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years ago, I was told. And as a matter of fact, last year the Sub-Committee spent a very considerable amount of time in revising all the by-laws and we are still waiting for the Government's opinion.
(2) MR. ALEX S. C. Wu asked the following question (in English):-
(a) Would it be possible for the Cemeteries, Crematoria & Funeral Parlours Committee to consider installing time-saving facilities for simultaneous cremation, such equipment to allow for identification of ashes as is done in a neighbouring country?
(b) Can the Committee encourage cremation of bodies alone as opposed to cremating bodies with coffins in order to reduce the time and fuel required?
MR. PETER P. F. CHAN, Chairman of the Cemeteries, Crematoria & Funeral Parlours Select Committee, replied as follows (in English):-
Mr. Chairman, the Cemeteries, Crematoria & Funeral Parlours Select Committee is always willing to consider any innovation which will make cremations more efficient and will investigate the suggestions made. Any information which Mr. Wu has concerning equipment used by a neighbouring country would certainly be considered by the Committee.
Regarding the cremation of bodies alone as opposed to cremating bodies in a coffin, personally, I have no objection whatsoever; but in my view, we must also respect the wishes of the families of the deceased. Chinese people, as I observe, do not accept burial without a coffin and likewise, may not like to be cremated without one. This is, of course, purely my own opinion, but I will surely take this matter to my Committee for consideration. Mr. Chairman, taking this opportunity, I would also like to report to Members of the Council and to members of the public that, in the meantime, we generally have only 7 to 8 cremation applications a day and our facilities at Cape Collinson and Diamond Hill total 19, that is 15 at Cape Collinson and 4 at Diamond Hill. Therefore, we can more or less cope with the need. The Sunday overtime I mentioned in one of the previous meetings had been cancelled, but on special requests by members of the families of the deceased, such can be made available.
MR. H. M. G. FORSGATE (in English):- Mr. CHAN, is it not the case that there is actually a waiting list and you have to make an appointment to be cremated? Because this is my latest information?
MR. CHAN (in English):- Mr. Chairman, this happened sometime ago simply because of the breakdown of one of the cremators in Diamond Hill. Now there is no back-log.
MR. ALEX S. C. Wu (in English):- Mr. Chairman, this question arose out of a Ward Office enquiry and the information put before me was a case of a late Mr. CHAN who died in Lai Chi Kok Hospital on June the 24th and that he was not cremated until July the 7th, a wait of 2 weeks.
MR. CHAN (in English):- Mr. Chairman, the contents of my reply are true and correct.
(3) DR. P. C. WONG asked the following question (in English):
I would like to know how many refuse collection vehicles of the Urban Council are running on the roads daily, and how to control black-smoke from exhaust pipes of all these vehicles which cause tremendous air pollution?
DR. DENNY M. H. HUANG, CHAIRMAN OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL HYGIENE SELECT Committee, replied as follows (in Cantonese):-
Mr. Chairman, sixty refuse collection vehicles are running on the roads in Hong Kong daily, and another 113 in Kowloon. They are of various models and designs. Ninety-two of these refuse collection vehicles have their exhaust discharge pipe arranged to discharge fumes at a point overhead the driver's cab because this gives the loading crew maximum safety in the loading process. These are all of the continuous rear-loading type which requires the loading staff to work immediately behind the vehicle while the engine is running to move the compression plate. Other than these, the rest of the refuse collection vehicles discharge fumes through an exhaust pipe under the chassis to the rear in the conventional way. The overhead discharge of exhaust fumes is more
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Page 60 of 187
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89
88
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
years ago, I was told. And as a matter of fact, last year the Sub- Committee spent a very considerable amount of time in revising all the by-laws and we are still waiting for the Government's opinion.
(2) MR. ALEX S. C. Wu asked the following question (in English): -
(a) Would it be possible for the Cemeteries, Crematoria & Funeral Parlours Committee to consider installing time- saving facilities for simultaneous cremation, such equip- ment to allow for identification of ashes as is done in a neighbouring country?
(b) Can the Committee encourage cremation of bodies alone as opposed to cremating bodies with coffins in order to reduce the time and fuel required?
MR. PETER P. F. CHAN, Chairman of the Cemeteries, Crematoria & Funeral Parlours Select Committee, replied as follows (in English):-
Mr. Chairman, the Cemeteries, Crematoria & Funeral Par- lours Select Committee is always willing to consider any innovation which will make cremations more efficient and will investigate the suggestions made. Any informa- tion which Mr. Wu has concerning equipment used by a neighbouring country would certainly be considered by the Committee.
Regarding the cremation of bodies alone as opposed to cre- mating bodies in a coffin, personally, I have no objection whatsoever; but in my view, we must also respect the wishes of the families of the deceased. Chinese people, as I observe, do not accept burial without a coffin and likewise, may not like to be cremated without one. This is, of course, purely my own opinion, but I will surely take this matter to my Committee for consideration. Mr. Chairman, taking this opportunity, I would also like to report to Members of the Council and to members of the public that, in the meantime, we generally have only 7 to 8 cremation applications a day and our facilities at Cape Collinson and Diamond Hill total 19, that is 15 at Cape Collinson and 4 at Diamond Hill. Therefore, we can more or less cope with the need. The Sunday overtime I mentioned in one of the previous meetings had been
cancelled, but on special requests by members of the families of the deceased, such can be made available.
MR. H. M. G. FORSGATE (in English):-Mr. CHAN, is it not the case that there is actually a waiting list and you have to make an appointment to be cremated?
Because this is my latest information?
MR. CHAN (in English):—Mr. Chairman, this happened sometime ago simply because of the breakdown of one of the cremators in Dia- mond Hill. Now there is no back-log.
MR. ALEX S. C. Wu (in English): -Mr. Chairman, this question arose out of a Ward Office enquiry and the information put before me was a case of a late Mr. CHAN who died in Lai Chi Kok Hospital on June the 24th and that he was not cremated until July the 7th, a wait of 2 weeks.
MR. CHAN (in English):-Mr. Chairman, the contents of my reply are true and correct.
(3) DR. P. C. WONG asked the following question (in English);
I would like to know how many refuse collection vehicles of the Urban Council are running on the roads daily, and how to control black-smoke from exhaust pipes of all these vehicles which cause tremendous air pollution?
DR. DENNY M. H. HUANG, CHAIRMAN OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL HYGIENE SELECT Committee, replied as follows (in Cantonese):-
Mr. Chairman, sixty refuse collection vehicles are running on the roads in Hong Kong daily, and another 113 in Kowloon. They are of various models and designs. Ninety-two of these refuse collection vehicles have their exhaust discharge pipe arranged to discharge fumes at a point overhead the driver's cab because this gives the loading crew maximum safety in the loading process. These are all of the continuous rear-loading type which requires the loading staff to work immediately behind the vehicle while the engine is running to move the com- pression plate. Other than these, the rest of the refuse collection vehicles discharge fumes through an exhaust pipe under the chassis to the rear in the conventional way. The overhead discharge of exhaust fumes is more
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