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have 27 cremators and each cremator can handle 4 cases a day, so every day the cremators will be able to handle 108 cremations. So actually we should be able to cater the demand and the problem raised by Mr. YUEN should not have arisen. So I wonder why there is a lengthening of the waiting time?
MR. PAO PING WING (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, there are two reasons. First, the Chinese tend to pick a date for cremating their family members. Secondly, these cremators may have to be maintained or closed down for a short period of time regularly. So actually the cremators cannot be operated 24 hours a day.
MR. JOSEPH CHAN YUEK-SUT (in Cantonese):—I have three follow up questions, Mr. Chairman. First, it is mentioned that it does not pose any problem if corpses are held for 7 days. Does it mean that it will pose hygienic problems if the corpses are kept over 7 days? At present some corpses are kept for 14 days and there may be a problem. If that is the case, does the Council have any measures to solve the problem? I wonder if the funeral parlours under our jurisdiction could provide more cold storage facilities to hold such corpses. Second, it is mentioned that people are allowed to apply for any crematorium according to their wishes. I wonder if a person living in the New Territories can also apply for a cremation session in the urban area? Can we stipulate that people living in the New Territories must cremate their family members in the New Territories so that we will not have an overbooking problem in the Urban Council area? So I wonder how many people living in the New Territories have made use of our cremation sessions? If that is the case, could we ask them to try to confine themselves to crematoria in the New Territories? Thirdly, what is meant by booking a cremation session? Is a living person eligible for booking?
CHAIRMAN (in English):—No, a booking can only be made with a death certificate. You cannot apply a booking date in future.
MR. CHAN YUEK-SUT (in Cantonese): Why is that each cremator can only handle 3 cremations a day? Is it because each cremation takes some time? How long does it take to cremate a corpse?
MR. PAO PING-WING (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, I will only answer 3 of the 4 questions because you have already answered the question about the booking in future. As for whether holding corpses would affect the public hygiene, actually this will not pose any problem because the cold storage facilities and modern embalming techniques can hold corpses even longer than 14 days or the present waiting time. However, we would not like to see this situation from happening because it may affect other family members of the dead who have to mourn over the death of such dead people. That is why we try to shorten the waiting time for them. The second question is about whether New Territories people are prohibited from using the crematoria in the Urban Council area. Actually at present people living in New Territories can also use
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crematoria in the Urban Council area, it is just like the libraries in the Urban Council area can also be used by New Territories residents. If we are to prohibit people in the New Territories from using crematoria in the urban areas, it will pose another problem because when compared to the facilities available in the urban areas and those in the New Territories, actually we have one crematorium less than the crematoria in the New Territories and there are more than 1 million people living in the Urban Council area than the Regional Council area. Thirdly, as to why we can only handle 3 cremations in each cremator. As I have just said, these cremators cannot function 24 hours a day, we have to leave some time for maintenance and repair every day. Actually when necessary we can try to handle 1 or 2 cremations every day but this may affect the cremators. So according to the principle of cost effectiveness, we only handle 3 cremations a day.
MR. JASON YUEN KING-YUK (in Cantonese):—After listening to so many interesting follow up questions, I would like to ask two follow up questions. First, why the Cape Collinson Crematorium is the first choice? Why is the Diamond Hill Crematorium not well received by families of the dead even among those residing in Kowloon? Does this imply that the facilities in the Diamond Hill Crematorium is not as good as those in the Cape Collinson Crematorium or is the location of the Diamond Hill Crematorium not convenient enough? If that is the case, what measures have we taken to increase the attractiveness of the Diamond Hill Crematorium? Secondly, at present there is a huge backlog of corpses waiting to be cremated. I understand from two of my relatives that their deceased family members have to wait for 14 days before they were cremated. So I wonder whether we can have overtime work for the crematoria to handle the backlog cases?
MR. PAO PING-WING (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, I do not know the reason why the Cape Collinson Crematorium is more popular than the Diamond Hill Crematorium, I will try to investigate with the Department and then I will ask the Department to give an answer to Mr. YUEN later on. Second, as to whether we can provide any overtime work to handle backlog cases during the period when demand is high. Actually as I have said in my reply, the Department is adopting a flexible approach to work overtime. But in January and February, because of the breakdown of two cremators, there is such a huge backlog of cases.
5.
MR. JASON YUEN KING-YUK (in English):—With reference to the fairly detailed report in page 4 of the S.C.M.P. on 27th February 1993 that 'The Government is expected to invest heavily in non-airport capital works projects in the 1993–94 financial year by setting aside at least HK$10.5 billion in a special reserve to carry out new projects ...', can this Council be informed whether action has been taken to urge the Government to fulfil its responsibility under the MAA with the Council, by upgrading the priority of those UC projects already within its Capital Works Programme such as the Permanent Museum of History at the East of Tsim Sha Tsui, and to include such new but even more urgent project as
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have 27 cremators and each cremator can handle 4 cases a day, so every day the cremators will be able to handle 108 cremations. So actually we should be able to cater the demand and the problem raised by Mr. YUEN should not have arisen. So I wonder why there is a lengthening of the waiting time?
MR. PAO PING WING (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, there are two reasons. First, the Chinese tend to pick a date for cremating their family members. Secondly, these cremators may have to be maintained or closed down for a short period of time regularly. So actually the cremators cannot be operated 24 hours a day.
MR. JOSEPH CHAN YUEK-SUT (in Cantonese):—I have three follow up questions, Mr. Chairman. First, it is mentioned that it does not pose any problem if corpses are held for 7 days. Does it mean that it will pose hygienic problems if the corpses are kept over 7 days? At present some corpses are kept for 14 days and there may be a problem. If that is the case, does the Council have any measures to solve the problem? I wonder if the funeral parlours under our jurisdiction could provide more cold storage facilities to hold such corpses. Second, it is mentioned that people are allowed to apply for any crematorium according to their wishes. I wonder if a person living in the New Territories can also apply for a cremation session in the urban area? Can we stipulate that people living in the New Territories must cremate their family members in the New Territories so that we will not have an overbooking problem in the Urban Council area? So I wonder how many people living in the New Territories have made use of our cremation sessions? If that is the case, could we ask them to try to confine themselves to crematoria in the New Territories? Thirdly, what is meant by booking a cremation session? Is a living person eligible for booking?
CHAIRMAN (in English):—No, a booking can only be made with a death certificate. You cannot apply a booking date in future.
MR. CHAN YUEK-SUT (in Cantonese): Why is that each cremator can only handle 3 cremations a day? Is it because each cremation takes some time? How long does it take to cremate a corpse?
MR. PAO PING-WING (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, I will only answer 3 of the 4 questions because you have already answered the question about the booking in future. As for whether holding corpses would affect the public hygiene, actually this will not pose any problem because the cold storage facilities and modern embalming techniques can hold corpses even longer than 14 days or the present waiting time. However, we would not like to see this situation from happening because it may affect other families members of the dead who have to moan over the death of such dead people. That is why we try to shorten the waiting time for them. The second question is about whether New Territories people are prohibited from using the crematoria in the Urban Council area. Actually at present people living in New Territories can also use
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crematoria in the Urban Council area, it is just like the libraries in the Urban Council area can also be used by New Territories residents. If we are to prohibit people in the New Territories from using crematoria in the urban areas, it will pose another problem because when compared to the facilities available in the urban areas and those in the New Territories, actually we have one crematorium less than the crematoria in the New Territories and there are more than 1 million people living in the Urban Council area than the Regional Council area. Thirdly, as to why we can only handle 3 cremations in each cremator. As I have just said, these cremators cannot function 24 hours a day, we have to leave some times for maintenance and repair every day. Actually when necessary we can try to handle 1 or 2 cremations every day but this may affect the cremators. So according to the principle of cost effectiveness, we only handle 3 cremations a day.
MR. JASON YUEN KING-YUK (in Cantonese):-After listening to so many interesting follow up questions, I would like to ask two follow up questions. First, why the Cape Collinson Crematorium is the first choice? Why is the Diamond Hill Crematorium not well received by families of the dead even among those residing in Kowloon? Does this imply that the facilities in the Diamond Hill Crematorium is not as good as those in the Cape Collinson Crematorium or is the location of the Diamond Hill Crematorium not convenient enough? If that is the case, what measures have we taken to increase the attractiveness of the Diamond Hill Crematorium? Secondly, at present there is a hugh backlog of corpses waiting to be cremated. I understand from two of my relatives that their deceased family members have to wait for 14 days before they were cremated. So I wonder whether we can have overtime work for the crematoria to handle the backlog cases?
MR. PAO PING-WING (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, I do not know the reason why the Cape Collinson Crematorium is more popular than the Diamond Hill Crematorium, I will try to investigate with the Department and then I will ask the Department to give an answer to Mr. YUEN later on. Second, as to whether we can provide any overtime work to handle backlog cases during the period when demand is high. Actually as I have said in my reply, the Department is adopting a flexible approach to work overtime. But in January and February, because of the breakdown of two cremators, there is such a hugh backlog of
cases.
5.
MR. JASON YUEN KING-YUK (in English):-With reference to the fairly detailed report in page 4 of the S.C.M.P. on 27th February 1993 that 'The Government is expected to invest heavily in non-airport capital works projects in the 1993–94 financial year by setting aside at least HK$10.5 billion in a special reserve to carry out new projects . . .', can this Council be informed whether action has been taken to urge the Government to fulfil its responsibility under the MAA with the Council, by upgrading the priority of those UC projects already within its Capital Works Programme such as the Permanent Museum of History at the East of Tsim Sha Tsui, and to include such new but even more urgent project as
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