In preparation for the large amount of ghost money expected to be burned during the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday from tomorrow until Tuesday, the Taipei City Government said it has joined with the city’s incineration plants and public columbariums to receive ghost money, thereby reducing air pollution.
Taipei Department of Environmental Protection Division Chief Yan Ling-chen (顏伶珍) said in 2013 the department banned ghost-money burning at the city’s public columbariums.
Yan said the department would from today until Tuesday hand out “ghost-money bags” at the Fude Columbarium in Wenshan District (文山) and the Yangmingshan Columbarium, so that people bringing ghost money to honor their ancestors and deceased relatives can put it in the bags before giving it to city sanitation workers stationed on-site who will burn the bags at incineration plants.
Yan said last year the department collected 84.91 tonnes of ghost money during the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday and burned it at incineration plants, generating an estimated 93 percent, or 7.4 tonnes, less pollutants than would have been emitted if the ghost money had been burned individually.
She said that burning ghost money creates a range of harmful pollutants, including carbon monoxide, sulfur oxide and particulates, which can irritate people’s eyes and respiratory tracts, adding that airborne debris associated with burning ghost money could cause forest fires.
The Taipei Department of Civil Affairs has also introduced policies to help reduce ghost-money burning.
Department Deputy Commissioner Wu Kun-hung (吳昆鴻) said that individuals and organizations wanting to burn large amounts of ghost money can apply for a pass on the department’s Web site and take the ghost money to the public incinerator of their choice.
Despite the policy to help reduce ghost money, Wu called on people to refrain from practicing the traditional Taoist and Buddhist custom.
“Piety is all it takes for one’s prayers to be heard,” he said.
Sanitation Inspection Division chief Chen Chao-chou (陳沼舟) said the division handed out 23 penalties from 2014 to last year to people burning ghost money in public places.
Chen said that burning ghost money publicly is punishable under the Air Pollution Control Act and could incur a fine of between NT$5,000 and NT$100,000.
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