Council approves bill on cemetary agency replanning

Council approves bill on cemetary agency replanning

JAKARTA (JP): The City Council approved yesterday a bill on the restructuring of the City Cemetery Agency designed to improve its services.

"The structure of the agency should be improved to support the city administration's decision to make cemeteries into water catchment areas," said Abdoelhamid Notowidagdo, secretary of the City Council's Commission A, which is in charge of government affairs.

He said that, under the new law, heads of the agency's branch offices at the mayoralty level were no longer responsible to the agency's chairman but, instead, to the city's five mayors.

Mayoralty branch offices are also given greater authority to issue various permits, ranging from those concerning the use of cemeteries to those authorizing the exhumation of human remains, which used to be issued by the main office at City Hall.

"The simplification of the procedures is expected to improve the agency's services," Abdoelhamid said, adding that the changes included the reduction in the number of the agency's sections from six to five.

Sri Umi Sutjipto, a member of Commission E, which is responsible for social welfare, said that the bill changed the agency's function, not only in relation to burials but also in connection with the city's cemetery planning.

"This is in line with the city administration's plan -- to change the city's cemeteries into the city's lungs and into parks -- in which the agency can take part in the general planning of the city cemeteries," Sri Umi said.

The city administration announced recently that first priority would be given to the rearrangement of 10 cemeteries, namely Bivak, Karet Pasar Baru Barat, Petamburan, Kawi-Kawi Kramat Sentiong, Menteng Pulo, Utan Kayu, Penggilingan, Kober Jatinegara, Cipinang Besar and Prumpung.

Currently, she said, the agency is managing 556 hectares of cemeteries throughout the city, of which 92 hectares, considered inconsistent with the city plan, will be phased out.

By the year 2005, however, the agency is expected to expand the area of land utilized as cemeteries to about 700 hectares.

Both Commissions A and E proposed that the city administration cooperate with the West Java provincial government in the expansion of the cemetery areas.

The municipal administration has also been urged to enact a regulation that every developer intending to appropriate land for the development of a housing project set aside a plot for a cemetery.

However, the city council has said that it realizes that the agency is short of personnel and representative offices.

"The agency has only about 740 employees, including 256 grave diggers," Abdoelhamid said.

He urged the agency to employ workers residing near the cemeteries as grave diggers to make up the shortfall in laborers.

Sri Umi also urged the agency to cooperate more closely with local workers by providing training courses on green cemeteries. (yns)