A look at the Purwah Funeral House project in Tegal Alur, raised by residents opposing the crematorium

A construction project in the area of Purwah Wan Lin Chie Funeral House in Tegal Alur, Kalideres, West Jakarta, has drawn scrutiny from residents who oppose the Swarga Abadi Crematorium in the area. Residents, including a member of the Jakarta DPRD, questioned the urgency of building two cremation facilities in a single district, Kalideres. Kompas.com attempted to trace and view the project directly, and found that the complex is actually divided into two main parts. At the front stands an old two-storey red-painted building bearing the large sign ‘Rumah Abu Jenazah Purwah’. The building features Chinese architectural elements, including dragon pillar ornaments and Chinese characters on the façade. In the rear area, two large-scale structures are under construction, both two-storey reinforced concrete frames supported by bamboo scaffolding. The new buildings have become the focal point of controversy, as residents suspect they will be used as crematories or places for burning corpses. However, staff working there denied the claim. “Yes, indeed, the back is being built; it’s an expansion. To increase capacity. But this is just a funeral home, a place for ashes, not cremation, there is no place for burning here,” Anwar told Kompas.com at the site on Thursday (5 March 2026). According to him, the Purwah Wan Lin Chie Funeral House is usually used to beautify and prepare corpses before cremation. He also said the Purwah Wan Lin Chie Funeral Home has been operating for decades since around the 1980s.