ENG-2019 — Page 211

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Food Safety, Environmental Hygiene, Agriculture and Fisheries

The government promotes a district-based columbarium development scheme to provide public niches. A columbarium project in Wan Chai was completed in 2019, while two other projects in Tsang Tsui and Wo Hop Shek are scheduled for completion in 2020, capable of providing about 208,000 niches. The government will expedite the development of public columbaria on shortlisted sites across the territory.

In 2019, the FEHD finished allocating 20,380 new niches in phase 1 of Tsang Tsui Columbarium and all 855 new niches in Wong Nai Chung Road Columbarium.

The government promotes green burial, encouraging environment-friendly and sustainable ways of handling ashes by scattering them in gardens of remembrance or at sea. The department provides a free ferry service to scatter ashes at sea, as well as a mobile application on internet memorial services and electronic memorial kiosks installed near the new Kwai Chung Garden of Remembrance to let the public pay tribute to the deceased online. A Green Burial Central Register was set up in 2019 to encourage the public to plan in advance their after- death arrangements by registering and sharing with their families their wish for a green burial.

Under the Private Columbaria Ordinance, a specified instrument, namely a licence, an exemption or a temporary suspension of liability, must be obtained to operate a private columbarium, except during the grace period as applicable. A private columbarium must obtain a licence before it sells or newly lets out niches. Any person who operates, keeps, manages or has control of a private columbarium in contravention of the requirements under the ordinance is liable to prosecution and, on summary conviction, to a fine of $2 million and imprisonment for three years or, on conviction on indictment, to a fine of $5 million and imprisonment for seven years.

The Private Columbaria Licensing Board regulates the operation and management of private columbaria, and handles applications for specified instruments. As at end-2019, it had issued four licences, given approvals in principle for two licence applications and one temporary suspension of liability application, and refused 15 sets of applications for specified instruments, and was processing about 290 applications submitted by 117 private columbaria. The FEHD conducts inspections and takes enforcement action against the illegal operation of private columbaria. During the year, it carried out about 450 inspections and investigated about 50 cases of suspected contravention of the ordinance.

Public Education

In 2019, the FEHD's Health Education Exhibition and Resource Centre in Kowloon Park organised 2,117 health talks for the public and target groups, including students and the elderly. A mobile education centre disseminates food safety and environmental hygiene messages across the territory.

The Centre for Food Safety held the annual signature Food Safety Day under the theme 'Empower Consumers to Ensure Food Safety' in 2019, with participation from women's groups, foreign domestic helper associations and its own Consumer Liaison Group, to encourage the

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