Limited cemetery space prompts call to public to reuse graves
Limited cemetery space prompts call to public to reuse graves
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
With limited space available at public cemeteries here, the City
Cemetery Agency is calling on the public to make better use of
graves by burying more than one body in a single plot.
There are a total of 101 public cemeteries, occupying about
566 hectares of land across the city, but less than 10 percent is
available for use, according to Pudja Mulyadi, an official of the
cemetery agency.
Therefore, the agency is appealing to the public not to dig
new graves and is encouraging people to reuse graves of relatives
instead.
The policy on reusing graves is not new. It was first
introduced in 1960.
However, only 5 percent of the populace is willing to bury the
body of a family member in the grave of another relative.
It is estimated that between 90 and 120 people die every day
in Jakarta, with most of them being buried in the city.
In 1985, 68 burials were conducted per day, but in 1995, more
than 90 people were buried daily in the city's public cemeteries.
In the past, people could build huge tombs or mausoleums, but
this was limited with the issuance of Bylaw No. 2/1999. According
to the bylaw, graves may not measure more than 1.5 meters by 2.5
meters.
Under the multiple use system, a grave can accommodate a
maximum of three bodies. The second and third burials cannot
occur until one year after the first burial.
Grave sites are not for sale. People can rent a grave for
three years with unlimited extension. Leases on about half of
graves here are not extended.
"If the leases are not extended in six years, they become
available for multiple burials," Pudja said, meaning that graves
can be rented to other people.
Aminah, a resident at Poltangan, Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta,
said that she would consider using an occupied grave provided
that it was used only to bury people who were related.
Her husband was buried at Rawasari public cemetery in Salemba,
Central Jakarta, in 1998 in the same grave as a relative who died
28 years ago.
But she stressed that she would not let more bodies be buried
in the same grave.
"I think two bodies are enough," Aminah said.