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■目前當局已有計劃在全港十八區興建公營骨灰龕，但由於種種阻力，令計劃一拖再拖。 資料圖片
政府6月18日建議制訂龕場發牌制度，於1990年前已存在的龕場可申請豁免，但要停止出售或出租龕位，其餘龕場必須申請牌照。對於現存未必符合所有規定的龕場，營辦者可申請暫免法律責任書，年期最多6年，以便期間繼續營運及糾正違規事項。由於規管上的漏洞，私營骨灰龕場過去一直出現擅改規劃、滋擾民居等問題。當局引入發牌制度，業界和市民均有法可依，有利加強對私營龕場的規管。當局須加強執法，打擊非法龕場。面對不斷增加的龕位需求，治本之道還是要大力增加供應，讓市民可妥善安置先人靈位。
私營龕場大行其道，反映本港骨灰龕位供不應求。當局加快取締無牌龕場之餘，亦要加快增加公營骨灰龕位供應，徹底解決骨灰龕位供不應求的問題。目前當局已有計劃在全港十八區興建公營骨灰龕，但由於鄰近居民反對，以及一些環保團體以環保為由阻礙，在不同區域皆遇阻力，令計劃一拖再拖。當局應做好相應配套，解決鄰近地區的環境及交通等問題，爭取市民支持，並善用新界土地增建大型骨灰龕場，加快龕位供應，滿足市民需求。
License columbaria and increase supply to resolve the problem ultimately
The government announced on 18 June the proposal of establishing a columbarium licensing regime. It was suggested that those columbaria in existence before 1990 could apply for exemption but had to cease selling or letting out niches any further. Other columbaria must apply for a license. For existing columbaria that do not meet all the requirements, operators may apply for temporary suspension of liability for a term of no more than 6 years during which they can carry on with their operation and rectify the noncompliance. Due to inadequacies of the regulation system, private columbaria are frequently found over the years to be causing problems such as unauthorized modification of layout plans and nuisances to public residence. The introduction of a licensing regime lays down rules and regulations for the operators and the public to follow, and also facilitates more stringent control on private columbaria. The authorities should exercise stronger law enforcement to combat the illegal columbaria. In the light of the ever-increasing demand, the ultimate solution is to increase the supply of columbaria extensively so that the Hong Kong people can find suitable resting places for their ancestors.
The boom of privately-run columbaria reflects the fact that in Hong Kong the supply of columbaria cannot meet the demand. While stepping up the effort to eliminate unlicensed columbaria, the authorities should also increase the supply of public columbaria to root out the problem of supply shortfall. In fact, the authorities have already drafted plans to build public columbaria in the 18 districts throughout the territory. However, these plans are held up again and again because of various kinds of obstacles including objection by residents in the neighbourhood and obstruction by some environmental protection bodies on the grounds of protecting local environment. The authorities should put in place supporting facilities to take care of issues such as environmental protection and flow of traffic in the relevant districts to gain support of the public. They should also make better use of land in the New Territories to build more large-scale complexes of columbaria in order to speed up the increase in supply and meet the need of the public.■English Translation by Tung-ming
[ tungming23@gmail.com ]
（節自香港《文匯報》2014年6月19日）
隔星期三見報
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