Crematorium Plan To Go Ahead In Key Development Area

Chief Executive Carrie Lam says she will not reverse plans to build funeral facilities in North District, although they will be located at a key site designated for Hong Kong’s Greater Bay Area development.

At a question and answer session on Thursday, DAB lawmaker Gary Chan noted the plan to build a crematorium with 200,000 niches at Wo Hop Shek in Fanling.

He also criticised the government for putting “obnoxious facilities” like an organic waste treatment plant, an incinerator and landfills, near the border area with Shenzhen, saying it goes against the Greater Bay Area development strategy.

In response, Lam made clear that she will go ahead with the planned funeral facilities – calling them a “very much needed service”.

She also explained that the locations of the facilities Chan mentioned are linked to Hong Kong’s development history.

“The north of the New Territories used to be a remote location, hence the position of these undesirable or obnoxious facilities,” Lam noted.

“The facilities you cited have been in the planning for over 10 years… Ten years ago, we did not imagine such an overhaul that there would be a Greater Bay Area development,” she said.

“This is really a matter of legacy, same as the issue with landfills,” she added.

Lam stressed while the government will go ahead and apply for funding, officials will consider ways to prevent the “negative visual impact” they might make.