by the
Rating and Valuation Department (namely an annual market rental of $24 million),
FEHD has pitched the minimum tender price for the Hung Hom Public Funeral
Parlour (HHPFP) at the level as it is, i.e. a quarterly rental of $6 million. In
other words, the upset price for the 5-year tender agreement period is $120
million. The current operator of the Grand Peace Funeral Parlour has obtained
the right to provide services for a period of five years from April 1, 2012 to
March 31, 2017 at a quarterly rental of $13.95 million. The operator's tendering
decision is a matter of commercial consideration.
The contract was entered into between the South China Memorial Park and Funeral
Service Limited and FEHD, whereas the business is operated under the name of the
Grand Peace Funeral Parlour. The South China Memorial Park and Funeral Service
Limited, being the legal entity responsible for execution of the contract, is
not required to notify FEHD of any change in its shareholding and shareholders.
As for fees payable by the operator of the Grand Peace Funeral Parlour, FEHD has
laid down appropriate provisions in the agreement. FEHD will vigorously enforce
the terms of the agreement so as to protect the Government's interest. Besides,
FEHD will closely monitor the service standard of the new operator and conduct
inspection from time to time to ensure that the operator observes the licensing
conditions and the provisions of the Agreement.
(i) The operator running the Grand Peace Funeral Parlour is required to display,
at a conspicuous location of the funeral parlour, information about the
availability of low-cost funeral service with details, as well as to maintain
records of low-cost funeral service provided during the agreement period. Such
records shall be made readily available for inspection by FEHD on demand at all
times. FEHD will conduct monthly inspection to ensure that the operator is
complying with the licensing conditions and the provisions of the Agreement.
FEHD will direct the operator to upgrade the standard of low-cost funeral
service if such service is found to be unsatisfactory or inadequate. According
to the terms and conditions of the Agreement, the Government shall be entitled
to terminate the Agreement forthwith if the operator is in material breach of or
has repeatedly committed breaches of any of his obligations under the Agreement.
Since the inception of service on April 27, 2012, the operator has provided
low-cost basic funeral service to a total of 26 persons in need. FEHD has not
received any complaints from the needy on refusal of service requests.
Ends/Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Issued at HKT 13:48
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LCQ14 Annex (Question)
LCQ14 Annex 1 (Reply)