Burial agency under fire over levies

JAKARTA (JP): Governor Sutiyoso has ordered city Chief Inspector Hendarmin Ono Saleh to investigate alleged illegal payments being levied at the city's cemeteries.

"I have instructed Inspector Hendarmin to immediately question the Burial Agency head Hariono Seno about the reported irregularities," Sutiyoso said late last week.

He said it would be outrageous if the accusations -- that officials from the Burial Agency were asking for illegal levies from mourning families -- turned out to be true.

Several residents and city councillors have recently made formal complaints about the agency's employees, saying they were asked by them to pay between Rp 500,000 and Rp 800,000 for a burial site.

Their actions could well be prosecutable offenses since the highest official price for the most popular plots at cemeteries in and around the capital is only Rp 50,000.

Less popular plots are free of charge.

Councillor Budi Gatot Setiabudi from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) wanted to bury his mother in Budi Dharma cemetery in Semper, North Jakarta. He has officially complained that he was asked by officials at the cemetery to pay Rp 1.5 million.

"But officials could not give details of their expenses to me," Budi said recently.

The Burial Agency currently manages 101 cemeteries covering some 556 hectares in the Greater Jakarta area.

Nanang from Ciputat, South Jakarta, said officials at Tanah Kusir cemetery asked him for Rp 800,000 for a burial plot at the rear of the graveyard.

"The officials also refused to give me receipt, saying that it was a common practice," he said.

Endang from Condet, East Jakarta, agreed to pay Rp 800,000 to employees at Kawi-kawi Sentiong cemetery, Central Jakarta, for a plot to bury her mother.

"My mother's grave is near a garbage dump at the rear of the cemetery. Still, I had to pay that much," she said.

Chief Hendarmin from the City Inspectorate said his office had already started an investigation.

"But we don't have the results yet," he said. (nvn)