Residents of Shenzhen’s Luohu District have pledged to fight against the construction of a “super cemetery” in the Sandy Ridge border region, located next to to the river that divides Hong Kong from the mainland.
Facing the busy Lo Wu border crossing, the facilities at Sandy Ridge aim to be Hong Kong’s first combined mortuary, crematory and columbarium, providing a one-stop shop for all Hong Kongers’ funerary service and interment needs.
To the occupants of housing developments across the Sham Chun River, however, the plans threaten to lower the value of their homes and adversely affect their mental wellbeing.
Although consultations were carried out with nearby Hong Kong residents in 2012, those north of the border only found out about the project when it was raised recently by a delegate to the Shenzhen Municipal People’s Congress, the city’s legislature.
Attempts by Hong Kong’s Food and Health Bureau to reassure those across the border that the environmental impact of the project, scheduled for completion in 2022, would be “minimal” has done little to alleviate the concerns of nearby inhabitants.
Local resident Ms Jiang told Oriental Daily if the “super cemetery” plans went ahead she would have to relocate elsewhere, and real estate agent Mr Zhang said that the development would cause home prices in the area to plummet.
Another man surnamed Wang reportedly said it would be “psychologically disturbing to see a cemetery every time you open a window” and lamented that his and his neighbours’ “life quality and air quality would drop” as a result of the cemetery’s expansion.
Currently served by just seven licensed funeral homes and six crematoria, Hong Kong’s funeral and interment facilities are struggling to keep up with demand. Over 42,100 people in the territory passed away in 2014, of whom 37,900 were cremated. The “super cemetery” at Sandy Ridge will be capable of performing up to 178,000 cremations a year and provide 200,000 niches for urns, more than making up for the shortfall in supply.
Enclosed entirely within the Frontier Closed Area, which was established to prevent illegal immigration from the mainland, Sandy Ridge Cemetery was built in 1949 to house relocated remains from various cemeteries in Kowloon and Hong Kong Island.
Photo: Wikicommons.
