Ombudsman Urges Monthly Columbarium Allocation; FEHD Expands Scheme
Crhk · 2 SOURCESabout 3 hours ago2 MIN
Summary
The Ombudsman's Office completed an active investigation into public columbarium allocation and issued 19 improvement recommendations to the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD), all of which have been accepted. Starting this month, the department will implement unified monthly allocation of columbarium spaces across all four public niches with new availability, offering over 1,600 renewable spaces monthly. The investigation found that applicants using paper or email applications faced average processing times of 50 days, while those using the online platform for simultaneous cremation and columbarium applications could receive auto-approval within one day.
Key Points
- The Ombudsman found that citizens unable to align with the annual application schedule had to wait approximately 9 months to participate in allocation .
- FEHD conducted annual comprehensive columbarium allocation since 2019, while the Tsang Mun Columbarium implemented monthly allocation as a pilot from 2020 .
- Ombudsman Chan Chik-chi stated that extending the monthly allocation scheme earlier could have spared citizens prolonged waiting and expedited resource distribution .
- Over 20% of applications still used email or paper methods last year, despite online applications offering same-day auto-approval for combined cremation and niche requests .
- FEHD is collaborating with the Health Department, Immigration Department, and Hospital Authority to build a one-stop electronic service platform covering death registration and cremation permits .
- The Ombudsman recommended consolidating overlapping information between the FEHD website and the "Afterlife Arrangements" thematic website for consistency .
Why It Matters
The monthly allocation system addresses longstanding public frustration with lengthy waiting periods while the planned one-stop electronic platform represents a significant step toward streamlined government services, aligning with national planning goals to establish a comprehensive basic funeral service system .
The monthly allocation system addresses longstanding public frustration with lengthy waiting periods while the planned one-stop electronic platform represents a significant step toward streamlined government services, aligning with national planning goals to establish a comprehensive basic funeral service system .