A spokesman for the Food and Health Bureau said today (May 23) that the Private Columbaria Bill will proceed to the Committee stage and third reading in the Legislative Council (LegCo) tomorrow. After the passage of the Bill in LegCo, the Government will regulate the operation of private columbaria through a licensing scheme. All private columbaria must obtain a licence before they sell or newly let out niches. Members of the public must be cautious and vigilant when purchasing or renting private niches.
 
     Noting recent newspaper advertisements on the setting up of a private columbarium on a luxury cruise ship, the spokesman explained that according to the Private Columbaria Bill, a columbarium means any premises that are used (or claimed, represented or held out to be used) for keeping ashes. Meanwhile, "premises" is defined in the Bill to include a vehicle, vessel, aircraft, hovercraft or other conveyance, if stationary. As such, any conveyance which stops over in Hong Kong, including any vessel that berths in Hong Kong waters, will be regulated under the legislation regulating private columbaria if it is used for keeping ashes, regardless of how long it berths, such as only berthing in Hong Kong during the Ching Ming Festival and the Chung Yeung Festival.
 
     "If an operator provides a service for keeping ashes on a cruise ship and the relevant ship will berth within Hong Kong waters, he must apply for and obtain a licence, exemption or temporary suspension of liability for operating such a private columbarium in accordance with the legislation after the Bill is enacted. All private columbaria must not sell or let out niches unless they have a licence. The Bill also stipulates clearly that any private columbarium which commences operation after June 18, 2014, must obtain a licence in future.
 
     "When deciding whether an individual private columbarium can obtain a licence, the Private Columbaria Licensing Board will consider whether the private columbarium fulfils a series of stringent eligibility requirements and conditions stipulated in the relevant legislation, including requirements relating to land, planning and building; whether the relevant columbarium premises is held directly from the Government under a land lease (in the case of a vessel, it is impossible for it to be held directly from the Government under a land lease); and whether the submitted management plan, covering traffic and crowd control management, has been approved.
 
     "After the Licensing Board receives the applications, it will consider every application according to the circumstances of the individual columbarium and in accordance with the provisions of the legislation. It will also take into account public interest and other relevant factors, for example whether consumer interest can be fully protected, when making a decision," the spokesman said.
 
     The Government reminds consumers to exercise extra vigilance and refrain from making any rash decision when they come across undertakings by individual private columbarium operators who claim that they could obtain a licence or exemption for certain in due course, or pledge that the ash interment arrangement will not be affected by the Private Columbaria Ordinance to be implemented in future.

Ends/Tuesday, May 23, 2017
Issued at HKT 20:19

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