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Investigation into Food and Environmental Hygiene Department completed
The Ombudsman, Mr Jack Chan, on 25 August 2026 announced the completion of a direct investigation operation into the allocation of public niches, with 19 improvement recommendations made to the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (“FEHD”). FEHD has accepted all the recommendations.
Over the past few years, more than 90 per cent of deaths in Hong Kong were cremated. In general, the families are inclined to place the ashes of the deceased in columbaria after cremation, or to scatter the ashes in the form of green burials. Since 2019, the public niches managed by FEHD adopted an extendable lease with a comprehensive allocation exercise conducted once a year. Since the completion of the Tsang Tsui Columbarium in 2020, a pilot scheme has been introduced for monthly allocation of niches there. The Office of The Ombudsman has noted that if applicants for niches in a columbarium other than the Tsang Tsui Columbarium happened to miss the annual application period, they might have to wait nearly a year for the next allocation exercise. Against this background, the Office initiated an inquiry last year and recommended that FEHD conduct allocation exercises on a monthly or at least quarterly basis rather than once a year. After carefully considering the Office’s recommendation, FEHD has standardised the allocation of available public niches to a monthly basis with effect from August 2026.
Mr Chan said, “Grieving families share the wish to make after-death arrangements for their loved ones respectfully without delay, so that the departed may rest in peace and the living may begin to heal. The Office commends FEHD for its pragmatic and responsive attitude in adopting our recommendation to conduct allocation exercises monthly rather than yearly. However, the pilot scheme for monthly allocation of niches in the Tsang Tsui Columbarium was introduced as early as 2020, but FEHD did not extend it to other public columbaria until we made this recommendation in 2025. The Office understands that FEHD has other considerations. However, with hindsight, if FEHD would have extended the pilot scheme to other columbaria earlier by, for instance, progressively increasing the frequency of allocations, the inconvenience caused to the public by waiting for the annual allocation could have been avoided, and allocations of the precious public niches could have been expedited. The Office recommends that FEHD conduct timely reviews with a comprehensive consideration from the perspective of the effective use of public resources as far as practicable and the fulfilment of public demands when introducing pilot schemes for other public services in future.”
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Source: The Office of the Ombudsman of Hong Kong, China
