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.