Enforcement actions against illegal hillside burial cases
The Home Affairs Department, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) and the Lands Department (LandsD) conducted a joint enforcement operation from November 10 to 11 at the two Permitted Burial Grounds (PBGs) of Tai Tong Shan Road in Yuen Long and Tap Mun in Tai Po against illegal hillside burials. A total of 10 illegal graves/urn houses/urns have been removed, and the human remains therein have been reburied at the Sandy Ridge Cemetery.
Photo source: reference image
The FEHD and the LandsD posted notices on a total of 10 unauthorised graves/urn houses/urns located within the above-mentioned two PBGs on September 22 and 23 this year, requiring the related persons of the graves/urn houses/urns concerned to cease occupation of the government land and to contact relevant government departments before October 26 and 27 this year respectively, or else the human remains therein would be reburied at the Sandy Ridge Cemetery. As all the 10 graves/urn houses/urns remained unclaimed upon expiry of the deadlines, the Government commenced this joint enforcement and clearance operation.
The Government has been implementing a pilot scheme on the management of PBGs in individual PBGs since 2016. Taking into account the actual circumstances of each PBG, the Government has been implementing appropriate improvement measures, including erecting boundary pillars for the PBGs, conducting record surveys of existing graves/urn houses/urns, imposing restrictions on the size of burial sites and demarcating available spaces in PBGs for new applications of burial sites in order to ensure that the places of burials are within PBGs. The pilot scheme has now been extended to 15 PBGs, covering all nine administrative districts in the New Territories.
The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department. Photo source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
Having examined the data obtained from the pilot scheme, the Government has commenced enforcement actions against illegal burials in the PBGs in phases from July 2021 onwards. Besides conducting enforcement actions in the above-mentioned PBGs, the Government will also continue to take follow-up actions in other PBGs, including posting notices on other unauthorised graves/urn houses/urns before the coming Ching Ming Festival, with a view to removing unclaimed graves/urn houses/urns as soon as possible after the expiration of the notice period.
A Government spokesman reiterated that, according to the Land (Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance (Cap. 28), it is an offence when any person occupying government land, otherwise than under permission from the Authority, does not cease the occupation as required by a notice prescribed by the Ordinance. Any property or structure on the occupied government land may be demolished and removed by the Government, and the occupier may be prosecuted. Furthermore, according to the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Cap. 132), it is an offence to bury human remains without the permission in writing of the Authority. Offenders are liable to prosecution, and the human remains inside the graves concerned will be removed.
The Home Affairs Department. Photo source: reference image
Director of Health visits kindergarten to inspect arrangements for Seasonal Influenza Vaccination school outreach activity, and encourages schools and parents in Hong Kong to promptly arrange for their children to be vaccinated in order to build strong immunity barrier
The Director of Health, Dr Ronald Lam, visited Po Leung Kuk Yip Ng Bun Bun Kindergarten in Tseung Kwan O this morning (November 11) to inspect the arrangements for the Seasonal Influenza Vaccination School Outreach Programme (SIVSOP). He urged schools and parents across Hong Kong to arrange for schoolchildren to receive seasonal influenza vaccinations (SIV) as soon as possible, in order to reduce the risk of serious illness or death from seasonal influenza.
"Thanks to the careful preparation and thoughtful arrangements by school administrators and outreach medical teams, the vaccination outreach activity has been smooth and orderly, regardless of whether students chose the live attenuated influenza vaccines (i.e. nasal LAIV) or the injectable inactivated influenza vaccines (IIV). The SIVSOP began slightly more than a month ago. Since then, more than 1 900 participating schools have completed the outreach vaccination activities, and the rest are expected to finish by mid-December. In this regard, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all the schools and the outreach medical teams for their strong support. Together, we have built a solid immunity barrier in schools to protect our children and reduce their risk of serious illness or death from seasonal influenza," said Dr Lam.
"To encourage schoolchildren to receive SIV, the Government has introduced a new Electronic Consent Form (e-consent form) feature on the eHealth mobile application this year to streamline the procedures. The e-consent form not only significantly simplifies the process for parents to repeatedly fill in personal particulars, but also effectively reduces the administrative workload of schools and outreach medical teams by streamlining the verification process. This has been one of the key factors that enabled the vaccination activities this year to be completed ahead of schedule. The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) will continue to review and optimise its services to provide the greatest convenience to schools, parents and outreach medical teams," Dr Lam continued.
This year, the CHP continued to allow schools to opt for the "hybrid mode", which provides both the IIV and the nasal LAIV during the same outreach vaccination activity. The CHP began accepting school enrolments for the 2026/27 SIVSOP as early as the beginning of June this year. With the concerted efforts of the Government and various community sectors (including the medical sector and schools), over 2 200 schools (99 per cent of the total) will arrange SIV school outreach activities. The first school outreach activity took place on September 18, i.e. the day after the commencement of the SIVSOP. All in all, this season's school outreach activities will generally be completed earlier than last season's.
The Controller of the CHP, Dr Edwin Tsui, who accompanied Dr Lam during the visit, said, "The CHP's epidemiological investigation indicated that the characteristics of severe or death cases related to seasonal influenza during this influenza season are similar to those in previous years, affecting primarily the elderly and children. Only through close co-operation among the Government, schools and parents to increase vaccination coverage can we effectively strengthen the immune barrier for schoolchildren. Hong Kong entered the influenza season in late June this year, and the influenza season has lasted for more than four months by now. The latest surveillance data showed that the overall influenza activity has declined but remains above the baseline levels. A cumulative total of 29 cases of severe paediatric influenza infection have been recorded in the current influenza season. Among these cases, 22 patients have recovered and been discharged from hospital, two are in stable condition, three are in critical condition, and two have passed away. The CHP's analysis of data from the previous year revealed that the rate of severe complications or death among unvaccinated children following influenza infection was approximately five times higher than that among vaccinated children. The CHP also analysed the severe influenza cases of this season and found that the vast majority involved high-risk factors, including underlying health conditions or failure to receive SIV for this season."
Dr Tsui emphasised that all individuals aged 6 months or older, except those with known contraindications, should act promptly to receive SIV if they have not yet done so, including individuals who contracted influenza during the summer influenza season, to guard against other circulating virus strains that may emerge during the upcoming winter influenza season.
To facilitate members of the public in receiving SIV, eligible persons may receive SIV at about 270 public service points, including around 110 designated clinics under the Department of Health located in various districts across the territory (including all 29 Maternal and Child Health Centres (MCHCs) for all children aged 6 months to under 2 years); 76 Family Medicine Clinics and 38 public hospitals under the Hospital Authority; and 45 District Health Centres, District Health Centre Expresses and their service points under the Primary Healthcare Commission. For the list of vaccination venues, please refer to the CHP's SIV Programmes webpage. Parents/guardians of eligible children may also book a vaccination appointment for their children at designated MCHCs via the online booking system.
Furthermore, over 1 900 private doctors currently participate in the Vaccination Subsidy Scheme (VSS), providing services at over 3 200 service points across all districts in Hong Kong. For the list of VSS doctors, please visit apps.hcv.gov.hk/public/en/SPS/Search.
Members of the public may refer to the CHP's Seasonal Influenza Webpage and Vaccination Schemes Webpage for details of the latest influenza activity and vaccination schemes.
Director of Health visits kindergarten to inspect arrangements for Seasonal Influenza Vaccination school outreach activity, and encourages schools and parents in Hong Kong to promptly arrange for their children to be vaccinated in order to build strong immunity barrier Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
Director of Health visits kindergarten to inspect arrangements for Seasonal Influenza Vaccination school outreach activity, and encourages schools and parents in Hong Kong to promptly arrange for their children to be vaccinated in order to build strong immunity barrier Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
Director of Health visits kindergarten to inspect arrangements for Seasonal Influenza Vaccination school outreach activity, and encourages schools and parents in Hong Kong to promptly arrange for their children to be vaccinated in order to build strong immunity barrier Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
Director of Health visits kindergarten to inspect arrangements for Seasonal Influenza Vaccination school outreach activity, and encourages schools and parents in Hong Kong to promptly arrange for their children to be vaccinated in order to build strong immunity barrier Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
