Burial agency under fire over levies

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)