Developer neglects to provide cemetery

TANGERANG, West Java (JP): The developer of Bukit Cikasungka housing complex in Tangerang, PT Panca Wiratama Sakti, has not complied with the regulation to provide residents with a cemetery, Regent Saifullah AR said.

Saifullah made the remark in connection with the residents' protest a week ago over the developer's negligence.

"According to the instructions of the Ministry of Public Housing and Ministry of Home Affairs, it is the responsibility of a developer, not the local authority, to provide the housing complex's residents with a public cemetery," he said.

"Besides, every company which develops a housing complex on more than 100 hectares of land is required to provide a public cemetery. PT Panca Wiratama Sakti has developed Bukit Cikasungka, a 200-hectare housing complex in Tigaraksa, Tangerang," he added.

Roy Husada, an official of the developer, blamed the local authority for not yet determining the site for a cemetery in the regency's master plan.

The question over the public cemetery surfaced a week ago when one of the complex's residents died. The nearby kampong's residents objected when relatives of the deceased tried to bury the body in the kampong's public cemetery, saying it was the developer's duty to provide a cemetery in the complex. (18/26)