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Improvements to the management of public urn grave cemeteries will be made while ways to tackle illegal burial and exhumation will be explored, Deputy Director of Food & Environmental Hygiene Annette Lee says.
Responding to the Ombudsman's investigation report on the administration of urn grave cemeteries today, Ms Lee said the department took over the management of over 180,000 urn graves in five public cemeteries from the former Regional Services Department in January 2000, and has since taken steps to improve the management system.
As some of the old records, dating back to the 1950s, were incomplete, the department has tried to improve the record-keeping system, including migration of old records to a centralised database and setting up a separate system in September 2001 to process new applications.
The procedure for processing applications for exhumation has been regularised while on-site monitoring during burials and exhumations and regular patrols are conducted to prevent and detect illegal activities within the cemeteries. Conditions of other urn graves in the vicinity will also be inspected.
Ms Lee said the department understands any mishap will cause great unease to descendants. The department has accepted the Ombudsman's recommendations and will actively consider their feasibility and formulate action plans for implementation.
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